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imperialism

Encyclopdia Britannica Article

state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion,

especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and
economic control of other areas. Because it always involves the use of
power, whether military force or some subtler form, imperialism has often
been considered morally reprehensible, and the term is frequently
employed in international propaganda to denounce and discredit an
opponent's foreign policy.
Imperialism in ancient times is clear in the history of
China and in the history of western Asia and the
Mediterraneanan unending succession of empires. The
tyrannical empire of the Assyrians was replaced (6th4th
The Persian
century BCE) by that of the Persians, in strong contrast to
empire at its
greatest extent. the Assyrian in its liberal treatment of subjected peoples,
assuring it long duration. It eventually gave way to the
imperialism of Greece. When Greek imperialism reached
an apex under Alexander the Great (356323 BCE), a union of the eastern
Mediterranean with western Asia was achieved. But the cosmopolis, in
which all citizens of the world would live harmoniously together in
equality, remained a dream of Alexander. It was partially realized when
the Romans built their empire from Britain to Egypt.

The extent of
the Roman
Empire in AD
117.

This idea of empire as a unifying force was never again

realized after the fall of Rome. The nations arising from
the ashes of the Roman Empire in Europe, and in Asia on
the common basis of Islamic civilization, pursued their
individual imperialist policies. Imperialism became a
divisive force among the peoples of the world.

Three periods in the modern era witnessed the creation

of vast empires, primarily colonial. Between the 15th
century and the middle of the 18th, England, France, the Netherlands,
Portugal, and Spain built empires in the Americas, India, and the East
Indies. For almost a century thereafter, relative calm in empire building
reigned as the result of a strong reaction against imperialism. Then the
decades between the middle of the 19th century and World War I were
again characterized by intense imperialistic policies.

Russia, Italy, Germany, the United States, and Japan were added as
newcomers among the imperialistic states, and indirect, especially
financial, control became a preferred form of imperialism. For a decade
after World War I the great expectations for a better world inspired by the

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League of Nations put the problem of imperialism once more in abeyance.

Then Japan renewed its empire building with an attack in 1931 upon
China, and under the leadership of the totalitarian states, Japan, Fascist
Italy, Nazi Germany, and the Soviet Union, a new period of imperialism
was inaugurated in the 1930s and '40s.

In their modern form, arguments about the causes and value of

imperialism can be classified into four main groups. The first group
contains economic arguments and often turns around the question of
whether or not imperialism pays. Those who argue that it does point to the
human and material resources and the outlets for goods, investment
capital, and surplus population provided by an empire. Their opponents,
among them Adam Smith, David Ricardo, and J.A. Hobson, often admit
that imperialism may benefit a small, favoured group but never the nation
as a whole. Marxist theoreticians interpret imperialism as a late stage of
capitalism when the national capitalist economy has become monopolistic
and is forced to conquer outlets for its overproduction and surplus capital
in competition with other capitalist states. This is the view held, for
instance, by Vladimir Lenin and N.I. Bukharin, to whom capitalism and
imperialism are identical. The weakness in that view is that historical
evidence does not support it and that it fails to explain precapitalist
imperialism and communist imperialism.
A second group of arguments relates imperialism to the nature of human
beings and human groups, such as the state. Such different personalities as
Machiavelli, Sir Francis Bacon, Ludwig Gumplowicz, Adolf Hitler, and
Benito Mussolini, reasoning on different grounds, nevertheless arrived at
similar conclusions. Imperialism to them is part of the natural struggle for
survival. Those endowed with superior qualities are destined to rule all
others.
The third group of arguments has to do with strategy and security. Nations
are urged, proponents of this viewpoint say, to obtain bases, strategic
materials, buffer states, natural frontiers, control of communication
lines for reasons of security, or to prevent other states from obtaining
them. Those who deny the value of imperialism for these purposes point
out that security is not achieved. Expansion of a state's control over
territories and peoples beyond its borders is likely to lead to friction,
hence insecurity, because the safety zones and spheres of influence of
competing nations are bound to overlap sooner or later. Related to the
security argument is the argument that nations are imperialistic in the
search for power and prestige for their own sake.
The fourth group of arguments is based on moral grounds, sometimes with
strong missionary implications. Imperialism is excused as the means of
liberating peoples from tyrannical rule or of bringing them the blessings of
a superior way of life. Imperialism results from a complex of causes in

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which in varying degrees economic pressures, human aggressiveness and

greed, search for security, drive for power and prestige, nationalist
emotions, humanitarianism, and many other factors are effective. This
mixture of motivations makes it difficult to eliminate imperialism but also
easy for states considering themselves potential victims to suspect it in
policies not intended to be imperialistic. Some states of the Third World
have accused the former colonial powers and other nations of
neocolonialism. Their fear is that the granting of aid or the supply of
skilled personnel for economic and technical development might be an
imperialist guise.
Under international organizations, attempts have been made to satisfy by
peaceful means the legitimate aspirations of nations and to contain their
illegitimate ones. Among the measures for these purposes are collective
security arrangements, the mandate and the trusteeship system for
dependent areas, the stimulation of cultural relations between nations,
aid to developing countries, and the improvement of health and welfare
everywhere. See also colonialism.

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2015.

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