Can a Trading Company conquer a HUGE Country?

Question

Yes, in History there is one instance of a trading company conquering a huge country. Can anyone spot this country? Does it mean that something was miserably wrong with the people of that country at that time?

Answer 1

The East India Company is well nown but is not the only example. there are in fact many examples of companies controlling countries. Maybe they did not have to actually conquer them as India was but they certainly ran them as business operations.

The Dutch East Indies Company ruled most of what is now known as Indonesia as well as various other colonies in South America and South Africa for many years from its formation in 1602 until its dissolution in 1800.
The Hudson Bay Company owned 3.9 million sq km of Canada from its founding in 1670 until it sold it to Canada for 300,000 pounds in 1870
The British South Africa Company had a major role in the founding and governing of several South African countries like Zimbabwe and Zambia
The American United Fruit and Standard Fruit companies controlled much of Central America from 1850 to 1950 changing governments and prompting US interventions at will.

I do not think that you can say in any of these examples that there was something miserably wrong with the local peoples, The main reason was a strong technological gap that enables thousands of Europeans to control millions of natives. As the British said in South Africa ' We have the machine gun and they ( the natives )do not.

Answer 2

Yes - other people have correctly identified that you are obviously referring to the British East India Company and its operations in the sub-continent of India.

But you (and everyone who has answered so far) are missing one critical point and that is that the nation of India did not exist at the time that the BEIC was operating and the company won bits of India one at a time.

It all started with Robert Clive defeating the Nawab of Bengal at the Battle of Plassey in 1757, via the defeat of Tipu Sultan of Mysore, through to the Anglo-Sikh Wars and Lord Dalhousie's "Doctrine of Lapse" which mopped up the smaller native states.

There was nothing "miserably wrong" with the people of the country at that time - they just did not form one country and, individually, they were not a match for the company's professional forces.

Answer 3

Not sure about history, but companies such as News corp., Microsoft among others aleady have rather a large influence in the running of plenty of countries (directly, through pressuring governments and indirectly, by it's media output)

Answer 4

I assume your refer to the Honourable East India Company which DIDN'T conquer the whole of the Indian sub-continent. But remember its army was largely composed of local soldiers (sepoys).

Answer 5

YEs look at the british empire.