In the bid for colonies....?

Question:

In the bid for colonies....?

did smaller nations benefit from colonization or suffer exploitation at the hands of larger, imperialistic nations?

Please Explain.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Both....
Most often, like on the African continent, colonies were created to exploit natural resources as well as people. (For more thoughts along this vien, check out Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.)
The Chinese were also exploited by Europeans. You may remember learning about Spheres of Influence in history class. Opium was the choice commodity to trade to the Chinese in exchange for all kinds of different goods the foreigners could sail back home with.
Oh, and you can't forget about the South American and Latin American nations...the Spanish Conquistadors were merciless.
However, there are other occasions were a nation benefited via colonization. Take the USA..though the native Americans faired less than well, the colonies and then the nations faired very well. Canada also got the benefit of a good start as a colony, which helped it to become an important nation.