Colonialism refers to the policy of aggression and expansion pursued by capitalist countries. Specifically, powerful capitalist countries oppress, enslave and exploit weak ethnic groups and turn them into colonies and semi-colonies. Any area that is directly and completely ruled and dominated by a powerful capitalist country and completely loses its sovereignty and independence is called a colony. Countries and regions that are formally independent but subordinate in finance, economy and diplomacy are called semi-colonies. Capitalist powers claim suzerainty over colonies, so they are also called suzerainty.

Colonial plunder activities began in the primitive accumulation of capital period.

Portugal and Spain were the first countries to colonize and plunder. 14 15, Portugal occupied Ceuta, Morocco, North Africa, and established the world's first colonial stronghold there. Later, he continued to go south and established many colonial strongholds in Guinea, Congo and Angola. 1497 bypassed the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa, entered the Indian Ocean and expanded to Asia. Spanish colonial activities were a little later than Portugal. It crossed the Atlantic Ocean and invaded the United States in 1492. By the16th century, all countries in Central and South America except Brazil were occupied by Portugal. In addition, in Asia and Africa, Spain plundered many colonies. Therefore, Spain became the largest colonial empire in the world at that time.

Later, the Netherlands, Britain, France, Russia and so on became colonial powers and joined the struggle for colonies. In the first round of fierce competition, the Netherlands replaced Spain and Portugal and became a colonial power. Then, Britain defeated the Netherlands and France and ascended the throne of colonial hegemony. In the19th century, these colonial countries occupied colonies many times larger than themselves.

1At the end of the 9th century and the beginning of the 20th century, the world entered the era of imperialism, the whole earth was carved up, and two-thirds of the world's land became colonies and semi-colonies. The six colonial powers, Britain, Russia, France, Germany, Japan and the United States, destroyed hundreds of independent countries, controlled about 80 million square kilometers of colonies and semi-colonies, and put nearly one billion people in colonial shackles, thus establishing a colonial system that enslaved the oppressed nations in colonies and semi-colonies in the world. The six largest imperialist countries have become the main enemies of the people of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Among the six colonial powers, Russia is the second colonial empire after Britain.

Germany, the United States and Japan are all emerging colonial countries, and they have not captured as many colonies as other colonial powers. However, the industries of these three countries developed rapidly and soon caught up with and surpassed Britain, Russia and France. They demanded to re-divide the colonies according to their strength, and they were very greedy and adventurous. The first world war broke out under the situation that these countries fought fiercely for colonies.

The history of colonial powers occupying colonies and establishing colonial systems is a criminal history full of plunder, killing and slavery. In the United States, they brutally pursued slavery, slaughtered and sold Indians, and plundered gold and silver treasures crazily.

In Africa, early colonists mainly plundered gold, ivory and other treasures. From the16th century, they hunted blacks and sold slaves.

In Asia, colonial oppression and plunder are equally cruel. Like the slave trade in Africa, the "coolie trade" conducted by colonists in Asia also used yellow slaves to supplement black slaves. /kloc-In the mid-9th century, a large number of China coolies and Indian coolies were transported to America and the Caribbean as coolies, and their experiences were as miserable as those of slaves. Many names in the coastal areas of Asia, Africa and Latin America, such as Ivory Coast, Gold Coast, Slave Coast, Pearl Coast and Spice Islands, are all evidence of the brutal plunder of Asia, Africa and Latin America by colonists.

With the development of industrial capitalism, the early method of pure violent robbery and slaughter is no longer suitable. Therefore, under the guise of "free trade", they regard commodity export as the main means of colonial exploitation. Later, capital export replaced commodity export and became the main form of exploiting colonies. They also forced the implementation of a deformed single economy in Asia, Africa and Latin America, which deepened the dependence of colonies and semi-colonies on imperialism and became vassals of imperialism.

The numerous crimes committed by colonial bandits made the oppressed nations abhor colonialism and aroused the angry resistance of the people in Asia, Africa and Latin America. From the day when colonialism set foot on the land of Asia, Africa and Latin America, the resistance struggle of the oppressed peoples never stopped. The victory of the October Revolution opened a new era of national liberation movement, which caused a profound crisis in the colonial system, and colonialism came to an end in the West. After World War II, the vigorous development of the national liberation movement in Asia, Africa and Latin America dealt a heavy blow to imperialist colonial rule.

Today, the imperialist superpowers are still trying to maintain the old unequal international economic relations and infiltrate and expand into Asia, Africa and Latin America. The people of Asia, Africa and Latin America still face the severe task of opposing imperialism, hegemonism and colonialism.