Editing Colonialism (section)

=== 20th century ===
[[File:The Harmsworth atlas and Gazetter 1908 Colonization Map.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|''The Harmsworth atlas and Gazetter'' 1908 European colonization map]]
The world's colonial population at the outbreak of the First World War{{snd}}a high point for colonialism{{snd}}totalled about 560 million people, of whom 70% lived in [[British possessions]], 10% in French possessions, 9% in Dutch possessions, 4% in Japanese possessions, 2% in German possessions, 2% in American possessions, 3% in Portuguese possessions, 1% in Belgian possessions and 0.5% in Italian possessions. The domestic domains of the colonial powers had a total population of about 370&nbsp;million people.<ref>These statistics exclude the Russian Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, Spain and Denmark. U.S. Tariff Commission. ''Colonial tariff policies'' (1922), p. 5 [https://archive.org/details/colonialtariffpo00unit online]</ref> Outside Europe, few areas had remained without coming under formal colonial tutorship – and even [[Rattanakosin Kingdom (1782–1932)|Siam]], [[Qing dynasty|China]], [[Empire of Japan|Japan]], [[Kingdom of Nepal|Nepal]], [[Emirate of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]], [[Qajar Iran|Persia]], and [[Ethiopian Empire|Abyssinia]] had felt varying degrees of Western colonial-style influence{{snd}}[[Concessions and leases in international relations|concessions]], [[Unequal treaty|unequal treaties]], [[extraterritoriality]] and the like.

Asking whether colonies paid, economic historian [[Grover Clark]] (1891–1938) argues an emphatic "No!" He reports that in every case the support cost, especially the military system necessary to support and defend colonies, outran the total trade they produced. Apart from the British Empire, they did not provide favoured destinations for the immigration of surplus metropole populations.<ref>Raymond Leslie Buell, "Do Colonies Pay?" ''The Saturday Review'', 1 August 1936 p 6 ]</ref> The question of whether colonies paid is a complicated one when recognizing the multiplicity of interests involved. In some cases colonial powers paid a lot in military costs while private investors pocketed the benefits. In other cases the colonial powers managed to move the burden of administrative costs to the colonies themselves by imposing taxes.<ref>Rönnbäck & Broberg (2019) Capital and Colonialism. The Return on British Investments in Africa 1869–1969 (Palgrave Studies in Economic History)</ref>

[[File:World 1914 empires colonies territory.PNG|thumb|upright=1.35|Map of colonial and land-based empires throughout the world in 1914]]
[[File:Colonialism in 1945 updated legend.png|thumb|upright=1.35|Imperial powers in 1945]]