Question

how did europeans rule their overseas territories?

Answer 1

The development of European world rule, founded in the 16th century, exhibited considerable regional and temporal deviation in terms of its extent and character. The framework of colonialism and imperialism in both its formal and informal forms was provided by a number of agents, including bureaucratic-absolutist institutions, trading companies with a royal or government charter and government authorities. The technologies and structures necessary for the exploitation of natural and human resources in the areas thus subjugated were developed and provided by military, economic, cultural and ecological institutions. The development of asymmetric relationships of dependence between Europe and her colonies always favoured the motherland, but these relationships also brought change to the imperial nations themselves. European rule often entailed destruction and violence, but also established the instruments for anti-colonial opposition. Through a complex structure of cultural transfer, it even acted as a creative force in terms of the generation of a wide variety of creoles and syncretisms.