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New Imperialism

In historical contexts, New Imperialism characterizes a period of colonial expansion by European powers, the United States, and Japan during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.[1] The period featured an unprecedented pursuit of overseas territorial acquisitions. At the time, states focused on building their empires with new technological advances and developments, expanding their territory through conquest, and exploiting the resources of the subjugated countries. During the era of New Imperialism, the European powers (and Japan) individually conquered almost all of Africa and parts of Asia. The new wave of imperialism reflected ongoing rivalries among the great powers, the economic desire for new resources and markets, and a "civilizing mission" ethos. Many of the colonies established during this era gained independence during the era of decolonization that followed World War II.

"Neoimperialism" redirects here. For indirect imperialism and colonial practices following decolonization, see Neocolonialism.

The qualifier "new" is used to differentiate modern imperialism from earlier imperial activity, such as the formation of ancient empires and the first wave of European colonization.[1][2]

Motivation[edit]

Humanitarianism[edit]

One of the biggest motivations behind New Imperialism was the idea of humanitarianism and "civilizing" the "lower" class people in Africa and in other undeveloped places. This was a religious motive for many Christian missionaries, in an attempt to save the souls of the "uncivilized" people, and based on the idea that European Christians were morally superior. Most of the missionaries that supported imperialism did so because they felt the only "true" religion was their own. Similarly, French, Spanish and Italian Catholic missionaries opposed the Protestant British, German, and American missionaries. At times, however, imperialism did help the people of the colonies because the missionaries ended up stopping slavery in some areas. Therefore, Europeans claimed that they were only there because they wanted to protect the weaker tribal groups they conquered. The missionaries and other leaders suggested that they should stop such "savage" practices as cannibalism, idolatry and child marriage. This humanitarian ideal was described in poems such as the White Man's Burden and other literature.


In many instances, the humanitarianism was sincere, but often with misguided choices. Although some imperialists were trying to be sincere with the notion of humanitarianism, at times their choices might not have been best for the areas they were conquering and the natives living there. As a result, some modern historical revisionists have suggested that new imperialism was driven more by the idea of racial and cultural supremacism, and that claims of "humanitarianism" were either insincere or used as pretexts for territorial expansion.[60]

Theories[edit]

The "accumulation theory" adopted by Karl Kautsky, John A. Hobson and popularized by Vladimir Lenin centered on the accumulation of surplus capital during and after the Industrial Revolution: restricted opportunities at home, the argument goes, drove financial interests to seek more profitable investments in less-developed lands with lower labor costs, unexploited raw materials and little competition. Hobson's analysis fails to explain colonial expansion on the part of less industrialized nations with little surplus capital, such as Italy, or the great powers of the next century—the United States and Russia—which were in fact net borrowers of foreign capital. Also, military and bureaucratic costs of occupation frequently exceeded financial returns. In Africa (exclusive of what would become the Union of South Africa in 1909) the amount of capital investment by Europeans was relatively small before and after the 1880s, and the companies involved in tropical African commerce exerted limited political influence.


The "World-Systems theory" approach of Immanuel Wallerstein sees imperialism as part of a general, gradual extension of capital investment from the "core" of the industrial countries to a less developed "periphery." Protectionism and formal empire were the major tools of "semi-peripheral," newly industrialized states, such as Germany, seeking to usurp Britain's position at the "core" of the global capitalist system.


Echoing Wallerstein's global perspective to an extent, imperial historian Bernard Porter views Britain's adoption of formal imperialism as a symptom and an effect of her relative decline in the world, and not of strength: "Stuck with outmoded physical plants and outmoded forms of business organization, [Britain] now felt the less favorable effects of being the first to modernize."

1832: Britain annexed the .

Falkland Islands

1837: Britain annexed the .

Pitcairn Islands

1839: Britain conquered from the Sultanate of Lahej.

Aden

1840: Britain established the .

Colony of New Zealand

1843: Britain received from China.

Hong Kong Island

1848: Britain annexed the in Punjab.

Sikh Empire

1852: France annexed .

New Caledonia

1854: Division of the and Sakhalin between Russia and Japan.

Kuril Islands

1859: Britain annexed the and Perim. Completion of the French conquest of Algeria.

Cocos (Keeling) Islands

1857: Britain suppressed the .

Indian Rebellion

1862: Creation of . British Honduras declared a colony.

French Cochinchina

1867: United States from Russia.

purchased Alaska

1869: Japan annexed .

Hokkaido

1870: Russia annexed .

Novaya Zemlya

1874: Britain established the .

Colony of Fiji

1875: Japan annexed the .

Bonin Islands

1879: Japan annexed the .

Ryukyu Islands

1881: France annexed .

Tunisia

1882: Britain occupied .

Egypt

1884: Argentina completed the in Patagonia.

Conquest of the Desert

1885: Britain completed the conquest of . Belgian king established the Congo Free State. German protectorate over Marshall Islands.

Myanmar

1887: British protectorate over . Creation of French Somaliland.

Maldives

1888: Britain annexed . Creation of British Somaliland. Germany annexed Nauru. Chile annexed Easter Island.

Christmas Island

1889: Creation of .

French Polynesia

1890: British protectorate over . Creation of Italian Eritrea.

Zanzibar

1892: Britain annexed and Gilbert Islands.

Banaba Island

1895: China ceded and Penghu to Japan.

Taiwan

1897: France annexed .

Madagascar

1898: United States annexed , Puerto Rico, Cuba, Guam, and the Philippines.

Hawaii

1898: Division of the into German Samoa and American Samoa.

Samoan Islands

1900: British protectorate over .

Tonga

1906: Britain and France established the condominium.

New Hebrides

1908: France annexed the .

Comoro Islands

1910: Japan annexed the .

Korean Empire

1915: Britain annexed .

Cyprus

US about 1910

Dollar diplomacy

Historiography of the British Empire

Imperialism

International relations (1814–1919)

Russian Empire

Soviet Empire

Timeline of European imperialism

Imperialism in Asia

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British Empire

Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine by Ivan Eland, director of defense policy studies at the Cato Institute. (an article comparing contemporary defense policy with those of New Imperialism (1870–1914)

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– Fordham University

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(a course syllabus)

The New Imperialism

The 19th Century: The New Imperialism

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Wayback Machine