A commercial modernisation (from the late six teenth century to the industrial revolution), a mercantile period during which an international division of labour, strengthened by the metro politan administrative structure, began to develop. As colonial powers systematically appropriated the wealth of Third World col-onies, an impoverished countryside co-existed with urban areas characterised by a limited market for consumer goods, and a demand for labour commensurate with their almost exclusively commercial and administrative functions.