1. 19th Century Imperialism

2. Limits to Pre 19th Century Imperialism
The First Age of Imperialism was limited because Europeans enjoyed only limited advantages over other peoples, including…
Minor advantages in weaponry and no advantage in disease over Asians.
Substantial advantages in weaponry but no advantage in disease over Africans.
Considerable advantages in weaponry and awesome advantages in disease over Native Americans.
This is why Europeans could conquer virtually all of the Americas
Limits to Pre 19th Century Imperialism

3. The First Age of Imperialism 1800

4. Just a Century Later… Europeans had conquered…
All of Africa save Ethiopia and Liberia (a puppet of the United States).
Virtually all of Asia including India – the richest colony in the world.
Even China was carved up into Spheres of Influence where Europeans were the de facto rulers
In the Americas, societies were controlled by the descendants of Europeans.
Just a Century Later…

5. Imperialism in asia by 1900

6. Industrial powers carve-up China

7. Spheres of influence in china in 1910

8. Imperialism in Africa by 1920

9. Britain is the greatest Empire builder

10. America has its own Empire

11. Social Darwinism and Imperialism
Business elites adopted the ideas of Social Darwinism and came to believe…
They were superior to the workers they employed in their factories.
Because of their superiority, the elites felt no qualms about exploiting their workers.
These ideas were expanded to apply to all peoples of color so that eventually Europeans (and white Americans) came to believe…
They were superior to all people of color
They were entitled to exploit these peoples and their lands
They were required to ‘civilize’ these savages
Social Darwinism and Imperialism

12. Rudyard Kipling and others created powerful pieces of art to further substantiate the authority of the West
The White Man’s Burden

13. The link between Industrialism and Imperialism
Industrial nations viewed poor and less developed countries around the globe as potential sources of…
Raw Materials:
raw and unfinished products that could inexpensively be brought to the ‘mother’ country and fed into factories
Protected Markets:
places where finished products could be sold without the concerns associated with competition
The link between Industrialism and Imperialism

14. During most of the 20th Century, imperialism continued to exist, but it operated differently…
After World War One ( ), The Great Depression ( ) and World War Two ( ), the West was no longer willing or able to hold onto their vast empires.
Conquered peoples began to demand, sometimes peacefully, sometimes violently, independence.
During the 1950’s and 1960’s virtually all colonies gained their political independence.
The Last 100 years

15. Decolonization

16. Economic independence did not always follow political independence.
Vast levels of inequality have continued as western corporations have become the principal mechanisms of imperialism.
Only in the last thirty years, as democracy has grown in poor countries, has real economic growth emerged in some of the former colonies, most notably in Asia and South America.
Economic Imperialism

17. Quantitative Macroeconomic History
Angus Maddison

18. So – what conclusions can we reach given what we know about the past and the present?