Article Preview
Cross-Tides of North African Revolt:
A First-Hand Report on Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia
- Abstract
THE history of civilization is also one of colonization-in every sense of that ancient word: settlement, clearing, land reclamation, cultivation, the founding of cities. Colonization is the revolutionary process of history itself, and since the Middle Ages it has transformed whole continents, destroyed or changed entire peoples, and brought all mankind into contact. This process has not been without tragedy; the clash of the new with the old has too often ended in the annihilation of the weaker, and older, party. And what was destroyed was not only crumbling, decadent social and cultural structures, but in many cases flesh and blood itself.
Nevertheless, not colonial rule as such is to be blamed for the decay, corruption, and anarchy that prevail today in almost every backward country; rather, industrialization, Western technology, and the rapacity of private economic interests-merchant adventurers, chartered companies, and the rest-brought this about before foreign political rule ever appeared on the scene. Usually, such rule represented an effort to impose order on the chaos resulting from private and purely economic colonialism.
About the Author
This article is available for purchase to subscribers and for individual purchase
Subscriber Sign In
Not A Subscriber?
