Before the main system of government we have in the world today for powerful nations, the main form of the big powers was imperialism. Imperialism is based on a big power that uses a small power in a way that is unequal. It is about control. Control of people and their resources was the part of imperialism that was negative and often led to war of people wanting to be free of this imperialism. It is a relationship between two states where there are things that benefit one state but very often harm the other. This essay looks at the concept of imperialism during the time when it was very popular in the 19th century and then looks at how this led to the reaction of anti-imperialism of the 20th century and today. Examples will be given of countries so that the term can be applied to real world cases where imperialism happened and the positive and negatives that came about it after imperialism left.
Edward W Said said in the Los Angeles times that “Every empire, however, tells itself and the world that it is unlike all other empires, that its mission is not to plunder and control but to education and liberate.” He is saying this though to mean that although they say this, it does not end up being this way. When people use the word imperialism, they are often using it negatively. Scholar and writer Lewis Samuel Feur has written about imperialism and he divides it into two main different types. One is called regressive imperialism. This is the conquest of another people, or even the complete extermination of a people that cause problems for the power that is doing the conquering. This is the sort of imperialism that people are talking about when they speak negatively of the theme. The other kind of imperialism that Feur discusses is called progressive imperialism. This is one in which the power that has conquered attempts to help lift people up by spreading the technological and knowledge breakthroughs of one culture to the other. As shall be seen in examples though, even this sort which claims to have good intentions does not always work out fort the best and they can lead to all sorts of problems.
One obvious example of imperialism is the British Empire, which conquered large portions of the world and then set up imperialistic colonies in order to enrich themselves from the wealth of other nations and bring it back to themselves. The British Empire at its peak contained nearly one forth of the entire Earth’s land above the sea (Furguson, 15). The British empire was began to be imperial in the sixteen century under the queen of Elizabeth the first. She gave permission to Humphrey Gilbert to go overseas in search of discovery and exploration. He began in the west indies and in Newfoundland, Canada and he claimed the harbor there for England, and his half brother, Walter Raleigh, was also given permission by the queen to do likewise behavior in 1584 (Furguson, 18).
One classic example of the Brishish empire was the imperialism that they brought to the United States with the thirteen colonies there that they claimed for themselves. They sent many settlers and established a very large hold. The people who were then basically gotten rid of were the Native Americans who were living there. This is an example of the first kind of imperialism, regressive imperialism in which land and resources are taken from the people who live there. The British had superior weapons and so it was easier for them to take what they wanted. What is interesting is that the settlers as they were called from England then wanted to break away from England because they did not like the way that they were being treated by the government of England. This led to a war now known as the American Revolution. Britain was also then engaged with a war with France. All this fighting became so much that the British needed to give freedom to the people living in the American colonies.
Though this was a bad thing for the Native Americas who were killed sometimes and chased away other times, today there are very few Americans who would regret that they now have a very large and powerful country which many could say was the result of England establishing a colony there and having an imperialistic nature towards the rest of the world. The loss of such a large territory is considered to be a very large one. The Oxford History of The British Empire: The Orgins of an empire, says that this was what led to a change in Britain’s policy toward its other colonies and the way that it was an empire. Many would say that this is why in much of the world today English is the dominant language, because it was from England’s empire that so many people were forced to learn the language. For the United States, British imperial rule was a very good thing because it helped create the country as it is today.
France at the time of the British Empire had it’s own empire and also acted very imperialistic towards them. It is also called the Napoleonic Empire, because it was their leader Napoleon who began to conquer other lands and exploit them for their resources. Napoleon won military victories against Austria, Purssia, Portugal and Russia. During the peak of the empire, the empire had 44 million people belonging to it.
While the same negative arguments against England can be made for France, one could also say that there were good things that the French Empire and their imperialistic policy brought to the world. The French enlightenment was a time of much progress of ideas, art and philosophy that had its origin in France. Many of these ideas were on ideas of freedom. Because of the French empire and it’s imperialistic policies many of these ideas were spread around to the empire. Though it is ironic that ideas of freedom were spread through an imperialistic government, many of these ideas led to good things for countries that received them and the aftermath of these ideas exist in the world still today. The laws in France were applied to its processions. These included trials by jury and the ability of women to get a divorce (Lyon, 232). Portugal, was one of France’s colonies, and as they have a free system that allows people many freedoms, it seems that it was a very good thing for the ideas of the French Revolution to spread because of France’s imperialistic policies.
These are examples from the past. One example of the imperialistic system today that is still in use is in the country of Burma. Burma is not an easy country to live in and it is very difficult for the people who live there to live there. Britain was originally part of the British Empire, but in 1948 it became an independent country. Currently, things are getting better for people within the country, but it is still a country where many people do not have the freedoms to say what they want of the government. This is something that imperialistic countries do, they try to control people not just in the territories that they conquer, but also within their own countries (CIA.gov). As a former British colony it is possible that it was due British imperialistic rule that has caused Burma so many problems today.
Many of the policies of imperialism have left the world. This was due because many subjects rebelled against their imperialistic overlords and demanded their freedom. Still others were able to gain their independence through peaceful means. The 20th century was marked by a move away from imperialistic policy. This had to do with philosophical redefining of people and equality. If all people are equal, how is it that one group of people can benefit unequally from another group. Today in the world, powers still do control resources of other countries and sometimes these relationships are unfair, but it is not like the imperialistic policies of the century before it.
Bibliography
"Central Intelligence Agency." The World Factbook. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2013. <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bm.html>.
Ferguson, Niall. Colossus: the price of America's empire. New York: Penguin Press, 2004. Print.
Louis, William Roger, Alaine M. Low, Nicholas P. Canny, and P. J. Marshall. The Oxford history of the British Empire. Oxford [England: Oxford University Press, 19981999. Print.
Lyons, Martyn. Napoleon Bonaparte and the legacy of the French Revolution. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994. Print.
