Policies and Practices of European Empires during New Imperialism - Research Paper Example

? Developments in the nineteenth century that drove the shifts in Imperial policies and practices of European Empires during New Imperialism (30.12.11) Introduction From the perspective of world history, the most conspicuous pattern in the history of the late nineteenth century was the dominance of Europeans over non Europeans. This dominance was in the form of economic penetration or complete annexation. There was no region in the world that was not penetrated by explorers, merchants or missionaries from Europe. New Imperialism is understood as the significant shift that occurred in the processes and policies of imperialism, particularly in the late-nineteenth century to early twentieth-century Europe. Amongst others, these shifts included the moving away from the economic doctrine of mercantilism that focused on the expansion of trade and markets through strategic control of ports towards the establishment of large scale, formal empires by way of aggressive internal penetration of territory and the exercising of control over the geography and population in those territories. We need only a glimpse at a few statistics to see that these shifts had remarkable consequences. According to Daniel R. Headrick- professor of social sciences at Roosevelt University and author of The Tools of Empire- “in the year 1800 Europeans occupied or controlled thirty-five percent of the land surface of the world; by 1878 this figure had risen to sixty-seven percent, and by 1914 over eighty-four percent of the world’s land area was European-dominated. ‘The British Empire alone,” Headrick continues, “already formidable in 1800… increased it’s land area sevenfold and its population twentyfold in the following hundred years”.1 However, these shifts were not simply coincidental. In fact, the changes in the imperial policies of the Europeans during the era of “New Imperialism” were driven by two major nineteenth century developments: the second industrial revolution, and the emergence of a pack of European nation states. Main Body Imperialism, as defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is “the policy, practice, or advocacy of extending the power and dominion of a nation… over the political or economic life of other areas”2 To put this in simple terms, imperialism is the acquisition and buildup of territory and capital. However, the Merriam-Webster definition does not quite pin the proverbial tail on the donkey, for it lacks one key component of imperialism: what is the justification for this said extension of power? According to Edward Said- former professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University and author of Culture and Imperialism- the acts “of accumulation and acquisition… are supported and perhaps even impelled by impressive ideological formations that include notions that certain territories and people require and beseech domination, as well as forms of knowledge associated with domination”.3 Thus, the working definition for Imperialism from here on out is the combination of two previous definitions, which goes as follows: the policy, practice, or advocacy of extending the power and dominion of a nation… over the political or economic life others, which is supported and perhaps even impelled by impressive ideological formations that include notions that certain territories and people require and beseech domination, as well as forms of knowledge associated with domination.  New imperialism cannot be said to be only the policies of the elite because it was greatly supported by the lower classes in Europe. The main aspect of the culture of imperialism was the feeling of superiority amongst white Europeans. Many people had such perceptions because of being bound by Christianity and they believed that there was nothing wrong in forcibly Christianizing the conquered societies, which they believed was the main motive of imperial missions. Some viewed imperialistic aspirations from a secular perspective, while some followed Darwinian concepts in upholding their biologically designed imperialistic fate. They believed it was their duty to share the advantages of modernization with native populations of other parts of the world. At the same time, some Europeans also discarded the imperialist missions in arguing that imperialism created benefits only for the upper class and made people to deviate from their core problems at home.4 The second industrial revolution gave Europeans new technology, science, and a need for raw materials, etc. it also led to rise in modern transportation and communication. New inventions and scientific discoveries made people become more conscious of the relationships amongst nature and the human body. Such developments resulted in improved health and longevity of life, which created a strong sense of confidence amongst Europeans in terms of being superior to other races. A great deal of cultural anxiety was produced because of such discoveries. The rapid development that followed, allowed the Europeans to experience a period of unparalleled expansion across the world during the end of the 19th century. Nation states in Europe acquired immense strength and power from industrialization and the organizational efficacy of their governance systems. The technologies during the Second Industrial Revolution were largely dependent upon the raw materials that were available only in distant lands of South America, Africa and Asia. Additionally, there was a strong need to establish new markets because of the economic adversities arising from the Great Depression of 1973, which made European states to further aspire towards expansionism. Global investments by European states were expanded after the Depression ended in the 1890s, while the creation of mass politics led to heavy political pressures in undertaking imperialist expansions.5 The rise of a pack of nation states in Europe also shifted the imperial policies of the European Empires during this time. This was based on the rising competition between the big powers and the institutions and power of the nation state because they could generate revenues by taxing the public. Before new Imperialism, Britain was considered to be the unchallenged power in Europe. But Italy and especially Germany rose to power during the new imperialism. Italy and Germany were new nations that increased the competition amongst European states in virtually every field, which further accentuated activities to acquire new colonies. Competition drove European Empires to take more and more territories to assert their position to become more powerful, such as the scramble for African territories during the 1870's. During this time, Egypt was under the disintegrating Ottoman Empire and in attempts to westernize had come under huge debt because of its borrowings from England and France. As a consequence, the government was overthrown in Egypt by revolutionaries and England dispatched a naval fleet that attacked Alexandria and established a make-shift government that lasted till the First World War.6 In keeping with aspirations to be dominant amongst European nations, France started making attempts to reinforce its control over states such as Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria. Italy sent its forces and took over Libya as a consequence of its war with Turkey. In fact, the vicious rivalry for controlling the last remnants of the Ottoman Empire was one of the causes of the First World War. Western expansion impacted many pats of the world in different ways. Colonialism strongly influenced the entire region south of the Sahara in Africa as Europeans began trading along the coasts of the continent. Arms produced in Europe and rum from the Caribbean were traded for items such as spices, ivory and gold from Africa. A large number of explorers, missionaries, scientists and adventurers began making a beeline to Africa with the objective of civilizing natives and Christianizing them. As nationals of different states established mining and trading operations they also started claiming huge areas of land to be possessed by people from their countries. The rush for land assumed such high proportions that peace was threatened and a conference was convened in Germany by Bismarck in 1885 in which rules were laid down for occupying territories in Africa, which were agreed to by all states vying for grabbing parts of the continent. It was agreed that any state having coastal settlements was eligible to claim inland tracts starting from such points. Within a few years, almost the whole of Africa was partitioned amongst Germany, Portugal, Belgium, France and England. Consequently, by the year 1914, Liberia and Ethiopia were the only two states that could remain independent. Liberia was a new state created by freed slaves from America and Ethiopia proved strong enough to resist the pressures.7 The boundaries created by the Europeans did not pay any attention to the tribal and linguistic reality in the colonies and in efforts to assert their authority and power, these states had no misgivings about using forced labor practices, despite the fact that these very nations had freed slaves at home. Large groups of native people were forced to relocate, families were separated and grazing areas were transformed into huge plantations of rubber and cocoa. With such actions, the natives were entirely deprived of their natural habitat and their traditional life was torn away.8 Similarly, in Asia also, many of the civilized nations having literate people and a strong social structure were forced to get molded with the advanced technology and military strength of the Europeans. The biggest victim of western imperialism was China although its people were not interested in dealing with Europeans. But they got attracted in trading for the opium that was produced by the British in India and very soon the drug menace gripped the country’s population. The Chinese authorities attempted to put an end to the opium trading, but the British struck back by bombing their cities. These battles continued and came to be called the Opium Wars.9 The British and French forces marched into China and burnt the Emperor’s summer palace. French and British got hold of immense wealth and the two armies took two days in carting away the huge quantities of pearls, jade, silver and gold that was present in the Emperor’s summer palace. The Chinese felt immense humiliation when Russia, Germany, France and England made it obligatory for its traders to trade with them. China had good dealings with and commanded respect from states such as Laos, Cambodia, Burma, Korea and Manchuria. However, imperialist aspirations resulted in British takeover of Burma, while France took over Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Russia made an offensive and took control over Northern China and established its Vladivostok along the Pacific coast. Imperialist expansion also involved the taking over control of Australia by the British. Initially, Australia was used by the British as a dumping area for criminals but the massive growth in its textile industry made a large number of British citizens to settle in Australia. Initially, British settlers considered Australia as a part of the West, which made them to work towards making it a White nation. Before the British arrived in Australia, natives or Aborigines were following nomadic life styles. British settlers had perceptions that the natives will prove to become a threat to them and attacked them violently. The issue of the Aborigines in Australia was resolved only in 1967 when they were given citizenship.10 Conclusion The Second Industrial Revolution occurred in Europe at a time when imperialism was at its height as nation states extended their control over most parts of the world. The struggle amongst European nations to control the entire globe is known as new imperialism that occurred primarily because of industrialization. With enhanced economic activities and increase in competition, European states were struggling to source raw materials and to find markets to sell their products and areas to invest their capital. During the later part of the 19th century most industrialists and politicians in Europe were of the belief that the only way to succeed economically was to acquire territories in other parts of the world. It also became important to source raw materials such as tin, rubber, cocoa, ivory, palm oil and sisal, cotton etc. from overseas to feed the manufacturing industries in home countries. However, most of the colonies did not prove to be profitable for European states as most of the colonial territories comprised of waste lands and it was more costly to rule these areas as compared to the economic worth they brought. Nation states continued to be motivated to incur losses primarily because of maintaining national prestige. Italy and Germany joined the race with France and England, which resulted in intense competition and rivalry amongst them. The First World War is considered to be partly the outcome of such competition amongst European states that vied with each other to dominate the global scene. Bibliography Brady, T. A. The New Imperialism, 2011. http://www.suu.edu/faculty/ping/pdf/TheNewImperialism.pdf, Accessed on 30 December, 2011. Cesaire, Aime. Discourse on Imperialism, Monthly Review Press, 2001. Fureti, Frank. The New Ideology of Imperialism, Pluto Press, 1994. Harris, Nigel. Imperialism Today, London: Hutchinson and Company, 1971 Headrick, Daniel R. The Tools of Empire: Technology and European Imperialism in the Nineteenth Century, Oxford University Press, 1981. Kiwanuka, Semakula. From Colonialism to Independence, KENYA LITERATURE BUREAU, 1982. Merrium-webster, Imperialism, 2011. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/imperialism, Accessed on 30 December, 2011. Osterhammel, Juren. Colonialism: A Theoretical Overview, Markus Weiner Publishers, 1997. Said, Edward. Culture and Imperialism, Vintage, 1993. Selfa, Lance. A new colonial "age of empire"? International Socialist Review Issue 23, 2003. Read More