You are powerless to do anything. Foreigners control everything in your country, everything. From taxes right down to social structure, the colonial rulers have the upper hand in everything, while you, a true native of the country, are subjected to tyranny and oppression. None of us would want to be a citizen of such a country, but that was exactly the fate of millions of natives in many countries across the world during the Age of Imperialism. Imperialism is defined as the “creation and maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationship, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination.” (Imperialism – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). A significant example such imperialism is the British Raj, or the rule of Great Britain in the Indian Subcontinent during the 19th and 20th centuries. The events that took place during the British Raj gives us an extremely valuable insight into why Britain decided to be imperialistic, the effect British colonialism had on the Indian way of life, and how the Indian subcontinent finally managed to free itself from British rule and achieve sovereignty.
Britain chose to be imperialistic for three main reasons: greed for wealth, ethnocentrism, and Social Darwinism. The British empire-builders were keen to establish European dominance to as many nations as possible because of their raw materials and material wealth. One such example is the rich Kimberley mines of South Africa. The British were also attracted to the Indian subcontinent for that very reason. Eager to own India’s rich spice resources, as well as the source of labor that Indian slaves could provide, the British decided to overthrow the Mughal Empire and establish Bri...
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... the independence of the Indian subcontinent. The British wanted to colonize the Indian subcontinent for wealth and for spreading Western culture, and indeed their presence had a great influence on the Indian’s perspective on culture and social structure. However, in the end, the negative effects of British colonialism outweighed the positive effects, thus causing the Indians to seek independence for themselves. In addition, the Indian independence movement also gives us a valuable insight into the ways in which imperialism, while benefiting the mother country, may harm the colonies more. It also shows us that imperialism is not a sustainable political and economic system, as the oppressed people will always try to gain independence, a phenomenon proven by the fall of imperialism and the transformation of former colonies into independent nations all over the world.
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 ...
The country I will be using for an example of imperialism is England. England imperialize South Africa, Canada, Australia, and India. The British Empire became the largest empire spanning over 35 million square kilometers in 1913.
The Effects of British Imperialism in India One could approach this topic from two points of view: the British and the Indian. One could choose either party and find very different opinions. When British colonizers first arrived in India, they slowly gained more and more control in India through many ways, the most prominent being trade and commerce. At first, they managed India’s government by pulling the string behind the curtain. However, soon they had acquired complete rule over India, converting it into a true British colony.
Britain was committed to imperializing countries that benefitted them. Benjamin Disraeli, the British prime minister during the 1870’s, persuaded Great Britain to imperialize because it was a way to guard vital British markets overseas, resources, and jobs, as well as enhance their well known reputation as being the most powerful country (Butler). Great Britain wanted to spread its culture and religion (Butler). As a result, Christianity was dispersed imperialized countries under the name of Great Britain. Another major reason Great Britain imperialized in Africa was because other European countries that were participating in the “Scramble for Africa” (Berard). This was the time period where certain European countries fought over what countries in Africa to imperialize. Britain wanted more power, and therefore, more land as well. Therefore, they resorted to imperializing lands such as those in Africa.
Imperialism in India British imperialism in India had many positive and negative effects on both the mother country, Britain and the colony, India. Many people would argue which effects were more prominent in these countries, and some would agree that they were equal. But in both cases, there were actually both. In India, the British colonization had more positive effects than negative. For instance, when the British colonized India they built 40,000 miles of railroad and 70,000 miles of paved roadway.
The epoch of imperialism cannot be defined simply as 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 were 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. Britain was endowed with geographic and political advantages that allowed the country to become the first to unwittingly stumble onto industrialization. Britain was an island, therefore had developed a unique naval strength which subsequently gave Britain leverage when globalization blossomed from expanding maritime trade. Meanwhile, the rest of Europe, including Belgium, trailed behind. Presently, colonized regions still bear the traits and scars from the subjugators of their past.
Cricket is a British sport which dates back centuries. During the late eighteenth-mid twentieth century British colonization of India introduced this beloved sport. The playing of cricket in India has come to represent British Control over the indian culture, politics, and people from Britain’s first involvement in the region, up to the late twentieth century. Further the use of cricket as a friendly competition between the different populations within India.
There is no doubt that British imperialism had a large impact on India. India, having previously been an group of independent and semi-independent princedoms and territories, underwent great change under British administration. Originally intended to consolidate their hold on India by establishing a population that spoke the same language as their rulers, the British decision in the 1830s to educate Indians in a Western fashion, with English as the language of instruction, was the beginning of a chain of events, including a rise in Indian nationalism, that led to Indian resentment of British imperialism and ultimately to the loss of British control over India.
In 1857 the British had invaded the nation of Hindustan (India). Many feel that if it were not for the British Empire, India would still be an under developed country. The British established a government system that before did not exist. It was a three level system including the imperial government located in London, the central government located in Calcutta, and later on provincial governments scattered throughout the regions of what was known as the British Raj1. Alt...
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.
When the Indian nationalists were revolting against the British Empire, it changed the way of life in India. It let women have a more active role in everyday activities. Mehta’s father played a very active role in the revolutions; he used his house as a place for Indian nationalists to hide out for this he was placed in jail for several years. Her uncle was sentenced to seventeen years in a torture camp for different charges. Yet when asked what their worst memory of being under British rule was, they simply provided a simple story with not much significance. Now instead of being under British rule, the India people are under the rule of leaders that view themselves as being the person who drove the British out of India. One thing remains the same though, the people of India view their land as being their own, and that is what is important to them.
The decision to grant independence to India was not the logical culmination of errors in policy, neither was it as a consequence of a mass revolution forcing the British out of India, but rather, the decision was undertaken voluntarily. Patrick French argues that: “The British left India because they lost control over crucial areas of the administration, and lacked the will and the financial or military ability to recover that control”.
The struggle for independence in India was weird in some way. It was weird in the sense that the means that were used to fight the British rule were unthinkable on normal circumstances. Fortunately or unfortunately, these were the only means ...
...tween the Hindus and Muslims, Jinnah felt that Muslims had no future in India (Overfield 216). With the end of British rule in 1947, not only did India gain its independence but also along with it was born an other country, Pakistan where Jinnah served as the first governor (Overfield 216). With the gain of India’s independence, Gandhi was shot the following year in 1948 by a Hindu zealot who resented his commitment to Hindu – Muslim harmony (Overfield 212).
India, which had long been a British colony, did not achieve complete independence from Great Britain until 1948 (Info Please). The path to Indian in...