Colonialism and conquest

[bebotalk]

Why lament colonialism? This is common amongst people from countries that were once ruled by European powers. Yes, it had bad effects that linger to this day. But then humans conquer. Unfortunately, humans are aggressive and we see this in the world right now. 

If one looks at the histories of various ex-European colonies, they were often conquered by other powers. India was ruled by the Mughals and the British essentially took over from them. The Zulus expanded in eastern South Africa, before the Boer Wars and the unification of the Boer Republics and the British Cape Colony into South Africa. Native Americans must have had wars and conflicts long before Columbus or Vespucci got there. And in Europe itself, there has been endless conquest. There is one going on right now, in Ukraine. Colonialism was just a bigger version of what we've seen throughout human history, and sadly appears to be human nature. Take the history of France. It was founded in large part by conquest. Caesar invaded the Gauls. Then when Rome fell, the Franks came in, leading to Charlemagne conquering the Saxons and other peoples. Then duchies under the French king such as the Normans conquered England, which led to future English kings seizing large parts of France. They were pushed out in the Hundred Years War, and then France over centuries fought Britain, Spain, and others for global dominance. Germany was founded in its backyard, essentially, after they lost the Franco-Prussian War, and whilst it held off the Germans in WWI it lost out to the Nazis in WW2. 

This isn't to justify colonialism and the many barbaric acts that happened. But it seems to me just an extension of what happened for centuries and millennia prior to the voyages of Prince Henry and Vasco da Gama.