Imperialism

The term imperialism contains the prefix imperial, at once an adjective and a noun. As an adjective, imperial means pertaining to empire or the ruler, an emperor or empress, and this is used to refer to characteristics that befit a ruler, such as majesty, regality, or grandeur. The term imperial also conveys the character of rule by a sovereign state over its dependencies or a commanding quality or manner of that rule. For these reasons, the term imperial has been associated with despotic, highhanded, and/or authoritarian rule. As a noun and in the context of political authority, an imperial is a member of imperial party, including troops. Imperialism in the senses above implies the pursuit of grandeur or the desire, policy, practice, or advocacy of extending the power and dominion of one political entity over another. From the above perspectives, imperialism has a long ancestry in multiple traditions and thus may be found historically to exist on many continents. One could reasonably speak of imperialism in the contexts of historic China and France, the Moguls in India, the Roman and Holy Roman empires, the Ottoman, Mali, and Mayan empires, and the like. In most of these contexts, an imperialist would mean an adherent of an emperor or empress or an advocate of such an adherence. The associated irredentist processes and forms constituted imperialism in its present understanding. For instance, these empires necessarily originated from a locality before outward expansions that required the dismantling of competing governments and the subordination of the resident authorities. Still, their ideologies, policies, systems of law, and organizing principles and norms emerged from contexts that are different from those of modern imperialisms.

The shift toward modern imperialism began under Pax Britannica, the period when Great Britain set the terms of the European order (and by [Page 1155]extension world order) owing to its defeat of France at Waterloo in 1815, its unchallenged sea power, and control of the key naval trade routes. Pax Britannica coincided with scientific and industrial revolutions, the rise of finance capital and consumer society, transformations in the material conditions of states, and advances in warfare and bureaucracy that set the context for unprecedented overseas British expansionism in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Subsequently, Britain came to dominate overseas markets and managed to project its “influence” over most regions of the world. The terms and conditions of British expansionism gave modern imperialism its distinctive characteristics. Above all, the new British expansionism involved a worldwide colonial system. From Waterloo in 1815 to the 1870 Franco-Prussian War to the beginning of World War I in 1914, Great Britain helped set in motion processes, structures, and relationships under a colonial order consisting of zones of influence, colonies, protectorates, trusteeships, and the like. Moreover, Britain associated its own dominions (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa), other European powers, most notably France, and Japan and the United States in the management of this order under distinct colonial systems. For the above reasons, the expansionist activities of the era extending from the 19th century to the early 20th century were dubbed the New Imperialism.

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