Imperialism has been around for centuries and many argue that it is still around today. The classical imperialism definition can be seen below:
imperialism ɪmˈpɪərɪəlɪz(ə)m/ noun
This of course definition is still seen today among different countries around the world, however, it is not happening through colonisation anymore but instead through the economic power of countries. This can be seen with America influencing the world through their economy as "when America sneezes, the whole world can catch a cold", meaning that if a dramatic economic occurrence was to happen in America it would effect the whole world such as when the global financial crisis hit. |
Why did imperialism grow so rapidly at the end of the nineteenth century?
Imperialism grew so rapidly at the end of the nineteenth century due to four factors argues Charles S. Maier, technological advance, political control, social inequality and the world war (Gopal & Tikhvinksy). Each of these factors had a very large influence on the age of imperialism “Thus technological advance, the spread of political control over the less economically developed societies by the more advanced, social inequality, and world war were characteristics of an era that is often designated as the age of imperialism” (Gopal & Tikhvinksy, p. 21)
The technological advancement in the early twentieth century divided the world in two- those with new technology and those without. This then created a strong social hierarchy and ultimately then decided which countries would become empires and those who would be taken over as those with more technology had more wealth. The more traditional and fragmented structures such as places like India (Gopal & Tikhvinksy) then became these countries that ‘needed’ imperialism in the eyes of the empires. This helped imperialism grow as the empires now had the technology to overtake the ‘weaker’ nations and control them.
The political control of countries was also a large factor in the age of imperialism due to the fact that between all the empires it was just a power play of who could have the biggest nation. These rivalries would then impact the different alliances once the war started out. This impacted the way that imperialism grew so quickly due to the fact that ‘race of imperialism’ began and each empire wanted to have the most empires and be the most influential empire. Social Darwinism also came into play with the ‘survival of the fittest’ impacting how empires justified their actions of taking over the weaker nations.
Social inequality was another part of imperialism and was an ‘aftermath’ of the above reasons, the introduction of new technology divided the world and the political control what some empires wanted to have caused even more inequality. This helped imperialism grow as the empires found the need to want to ‘help’ those on the poorer side of social inequality. The major two socially unequal nations were Africa and Asia and these two were easy to take over due to them been weak nations in terms of politics, economical and structure of the country. Most of the empires realised this and then the ‘scramble for Africa’ began with Africa then been cut up into many empires.
The world war also effected the rapid growth of imperialism due to the different alliances formed for protection as many empires wanted to own the most land before the war ended so they could therefore have the upper hand in the imperialistic race. The world war helped define those big imperialist nations and the threats which they posed which made it easier for them to take over countries and the smaller countries had more fear than before.
In conclusion, these four factors of imperialism really impacted why imperialism grew so quickly in the early 20th century due to the way in which they fuelled on different empires to want to take control of more nations. These four factors showed the rivalries between the empires and the inequality between nations in the age of Imperialism and helped shape the way in which the world is today.
Word Count: 550
Imperialism grew so rapidly at the end of the nineteenth century due to four factors argues Charles S. Maier, technological advance, political control, social inequality and the world war (Gopal & Tikhvinksy). Each of these factors had a very large influence on the age of imperialism “Thus technological advance, the spread of political control over the less economically developed societies by the more advanced, social inequality, and world war were characteristics of an era that is often designated as the age of imperialism” (Gopal & Tikhvinksy, p. 21)
The technological advancement in the early twentieth century divided the world in two- those with new technology and those without. This then created a strong social hierarchy and ultimately then decided which countries would become empires and those who would be taken over as those with more technology had more wealth. The more traditional and fragmented structures such as places like India (Gopal & Tikhvinksy) then became these countries that ‘needed’ imperialism in the eyes of the empires. This helped imperialism grow as the empires now had the technology to overtake the ‘weaker’ nations and control them.
The political control of countries was also a large factor in the age of imperialism due to the fact that between all the empires it was just a power play of who could have the biggest nation. These rivalries would then impact the different alliances once the war started out. This impacted the way that imperialism grew so quickly due to the fact that ‘race of imperialism’ began and each empire wanted to have the most empires and be the most influential empire. Social Darwinism also came into play with the ‘survival of the fittest’ impacting how empires justified their actions of taking over the weaker nations.
Social inequality was another part of imperialism and was an ‘aftermath’ of the above reasons, the introduction of new technology divided the world and the political control what some empires wanted to have caused even more inequality. This helped imperialism grow as the empires found the need to want to ‘help’ those on the poorer side of social inequality. The major two socially unequal nations were Africa and Asia and these two were easy to take over due to them been weak nations in terms of politics, economical and structure of the country. Most of the empires realised this and then the ‘scramble for Africa’ began with Africa then been cut up into many empires.
The world war also effected the rapid growth of imperialism due to the different alliances formed for protection as many empires wanted to own the most land before the war ended so they could therefore have the upper hand in the imperialistic race. The world war helped define those big imperialist nations and the threats which they posed which made it easier for them to take over countries and the smaller countries had more fear than before.
In conclusion, these four factors of imperialism really impacted why imperialism grew so quickly in the early 20th century due to the way in which they fuelled on different empires to want to take control of more nations. These four factors showed the rivalries between the empires and the inequality between nations in the age of Imperialism and helped shape the way in which the world is today.
Word Count: 550