The period from 1870 to 1914 in which industrialized nations sought to control less-developed countries primarily in Africa and Asia, exploit the natural resources in these regions, and dominate new markets where little competition existed.
The period of new imperialism differs from the old imperialism, or what some refer to as the mercantile system, in a number of ways. Instead of competition developing among Great Britain, France, and Spain, new imperialism witnessed the introduction of new key players on the inter national scene, such as the United States, Germany, Japan, and Italy. During the age of mercantilism, immigration from the mother country to the colonies occurred on a wide scale, but during the period of new imperialism, relatively few Europeans immigrated to areas within the new empire.
Economists debate the cause of new imperialism and have developed a number of theories. With his accumulation theory, British economic historian J.A. Hobson argues that the surplus of capital accumulated after the second Industrial Revolution, combined with a restricted home market brought on by the concentration of wealth in the hands of relatively few people and the masses with no money to purchase the vast output of industry, forced capitalist businessmen to seek opportunities in foreign markets with limited competition, low-wage workers, and an abundance of raw materials.
While this theory might be accepted for Great Britain and France, it would not hold true for countries such as the United States, where the government was forced to borrow capital, or in Italy, where little surplus capital existed. In addition, in many cases the costs exceeded the economic benefits derived from the occupation of foreign lands. Immanuel Wallerstein used his world-systems theory to explain how capital from the center gradually moved to the periphery (less-developed nations). The semiperipheral nations (Germany, United States, and Japan) used high tariff barriers to challenge Britain’s dominance over world trade. International rivalries developed as each nation scrambled to become a great power.
Historian Bernard Porter, following Waller-stein’s theory further, states that the British involvement in this new imperialism demonstrated the weakness and ineffectiveness of British business and administration. Britain’s outmoded factories and reluctance to develop new industries such as steel placed the country in a disadvantaged position compared to Germany and the United States.
During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the great empires of Europe (Britain, France, and Spain) lost many of their former colonies. Britain lost the United States after the Revolutionary War. The French lost their colonial possessions in North America and the East during and after the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. Spanish colonies in the New World declared their independence during the Napoleonic Wars as well. Brazil, the only Western Hemisphere colony of the Portuguese, became free in 1822. During the period from 1815 to 1870, the only major power that expanded control over new regions was France. Portions of North Africa and some regions in Southeast Asia fell under French control during his period.
By 1870, most Europeans denounced the idea of colonies. But yet, within just a few years public support for new imperialism was rampant. Several social and cultural changes occurred within a relatively short period that explain this shift. First, Europe was experiencing a tremendous amount of internal tension brought about by the introduction of new political groups such as the socialists, who threatened the traditional capitalist system. Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution dismissed traditional religious accounts of creation and spawned such movements as biblical criticism, which directly challenged the faith of many people.
Cultural changes were also transpiring. Many nations had espoused humanitarian causes such as the antislavery movement, education, the “rights of man,” and medical missions that they sought to export to less-developed nations. Christian missionaries such as David Livingston and John Patteson sought to convert non-Christians and to blaze a path for commerce. The development of the social sciences, such as anthropology, led to the development of the “white man’s burden” argument. Social Darwinism dictated the survival of the fittest—with the European culture obviously, in their minds, being the fittest. These factors, along with the political considerations, drove international rivalry during this period.
When the rush for control over regions that remained free from European domination commenced, regions, and even a continent, were divided among the competitors. Britain added South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt, Sudan, Burma, Malaysia, New Guinea, Borneo, Tonga, the Solomon Islands, and Cyprus to its em pire. The French took the Ivory Coast, Madagascar, most of Saharan Africa, Tunisia, Morocco, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Tahiti, and New Caledonia. Germany controlled the Cameroons, Tanzania, Namibia, Marshall Islands, and Samoa. Italy took Libya, but failed to conquer Ethiopia. Russia incorporated Central Asia and Manchuria into its empire. Japan invaded Korea and Taiwan and won Manchuria after the Russo-Japanese War in 1905. Belgium took Zaire, and the United States, at the conclusion of the Spanish-American War in 1898, possessed the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam besides Hawaii, which had been acquired earlier. The British controlled 30 percent of the continent of Africa, followed by France with 15 percent, Germany with 9 percent, Belgium with 7 percent, and Italy with 1 percent. While the continent of Africa was divided among the European powers, no one power could dominate all of China. Instead, nations developed “spheres of influence” throughout China.
The second Industrial Revolution, high tariff barriers, the existence of monopolies, the plight of laborers, and several small depressions fueled the desire for overseas expansion. New imperialism was also a factor in the international tensions that developed within Europe before the outbreak of World War I.
Cynthia Clark Northrup
See also: Imperialism; World War I.
Betts, Raymond F., ed. The Scramble for Africa: Causes and Dimensions of Empire. Lexington, MA: Heath, 1972.
Chamberlain, Muriel Evelyn. The New Imperialism. London: Historical Association, 1970.
Harvey, David. The New Imperialism. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.