#Colonized

Colonization appears to be a hot topic these days and this is good. Actually one constructive purpose of this paper is to contribute to the global empathy toward this key issue by suggesting to the U.N. a worldwide day to the glorious colonizer.

Obviously that great day should start with the greatest colonizer ever, I mean the African ‘Homo sap’ (as shortened by A.C. Clarke) who colonized all the rest of the world, thanks to them!!

This is a colonization that will remain unmatched in history, at least unless RobIA comes in a few decades to conclude that, as Clarke says, it is time for us to join Dino, whether in their own, remotely isolated Jurassic island or on another, dedicated, anthroposcenic zoo.

Of course I might have from time to time some Neanderthalian feelings a bit frustrated by those sapiens sapiens who came to invade our shores, slaughtered part of us, possibly enslaved, ate or raped others. And yet I also see some benefits… let me explain.

France, as an example, has a proud history of being colonized over and over. The paleolithic artists of say Lascaux and other places after the events summarized above were among these pre-pre-indo-europeans surviving the last ice age (together with a few deserving squirrels as we know)…. (to be continued)

A research paper (as I recall) recently summarized from anthropological studies that these populations had moved to below Garonne river (I’ll add : much later to become ‘vascons’, ‘gascons’ well know as proud musketeers such as d’Artagnan). Region also known as Aquitania (though with more wine than water know).

The same study saw populations between Garonne and Loire (much wider then) come from South-East Europe and neolithic middle-east while population north of Loire valley primarily went from neolithic east/north-east… much later as celts, gauls, … each wave eventually happily slaughtering and/or enslaving people met along the journey.

Gauls settled in northern Italy, saw Hannibal’s elephants cross the alps and Romans later conversely until much later Julius Caesar went to help fight one another (willing to help). I’ll pass for now his successful story with Eduens and Allobroges to summarize the conclusion : Eduens roughly told other lazy gallic tribes “guys if you are annoyed by nasty neighbours just call our friend/ally Caesar and he will deal with the troublemaker.

This Julius did soon with the German Arioviste who had crossed the Rhine westward (may people got the tradition to come there westward, especially German, probably because eastward that would be people coming from America, otherwise a comeback of the Atlants)

Still to make it short Julius finally thought to satisfy every tribe by conquerring all of Gaul and bringing it the famous “Roman peace”… should we complain? Romans brought latin and many monuments, technics, openness to the Roman world so that Gauls finally became strong Roman supporters and eventually emperors.

As kinds of stubborn colonizers a few centuries later came again all kinds of German tribes, some just crossing, as usual, others settling here or there, such as the Wisigoths, and finally the Francs, from north-East, while Angles and Saxons were colonizing British shores, themselves a few centuries later being colonized by Danes, whom also came to France, finally to settle to what was to become Normandy.

As you guess all this very briefly summarizes the World as a history of colonizers moving to shores just previously colonized by others so that anyone complaining to have eventually been colonized just forget that he was himself a colonizer the day before.

Now one of the colonization that seems currently to keep some minds busy (why not after all) is the story of the Spanish conquistadores, again westward, to what was to be known as the Americas (hence to be continued under the next title #Colon).