Abstract: The author examines the economic aspects of the South African colonial exploration by the Europeans in the representation of accumulated contradictions between business organizations, which ultimately became a cause of the 1899-1902 conflict. Based on the study of Dutch East India Company’s activities in this region, as well as the specifics of the settlement establishment by the British and Boers, attention is paid to the root causes of the disharmonious economic situation of the rivalling parties, taking place before the discovery of gold deposits in the Witwatersrand (1886). The changing regional supremacy of the Cape colony and the other British possessions, as well as Boer States (the Republic of South Africa – Transvaal and the Orange Free State) has been periodized. The factors of the 1899 armed conflict have been structured to reveal the conflicting interests of trading companies which had sought to monopolize the business for extraction of valuable mineral raw materials. The author concludes that the main reason for the South African War was the desire of British trading companies to gain access to rich gold deposits in the Boer-populated Transvaal and form a single English-based state in South Africa. In order to achieve such goal, the British tried their best at delaying peace initiatives of the Boers, putting forward various contradictory demands to them, using the armies of private companies to conduct raids and sabotaging the formation of a federal state in the region. We have discovered the preposterous look of the British pretext for the outbreak of war, based on the protection of the Boer states English-speaking population interests, which had been supposed to initiate an uprising. The South African War became not only a place, where new methods of warfare were applied, and a “black hole” for the UK budgetary expenditures, but also a profitable market for new types of weapons and military equipment, which allowed their manufacturers to make considerable profits.

Abstract: This article examines the colonial activity of French East India Company, which was a commercial enterprise engaged in international trade founded in 1664. The goal of this research is to determine the prerequisites for its establishment, conditions for the formation of capital and administrative branches, perspectives on expanding the network of trading stations and trade routes. An assessment is given to the directive formation of capital and work of the officials (patrons). The article employs the methods of analysis of the historical documents, testimonies of travelers, synchronism, diachrony and cognitive symbiosis. Attention is given to unattainability of levelling off the profit margin French East India Company through trading exchange and work of transnational corporations. The scientific novelty consists in revealing the causes of unstable situation of French East India Company and insufficient development of market relations within its metropolitan territory, which led to a series of rearrangements and speculations, poor equipment of ships and shipwrecks. The results can be used ib studying trade companies of the early Modern Age, particularly with regards to Iberia and colonization of the West Indies. The conclusion is formulated on the prerequisites for the establishment of a powerful French East India Company that were not implemented; and the unstable economic situation resulted in annulment of the company during the Great French Revolution.

Abstract: This article is dedicated to the colonial activity of Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) founded in 1670 by the British for exploitation of fur in North America and conducting geographical surveying un the Northwestern region. The author sets a goal to determine the forms of organization of the European colonial settlements and peculiarities of their cooperation with the Native Americans in HBC trade operations. It is also important to ascertain the reasons for conducting reforms prior to monopolization of HBC in the fur market, as well as within the system of colonial control. The research material contains the colonization theories, archival materials of HBC, travelers’ testimonies, and analysis of the relevant legal documents. The author also applies the methods of cognitive dialectics, historical objectivism, and comparison of multifaceted sources in the context of socio-philosophical observation. The conclusion is made on the dominance of enclave topology in the colonial activity of Hudson’s Bay Company, when the European settlers resided mostly in coastal areas (forts and trading posts), as well as practices exploitative approaches towards relations with the Native Americans. However, the latter got an opportunity to sell beaver pelts to the Europeans through monetary exchange and unqualified labor. After taking over the French competitors, HBC transformed into a quasi-state, incorporating privately operated enterprise with colonial administration. The conclusion is made that the escalated discontent of the British Crown with usurpation of administrative power and business in Hudson’s Bay Company along with its engagement in monopolization of the market, led to disassembling of the aforementioned colonization model in 1870; the power was partially delegated the Canadian government.

Abstract: This article examines the problematic of formation of the Portuguese East India Company – representative of the first generation of transnational corporations that in the XVII century allowed combining the disparate European merchants in spice trade with Asia. The subject of this article is the events conducted by Portugal for the purpose of centralizing the activity of private entrepreneurs in Asian colonies and shifting away from the outlived colonial model based on dominance of the government in organization of foreign expeditions. It is demonstrated that government constructs of colonial administration started experiencing difficulties associated to the decline in motivation of the employed population, escalating bureaucratization, shortage of capital and slowdown in merchandise flow. The criteria of performance of the European East India Companies are introduced into the scientific discourse. The scientific novelty consist in the fact that based on generalizing the initiatives of the Portuguese on formation of their own East India Company institutionalized directly “from above” only in 1628, the author determines the causes of its incapability to integrate into the system of colonial administration due to the severe shortage of private capital and substantial difficulties in managing trading activities, as well as accumulation of assets abroad. It is concluded that despite the satisfactory results during the first years of work, the Portuguese East India Company experienced series of setbacks related to the low level of investment attractiveness for the merchants and number of shipwrecks, which led to dissolution of this organization in 1633. In the future, Portugal was not able to implement the system of colonial transnational companies.