Summary Of The Wilsonian Moment

Throughout history, many powerful nations interfered with nations that were weaker than they were. This form of sabotaging a nation is economic, political or cultural life is called as imperialism. Imperialism is often separated into two sects. The first one is old imperialism, which was the period from the 1500s to the 1800s, where European nation started to colonize many areas such as the Americas, and parts of Southeast Asia. On the other hand, the new imperialism was the period between the years “1870-1914”, where Europe became more focused on expanding their land into Asia and Africa. Imperialism had many pros and cons. In addition, it also had many causes led by the feeling of nationalism.

The process of decolonization proved to have its own struggles within those who were seeking their independence from imperialist powers. Evidently, these nationalist movements were different in many regions, but they generally shared the sentiment that “Westernization” had taken something away from them. This proved to be the case in Africa and Asia, where the colonization movement from imperialist powers was of strong presence, and that had trouble weakening during and after the Cold War. Part of this struggle was due to the forms of government that were imposed, and because many of these colonies had been in this position for such long time that they were not able to predict upcoming conflicts after their independence. However, in many cases, the problems were more complicated and often implied a combination of reaction to westernization and internal conflicts. Undoubtedly,

In the early portion of the twentieth century, there was an extraordinary surge of European empires claiming countries as their own. This outburst of imperialism spanned to Asia, Africa, and Latin America. At the cusp of this competitive era, approximately four-fifths of the earth were under European control. There are several accounts of resistances to European imperialism however, especially in Asia. This paper will explore the resistances made by India and China against European imperialism, compare the similarities of both campaigns, and contrast the techniques used in both accounts.

The inconsistencies in the implementation even partly contributed to the outbreak of the Second World War (xxx, xxx). The European powers mobilized their African subjects with propaganda vilifying the racial-supremacist ideology of the Fascist powers. This set-in motion a process in which “Fascist nationalism produced the opposed reality of anti-Fascism; and anti-Fascism became antiracism; and antiracism led in due course to an end of colonization” (Davidson, 1992). The result was the erasure of European colonial rule from large swathes of the African continent within a relatively short period of time (xxx, xxx). Consequently, this led to the development of a decolonized version of the self-determination concept. The decolonization version of self-determination was based on the following three principles: i) all dependent peoples are entitled to freedom; ii) the peoples so entitled are defined in terms of the existing colonial territories, each of which contains a nation; and iii) once such a people has come to independence, no residual right of self-determination remains with any group within it or cutting across its frontiers (Emerson 1964). This version of self-determination had numerous implications. The concerned entities often did not find it necessary to demonstrate effective legitimate authority to gain and

The study of British colonialism is a rather new field with much to discuss and a lot more to debate. The recent recognition of new nation-states that were once under the control of Britain was a growing phenomenon and one that continues to play a large role in today’s global politics. Since the rather recent period of these new nations, new study’s have been done into the history of a) the peoples that inhabited the land before Britain, b) the way Britain occupied and control and land, and now c) post-Britain. This is a growing topic in the historical field because seventy-five years ago there was no thought that Britain would relieve control of India or Nigeria. That is why post-British colonialism is important to today, because it is a

Woodrow Wilson, the 28th U.S. president, drove America through World War I and made the Versailles Treaty's "Fourteen Points," the remainder of which was making a League of Nations to guarantee world peace. Wilson additionally made the Federal Reserve and bolstered the nineteenth Amendment, enabling ladies to vote.

It therefore becomes difficult to integrate a country’s ‘independence’ and post-colonialism. On one hand post-colonialism is used to refer to the following periods after independence gained by the colonized nation and on the other hand post-colonialism is associated with opposing and resistance moves against colonial rule by the colonized nation. In this case, independence is only used to refer to the setup of a free government by the local people without the influence of the imperial power. It is however argued that even though the period of obtaining independence for a country is considered as a post-colonialism historic movement, it does not necessarily imply full independence from the influence of colonial rule (Ashcroft et al.,116). This takes into consideration that currently some countries even after obtaining independence in terms of the time period, they still rely on their colonial masters mainly for financial aid.

George strongly believes in the slaves right to freedom, the right to flee from their masters, and he also believes that the country is not his peoples. He believes that no man should own another man he expresses his feelings to Mr. Wilson:

As Sam Pollard, director of the PBS special - August Wilson: The Ground of Which I Stand, asserts, August Wilson may be regarded as an American Shakespeare, for “his body of work really covers the whole 20th century of American history…and there is no other American playwright who did that body of work over a period of time.” (American Masters, August Wilson: The Ground of Which I Stand) While such grand comparisons may or may not be merited, August Wilson’s Pittsburg Cycle stands as a literary, historical, and cultural feat in which Wilson illustrates, teaches, and preserves the African American experience through an exploration into the poetics of the Blues. No literary scholar would deny this claim; and this assertion remains completely

As the United States transformed physically from industrialization and competition to secure international markets a new political global hierarchy in the Imperial Age began to form. World power at this time was often accumulated by Nations dominated by the Anglo Saxon races. This power often came at the expense of minorities in non-industrialized Nations. The forceful acquisition of territories by more advanced Nations often resulted from racists theories of white superiority. Notions of white superiority evolved from philosophies like Social Darwinism and were used to support the White Man’s burden or duty to civilize less developed peoples. America in an effort to compete with European Nations on the Global stage obtained several territories from its victory in the Spanish America War. The acquisition of the Philippines in particular, sparked competing interpretations of the definition liberty and its proper administration in these new U.S. Territories. As well as, ignited debates among intellectuals, politicians and the American people over the role America’s foreign policy should embrace in the World Stage. Ultimately, Imperialists championed American foreign policy that restricted the liberty of inferior races, propelling America to embrace its duty to civilize the world as a Global Power. At the same time, anti-imperialists pursued foreign policy measures to expand liberty for native peoples in U.S. Territories insisting imperialism violated America’s founding

During the 1880’s, an idea known as “new imperialism” caused most of Europe to enter a period of colonial expansion that placed parts of both Africa and Asia under European control. Before 1880, Europe had little influence in Africa. They had relations with the governments and nations that were present, trading slaves and goods between continents. However, in a period known as the “Scramble for Africa”, Africa was divvied up among the giants: Great Britain took South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya; France, North and West Africa; and Germany, East and Southwest Africa. Three main factors motivated this new imperialism. The first was a combination of racism and Social Darwinism -- the latter being the belief that, in the struggle between nations, only the strong will prevail. The second stemmed from religion, and was known as “The White Man’s Burden”-- the idea that Europeans were obligated to bring technology and order to lands that until then had not tasted the amenities of their so-called “civilization”. The third was economics, for the untapped stores of Africa would bring the nation who could take advantage of them great wealth. Were one to say, “Late 19th century European imperialism was primarily an economic undertaking”, then they would be partially correct; all these factors influenced the actions of the European nations uniquely. Late 19th century European imperialism was primarily an economic undertaking to a near-full extent because, although supporters of White Man’s

The Wilsonian Moment was a short period of history that lasted from the last days of the Great War to the end of the peace conference. Out of this period came the term and idea of Wilsonianism. Wilsonianism was developed by Woodrow Wilson during his years as the President of the United States. President Wilson was noted for his creation of the Fourteen Points which became the basis for Wilsonianism. The one point that made such a large impact was the concept of self-determination. During Wilson’s Fourteen Points he had made several references to the creation of states based upon allegiances and nationality. Furthermore, he stressed the colonial possessions must be adjusted and that the

The Japanese pursuit for an empire in South East Asia helped changed the balance of world power away from Europe, by taking their most lucrative colonies. Soon after the Japanese defeat in World War II, most of the colonies won their independence from their European masters. This essay will be arguing that despite the vast geographical distance and cultural, racial differences, as well as the different time periods involved, Japanese and European intentions were very similar, and that these similarities contributed to the weakening of Imperialism as a doctrine. To do so, this essay will be examining the reasons for the Japanese

In his speech Sadat emphasized that Asia and Africa are now emancipated and will no longer tolerate Westerners trespassing onto their property and exploiting their people. Sadat states, “But before materializing as an historical event, it was an impression and an innate volition instinctively developing in the mind of the colonized and the exploited-the human being whom imperialism had reduced to a typified specimen of a subjugated specie and bondsman recognizable in every colonized country” (1). That statement is an illustration of how the Asian and African people felt about being imperialized by Westerners. The Asian and African people believed that they were being exploited and did not want to be under the rule of Westerners. Hence, why they responded with resistance and fought back against being imperialized by Westerners. The presence of widespread imperialism across Africa gave rise to the idea of nationalism. African people wanted to have their own independence and did not want to be oppressed by European empires. In the book Documents in World History, Peter Stearns et al. states, “Nationalism was one of the crucial, although unintended, products of European imperialism. Local Leaders, particularly aspiring newcomers often exposed to European education, saw the importance of nationalism in the Western society and used it as a vehicle for protesting colonial controls and demanding independence” (329). That statement is an indication that African people resented imperialism. They were aware that nationalism and independence were crucial in Western societies and were not open to the idea of accepting imperialism. So, the African people were resilient in the fight to overthrow their imperial masters. As some of the African people became exposed to Western

The New Imperialism during the 19th century throughout Africa and Asia was an influential prompt to the rise of colonialism and powerful European empires. Consisting of raw materials, markets for European business, and provided resources made the African and Asian colonies extremely ingenious for European empires. However, as the 20th century emerged, imperialism suddenly faded and became a sentiment of the past. Surely even one of the most influential empires at a certain point in time – Britain, gradually came at ease with dropping its imperial rule over some colonies. Likewise, following gory and extensive battles, a parallel approach was taken by France. Nevertheless, the utmost spark to the 20th century decolonization was primarily