Imperialism
means those policies persuaded by a state that aims to extend its power and
influence its border by expanding its territories (colonization) directly or
indirectly by striving to achieve political, economical or military dominance
over other states. There are two waves of European imperialism.
1.
Age of Sail (1450-1850)
2.
Age of Steam (1850-1950)
Age
of Sail:
The period of
first wave was 1450-1850 in which the kings persuaded a mercantilist approach.
The trade was considered to be the zero-sum game where the profit of someone
was considered to be the loss of someone else, so the kings never go into the
trade where they found that someone else is gaining absolute of relative gain.
The scientific innovation made European exploration
possible. The European government charted and financed companies to establish
colonies, for instance the European colonies in America. The colonies were
required to get the cheap raw material for production and forming new markets
for produced goods. Howsoever by time the empires become crumbled and colonies
started getting independent. The United States of America got independent in 1776
from European Empire along with some other colonies like Spanish colonies got
the independence in the early 19th century.
It is believed that after such decolonization the
Emperors left the mercantilist approach and adopted free trade with states to
gain economic benefits by selling over produced goods to the other states – Pitt the Young and Sir Robert Peel. Though
some colonies got independence but still the colonialism and imperialism was
continued.
Age
of Steam:
The period of second wave of imperialism was 1850-1950
which was initiated with the industrial revolution and backed by capitalism. In
this wave the Empires were required raw material for their industrial
manufacturing/production along with capital/investment and undoubtedly the need
of new markets were still there to sell the produced goods for wealth
collection and economic growth. So here the race of power started in form of
Imperialism to become more powerful and influential as compare to the rivals.
whether
you will be content to be a comfortable
England, modeled and moulded upon continental principles and
meeting in due course an inevitable fate, or whether you will be a great
country, - an imperial country - a country where your sons, when they rise,
rise to paramount positions, and obtain not merely the esteem of their
countrymen, but command the respect of the world – British Prime Minister
Benjamin Disraeli (1872).
In the period the
United States of America also attempted to establish her colonies and in this
regard US attacked Spain, Philippine, Cuba etc. the same went with the Japan
too in order to expand its territories and empire. By 1900 much of Africa had
been colonized by seven European powers—Britain, France, Germany, Belgium,
Spain, Portugal, and Italy. After the conquest of African decentralized and
centralized states, the European powers set about establishing colonial state
systems. The colonial state was the machinery of administrative domination
established to facilitate effective control and exploitation of the colonized
societies. Partly as a result of their origins in military conquest and partly
because of the racist ideology of the imperialist enterprise, the colonial
states were authoritarian, bureaucratic systems.
World land controlled
by European power:
Till
1800 – 35%
1878
– 67%
1914
– 84%
Imperialism
as Political Phenomenon:
A classical
liberal Joseph Schumpeter wrote a book “Imperialism and Social Class”
1919 in which he disassociated the capitalism from Imperialism. In this stance
he disagreed with the Marxist-Leninist theory of Imperialism that links
capitalism with Imperialism. According to Joseph Schumpeter, Imperialism can’t
be reduced to mere pursuit of economic interests. A Jewish American Philosopher
Hans
Kohn explained imperialism in
term of distribution of political power i.e. the balance of power. Balance of power refers to the system where
major powers in the global system acquire colonies to enhance strategic
advantage relative to their competitors/rivals/adversaries.
Economic
Motives:
There
are two different schools of thoughts that deal with the economic motives of
imperialism. First is the Liberal School and second is
the Marxist school.
(i)
Liberal
School: Capitalist societies are sometimes unable to find
within themselves sufficient markets to sell the manufactured/produced goods
hence they are required new markets which leads to the concept of imperialism.
The introduction of tariffs made it more difficult to sell the goods to fellow
Europeans in the last decade of 19th century. Since the tariff
increased the price of the product so the people didn’t bother to buy an
expensive item and rather preferred cheap alternative available. So this
situation caused number of problems like increased rate of unemployment,
economic downturn and surplus or excessive production of goods. To cope up this
situation, new markets were needed to sell the excessive and/or over produced
goods (Hobson’s view) and to invest excessive capital (Lenin’s view)
John A Hobson
was an English Economist, social scientist and critic of Imperialism. He stated
in this book – Imperialism: A Study –
three factors of imperialism.
·
Over production of goods in developed
countries.
·
Under consumption by working and lower
class in developed countries because of their low wages (normally in depression
period).
·
Over-savings by the capitalist class in
the developed countries.
(ii)
Marxist
School: Imperialism, to Lenin, was the monopoly state of
capitalism. Imperialism is the product of capitalism. Lenin saw purely economic
factors as the essence of imperialism. According to this school the big
business had achieved the monopoly and/or cartel position in the markets to exploit
the colonies out of which ICA International Coffee Agreement
is the famous one. In the eyes of Marxist the capitalism is the main
evil and imperialism is its necessary manifestation.
The
Devil Theory:
This theory
focuses on the Governments, Armies and Weapon Industry to be the core cause of
war. It stresses that the governments for their own national interests use
their armies to get into the war and weapon industries also exploits such
nations to do so, so that their weapon business could flourish. International
bankers also play an important role in this respect because all the money
circulates in this process is with the help of international banks. So
Imperialism is because of “Military Industrial Complex”.
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