Imperialism Pros And Cons

Imperialism, the forceful extension of a nation’s authority by establishing political and economic domination of other nations, implies the advancement of a certain state at the expense of its lesser territories. It is for this reason why imperialism essentially benefited the few expansionist states while exerting long-term damages on the majority colonized territories.

Imperialism arose as a necessity for industrializing states to secure their own economic prosperity. Increasing policies in many states limited the markets, and consequently the demand, for an increasing supply of manufactured products from the growing industrial output. The industrial powers of the time thus looked towards imperialism as a way to secure foreign markets and

Thus, the industrial development that did occur in colonized territories was relevant to the desire of imperial powers to turn colonized states into sources of cheap raw products to be later used in their industries back home. The economy of colonized territories was not diversified or turned into an industrial one, and instead a select number of goods were targeted, and their production/extraction hugely increased. Imperial investment and construction focused on the development and construction of communications, railways, plantations and mines, investments which did not by themselves help in the economic transformation of the country from agricultural to industrial. Rather, these investments were intended to accelerate the exploitation of the colonies’ natural resources and agricultural capacities. Once the nation attained political independence from the mother country, the legacy left behind from imperialism established an economy which depended on the export of a few select natural resources and agricultural, leaving the country’s economy extremely vulnerable to market price fluctuations. Most importantly, the unwillingness of imperial powers to reinvest the profits gained from their colonies in their industrial development forcefully kept colonies under a fragile agricultural economy while still depriving them of their finite natural resources. Thus, imperialism had a highly negative effect on the economic growth of colonized