Editing Colonialism (section)

=== Modern ===
[[File:Philip II's realms in 1598.png|upright=1.35|thumb|[[Iberian Union]] of Spain and Portugal between 1580 and 1640]]

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."<ref name=":6" />{{Rp|page=10}} Following the fall of [[Constantinople]] to the [[Ottoman Empire]] in 1453, the sea routes discovered by Portuguese [[Prince Henry the Navigator]] (1394–1460) became central to [[trade]], and helped fuel the [[Age of Discovery]].<ref name="auto1">Charles R. Boxer, ''The Portuguese Seaborne Empire, 1415–1825'' (1969)</ref> The [[Crown of Castile]] encountered the [[Americas]] in 1492 through sea travel and built [[trading post]]s or conquered large extents of land. The [[Treaty of Tordesillas]] divided the areas of these "new" lands between the [[Spanish Empire]] and the [[Portuguese Empire]] in 1494.<ref name="auto1" />

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]]. It also saw the establishment of [[Danish overseas colonies]] and [[Swedish overseas colonies]].<ref>Thomas Benjamin, ed. ''Encyclopedia of Western Colonialism Since 1450'' (3 vol 2006)</ref>

A first wave of [[separatism]] started with the [[American Revolutionary War]] (1775–1783), initiating the [[British Empire#Rise of the "Second" British Empire (1783–1815)|Rise of the "Second" British Empire]] (1783–1815).<ref>[https://victorianweb.org/history/empire/Empire.html David Cody, "The British Empire" ''The Victorians Web'' (1988)]</ref> The [[Spanish Empire]] largely collapsed in the Americas with the [[Spanish American wars of independence]] (1808–1833). Empire-builders established several new colonies after this time, including in the [[German colonial empire]] and [[Belgian colonial empire]].<ref name="Melvin E. Page 2003">Melvin E. Page, ed., ''Colonialism: An International Social, Cultural, and Political Encyclopedia'' (2003)</ref> Starting with the end of the [[French Revolution]] European authors such as [[Johann Gottfried Herder]], [[August von Kotzebue]], and [[Heinrich von Kleist]] prolifically published so as to conjure up sympathy for the oppressed native peoples and the slaves of the new world, thereby starting the idealization of ''native'' humans.<ref>{{cite book | author1=Dina Gusejnova |title=European Elites and Ideas of Empire 1917–1957 |publisher= Cambridge University Press |year=2016 |page=14 |isbn=9781107120624 }}</ref>

The [[Habsburg monarchy]], the [[Russian Empire]], and the [[Ottoman Empire]] existed at the same time but did not expand over oceans. Rather, these empires expanded through the conquest of neighbouring territories. There was, though, some [[Russian colonization of North America]] across the Bering Strait. The [[Empire of Brazil]] fought for hegemony in South America. The [[United States]] gained overseas territories after the 1898 [[Spanish–American War]], hence, the coining of the term "[[American imperialism]]".<ref>Benjamin, ed. ''Encyclopedia of Western Colonialism Since 1450'' (3 vol 2006)</ref>

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]] (the indigenous [[Ryukyuans|Ryukyuan people]] survived colonization more intact). After the [[Meiji Restoration]], Japan more formally developed its colonial policies with the help of European advisors. The stated purpose from the beginning was to compensate for the lack of resources on the main islands of Japan by securing control over natural resources in Asia for its own economic development and industrialization, not unlike its European counterparts. Japan defeated China in the [[First Sino-Japanese War]] to control [[Korea under Japanese rule|Korea]] and the [[Taiwan under Japanese rule|island of Formosa]], now Taiwan, and later [[Russo-Japanese War|fought off the Russian Empire]] to control Port Arthur and [[Karafuto Prefecture|South Sakhalin]].<ref name=":6" />{{Rp|pages=147-152}}

In the late 19th century, many European powers became involved in the [[Scramble for Africa]].<ref name="Melvin E. Page 2003" />