Aggressive Nature and Global Effects of Imperialism Imperialism is an empire or nation extending its rule or authority over foreign countries. During the ninetieth and twentieth centuries, there was a push for expansion that the historical writings at the time described detrimental to the world due to the aggressive nature of the imperialistic countries that viewed it as their moral obligation to bring civilization to the rest of the world. As explained in Commissioner Lin’s “Letter to Queen Victoria” and Mohandas Gandhi’s Hind Swaraj (Indian Home Rule), imperialism ruined the traditional ways of their societies. While in Rudyard Kipling’s The White Man’s Burden and Albert Beveridge’s “The March of the Flag”, see imperialism benefitting the …show more content…
Europe’s Industrial Revolution and growth of nationalism made the need for expansion apparent. Europeans had to fight but eventually they prevailed. Europe thought they were bringing progress to these societies. Europe’s feeling of superiority created extreme racism towards the “inferior” people. Rudyard Kipling in “The White Man’s Burden” said “Take up the White Man’s burden--/ The savage wars of peace,/ Fill full the mouth of Famine/ And bid sickness cease:” Kipling is saying all the benefits that countries get from accepting the forceful movement into the country such as no wars, sickness, or famine. It is the white man’s job to rid countries they take over of these things; therefore, it is called the white man’s burden. The burden to help all other societies. The world did gain technology and education but crashed the economies and governments of some countries. America didn’t become interested in expanding until the 1900’s when they won the Philippines in the Spanish-American war. America now had the power and the will to overcome European imperialistic powers. Albert Beveridge’s “March of the Flag” greatly encouraged America to expand beyond the Philippines. Albert Beveridge said, “We cannot fly from our world duties; it is ours to execute the purpose of a fate that has driven us to be greater than our small intentions” which means that he believes that God bestowed the honor of teaching others how to be …show more content…
If the country placed more value on the traditional views such as emperors and religion being central to the country, then they didn’t see the benefits of imperialism. For example, Gandhi and Commissioner Lin wanted to keep their countries in the same state; however, both lost to the powers of the imperialistic countries. If the country placed more worth on wealth, power, and expansion, then they saw the merit to be gained from imperialism. Rudyard Kipling and Albert Beveridge explained that imperialism would help both countries being effected by imperialism because the imperialistic country would be fulfilling their duty to the world, getting wealthier, and expanding while the other country would brought to new standards of living. Gandhi best compares the two views by using religion. He says, “The tendency of the Indian civilization is to elevate the moral being; that of the Western civilization is to propagate immorality. The latter is godless; the former is based on belief in a God.” Westerners wanted to make a profit and used religion as justification for “improving” other countries. Old traditional societies, like India and China, tied religion in with their everyday
One country that had imperialism was India. By the mid-1880s, the British East India Company controlled three fifths of India. The cause of British domination was that the land was very diverse and the people could not unite and that the British either paid local princes or used weapons to get control. Positive effects of imperialistic rule in India were that the British set up a stronger economy and more powerful industries. They built roads and railroads. British rule brought peace and order to the countryside. They revised the legal system to promote justice for the Indians regardless of class. Indian landowners and princes, who still owned territory grew rich from exporting cash crops such as cotton and jute. The British introduced the telegraph and the postal system as a means of communication. These improvements and benefits from British rule eventually lead to Indian nationalism. The exposure to European ideas caused an Indian nationalist movement, the people dreamed of ending Imperial ...
... of power and they also felt as though they needed to help smaller nations like if it was their burden, which Europeans called it the “white man’s burden”. Mother countries were destroying ethnic groups and causing civil wars between smaller nations.
Although imperialism helped the colonized people by improving the economy and the lives of the people, for the most part imperialism hurt the colonized people because the people were forced to grow cash crops which led to death by starvation. First of all, imperialism improved the lives of the colonized people by aiding economic growth. The imperial powers prompted industrialization in the colonies, which is the development of advanced technology, leading to modernization in the colony. This is the change to a more modern, a more advanced country with new technology and better standards of living. These improvements then led to an increase in self-sufficiency, being able to maintain the colony’s economy by itself.
At a glance Imperialism is seen as a horrendous practice that many European nations practiced at the turn of the century. With Britain at the top and many other nations coming up behind them Imperialism seemed to be the way to go. But why would such a practice that involved exploiting the natives and harming both the land and people be so appealing to the public? The profits offered by Politicians and Officials hid the truth behind Imperialism, swaying the opinion in favor of money, goods, and a sense of moral duty. Imperialism was a great example of ‘a wolf in sheep’s clothing’, its promise of greatness for everyone involved outweighed the hardships many endured from it. The pros and cons of Imperialism
The Negative Force of American Expansionism and Imperialism Many people believe that American Expansionism and Imperialism was a positive force, that it did more good than bad. However, many people disagree with this popular notion. Many good things do come out of it, but the bad ultimately trumps the good. There were several problems between whites and Natives and because of the problems countless people died. To start off, American Expansionism and Imperialism brought isolation to America.
Imperialism is a policy based on the ideas of conquering less industrialized countries in order to gain more power, wealth and to increase a nation’s cultural influence. Imperialism took a tight hold on the modernized world after the industrial revolution, as more developed countries through military force started to conquer surrounding countries, and quickly became a global policy. Imperialism left a lasting affecting on the whole world and the result of the idea was not always for the best. An example of such a case was seen in South Africa where due to British rule, apartheid and segregation grew rampant.
...nents often admit that Imperialism may benefit a small, favored group but never the group as a whole. Their reasoning ends in the advocacy of rectification of economic relations so that in fact the benefits might be obtained which American Imperialism claims to but does not actually provide. This mixture of invocation makes it difficult to eliminate imperialism, but easy for nations considering themselves potential victims to suspect policies not intended to be imperialistic.
Introduction: The epoch of imperialism cannot be defined simply as a proliferation of inflated egos tied to the hardened opinions of nationalists, but also a multi-faceted global rivalry with roots of philosophies tainted with racism and social Darwinism. The technique of each imperialist was specific to the motivations and desires of each combative, predominantly Western power and subsequently impacted the success of each imperialist and its colonies. Driven by industrialization, Europeans are aware of the urgent need for raw materials and new markets to maintain a constant rate of expansion and wealth. Imperialism became a competition; in general, the European countries led with fervor while the non-Western regions deemed likely to be stepped on.
Imperialist nations during the Victorian time period believed that it was their duty to go into uncivilized countries and make a better place for the natives. Great Britain was one of the main imperialist nations; it certainly had a great impact on the world as we see it today. One of the main concepts of imperialism was that the native people would appreciate Great Britain’s effort to civilize the country. Not only did the western world attempt to civilize the savages, but they also instituted means of utilizing the savages’ labor to gain profit for themselves. For example, the British East India Trading Company was the number one exporting company in the world at the time. The majority of the goods in the company were native to India, yet the British sold it to countries such as the United States as British items. Unfortunately, by forcing the natives to provide free labor and accept British culture and customs, the British were setting themselves up for disaster. Rudyard Kipling shows this type of irony behind imperialism in one of his most famous works, “The White Man’s Burd...
Many believe that it is the responsibility and God’s will that one country should dominate over another country or territories. This concept is known as imperialism. Josiah Strong and Rudyard Kipling were powerful men who supported imperialism. Strong was an American religious leader who argued that America was in a race with other countries to dominate the world. Kipling was an English journalist who wrote the famous poem, The White Man’s Burden, based upon the ideas of social Darwinism. How do people justify imperialism? Before one can completely answer this question, the meaning of imperialism must be clear. Webster defines imperialism as the policy, practice, or advocacy of extending the power and dominion of a nation especially by direct territorial acquisitions or by gaining indirect control over the political or economic life of other areas. Throughout history, people have used a variety of reasons to justify imperialism. For Strong and Kipling,
Imperialism is the dominance by one country of political, economic, or cultural life of another country's occupied areas. Imperialism was caused by many things including the industrial revolution, nationalism, exploration, and economic expansion. While Westerners viewed imperialism as economically and culturally enhancing for themselves, Non-Westerners viewed imperialism as economically and politically destructive. The Westerners had a very strong positive opinion on imperialism and thought what they were doing to other countries was enhancing their own economics and culture. The Westerners would be proud to Westernize people from different countries thinking that it made people feel better and be a better person.
This method of understanding imperialism that contrasts with the traditional ideas provides a much more complete understanding of not only European imperialists in the 19th and 20th centuries, but of the concept of imperialism as a
The concept of imperialism is one that has pervaded nearly every major society or empire throughout human history. It seems to be a natural consequence of societies growing in size, power, and knowledge. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries vast changes occurred in Western Europe (and soon spread elsewhere) that spurred a new round of imperialism the likes of which had not been seen before. The changes were the industrial revolution that was taking place. Countries were rapidly advancing to industrial societies producing much greater quantities of goods at much lower costs. The goods produced ranged everywhere from cotton textiles to military machinery, all of which would play important roles in rounds of imperialistic expansion that would follow. The imperialistic displays by Western European nations also brought about several other industrial revolutions in other regions including the Ottoman Empire, Russia, and Japan. I will take a look at how the industrial revolution encouraged imperialistic expansion, as well as some of the results of that expansion in other regions.
This essay will be about a comparative study of the representation of colonialism as a positive or negative force. The texts that are being used are my core text ‘Heart of Darkness’ by Joseph Conrad and ‘Collected Poems’ by Rudyard Kipling. The partner text will be ‘Swami and Friends’ by R. K. Narayan.
I must say that Rudyard Kipling's Kim can be interpreted as a project that articulates the "hegemonic" relations between the colonizer and the colonized during British imperial rule in India. Kipling's novel explores how Kim embodies the absolute divisions between white and non white that existed in India and elsewhere at a time when the dominantly white Christian countries of Europe controlled approximately 85 percent of the world's surface. For Kipling, who believed it was India's destiny to be ruled by England, it was necessary to stress the superiority of the white man whose mission was to