Colonization of congo, north korea and india

Final Project
Contemporary History of the World


Index
Introduction….............................................................................................................3
A general overview of Australia during World War II………………………….……4
Australia cuts some strings…………………………………………….…...…5
India………………………………………………………………………….….…….6
Korea………………………………………………………………………….……...14North Korea…………………………………………………………….……..20
South Korea……………………………………………………………...........23
Congo……………………………………………………………………………........26
Bibliography…………………………………………………………………….…….35
Annex………………………………………………………………………….………42
Introduction
During the 18th and 19th century, European countries had been enrolled in a series of Wars (significantly the Napoleonic and Prussian), coalitions had beenmade, alliances had been broken,and the political map of Europe had changed. All along the need of expansion still drove European countries.
The aim of this project is to approach to modern history, to analyze the processes that caused colonization and how this situation developed throughout the world. Our main focuses are India and Australia (colonized by Britain), Congo (colonized byBelgium) and Korea (Colonized by Japan).
The purpose of our analysis is to find political, social and economical circumstances linked to the development of the colonies, to understand how their previous situation affect their current situation, and how colonization has marked the present relations of the colonized countries with their respective colonizers and with the rest of the world.We believe imperialism is perceived as a bad stage in the history of the world, we have discovered that even we, ourselves, believe it to be a period where exploitation and abuse of human rights was ordinary; in this paper, we aim to retrieve information about this situations and how it was viewed from both points of view: the colonizers and the colonized.
“The meaning and implications ofthe word colonialism and of the closely connected terms of empire and imperialism have undergone a profound transformation throughout the last decades. Until the end of the nineteenth century the word empire or imperialism was generally used in a laudatory and not a pejorative meaning. […] Empire and colonialism always implied dominion and power; and power, whether exercised by “native” or “alien”governments, has potency for abuse as probably no other relationship has”[1]
After explaining the colonization process of each of the selected countries, we will also show the process of decolonization that the countries went through. Decolonization is defined as the: “Process by which colonies become independent of the colonizing country.”[2]
Each of the countries we chose to analyzehad different processes of colonization, as well as the consequences they had on the country. After World War II, European countries generally lacked the wealth and political support necessary to suppress faraway revolts; they also faced opposition from the new superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, both of which had taken positions against colonialism. Korea was freed in 1945 byJapan's defeat in the war. Britain left India in 1947 and Australia, transformed from being a Dominion into a member of the British Commonwealth of Nations. Congo, a former Belgian colony, became independent in 1960.[3]
Finally, each of the different situations after their decolonization will be dully explained, as well as the role they play today in international affairs, the only exceptionshould be Australia, country which had a different evolution throughout the colonization process. We will summarize each of the historic circumstances that resulted in, and from, imperialism; as well as analyze it form different perspectives.
The analysis will try to challenge the simple perception of colonization as inherently evil. Our thesis is that colonization was an ambiguous process...