Theories of European Imperialism in The
Theories of European Imperialism in The
Theories of European Imperialism in The
European
Imperialism in By
the Eighteenth Johnson Sesan Michael
and Nineteenth www.smbafrica.org
smbafrica@gmail.com
Centuries
Abstract:
Imperialism as a phenomenon had received and is still receiving wide
currency. Arguably, imperialism is highly linked to both capitalism, and
colonialism, however, imperialism had been in existence long before
capitalism and colonialism. One thing that is evident is that imperialism
contributed to the emergence of both capitalism and colonialism.
INTRODUCTION
Lenin remarked that If it were necessary to give the briefest possible definition
of imperialism he would have to say that imperialism is the monopoly stage of
capitalism. However, Lenin went well beyond this fundamental proposition, and he
hypothesized that modern imperialism is the monopoly stage of capitalism . He gave a
more elaborate 5-point definition of capitalist imperialism as follows:
And so, without forgetting the conditional and relative value of all
definitions in general, which can never embrace all the concatenations of a
phenomenon in its complete development, we must give a definition of
imperialism that will include the following five of its basic features: (1) the
concentration of production and capital has developed to such a high stage
that it has created monopolies which play a decisive role in economic life;(
2) the merging of bank capital with industrial capital, and the creation, on
the basis of this finance capital, of a financial oligarchy; (3) the export of
capital as distinguished from the export of commodities acquires
exceptional importance; (4) the formation of international monopolist
capitalist combines which share the world among themselves, and (5) the
territorial division of the whole world among the biggest capitalist powers
is completed. Imperialism is capitalism in that stage of development in
which the dominance of monopolies and finance capital has established
itself; in which the export of capital has acquired pronounced importance;
in which the division of the world among the international trusts has begun;
in which the division of all territories of the globe among the biggest
capitalist powers has been completed.
John A. Hobson in his book titled Imperialism: A Study elucidated out that
imperialism was as a result of explosion or surplus in Europe that is needed in Africa,
however, not for the benefits of Africa but the benefits of Europe. Hobson identified
contemporary European imperialism as a historically unprecedented thing.
these nations increased their efforts to extend their powers and influence across the
globe. At various times during the 19th century, Europeans held control over the
continents of South America, Africa, Asia, and Australasia.
The term imperialism poses certain problems, since the term has been used
almost exclusively by Communists since the 1940's to describe the current behavior of
Western powers. This is quite odd, since there is a deep split among bourgeois
ideologues about whether or not imperialism is a necessary part of capitalism.
Imperialism is obviously an unambiguous historical phase in the history of Europe, the
USA, and Japan, and there are ample grounds for saying the USSR too engaged in
imperialism.
We shall consider different theories that have been put forward to explain the
foundation of European imperialism. We shall consider Political Theory, Economic
Theory, Cultural Theory, among others.
Political Theory
achieve a favorable change in the status quo. The purpose of imperialism is to decrease
the strategic and political vulnerability of a nation. No doubt political consideration
played a major part in motivating European imperialism in the 18 th and 19th centuries.
British politicians such as Benjamin Disraeli and the Marquees of Salisbury promoted
the glory of an empire on which the Sun never sets . In Germany, the Kaiser and his
government demanded that Germany be given equal status with France and the UK,
which included colonial possessions. This thus accentuated political rivalries between
and amongst European nations. The UK and France, both leading imperial powers, had
fought over control of India, and North America. The UK had also come into conflict with
Spain over trading rights in South America.
Particularly in Western Europe the pride of having a great empire was also a key
factor influencing European imperialism in the 18th and 19th centuries. Pride in empire
had already proved important in France and the UK, the two most powerful empire-
builders, and its importance was demonstrated by the new states of Italy and Germany,
who were quick to establish their own empires in the second half of the 19th century.
While writing about Britain s imperialism J.S. Mill's third defense of imperialism
was that it increased England's political power and eminence. Conventionally, Britain
protected her areas of influence because, they might well be taken over by, and add to
the power of rival nations. Indeed, this was typical of all European powers of the 18th
and 19th centuries. Generally speaking, almost all the European powers joined in the
race towards imperialism.
Economic Orthodoxy
Writers like John A. Hobson and Angell pointed out that imperialism is a policy
choice, and not an inevitable consequence of capitalism. Increasing concentration of
wealth within the richer countries leads to under-consumption for the mass of people.
Overseas expansion is a way to reduce costs and to secure new consumption. Overseas
expansion is not inevitable, however. A state can solve the problem of under-
consumption by increasing the income levels of the majority of the population either
through legislation concerning wage levels (minimum wage laws, legalization of unions,
child labor laws) or through income transfers (unemployment compensation, welfare).
Looking back the Industrial Revolution that swept across Europe in the 18 th and
19th centuries was a major factor in the acceleration of European imperialism.
Industries in European metropolis were in dire need of raw materials such as cotton,
silk, palm oil, etc. These raw materials were readily available in Africa and other parts of
the globe; hence, this propelled the European powers to accelerate European
imperialism.
Thus, the investors or the industrial barons greatly influenced the European
government in pursuing imperialism. Colonies acquired through imperialism are
foreign markets for the products of the industries of the metropolis. Coupled with this,
is the fact that raw materials were gotten from them at a very low rates.
Hobson in his argument considers the role of finance capital as 'governor' of the
engine of imperialism, he made many accurate observations heretofore ignored:
imperialism's primary beneficiary and primary instigator was a congeries of financial
and industrial interests, divorced from those of the rest of the nation, and intent on
terminating the competitive conditions that a free market economy is said to promote.
The object of imperialism was to ensure that today's market winners would be
tomorrow's winners, and their winnings would be bigger.
when the safest, most fundamental and upon the whole, most profitable
employments for capital at home have been already amply furnished by our saving
and investing classes, it is natural, desirable, and even necessary, that large
quantities of the fresh capital should be placed further afield
Theories of European Imperialism in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries by Sesan Michael Johnson, BA
History & Int l Relations, OAU, Ife, Nigeria
Hobson did not altogether forget his old position that foreign investment was a source of
imperialist exploitation, he pointed out that:
Hobson had no doubt that the prime cause of imperialism was "the pressure of
the investing class for larger and safer areas of profitable investment", pressure which
often led to wars which were beneficial to certain interests within -each nation, as in the
case of the South African war. While each government tried to keep exclusive control of
particular areas for investment, Hobson admitted that conflict was inevitable.
Lenin theorized that these two developments were intrinsically linked. The
concentration of capital created inequality. Inequality in the core constrained aggregate
demand levels. The general population could not absorb the mass of commodities
achieved by higher levels of productive capacity. Insufficient demand created continual
realization crises. The price of raw materials threatened profits further. The falling rate
of profit required economic expansion to open up new regions for investment, sources
of raw materials, and new consumer markets.
From the premise that the capitalist class controls the state politically, Lenin
theorized that finance-capital, the dominant form of capital, used the state machinery to
colonize the periphery. In the periphery, capitalists would (1) use oppressed peripheral
labor to produce primary commodities and raw materials cheaply; (2) create an affluent
stratum (peripheral elite) to consume expensive commodities imported from the core;
Theories of European Imperialism in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries by Sesan Michael Johnson, BA
History & Int l Relations, OAU, Ife, Nigeria
and (3) undermine indigenous industry, making the colonies dependent on core
investment.
The overall effect was that the core pumped wealth out of the periphery. The
wealth flowing into the domestic economies of the core stifled the fall in the rate of
profit. Lenin called this set of circumstances "imperialism."
Although this strategy would work in the short-term, Lenin argued, in the longer
term it would undermine first imperialism and then capitalism in the core. Nation-state
rivalry would lead to inter-imperial wars. The costs (financial drain) and devastation
(destruction of productive capacity) of these wars would weaken core nation-states, not
only because the losers would find themselves in an unfavorable position and with a
diminished capacity to exploit the periphery, but because nationalist movements in the
periphery and anti-colonial wars would undermine the capacity of even victorious core
nations to exploit the periphery. Once the core lost control over its colonies the imperial
would stagnate domestically. Domestic economic stagnation would raise the level of
antagonisms between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat leading to a social revolution
in the core.
in employing the blood and treasure of their fellow-citizens to found and maintain such
an empire.
This colonial expansion inspired the first efforts by Marxists to interpret the
development of this period of capitalism. Karl Kautsky emphasized the commercial
reasons for imperialist expansion. According to him, industrial capital cannot sell the
whole of its production within an industrialized country. In order to realize surplus
value, it must provide itself with markets made up of non-industrialized countries,
essentially agricultural countries. This was the purpose of the colonial wars of
expansion and the reason for the creation of colonial empires.
It was Rosa Luxemburg who drew together in a complete theory all these
concepts of an imperialism expanding to compensate for inadequate markets for the
products of the biggest capitalist industries. Her theory is mainly one of crises, or to
express it more correctly, a theory of the conditions of realization surplus value and of
accumulation of capital. It is consistent with the theories of under-consumption worked
out over the course of a century by numerous opponents of the capitalist system to
show the inevitability of economic crises.
Rosa Luxemburg concluded that after the conquest of the national non-capitalist
markets, and the not yet industrialized markets the European and North American
continents, capital had to throw itself into the conquest of a new non-capitalist sphere,
that of the agricultural countries of Asia and Africa.
Mercantilism
According to Adam Smith in the mercantile system, the interest of the consumer
is almost constantly sacrificed to that of the producer; and it seems to consider
production, and not consumption, as the ultimate end and object of all industry and
commerce. The average citizen in a mercantilist country does not benefit much, only the
owner of the factory. Workers receive wages but wages or money that is not worth
much if their quality of life is not improved. Adam Smith went on to write:
In the restraints upon the importation of all foreign commodities which can
come into competition with those of our own growth or manufacture, the
interest of the home consumer is evidently sacrificed to that of the producer.
It is altogether for the benefit of the latter, that the former is obliged to pay
that enhancement of price which this monopoly almost always occasions.
The average citizen pays for the oligarch s lifestyle. Much of Smith s book
wealth of Nations was a criticism of the mercantilist economic system. For
nations and people there is a difference between acting on enlighten self-
interest (capitalism) and selfishness (mercantilism).
While writing about the motivation behind British imperialism, J.S. Mill put
forward his cultural argument as his second justification for the expanding British
Empire; he maintained that England's imperialism served a civilizing function. Like his
father, he assumed that there was a readily available scale of civilization upon which
peoples could be ranked. He was quite certain that the English were civilized and that
the peoples of Asia, Africa, and Ireland were uncivilized and barbarous.
Theories of European Imperialism in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries by Sesan Michael Johnson, BA
History & Int l Relations, OAU, Ife, Nigeria
J.S. Mill believed also that, depending on the degree of civilization a people had
attained, different rules of international law and morality applied. "The same rules of
international morality do not apply between civilized nations and between civilized
nations and barbarians." In particular, nationalism and the desire for national
independence were valued sentiments only for civilized peoples. "The sacred duties
which civilized nations owe to the independence and nationality of each other are not
binding towards those to whom nationality and independence are either a certain evil
or at best a questionable good." Mill used this cultural argument to justify both the
creation of white settler colonies and the direct governance of native populations. He
did not exactly advocate that England go forth and conquer the uncivilized world.
Rather, he defended and legitimated the process of conquest which was already
occurring.
Conservative Theories
Conclusion
This work exposes some of the theories that try to explain the motivation,
foundation and philosophy behind the 18th and 19th centuries European imperialism
vis-à-vis a critical analysis of the works and writings of writers such as Adams Smith,
John A. Hobson, Lenin, J. Mills, Karl Marx, and others.
Theories of European Imperialism in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries by Sesan Michael Johnson, BA
History & Int l Relations, OAU, Ife, Nigeria
Reference