Colonialism: The first terrorism?

Colonialism, in the history books, is often described as “expanding” or “civilizing nations”, “bringing development”. European powers claimed they brought education, religion and law to the places that were colonized. And while some countries did gain infrastructure, or a fractured religion, many were left with corrupted governments and in an economically unstable state. Most, still developing after having their land, culture, resources and wealth snatched away through the colonizer's reckless exploitation. 

 By the book, terrorism is the use of violence, fear, and intimidation to achieve political or economic goals. So, is colonialism not terrorism? Did colonialism not use violence and fear to achieve the political goals for their “one country”? Australia had many First Nations peoples face a massacre and wars as colonizers expanded across the land. Sri Lanka had people intimidated, exploited and forced into labor.  

In simple terms, colonialism was not simple a “settlement”, in almost every case it relied on intimidation, fear and force to maintain power over the true owners of this land. 

Many argue that it's not terrorism because the government was the one to do it. However, the British was not truly a legitimate government in the eyes of the First Nations Peoples whose land that they invaded. For Aboriginal Australians, British rule was imposed without any consent whatsoever, and the land was claimed despite it being inhabited for thousands of years. In that sense this itself was unlawful, as the British did not actually own the land, they took control over.  

Many former colonialist countries are now amongst the world's richest and developed countries. While the countries they colonized are struggling with poverty, corruption and instability. This raised the question “do nations that gained wealth through colonisation have a responsibility to help the countries they exploited?” 

Much of the wealth of these countries came from resources, labor and land taken away from the colonised countries in Africa, Asia and in the Americas. Colonisers extracted gold, rubber, oil, cotton and other valuables while the local community remained poor. In many cases the colonies were left in poor conditions. 

Colonialism is written as history, yet for many communities, its effects are alive today. Which is why it is not a civilising mission, but a terroristic act of system built on power, exploitation and fear.