The Consequences of Imperialism

Imperialism, the forceful extension of a nation’s authority by establishing political and

economic domination of other nations, inherently implies the advancement of a certain

state at the expense of its subordinated territories. It is for this reason why imperialism

essentially benefited the few expansionist states while exerting long-term damages on the

majority colonized territories.

During the 19th century and early 20th century, imperialism arose as a necessity for

industrializing states to secure their own economic prosperity. Increasing protectionist

policies in many states limited the markets1, 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 means to secure

foreign markets and guarantee consumption for their products by forcefully monopolizing

trade with their colonies. Additionally, the wave of rapid industrialization led imperial

states to seek a cheap source of raw materials to supply their thriving businesses at home,

and imperialism provided a means to ensure that. These economic interests, tied with

ultra-nationalistic sentiment, pushed towards the building of huge worldwide empires,

where imperial powers established their control over vast territories, including most of

Asia, Africa, the Polynesia, and parts of the Americas, where imperial powers controlled

most of the world.2

Imperialist ambitions pushed for the economic exploitation of colonized nations to

benefit the mother country. As imperial states began controlling the economy of the

colonized territory, interests for the welfare of the colonized peoples had little influence

in defining their economic policies. Instead, imperial states seeked to maximize their

profits and gains, regardless of the consequences such attitudes entailed for the colonized

areas. Most notably, the long-term well-being of the colonized nation was of no interest

for the imperial state, and so any form of sustainable development seemed unnecessary

for any imperial government. This is the reason why deforestation is a massive problem

1 ‘On French Colonial Expansion’, Jules Ferry2 http://www.louisiana.edu/Academic/LiberalArts/HiGe/members/nicassio_files/Imperialism.htm

for many nations which had formerly been controlled by some imperial power.3 Imperial

powers, in their quest for economic prosperity, disregarded the need for the sustainable

management of forest areas and established minimally-regulated lumber industries which

seeked only short-term profits for themselves and their mother country.4 Thus,

unsustainable overexploitation of natural resources followed. The effects are clearly in

modern times, as the environmental degradation caused because of self-interested

imperialist endeavors is difficult to reverse, and is undoubtedly connected with the

rampant poverty and hunger present in many former colonies.5

While some industrial development did occur, imperial interests in colonized territories

were aimed at creating an economy based on agriculture and the exploitation of other

finite natural resources such as gold, silver, or diamonds.6 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.7 Imperial investment and construction focused on

the development and construction of communications, railways, plantations and mines,8

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

3 http://www.american.edu/ted/ivorywd.htm4 http://books.google.com/books?id=KEdPowDRZgQC&pg=PA566&lpg=PA566&dq=haiti+deforestation+french+colonialism&source=web&ots=fOsgCCSdIh&sig=Uy7s4G6hz1lPowNX3gNy7Az2bCg5 http://www.american.edu/TED/ice/haitidef.htm6 http://www.american.edu/ted/ivorywd.htm7 http://www.american.edu/ted/ivorywd.htm8 http://www.louisiana.edu/Academic/LiberalArts/HiGe/members/nicassio_files/Imperialism.htm

forcefully kept colonies under a fragile agricultural economy 9 while still depriving them

of their finite natural resources. Thus, imperialism had a highly negative effect on the

economic growth of colonized nations.

The partitioning of colonies worldwide into the spheres of influence of imperial powers

created colonies that encompassed numerous ethnic, linguistic, and religious groups into

a single political entity. This recurrent aspect of imperialism was most notable in Africa,

where its partitioning did not correspond to the historical, cultural, or ethnic boundaries

of pre-colonial African societies. Thus, states were created which shared widely diverse

ethnic populations which felt no identity or connection to the political entity which they

had been forcefully drawn into.10 The political legacy left behind by imperialism left a

cluster of artificially-formed states which had no historic or cultural similarities on which

to legitimatize its existence.11 This situation, along with the economic difficulties suffered

because of the previously discussed issues, led to an environment of political turmoil

based on ethnic, religious, and linguistic.12 Countries deeply divided among ethnic lines,

a result of imperialism, not only led to the political instability of the former colonies, but

also, in some cases, led to serious violence. Modern-day Kenya exemplifies this, as the

competition of two different ethnic groups for the control of the government has led to a

situation comparable to that of an early civil war.13 It is thus clear that imperialism has

resulted in a permanent liability in the geo-political situation of a great number of

countries worldwide.

Regardless of the possible economic or technological benefits of imperialism, it is

difficult to even begin to justify those ends by the tremendous loss of life that occurred

because of it. The initial act of conquest needed to begin to exercise control over a given

territory was, in the overwhelming majority of cases, not peaceful, and entailed in the

9 http://www.american.edu/ted/ivorywd.htm

10 http://exploringafrica.matrix.msu.edu/teachers/curriculum/m10/activity4.php11 http://wysinger.homestead.com/berlinconference.html12 http://exploringafrica.matrix.msu

13 http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/01/27/africa/kenya.php.edu/teachers/curriculum/m10/activity4.php

unjust death of many natives at the hands of the military and technological superiority of

imperial powers. However, the effects of imperialism go much farther beyond conquest:

forceful slavery-like conditions in the colonized territories imposed great sufferings

among the native population, and in many cases, unjust repression by the colonizing

power led to the mass killings of a great number of people. In the Congo Free State, a

Belgian colony, an estimated 10 million people died as a consequence of the imperialist

policies of the time.14 Additionally, retaliatory attacks on indigenous populations in many

other instances resulted in the extermination of huge numbers of people. The unjust and

unnecessary death of such a great number of people because of imperialism is, again,

difficult to justify.

However, one must also admit that imperialism allowed colonized territories to

technologically advance thanks to the connection with other imperial powers. One can

also argue that the introduction of western values through imperialism helped rid

colonized territories of certain obsolete and morally condemnable practices and

traditions. However, these benefits do not even begin to outweigh the negative impacts

which imperialism brought.

Imperialism was thus a largely negative aspect of the 19 th and 20th centuries, as it

achieved, through unjustifiable, repressive unjust means, an end which favored the few

powerful imperial states and greatly hindered the great majority of colonized and

subjugated territories.

14 http://wysinger.homestead.com/berlinconference.html