What did George Orwell mean by the following sentence in his essay “Shooting an Elephant”

What did George Orwell mean by the following sentence in his essay “Shooting an Elephant”
What did George Orwell mean by the following sentence in his essay “Shooting an Elephant”: “It was a tiny incident in itself, but it gave me a better glimpse than I had had before of the real nature of imperialism – the real motives for which despotic governments act.”?

What did George Orwell mean by the following sentence in his essay “Shooting an Elephant”
What did George Orwell mean by the following sentence in his essay “Shooting an Elephant”: “It was a tiny incident in itself, but it gave me a better glimpse than I had had before of the real nature of imperialism – the real motives for which despotic governments act.”?