The Enlightenment Set the Stage for New Imperialism

Imperialism is the domination by one country of the political, economic, or cultural life of another country. It occurred in the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth century. Nationalism had produced strong, centrally governed nation-states. The Industrial Revolution had made economies stronger as well, with growing need for raw resources that continental European countries didn’t have. During this time, European industrialized nations became more aggressive into expanding into other lands. Despite the massive gains in land and resources, because of the economic and humanitarian costs, in the eyes of the conquerors, imperialism wasn’t justified.

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the new imperialism in europe increased. The new imperialism characterizes a period of colonial expansion by european powers, the united states and japan. Europeans began colonizing africa and asia and used military force to take over local governments which led to the new imperialism. The new imperialism was led by many reasons such as economics, politics, and social forces.

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.

Many people have their ideas and opinions on the topic of imperialism of the different continents like Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Imperialism had different effects that came from the and different reasons for which it was done. There have been poems, essays, and short stories about the good and bad of imperialism. Those who read some of these works interpret them in different ways that can change the message the author originally had planned. Imperialism shed light upon that not everything is how it seems.

Imperialism began during the 1870’s, it was a process in which states, companies, and people exercised their dominance over the rest of the world. Some characteristics of imperialism are: a system of dominance rather than exchange, the investment of wealth brought in alternated the whole infrastructure, lastly it is based on treating other class divisions poorly just to benefit from their work. Imperialism came into power through the disproportionate European power, the unparalleled domestic support, the non-western power vacuum, and lastly due to divide and conquer tactics in which local leaders would support the imperialist dominating.

The concept of imperialism is one that has pervaded nearly every major society or empire throughout human history. It seems to be a natural consequence of societies growing in size, power, and knowledge. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries vast changes occurred in Western Europe (and soon spread elsewhere) that spurred a new round of imperialism the likes of which had not been seen before. The changes were the industrial revolution that was taking place. Countries were rapidly advancing to industrial societies producing much greater quantities of goods at much lower costs. The goods produced ranged everywhere from cotton textiles to military machinery, all of which would play important roles in rounds of imperialistic expansion that

Old Imperialism was the period from 1450-1750, in which powers were motivated by “gold, glory, and God”. Political power was controlled by central governments while leaders were busy trying to increase their power. National wealth was widely viewed as holder of

Imperialism is a recurring theme in the history of the world. Stronger countries see themselves as superior to other societies and believe their ways are right. They force religion, government, and practices on countless foreign lands. At the very end of the nineteenth

Throughout history around the world, imperialism took a big role. Imperialism had positive and negative effects. The Age of Imperialism took place between 1800-1914. During this time, Europe played a big role and was a major world leader. Many European countries had set up their colonies in many parts of the world such as Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Because of the European imperialism, they grew in power, making them a big part of the world’s power. They are also gaining natural resources and land. However, although Europe is gaining all the positive effects of this imperialism, the other countries--Asia, Africa, and Latin America--had an entirely different effect. Instead of gaining power like the Europeans, these countries and their people are being mistreated. They had all their land, culture, freedom, respect taken away from them. In addition to these negative effects, there was also racism involved.

Before the early settlers established the “New Nation”, their allegiance was with Britain. The British government restricted what religious and political views they would follow. The Church of England and the British government were intertwined, one in the same, and the people began to search for a better way of life. Their desire for freedom drove them to the voyage that thousands eventually took across the Atlantic, and to America.

Imperialism has been a long standing ideology that is able to withstand the tests of time due to the applicability of the concept. The general definition of Imperialism, as provided by Merriam-Webster, is the practice in which a country furthers its power by the means of control and domination in other regions of the world. This took on a new form as the nineteenth-century approached, as Traditions & Encounters a Global Perspective on the Past elaborated, it mainly pertained to European powers at this time and their control over colonial land and the world of influence. 19th century imperialists had three main foci, these being economic, political, and cultural motifs, these foci dominated the reasons for imperialism in the nineteenth-century and determined how nations would interact with the world and others; these foci would often find conflicts with each other and overlap causing disruption in the goals of the nations involved.

New imperialism was a period of colonial expansion by European powers during the late 19th century and early 20th century. It is distinguished by the continuous territorial acquisitions of Africa and Asia by European powers. These powers include Great Britain, France, Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium (Tusan, Scramble for Africa, October 23rd). There were many reasons behind this aggressive competition. To them, these newfound lands were an opportunity to expand their power and exploit further resources. To put it bluntly, economic, political, cultural, and ideological motivations all helped start the era of New Imperialism and its new form of empire.

Europeans contained the belief that their customs and religious values were the sole method in living. Missionaries from throughout Europe desired to journey to foreign lands in order to teach the civilized and Christian ways of living to the natives. Often missionaries were in competition for converts, and thus supplied imperialism with other drives (Patterson, par. 10). The Social Darwinist ideas were prevalent in this time. The Europeans believed in the survival of the fittest, and it was generally accepted that the Anglo-Saxons were the superior race. In the 1890’s Rudyard Kipling published “Whiteman’s Burden”. This poem defines the white man as responsible for civilizing the “others”. It is supportive of the imperialism of other countries

suggested it was unclear to why a nation, such as Europe, would provide a distant suppressing

What is the New Imperialism and what were the cause and effects in the World Wars in order to understand what is the “New Imperialism”, we must first learn and define Imperialism: a policy or practice by which a country increases its power by gaining control over other areas of the world: the effect that a powerful country or group of countries has in changing or influencing the way people live in other, poorer countries. The New Imperialism takes on effects in the late 19th century this is when there is an interest or wanting to gain a imperial territory, Imperialism is also consider to be when there is a desire to control a trading routes and resources in a nation. A perfect example of the New Imperialism is called the "Scramble for Africa", this is when Europe tries to takes control over Africa. In the late 19th century Europe struggle to destabilize and to balance the power that they once had before Italy and Germany became unify.