For years, History manuals taught us that the Romans had invaded Gaul to protect the local population from the attacks of the Helvetii. Modern archaeology has proved otherwise. What Julius Caesar really had in mind was the seizure of the some 400 mines that the Gauls exploited at the time.
The Portuguese set about spreading the Christian Gospel around the world. In reality, what interested them was the gold of West Africa and the spices of the Far East. With the colonisation of Brazil, they added slave trade to their missionary efforts.
The Spaniards were devout Catholics too. They were eager not to be outdone in the Christianisation efforts. They spread disease around South America, but the gold and silver from the region maintained their empire at its height for more than a century.
The British wrestled the Cape Colony from the Dutch in order to guarantee a halfway house on the route to the Far East. However, once diamonds and gold had been discovered further inland, they suddenly felt an urge to go and protect the native tribes. In the process, they interned thousands of Afrikaners in concentration camps where they were left do die in the most atrocious conditions. At the time, the word holocaust had yet not come into usage.
The Soviets fomented unrest in the whole of Africa under the guise of liberation. Their real intent was to grab the commodity-rich continent. Unfortunately, the Communist system had impoverished their empire to such an extent that, under Gorbachev, it crumbled naturally from within. In the end, they were unable to profit from their efforts.
The Mafia also offers protection.
