War and genocide have been part of human history since before the split from chimpanzees. Wealth in anything like what we’d recognise it dates to after the rise

War and genocide have been part of human history since before the split from chimpanzees. Wealth in anything like what we’d recognise it dates to after the rise of agriculture. We can be quite confident that European wealth during the age of colonialism didn’t have much to do with colonialism as such because that wealth preceded the colonies and neighbours that differed in having colonies were much the same economically. Britain was rich before it took over India. Germany had no colonies of any economic importance and Austria-Hungary none. They do not suffer by comparison with France with its extensive colonial empire.