How Did Hobsbawm Contribute To The Rise Of Imperialism?

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Although there is a sense of old fashion associated with the Age of the Empires, which certain historians define as 1875 to 1914, it is still a period of innovation and where the “new imperialism” starts to develop. Eric Hobsbawm evaluates various theories concerning the rise of imperialism throughout the chapter of “The Age Of Empire”. This is done though three main factors; cultures, economics, and politics. It is made clear that the three factors are entwined, however all three are given difference significance concerning their importance during that period and present day. Furthermore, certain topics such as, Leninism, anti-Leninism, socialism, anti-imperialism, labour movement and westernization are evaluated through their advantages …show more content…

The author discusses how certain historians try to account for the British expansion in Africa as an attempt to defend the routes to India from potential threats. It is also discussed how the British are drawn into imposing a much greater political influence in Egypt than originally planned. However, the problem with these analyses is that historians are trying to explain imperialism through only one mean, which is the political factor. Furthermore, Hobsbawm assures that these arguments are invalidating towards to economic analysis of imperialism. Examples such as the incentive towards the scramble for West Africa , Congo and India which was the “brightest jewel in the imperial crown”, are given. Also, Hobsbawm raises the point of the dismantling of the indigenous governments which forced the Great Empires to directly administer the colony and the definition of “imperialism” from 1860’s, did not include gaining new colonies to protect themselves from the other great powers. In the sense that the great Empires were searching for strategies to ensure other great empires did not create a competing economy. One strategy was to gain new colonies to ensure the others Empires would not annexe such colonies. Which was the intent 1880’s therefore, these points demonstrate how a “purely non-economical explanation of the rise of ‘new imperialism’ is [..] unrealistic”. The author also assures that there is no good evidence to demonstrating that the colonial workforces are taking away real income from the metropolitan economy and such ideas were “a demagogic fantasy”. This was an idea that many socialist, such as Cecil Rhodes believed to be true. Nevertheless, the labour movement, which is more generally identified in the chapter as the democratic politics, “had a distinct bearing on the rise of the ‘new

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