Colonialism Timeline

(1492 - Present)

Colonialism refers to the practice by which powerful nations established and maintained control over foreign territories, exploiting their resources, peoples, and economies. Beginning with European overseas expansion in the late 15th century, colonialism reshaped the political, cultural, and economic map of the world, leading to the rise and eventual fall of vast empires and a long process of decolonization that continues to influence global affairs today. More Less

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Ancient and Medieval Colonization

Viking colonies established across Europe and the North Atlantic

800

From the 9th century Vikings (Norsemen) such as Leif Erikson established colonies in Britain, Ireland, Iceland, Greenland, North America, present-day Russia and Ukraine, France (Normandy) and Sicily.

Image source: Vikings

New wave of Mediterranean colonization by Italian city-states

800

In the 9th century a new wave of Mediterranean colonisation began, with competitors such as the Venetians, Genovese and Amalfians infiltrating the wealthy previously Byzantine or Eastern Roman islands and lands.

Image source: Maritime republics

European Crusaders establish colonial regimes in Outremer and the Baltic

1097 - 1291

European Crusaders set up colonial regimes in Outremer (in the Levant, 1097–1291) and in the Baltic littoral from the 12th century onwards.

Image source: Crusader states

Venice reaches greatest nominal colonial extent after Fourth Crusade

1204

Venice began to dominate Dalmatia and reached its greatest nominal colonial extent at the conclusion of the Fourth Crusade in 1204, with the declaration of the acquisition of three octaves of the Byzantine Empire.

Image source: Fourth Crusade

Venice reaches greatest nominal colonial extent after Fourth Crusade

Age of Discovery

Spanish conquest of the Canary Islands begins modern colonialism

1402 - 1496

Modern colonialism is generally considered to have begun with the Spanish conquest of the Canary Islands, when 'the relationships involved in domination became recognisably colonial.' Following the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453, sea routes discovered by Portuguese Prince Henry the Navigator became central to trade and helped fuel the Age of Discovery.

Image source: Conquest of the Canary Islands

Crown of Castile encounters the Americas

1492

The Crown of Castile encountered the Americas in 1492 through sea travel and built trading posts or conquered large extents of land.

Image source: Columbian exchange

Treaty of Tordesillas divides new lands between Spain and Portugal

1494

The Treaty of Tordesillas divided the areas of these 'new' lands between the Spanish Empire and the Portuguese Empire in 1494.

Image source: Treaty of Tordesillas

Imperial Expansion

Spain and Portugal bring African slaves to their colonies

1500

Spain and Portugal had brought African slaves to work in African colonies such as Cape Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe, and then in Latin America, by the 16th century. The British, French, and Dutch joined in the slave trade in subsequent centuries.

Image source: Atlantic slave trade

Birth of the Dutch, French, and English overseas empires

1600 - 1699

The 17th century saw the birth of the Dutch Empire and French colonial empire, as well as the English overseas possessions, which later became the British Empire.

Image source: Dutch colonial empire

English settlers arrive in North America largely as indentured servants

1607 - 1699

In the 17th century, nearly two-thirds of English settlers came to North America as indentured servants.

Image source: Indentured servitude in British America

Japanese settler colonization of Hokkaido begins

1869

The Japanese colonial empire began in the mid-19th century with the settler colonization of Hokkaido and the destruction of the island's indigenous Ainu people before moving onto the Ryukyu Islands, whose indigenous Ryukyuan people survived colonization more intact.

Image source: Empire of Japan

Scramble for Africa by European powers

1881 - 1914

In the late 19th century, many European powers became involved in the Scramble for Africa. Colonial empires spread globally, spanning 35% of Earth's land by 1800 and peaking at 84% by the beginning of World War I.

Image source: Scramble for Africa

Spanish-American War leads to US overseas territories

1898

The United States gained overseas territories after the 1898 Spanish–American War, hence, the coining of the term 'American imperialism'.

Image source: Spanish–American War

Balfour Declaration backs Zionist settlement in Palestine

1917

Zionist settler colonization of Palestine continued expansion, now with the backing of the British empire after issuing the Balfour Declaration in 1917 and establishing the British Mandate for Palestine at the League of Nations.

Image source: Balfour Declaration

Italian perpetrated Libyan genocide during Second Italo-Senussi War

1929 - 1934

Italy perpetrated the Libyan genocide between 1929 and 1934 during and after the Second Italo-Senussi War.

Image source: Libyan genocide

Soviet Union returns to Russification policies

1930

The Soviet Union, despite branding itself as anti-imperialist and providing real material assistance to anticolonial resistance, returned to its previous colonial 'Russification' policies after 1930.

Image source: Russification

Italy invades and occupies Ethiopia

1935

Italy also invaded and occupied Ethiopia in 1935 where it enacted a system of segregation between Italian colonists and indigenous Ethiopians.

Image source: Second Italo-Ethiopian War

Nazi Generalplan Ost plans settler colonization of Eastern Europe

1939 - 1945

Adam Tooze posits that Operation Barbarossa is 'far better understood as the last great land-grab in the long and bloody history of European colonialism.' Generalplan Ost called for the mass murder and deportation of at least 30 million Slavs from Poland and the western Soviet Union in preparation for millions of German settlers.

Image source: Generalplan Ost

Health and Demographic Impact

Smallpox kills half the native population of Hispaniola

1518

In 1518, half the native population of Hispaniola was killed by smallpox. Over the centuries, Europeans had developed high degrees of immunity to these diseases, while indigenous peoples had no time to build such immunity.

Image source: Native American disease and epidemics

Measles kills two million Mexican natives

1600 - 1699

Measles killed a further two million Mexican natives in the 17th century, contributing to drastic depopulation of indigenous communities under colonial rule.

Smallpox wipes out 90% of Massachusetts Bay Native Americans

1618 - 1619

In 1618–1619, smallpox wiped out 90% of the Massachusetts Bay Native Americans, one of many devastating epidemics that accompanied European colonization of the Americas.

Smallpox epidemics devastate the Plains Indians

1780 - 1838

Smallpox epidemics in 1780–1782 and 1837–1838 brought devastation and drastic depopulation among the Plains Indians.

Image source: Plains Indians

Balmis expedition carries smallpox vaccine to Spanish colonies

1803

As early as 1803, the Spanish Crown organised a mission (the Balmis expedition) to transport the smallpox vaccine to the Spanish colonies, and establish mass vaccination programs there.

Image source: Balmis Expedition

First cholera pandemic spreads from Bengal across India

1817 - 1824

The first cholera pandemic began in Bengal, then spread across India by 1820. Between 1736 and 1834 only some 10% of East India Company's officers survived to take the final voyage home.

Image source: 1817–1824 cholera pandemic

US establishes smallpox vaccination program for Native Americans

1832

By 1832, the federal government of the United States established a smallpox vaccination program for Native Americans.

Image source: Indian Vaccination Act of 1832

Resistance and Decolonization

Las Casas writes A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies

1542 - 1552

Bartolomé de Las Casas wrote A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies in 1542, published in 1552, documenting atrocities committed against indigenous peoples in the Spanish colonies.

Image source: A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies

American Revolutionary War begins first wave of separatism

1775 - 1783

A first wave of separatism started with the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), initiating the Rise of the 'Second' British Empire (1783–1815).

Image source: American Revolutionary War

American Revolutionary War begins first wave of separatism

Spanish American wars of independence collapse Spain's American empire

1808 - 1833

The Spanish Empire largely collapsed in the Americas with the Spanish American wars of independence (1808–1833).

Image source: Spanish American wars of independence

Sepoy Rebellion breaks out against British rule in India

1857

Rebellions broke out in the later decades of the imperial era, such as India's Sepoy Rebellion of 1857 against British East India Company rule.

Image source: Indian Rebellion of 1857

Russian and Austrian empires collapse; Soviet empire emerges

1917 - 1918

The empires of Russia and Austria collapsed in 1917–1918, and the Soviet empire emerged. Non-Russian Marxists like Sultan Galiev and Vasyl Shakhrai considered the Soviet regime a renewed version of Russian imperialism and colonialism.

Image source: Aftermath of World War I

First Pan-African Congress held in Paris

1919

The first Pan-African Congress would take place in Paris in 1919, part of the growing international anti-colonial movement.

Image source: Pan-African Congress

Italy loses control of Libya to Britain

1943

Italy lost control of Libya in 1943 to the British during the North African campaign of World War II.

Image source: North African campaign

UN charter supports decolonisation

1945

In addition, the United Nations shows support for decolonisation in its 1945 charter. Decolonization had started in the 18th century, gradually leading to the independence of colonies in waves, with a particularly large wave between 1945 and 1975.

Image source: Charter of the United Nations

Partition of British India creates independent India and Pakistan

Aug 1947

The Partition of British India in August 1947 led to the Independence of India and the creation of Pakistan.

Image source: Partition of India

Bandung Conference discusses defining colonialism

1955

Defining colonialism became necessary for the international anti-colonial movement, and it was discussed in the 1955 Bandung Conference and the contexts it applied to were disputed.

Image source: Bandung Conference

Jean-Paul Sartre coins the term 'neocolonialism'

1956

The word 'neocolonialism' originated from Jean-Paul Sartre in 1956, to refer to a variety of contexts since the decolonisation that took place after World War II. The term became popular in ex-colonies in the late 20th century.

Image source: Neocolonialism

UN Declaration on Granting Independence to Colonial Countries

1960

In 1960, the UN issued the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, which affirmed its stance on decolonisation, though notably colonial empires such as France, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States abstained.

Algerian independence prompts Pied-Noir exodus to France

1962

900,000 French colonists (known as the Pied-Noirs) resettled in France following Algeria's independence in 1962.

Image source: Pieds-noirs

Portuguese settlers return from Africa after decolonization

1974 - 1979

800,000 people of Portuguese origin migrated to Portugal after the independence of former colonies in Africa between 1974 and 1979; 300,000 settlers of Dutch origin migrated to the Netherlands from the Dutch West Indies after Dutch military control ended.

Image source: Portuguese Colonial War

Edward Saïd publishes Orientalism

1978

Many practitioners take Edward Saïd's book Orientalism (1978) as postcolonial theory's founding work, although French theorists such as Aimé Césaire and Frantz Fanon made similar claims decades before Saïd. The concept of colonialism entered the forefront of academia in the late 20th century, followed by the development of postcolonialism.

Image source: Orientalism (book)

Spivak publishes Can the Subaltern Speak?

1988

Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak's Can the Subaltern Speak? gave its name to Subaltern Studies. In A Critique of Postcolonial Reason (1999), Spivak argued that major works of European metaphysics actively prevent non-Europeans from occupying positions as fully human subjects.

Image source: Subaltern (postcolonialism)

Spivak publishes Can the Subaltern Speak?

Key Facts

The Age of Exploration began in the late 15th century when European powers like Spain and Portugal started establishing colonies in the Americas, Africa, and Asia following Christopher Columbus's 1492 voyage.
The transatlantic slave trade forcibly transported an estimated 12 million Africans to the Americas between the 16th and 19th centuries to support colonial plantation economies.
The Berlin Conference of 1884-1885 formalized the 'Scramble for Africa,' in which European powers divided nearly the entire African continent among themselves without African representation.
By the early 20th century, European empires controlled roughly 80-90% of the world's land surface, making colonialism a defining feature of modern global history.
Decolonization accelerated after World War II, with India gaining independence in 1947 and most African and Asian colonies achieving independence by the 1960s, though many former colonies still face lasting economic and social legacies of colonial rule.

Source

This Colonialism timeline was generated with the help of AI, using information found on the internet.

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