IMPERIALISM: CHARACTERISTICS, CAUSES, CONSEQUENCES AND EXAMPLES - HISTORY - 2025

The imperialism is a system of political power extending its economic, social and cultural yoke by the military authorities, making use of force on other states and peoples. This model of political administration is based on cultural submission, economic abuse, strategic appropriation of geographic factors, and the occupation of uninhabited areas, among other strategies.

There are two faces of imperialism: the regressive, whose purpose is to reduce the existing population and replace it with the desirable one; and the progressive one, which implies the desire to expand civilization as well as increase the cultural standard and the quality of life of the regions considered inferior.

This image presents the imperialist situation in the world in 1914. Source: Andrew0921

This generates societies with unequal characteristics that move within a dynamic of imposition by force, of a nation that wants to expand its dominance, both military and political, on the premise that its superiority as a race attributes the right to exercise control over resources. of the nation of inferior progeny.

There is also a more modern concept of imperialism that has a capitalist perspective. His idea of ​​expansion is based on the fact that a nation seeks to broaden its horizons within the commercial exchange process, which involves locating markets, labor and basic products at a lower cost.

Origin

"The White Man's Burden" March 16, 1899.

The emergence of imperialism dates back to ancient times, when the inhabitants of ancient civilizations such as the Mesoamericans (for example, Mayan and Aztec) adopted different models of this system of domination during their settlement process, adapting them to their dreams of expansion and power.

Thus arose powerful empires that imposed their religion and civilization on less favored regions politically and militarily.

Virtually invincible armies such as the Roman and Alexander the Great are examples of those who controlled and unified as a vast empire all the conquered regions that surrendered to their invading force.

Imperialism and the Modern Age

The imperialist concept of Europe in the early modern age had other characteristics. It consisted of the struggle between different countries to conquer the territories that were separated from their metropolis; They were the so-called overseas territories (America and part of Asia).

These imperialist models were organized according to the laws of mercantilism, which implied a control of the trade of each colonized region and the monopoly of the profits obtained.

In the middle of the 19th century, another form of imperialism called free trade emerged. Europe - especially Great Britain - expanded through diplomatic channels and its economic resources, disregarding the legal way of creating colonies.

At the end of the 19th century many European countries returned to the original practice of annexation of territories, and thus spread to other latitudes in Asia, the Pacific and Africa.

characteristics

The discovery of America in 1492 began mercantile capitalism

-The objective of the nation with the best political and military resources is to expand from the surrender of the weakest peoples.

- The dominant countries that exercise an imperial attitude against other minors have as one of their main objectives to promote the acculturation of that territory. That is, the dominating country replaces the local culture because they are convinced that theirs is more advanced.

-The dominant State imposes its values ​​and social, cultural, political and economic laws on the dominated, legally or illegally.

-The idea of ​​the "superior race" is based on the ethnocentric notion of the dominant state.

-The theories of Charles Darwin support the notion of the survival of the fittest, thus supporting the concept of sovereignty of the advantageous peoples over the dominated (social Darwinism).

-The European powers expanded under the premise that the more territories conquered, the greater the world power.

-Industrial development goes hand in hand with financial capital.

-The nation that dominates exercises the economic monopoly over the oppressed and benefits exclusively from the results.

-Inequality between the groups occurs categorically; the dominated are considered second-class people.

-The nation that dominates exercises absolute control of political and military power through employees appointed from outside and / or by indoctrinating indigenous people.

-Promotes transculturation and the loss of identity of oppressed peoples.

-It is detached from moral responsibilities, claiming its duty to help and adopt the least favored by annexing them to their territories.

-In order for the control of a country to be carried out in a clear and prolonged way, it is necessary that the empire or the dominant power guarantee political stability in its favor. This is another great characteristic of imperialisms: they put and remove governments at their convenience, often bypassing the legal mechanisms established in the laws of the country.

–Bank control is also one of the most important characteristics of imperialism. Globalization has brought large banks from Europe, the United States and more recently East Asia, to have bought banking entities all over the planet, extending their commercial dominance and also imposing a single way of doing banking, although adapted to the particularities of each country..

Causes

Historically, the causes of imperialism have been steeped in ideological, economic and political motivations.

The exploitation of territories

The desire to acquire territories to exploit the wealth that exists in it is one of the reasons that gave rise to imperialism in the 15th and 16th centuries. The imperialist nations moved for this reason showed little or no respect for the peoples they subjected, who were generally used as slaves.

Obtaining economic benefits

Another cause of imperialism is the search for economic benefits through the creation of economic exchange markets in the colonies, which involved the interaction between the State and private companies.

In this sense, the imperialist force takes advantage of the new territories to expand markets and generate new fields of investment. The British East India Company is an example of this.

Ideas of superiority and social Darwinism

From an ideological point of view, the notion of superiority and survival of the fittest (the latter supported by Charles Darwin's theory of the origin of species) led to the integration of Great Britain as an empire, since it argued that the white man should contribute with the civilization of lagging peoples.

For these purposes, evangelization and the prohibitions imposed by their religions on the conquered peoples were very useful in the face of the ignorance of many communities.

Likewise, Germany defended its caste superiority under the premise of the Aryan race, and this allowed it to expand culturally under Hitler's domination, subjugating a people that suffered one of the greatest genocides in history: the Jewish people.

For its part, the United States of America raised the banner of "protecting the free world" and broadened its horizons, as did the former Russia, which wanted to "liberate" Eastern Europe and the third world countries; these are examples of such ideological justification.

Political motivation

The will to strengthen diplomatic pre-eminence, the aspiration for power, security and renown are the political imperatives that justify the need for the expansion of nations as a way to protect themselves and maintain world leadership.

Despite the fact that once World War II was over, the most influential empires were dissolved, even today countries such as the US exercise a predominance of the imperialist model (now associated with the term neoliberalism) due to its economic power and weight within organizations. that govern the financial destinations of many countries.

Demographic reasons

At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, the population of the European continent grew considerably. The precarious working conditions and the scarcity of work led countries to expand their domains to increase the labor market.

Military reasons

David Fidlehouse (1981, cited by Hawksley) argues that one of the reasons for expansion is the value of these new territories as strategic military bases.

In this regard, Alfred Mahan, author of In The Influence of Sea Power Upon History (On the influence of sea power in history) points out that every great power must have a modern fleet, naval bases in the Pacific and the Caribbean.

The Industrial Revolution and capitalism

Undoubtedly, the Industrial Revolution facilitated the conditions to promote the conquest of territories to the European powers. This industry growth gave way to capital growth.

Capitalism was a determining factor in relation to the expansion of territories. The expansion of markets and the commercialization of products was promoted, as well as the search for cheap labor; All of this resulted in what we know as financial imperialism.

"The White Man's Burden"

The White Man's Burden is a poem written by Rudyard Kipling, in which it is stated that it is the duty of white men to "bring civilization" to the colonies.

This poem, which showed the superiority of Europeans over Africans and Asians, promoted the imperialist ideas of the western nations.

The religion

During the 19th century, it was common for European nations to send missionaries to the colonies. However, behind this evangelization there was an ulterior motive: to control the peoples through the prohibitions imposed by religion.

Scientific imperialism or techno-colonialism

Although it is supposed to be a way to improve the world, technology has become a tool of remote domination.

The conditions that are generated as a consequence of the oppressive use of technology represent a shortcut for the developed countries of the so-called first world to have direct access to the third world countries.

This access is achieved through the commercialization of the products that created the phenomenon of techno-dependence, and that once again catapulted capitalism as a model of financial domination.

The effects of this type of economic imperialism are reflected in the features that characterize each nation and culture, since they will inevitably be impregnated with aspects of the dominant countries.

This has shortened distances and facilitated ideological penetration through sophisticated means of communication that avoid the physical displacement of the invader, but guarantee their dominance over the communities that depend more and more on these products.

Consequences

-Acculturation is one of the most important consequences of imperialism in the process of conquering weaker territories; it includes the loss of identity, the destruction of values ​​and belief schemes and, finally, transculturation.

-The most cruel wars and genocides in the name of the progress and evolution of nations.

- Racism and marked ethnic differences that superimpose some individuals over others, giving them advantages over the less favored in essential aspects for human survival that should be of common access.

-The devastating ecocides that have destroyed the natural resources of many countries, plunging them into the deepest misery. This has happened historically on the African continent, and recently it has been seen in Latin America.

-The negative impact on the ecological environment and the deterioration of the vital elements of the planet. This is generated as a result of industrial waste and the consequences of wars that devastated entire territories and communities.

-Indiscriminate exploitation of labor.

- The natural, infinite and inevitable generation of conflicts between nations, and of international and humanitarian crises.

-In many cases, the dehumanization of the human species.

-The revitalization of the product that is marketed. This context blurs boundaries and provides easy access to individuals, thus strengthening the market.

-Cancellation of national markets.

-In most cases, organized crime, the black market, money laundering, the trafficking of nuclear and regular weapons, the black market of international currencies, tax havens and capital flight intensify.

Examples of imperialism

Some of the largest empires in history have been the British, Spanish, Ottoman, Mongol, Chinese, Persian, or Japanese empires.

References

1. "Imperialism" in Wikipedia. Retrieved on March 22, 2019 from Wikipedia: wikipedia.org
2. Rodríguez C. Eva M. "Imperialism" in Contributions to the Social Sciences. Retrieved on March 22, 2019 from: net
3. "Imperialism" in Hiru. Retrieved on March 23, 2019 from Hiru: hiru.eus.
4. Arnoletto Eduardo "Consequence of Imperialism" in Virtual Library of Law, Economics and Social Sciences. Retrieved March 23, 2019 from the Virtual Library of Law, Economics and Social Sciences: eumed.net
5. Uribe R. Verónica P. "Globalization and Neoliberalism" at the Autonomous University of the state of Hidalgo. Retrieved on March 24, 2019 from the Autonomous University of the State of Hidalgo: uaeh.edu.mx
6. "Imperialism" in Ecured. Retrieved on March 24, 2019 from Ecured: ecured.cu