In this blog post, we will look at how the Scientific Revolution became the foundation for Western imperialism and led to the oppression of colonial countries.
Humans have made great progress since the appearance of Homo sapiens tens of thousands of years ago. At the beginning of the emergence of humans, humans had to live with the threat of survival every day, but through the cognitive revolution, agricultural revolution, and scientific revolution, humans have suddenly risen to the top of the ecosystem food chain. There have been many changes in the history of mankind, but the Scientific Revolution that occurred after the 17th century was the one that led to the rapid development of mankind. The Scientific Revolution brought great scientific progress to mankind, but it also marked the beginning of the modern imperialist era. Until then, European countries, especially Western European countries, which had been overshadowed by Asian powers, began extensive exploration into the unknown world with the development of science. As a result of exploration, new continents that had previously been unimaginable were discovered and conquered. Starting with these attempts, many European countries embarked on exploration and conquest, and imperialism gradually spread throughout the West. As a result, most countries in Africa, Asia, and Oceania became colonies of Western countries.
Why did countries in Europe have to become colonies of other countries while countries in Asia and Africa were not? According to Yuval Noah Harari’s book “Sapiens,” it was not because of a lack of technology, but because of the values, myths, and socio-political structures that had been formed over the centuries in Western countries. The reason why France and the United States were able to quickly follow in the footsteps of the United Kingdom is because they already shared the same myths and social structures. In the same vein, the reason why Japan was able to adopt imperialism was probably because they quickly embraced Western civilization through their own revolution, the Meiji Restoration.
How did this imperialism take place? Let’s take the example of the British Empire to see how imperialism took place. At first, Portugal was the country that monopolized trade in Asia. In the 17th century, the British established the East India Company to challenge Portugal’s stronghold and began trading with Asian countries. At first, the British, who focused on trade with Asian countries, especially India’s spice and textile industries, began to show interest in the territory as the influence of the Mughal Empire, which ruled India, declined. Eventually, the British gained control of India through force and began to rule India through the East India Company. By the mid-19th century, the East India Company was dissolved and India was directly ruled by the British. After a long period of struggle, including the famous non-violent struggle of Gandhi, India finally achieved independence after World War II. Many colonial countries were colonized by the West in a similar way, in which Western civilization, which had infiltrated under the guise of trade, used force to exert its dominance over the colonial countries.
Such imperialist colonial rule naturally led to strong opposition from the colonized countries. The biggest reason for this was the oppression that the imperialist countries imposed. They took away the colonial countries’ military power, various administrative powers, and finally even their sovereignty, starting with the right to trade. The biggest problem was that the imperialist countries also meddled in the culture of the colonized countries. Imperialist countries culturally oppressed their colonies and forcibly imposed their own cultures on them, and they saw colonies not as a single country but as a means to serve their own interests. In fact, the Indian soldiers’ “The Great Sepoy Mutiny” was also caused by cultural oppression. For Hindus, who worship cows as sacred, receiving rifle cartridges coated with cow oil was a religious transgression, and this was the decisive trigger for the rebellion. In addition, imperialist countries took what they wanted from colonial countries in a manner that was more like semi-plunder than one-on-one trade. In some countries, the slave trade was conducted to enslave citizens of colonial countries and sell them.
It was an imperialist era in which the freedom of colonial countries was suppressed and inhumane acts were committed, but in the end, it was not without positive aspects. The most positive aspect is that Western culture, which was ahead of the times in many ways, was transmitted to colonial countries. According to some scholars, imperialism has spread common languages, introduced transportation such as railways, and expanded educational opportunities, and without these benefits, those countries would have been in a worse situation than they are now. It is also true that the introduction of Western culture has gradually advanced the technology of colonial countries that were stagnant in pre-industrial technology, and this can be seen as a positive aspect of imperialism.
Now, the question is whether imperialism is beneficial to colonized countries, if we exclude the cultural oppression of imperialist countries. If there is no discrimination and anti-humanitarian oppression, which were the biggest problems in the past imperialism era, wouldn’t it be a good choice to live with the developed culture and help under the protection of a powerful country? If you don’t understand, let me give you an example. If you imagine that South Korea is incorporated into the 51st state of the United States, you can imagine a similar situation. Now that South Korea is close to being an economically developed country, you may feel that it doesn’t mean much. But let’s think about the time 30 years ago, when Korea was economically poor. If it had become the 51st state of the United States at that time, it would have had significant economic and living benefits. Thanks to the U.S. economic infrastructure and high living standards, Korea would have been able to develop rapidly and directly enjoy the U.S. education environment, jobs, and security. At that time, many people might have evaluated it positively and been happy about it.
Moreover, becoming the 51st state of the United States will not completely change the language and culture of South Korea. If our culture is not oppressed and we can share the infrastructure and environment of the United States, it may be a delight for those who have longed for the United States while shouting “Hell Joseon.” However, I have a slightly different opinion. No matter how much a powerful country can enjoy various benefits, it is never easy to overcome cultural differences within a country. Even if there is no cultural oppression at the national level, discrimination and conflicts that arise from people from different cultures living together in the same living area are inevitable.
Similar examples include the various ongoing conflicts. In South Korea, there are relatively few such problems because the country is made up of a single ethnic group, but in other countries, conflicts frequently arise due to cultural differences between different ethnic groups. A typical example is the ongoing Catalan independence dispute or the Kosovo independence dispute. The Catalan dispute is a conflict between Catalans and Castilians with different cultural backgrounds. The Kosovo conflict was also a conflict between ethnic Albanians and ethnic Serbs due to their different ethnic and cultural differences. These conflicts eventually developed into major conflicts that led to civil war. These examples show us how important culture is within a country. That is why I don’t think imperialism can be glorified in any way.
Imperialism, which began in the 17th century, did not end until the mid-20th century. Imperialism, which lasted for more than 200 years, left terrible memories in the countries that were colonized. Of course, there was a lack of awareness of human rights at the time, unlike today, but this does not justify the inhumane actions committed by imperialist countries. History does not allow for the assumption of “what if.” But what if the imperialist countries had started their relations with the newly explored countries with equal trade? Even if it was a little late, the colonized countries would have been able to accept the advanced Western culture without a past stained with oppression and exploitation and develop as they do today.
Of course, this is just an assumption. But we must remember the violence and oppression that imperialism brought about and the conflicts that resulted from it. No matter how much we try to talk about the positive aspects of imperialism, there is a lot of suffering and sacrifice behind it. Therefore, imperialism can never be positively evaluated, and we must learn from history.
