Colonial Controversies

Whether newly conquered areas that are connected to the original territory of the country but have different races and cultures can be counted as colonies has always been a controversial issue. Historically, Russia’s colonization of Central Asia, Siberia and North America, the westward expansion of the United States, the colonization of Eastern Europe by the Teutonic Knights, and the colonization of areas surrounding the Central Plains (such as Lingnan, Baiyue, Central Asia, Mongolia) by certain ancient Chinese dynasties and Tibet), all had the nature of conquering colonies. Some historians also count these conquests of new territories as colonial movements. However, some historians believe that after being conquered, these areas evolved over a period of time and became new provinces (or states) with equal status to other administrative divisions of the metropolitan country, and adopted the language, culture, and ideology of the metropolitan country. Therefore, they should not Counts as a colony.

A compromise view is to regard the conquest itself as a colonial act, but the conquered area joins the metropolitan country and its residents as an entity with the same status as other political entities (such as provinces and states) of the metropolitan country. The region's period as a colony came to an end when it enjoyed full political rights equal to those of the citizens of the metropolitan state. Take the history of the United States as an example, that is, from the time when the new western territories came under American rule to the period when the territories joined the United States as a state, this period can be regarded as the colonial period of the region (for example, Alaska from 1867 to 1959). Historically, the vassal relationship between China's neighboring countries and China was also different from the relationship between colonies and metropolitan countries, because these countries implemented internal autonomy politically and were completely independent economically and militarily. In fact, this relationship is somewhat similar to the relationship between the German states and the imperial emperor in the early Holy Roman Empire, and the surrender relationship between European countries to the Holy See before the Reformation.

The second controversial issue is the difference between overseas territories and colonies. Some small colonies (mostly islands) that were originally desolate and uninhabited areas have residents who are immigrants from the metropolitan country, enjoy complete and full political rights, have the same culture as the metropolitan country, have a sense of identity with the metropolitan country, or are too An area that is desolate and has no permanent population cannot be considered a colony. Specifically, the UK's Falkland Islands, St. Helena, Tristan da Cunha, and Norway's Bouvet Island. Although some overseas provinces of France are ethnically different from mainland France, they also have a strong sense of identification with French culture and are unwilling to become independent.

On the contrary, if a colony is listed as an "overseas territory" or "overseas province", but its residents cannot enjoy completely equal political rights as citizens of the mother country due to color, race, creed, etc., then The area was still viewed as a colony. The most famous example in this regard is that after Portugal declared Angola, Mozambique and other African colonies as "overseas provinces" in the 1950s, most countries in the world did not recognize these areas as non-colonial areas because local black people could not enjoy full civil rights. The same example is that after Ian Smith declared the independence of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) on November 11, 1965, because the political status of black people in the country was still the same as before independence, except for a few countries such as South Africa and Portugal, including No country in the world, including the United Kingdom, recognizes Rhodesia as an independent country. The United Kingdom also proposed the principle known as "NIBMAR", that is, "No Independence Before Majority (Achieving) African Majority Rule" (No Independence Before Majority) African Rule).

As a reference standard, the list of "non-self-governing territories" listed by the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization only includes New Caledonia, where there is an indigenous movement for independence, and includes Guadeloupe. French overseas departments such as Rope, Martinique, and French Guiana are excluded. Puerto Rico and Greenland were also excluded from the list because they were granted a high degree of internal autonomy.

No country can make territorial claims to Antarctica or declare it a colony.