The term “imperialism” is often used in modern-day political discourse as a means of discrediting an opponent’s foreign policy. To fully understand what is imperialism actually means, we need to dive deeper into its history and differentiate the term from similar concepts such as colonialism and mercantilism.
Definition of “Imperialism”
Imperialism throughout history had different forms of expansion and government. There’s not a simple definition that can fully encompass the meaning of the term. Encyclopedia Britannica begins the article on imperialism with the following definition: “Imperialism is a 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.” In other words, Imperialism is the policy of extending a country’s power into another country’s territories or gaining control over its politics and/or economics.
Typically, the motive for such an expansion is economic, cultural, political, and/or moral control. The goal of imperialism is to acquire resources, mostly through exploitation and force. It can be achieved by employing hard power through economic pressure or military involvement but also soft power through cultural influence and diplomacy.
The word “imperialism” originated from the Latin word “imperium”, which translates “to command”. It became prominent in the 1870s in Great Britain. Back then it was used in a negative sense, in light of Napoleon III’s endeavors to obtain political support through foreign military interventions.
Today, the term imperialism is commonly used to describe Western and Japanese dominance in Asia and Africa, in the 19th and 20th centuries. Some scholars use the term more extensively to describe any system of domination and subordination organized around an imperial core. In contrast, Marxist theoreticians have a narrower definition of the term interpreting it as a late stage of capitalism, when the capitalist economy becomes monopolistic and has to obtain outlets for its overproduction, all to stay competitive on the geo-political scene. So to form a relevant opinion on what imperialism is, we need to distinguish it from other related terms such as colonialism and mercantilism.
Imperialism vs. Colonialism vs. Mercantilism
Although many people use the terms “imperialism” and “colonialism” interchangeably, they are associated with different concepts. It can be said that colonialism is a type of imperialism which means that imperialism is a broader term that encompasses colonialism in its meaning. While imperialism tends to obtain control over another country’s politics, colonialism aims at gaining control over the people of that particular country. To achieve this, colonialism uses the implanting of settlers that live and exploit the newly acquired territories but remain loyal to their country of origin. Imperialists can exercise power with various means of control without deploying settlers in the new territory and in that sense it includes colonialism as one of its forms.
The relationship between imperialism and mercantilism is similar to that between imperialism and colonialism. The basic goal of mercantilism is to maximize exports and minimize imports for the economy of the country. Their methods are based on economic policies that impose government regulations on other countries’ economies in order to accumulate monetary benefits through a positive balance of trade. This often leads to conflicts and, in many cases, colonial aspirations.
Mercantilism supports and encourages imperialism, colonialism, and exploitation of foreign resources through economic measures. Maybe the best example of mercantilism as a promoter of imperial interests is the British colonization of India. As Joe Painter emphasized in his 1995 book “Politics, Geography and Political Geography: A Critical Perspective”, the British government “exploited the political weakness of the Mughal state, and, while military activity was important at various times, the economic and administrative incorporation of local elites was also of crucial significance for the establishment of control over the subcontinent’s resources, markets, and manpower.”
History of Imperialism
When we think of imperialism in its widest meaning then its history overlaps with the written history of the world. Some scholars argue that the history of imperialism can be divided into two huge periods, one from the dawn of civilization until the fall of the Roman Empire, and the other from that point in time until today. The idea of an empire in the first acknowledged period was a uniting one, chasing the ideal of a cosmopolis, in which all people in it would live harmoniously together in equality. That idea dramatically changed after the fall of the Romans. When new empires arose from the ashes of Rome, like England, France, or Spain in Europe, as well as the Islamic expansion in Asia and Africa happened, the idea of an empire became a divisive concept.
When we talk about imperialism, we usually think of the creation of vast empires that happened from the 15th century onwards. It is the period when European merchants were able to “roam the high seas and appropriate surpluses from around the world (sometimes peaceably, sometimes violently) and to concentrate them in Europe” as David Harvey explained in his book “Spaces of Global Capitalism: A Theory of Uneven Geographical Development”. At the forefront of this geo-political development were England, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain. They imposed their rule over vast amounts of land in the Americas, India, and the East Indies.
The imperialist expansion greatly accelerated in the 19th century. Other countries such as Russia, Italy, Germany, the United States, and Japan joined the imperialist club. By this time, soft power was seen as a more effective way of dominating other nations, especially through financial mechanisms of control. After the Great War (1914-1918) there was a brief pause in imperialism but Japan renewed its empire-building in 1931 with its invasion of China. Shortly after, Italy under Benito Mussolini started its campaign of becoming a colonial power while Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin, began a new period of imperialist domination in the 1930s and 1940s.
Many argue that today’s imperialist ambitions are as vivid and real as ever. They appear in the form of economic interventionism which is economic policy favoring government intervention in the market process to correct market failures. It is promoted with the excuse of promoting the general welfare of the people. Since we mentioned excuses, it is time to go through the arguments that try to justify imperialist positions.
How is Imperialism justified?
Several theories justify the causes and emphasize the value of imperialism. They are based on different arguments. The economic ones point out that empires produce a surplus population by distributing goods and providing market opportunities from which all people benefit. This theory is highly criticized by other economists such as Adam Smith and David Ricardo who claim that imperialism benefits only a small percent of the population, accumulating vast amounts of wealth for only a small favored group of citizens.
The other type of argumentation is the debate revolving around human nature. Philosophers like Machiavelli and Sir Francis Bacon argued that imperialism is part of the natural fight for survival. Those blessed with superior qualities are intended to rule all others. Although these philosophers had purely intellectual motives for developing their theories, some other, not-so-intellectual people like Hitler and Mussolini took these thoughts and distorted them to fit their own, wicked agenda.
The third group of arguments is sort of a defensive one. They are based on the notion that imperialism is inherent to every rising nation. In a world of overlapping powers, imperialist actions are vital to minimizing a nation’s military and political vulnerability.
The last batch of arguments is based on moral grounds. It is a theory by which imperialism is justified as a means of liberating peoples from tyrannical rule and/or bringing them the blessings of a superior way of life. In recent times, we witnessed several such imperialistic interventions under the disguise of liberation and progress. Such was the War on Terror and the subsequent invasion of Afghanistan, the wars and desolation of Iraq and Libya, and to a certain extent, the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Anti-imperialism
Anti-imperialist thought has been present since the time of the aforementioned Adam Smith, who opposed imperial logic and claimed that it destroyed free trade. Although not alone, Smith nor anybody else has succeeded in developing those ideas into a popular movement.
Anti-imperialist ideas began to gain mass recognition at the beginning of the 20th century. On June 15, 1898, the Anti-Imperialist League was founded in Boston. It represented the opposition to the acquisition of the Philippines. They argued that imperialism abandoned the core ideas of republicanism, especially the need for the “consent of the governed”. The League included notable members such as Henry James, William James, and Mark Twain. They published their “Platform of the American Antilmperialist League” in 1899 in which they stated the following:
“We hold that the policy known as imperialism is hostile to liberty and tends toward militarism, an evil from which it has been our glory to be free. We regret that it has become necessary in the land of Washington and Lincoln to reaffirm that all men, of whatever race or color, are entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
Other forms of anti-imperialism include nationalist movements that want to pull away from a larger entity (empire or multi-ethnic state), Marxist critics of imperialism viewed as the last stage of capitalism, and the Pan-Islamic movement which calls upon Muslims to rise against European imperial powers and re-establish an Islamic Caliphate. In addition to America and its allies like Israel, these pan-Islamists also view Russia and China as imperial and neo-colonial forces that have to be opposed.
Imperialism is a crime
Imperialism is a historical fact. It existed from the beginning of state-organized societies. It developed through the centuries in various forms. Although justified in the past, imperialism has gained a negative context in recent times. Nowadays, anti-imperialist thought is far more popular than in earlier centuries. The principal equality of people is a much wider absorbed idea than it used to be, at least in the West. That’s why neo-colonial tendencies need to be disguised as other forms of intervention. I’ll close this article with one more quote from the American Antilmperialist League platform, a thought with which I agree and uphold:
“We maintain that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. We insist that the subjugation of any people is criminal aggression.”
Leave a Reply