Imperialism

Imperialism: Definition

Imperialism: Control by one country of the political, economic, or cultural life of another country or region.

• Is the United States an empire?

• How Many overseas military bases do we maintain?

• What is the relation between democracy and empire?

The “New Imperialism”Age of Imperialism: (1800-1960) In the last decades of the 19th/C. industrial

European nations used their wealth and advanced technology to extend their influence around the globe. They took colonies in Africa and Asia. They also controlled the economies of independent nations in Latin America. This burst of Imperialism is called “New” because:

• Imperialism had fallen out of fashion for some time• Took place in Africa primarily• Technological advances made the exploitation of hinterlands of “darkest

Africa” possible – more to follow• Berlin Conference laid ground rules for establishing claims based on actual

administration of territory• Colonies were more directly tied to the needs of European nations• Borders of the new colonies were drawn with little consideration of the

settlement patterns and histories of indigenous peoples – think of some consequences here?

• How were they able to impose their dominance on the world so easily and quickly?

• Why would the Europeans want to dominate the world?• How did the Age of Imperialism end?

The Tools of Empire:• Technological advances

made exploitation of Africa and Asia possible by the last decades of the 19th/C.– Penetration: Quinine &

Steam boats

– Conquest: quick firing guns/nitro-celulose “smokeless” gun powder

– Exploitation: Highly effecienct steam engines and tellegraphy

Why the Fin de Siecle Revival of Imperialism? 5 Reasons

Subject of considerable historiographic interest and debate – these are barrowed from Professor T. Childers, PhD., Univ. Pennsylvania

1. Economic Motives1. Hobson2. Lenin

2. Nationalism as a Motive1. France in the Third Republic2. Willhelmian Germany and his Welpolitik

3. Social Imperialism4. Stategic and Military considerations5. Cultural Factors

1. “White Man’s Burden” – French Empire2. Darwinian “Survival of the Fittest” mentality and imperial arguements

Economic Motives

• Though Mercantilism had been discredited by Adam Smith individuals were encouraged to try their luck in trade and enlisted their parent states to ensure their success – the American pattern vis-à-vis Latin America– Opium Wars, dissolution of the

Mughal Empire after the Indian Mutiny, and the acquisition of Egypt follow this pattern

• Hobson’s Economic theory of Imperialism

• Lenin’s Economic theory of Imperialism

Nationalist Motives

• Imperial expansion served to legitimate the state. – France in the Third

Republic would sooth political humiliations with Imperial glories – Much encouraged by Bismarck

– Wilhelm II’s Weltpolitik (Global Policy)

Social Imperialism: Democracy and Mass Politics

• People of all ranks liked having an Empire

• It proved the nationalists belief in their own exceptionalism by denying the self-determination of others

• See document: “In Darkest England”! Distract people from the SOCIAL PROBLEM with Imperial glories

Cultural Motives

• From medieval times Europeans/Christians thought they were the only ones with true knowledge of God and the attendant duty to misionize

• By the 19th Century missionaries worked in all parts- often with great arrogance

• Social Darwinism which justified class hierarchies at home justified imperialism abroad/racial & national hierarchies

• New science of Anthropology made a “science” of European racial superiority

Strategic/Military Considerations[TQ] Empires were

constructed not out of grand schemes but out of the necessities of the moment

• Once you had a far flung colony you had to defend it and your trade routes to it:– India begets South Africa &

Egypt, et al– Concern about the Germans

in East Africa made the entire Nile seem necessary….

Consequences: Imperial Rivalry• Colonies were acquired because

Europeans could and did not want to be left out

• Thinking of the cartoon, can’t you empithize with Uncle Sam watching Russia and Germany eating Chinese, won’t you want some too?

• Imperialism inspired rivalries among European nations that would otherwise not have existed– British and Fr. Foshoda Incedent– British and Germans in the Boer War– Russian and Austrian ambitions for

the territories of the crumbling Ottoman Empire

• Is this a primary cause of WWI?• How does the Imperial experience

weaken democracy?