ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the challenges of economic development within a historical context of colonialism. There was one crucial aspect of historical legacy common to all colonial experiences: governing by creating a large bureaucratic state. The chapter traces the origins of European expansionism and examines the theoretical approaches that try to explain it. It reviews the establishment of colonies and the consolidation of colonial domination, only to ponder the complexity of the post-independence era. The chapter aims to investigate to what extent key historical forces such as European imperialism, colonialism, and neocolonialism, laid the foundation for at least some of the problems presently confronting a significant number of developing countries. The fact that a native elite arose out of colonialism points us to one of the inherent contradictions of European imperialism. According to a major study, in 1800 European powers controlled one-third of "the world's land surface," two-thirds by 1878, and four-fifths by 1914.
