The term imperialism is used to refer to practicesgivespolitics in which a nation sought to promote a expansionterritorial, economical and/or cultural about another nation. The use of the word imperialism can occur in current contexts, such as when a country decides to intervene militarily in another.
The term “imperialism” is also often used to refer to the African colonization process, Asia and Oceania, which began in the second half of the 19th century. This process is also known among historians as neocolonialism. During neocolonialism, according to historian Eric Hobsbawm, about 25% of the planet's land was occupied by some imperialist power|1|.
Eric Hobsbawm also exemplifies through Dicestatisticians the scale of imperialist expansion at the time. The following imperialist powers had a increasesignificant in the size of their territories and this was motivated by the domination and the creation of colonies in Asia, Africa and Oceania. Follow the data below|2|:
England: had an increase of 10 million km2 in its territory.
France: had an increase of 9 million km2 in its territory.
Germany: had an increase of 2.5 million km2 in its territory.
Belgium and Italy: had an increase of 2 million km2 in its territory.
In addition to these, other nations like Portugal, Spain, Russia, StatesUnited, Japan etc. they were seen as practitioners of imperialist policies. The influence of imperialism on the planet was great, and continents like the Africa, to this day, reap the consequences of this process of colonial domination.
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Causes of Imperialism
O imperialism, in the definition given above, emerged like consequence of the transformations caused by Industrial Revolution. This revolution was pioneered in the England, in the second half of the eighteenth century, and caused profound changes. From it, there was the emergence gives industry, and changes US ways in production and in employer relations they happened.
The Industrial Revolution resulted in the emergence of newmachines, new meansinCommunication, new meansintransport and was responsible for the use of fossil fuels. With the development of industry, trade transformed, not only at the local level, but also at scaleglobal.
That expansionofbusiness through the Industrial Revolution happened, because the process of productioningoodsgrown up considerably. With the growth in commodity production, industrialized nations needed enlargeyouraccessatraw material used in production and also to expand its sales capacity, that is, new consumer markets were needed.
A cause that largely explains the colonial expansion of the second half of the 19th century is the search for new consumer markets, as Eric Hobsbawm points out|3|. That's because it was believed that the big the amountingoodsproduced it would be absorbed with the expansion of consumer markets.
Hobsbawm also says that “the ‘new imperialism'" it was the by-product Natural in one economyInternational based on the rivalry between several savingsindustrialcompetitors, intensified by the economic pressure of the 1888s”|4|. motivated by expansioneconomical, European nations, mainly, started the processinexpansionterritorial.
Imperialism in Africa
Map that informs the European nations that had colonies on the African continent.
Within the neo-colonial process that took place in the 19th century, the occupation of continentAfrican had great Spotlight. This is because the African continent was largely impacted by imperialism, since, at the height of the imperialist cycle (between 1884 and 1914), the continent just had twoterritories what no were busy: Liberia and Ethiopia.
The historian Valter Roberto Silvério points out that threeevents between 1876 and 1880 were crucial to start the race for the occupation of the African continent|5|:
THE ConferencegeographicalinBrussels, a meeting promoted by Leopold II, King of Belgium, with the objective of developing the interests of the Belgians in the Congo region;
AtactionsinPortugal to expand its dominance over the interior regions of Mozambique;
French politics to promote its colonial expansion in regions of Africa such as Egypt, Tunisia and Madagascar.
These events started a racefor theoccupationofcontinentAfrican which resulted in a series of frictions between the nationsEuropean countries. As a result, OttovonBismarck, German Chancellor, seeking to defend the interests of Germany and put an end to these disputes, organized the Berlin Conference, between 1884 and 1885.
Some of agendasdebated at the conference were the questions relating to navigationFromrivers Congo and Niger, the questionofmap rose proposed by Portugal, and the divisionofcontinentAfrican, that is, establishing the boundaries between regions and stipulating which nations would have rights over the territories.
The occupation of the African continent took place under the justification of being a “missioncivilization”, in which European nations took civilization for the “backward” peoples of Africa. The exploration of the continent for economic purposes also used missionaries. All these justifications used came from idealsracists, like the social Darwinism, which stipulated that the white man was “superior”.
Today, we know that the justifications used were no more than disguise for the real interests that were of promote economic exploitation of the African continent. The occupation of the African continent, in turn, noIt happenedinmannerpeaceful, for the African peoples launched a stiff resistance against the European presence. In this text one of the examples of resistance to imperialism is found.
Also access: Discover more examples of African resistance to European rule
Consequences
Imperialism was very strong in the world during the aforementioned period (between 1884 and 1914), but the presence of Europeans as colonists in Africa and Asia occurred until Mondaya half of the 20th century. imperialism left bassconsequences in these places, such as:
THE demarcationinbordersartificial it has had negative impacts to date in Africa and caused numerous tensions between African nations.
During neocolonialism, a seriesindisputesethnic influenced by European action. One of the most notable cases happened in Rwanda, region that had been part of the Belgian Congo. In 1994, a massacre of great proportions happened in the country, and Hutus were responsible for the death of approximately 1 million Tutsis.
THE explorationeconomical left brandsdeep and until today, the absolute majority of African countries suffer with savingsunstable.
The natives were subjected to a violencelurid. A notable case was in the Belgian Congo, when 10 million people died as a result of Belgian colonial violence.
|1| HOBSBAWM, Eric. The Age of Empires 1875-1914. Rio de Janeiro: Paz e Terra, 2014, p. 97.
|2| Idem, p. 97.
|3| Idem, p. 108.
|4| Idem, p. 109.
SILVÉRIO, Valter Roberto. Synthesis of the General History of Africa collection: 16th to 20th century. Brasília: UNESCO, MEC, UFSCar, 2013, p. 341.
By Daniel Neves
Graduated in History
