“What do I think of Western civilization? I think it would be a very good idea.” – Mahatma Gandhi
“I would say colonialism is a wonderful thing. It spread civilization to Africa.” – Ian Smith
Over the centuries Colonialism and Imperialism have been viewed, justified and experienced differently throughout the world. The very idea created questions of both legitimacy as well as indignity in the minds of historians, writers, scholars and critics of the world. However, the growing incongruence and dissimilarity among nations brings forth the rationality to infuse the colonial purview in a modernized way in some parts of the world. So long the development of the weak states matters and the overall global effects involved, the approaches
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Exemplifying the existence of colonialism in various forms and names in the present world, he suggests simplifying the current trend by avoiding the euphemistic camouflage. Taking the cases for colonialism to be beneficial and anti-colonialism to be feeble and imperfect, Gilley draws the point from Abernethy indicating the positive effects of colonial rule in terms of ‘…training for self-government, material well-being, labor allocation choices, individual upward mobility, cross-cultural communication, and human dignity,…’ (2017:3). As an example, he shows the initiative of British counter-insurgency campaign in Kenya during the Mau Mau revolt (1952-1956) and its successive contribution in devising internal security policy as well as training up Kenyan military upheld the reputation of Britain in the minds of the independent government of Kenya much more than the violence it created subsequently. Whereas British contribution on settling peace in Kenya proved meticulous, on the other hand the division of Indian Subcontinent by the British Empire in terms of religion in 1947 prolonged socio-political unrest between India and Pakistan and harvested war and enmity which exists till now. However, the most significant role of colonialism was to abolish the slave trade from its colonies. Even though Karl Marx (1853) criticizes the British colonialism for uprooting Indian (in his terms,
The process of decolonization proved to have its own struggles within those who were seeking their independence from imperialist powers. Evidently, these nationalist movements were different in many regions, but they generally shared the sentiment that “Westernization” had taken something away from them. This proved to be the case in Africa and Asia, where the colonization movement from imperialist powers was of strong presence, and that had trouble weakening during and after the Cold War. Part of this struggle was due to the forms of government that were imposed, and because many of these colonies had been in this position for such long time that they were not able to predict upcoming conflicts after their independence. However, in many cases, the problems were more complicated and often implied a combination of reaction to westernization and internal conflicts. Undoubtedly,
What were some of the political, economic, social, intellectual, and military factors that explained the sudden increase in the pace and importance of European imperialism in the late 19c? The essential impetus was the Industrial Revolution which led to a search for (and control of) sources of raw materials and captive markets to sell manufactured goods, and become a world power with the most colonies and most money.
During the early 1900s, America’s reputation as a world power prospered by possessing the third largest navy in the world and a significant domain over smaller countries. It was able to acquire superiority internationally due to its intervention in the intense colonialism of the time, including fast extension, colonization, and rivalry. However, America’s colonial power did not suddenly develop. Though the United States expansionism of the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century was an explicit continuation of cultural and social factors that had powered the country’s past expansionism, it was more of a departure from the strategies for the past in which financial and political motives were sought.
Throughout american history, examples of the United States’ domination of the political, economic, and social aspects of other countries can be seen. This domination, also known as imperialism, was primarily caused by a growing sense of nationalism, the influence of supply and demand, and a desire to maintain global military power. Imperialism is categorized into three different groups: colony, protectorate, sphere of influence. TRANSITION SENTENCE
It is said that the colonization of Africa by European settlers was significant in terms of politics, economic advances or economic failures, as well as the advancement of power and destruction of pre-colonial African Cultures. The two largest European powers striving to colonize Africa are France and Britain. There are three reasons for Europe’s interest in colonizing Africa. The first reason is the fact that Africa was an unknown and mysterious continent that has yet to be explored by European settlers or any settler for fact. Because of this Europe wanted to gather scientific data of the unknown African continent. The expeditions of explorers like Samuel Baker, Joseph Thompson, Richard Burton, John Speke, and some others in the nineteenth
The study of British colonialism is a rather new field with much to discuss and a lot more to debate. The recent recognition of new nation-states that were once under the control of Britain was a growing phenomenon and one that continues to play a large role in today’s global politics. Since the rather recent period of these new nations, new study’s have been done into the history of a) the peoples that inhabited the land before Britain, b) the way Britain occupied and control and land, and now c) post-Britain. This is a growing topic in the historical field because seventy-five years ago there was no thought that Britain would relieve control of India or Nigeria. That is why post-British colonialism is important to today, because it is a
Classical Colonialism occurs when metropolitan nations fuse new territories or peoples through means which are virtually involuntary such as war, conquest, capture, and additional forms of enforcement and control. (Biauner 1987,150) Classical colonialism is distinguished by economic exploitation, forced entry, and cultural imperialism through the establishment of new institutions and methods of thought. (
Erez Manela’s The Wilsonian Moment Self-Determination and the International Origins of Anticolonial Nationalism is a monograph that attempts to reconstruct the story of colonial world at the end of Wilsonian moment. The book’s title, The Wilsonian Moment is alluding to the crucial period that lasted from autumn of 1918 to spring of 1919, when the Allied victory were confident that President Woodrow Wilson’s ideas for a new world will become successful until the terms of the Treaty of Versailles became public and the failure of the Wilson’s promise became evident. Erez Manela says, “The focus of this book is on the specific significance of Wilsonian moment in the colonial world, defined broadly as the dependent or semi dependent territories that encompassed at the time almost all of Asia and Africa”(8). Manela demonstrates how Woodrow Wilson’s post-war rhetoric on self-determination, a concept that firmly believes all nations should be able to determine for their futures and governance impacted several anti colonial movements by using Egypt, India, China, and Korea as case studies. In these case studies, Manela explicitly exhibits how colonized countries received and interpreted Wilson’s rhetoric, and applied it to their local struggle for independence. These four countries actively fought for their independence, but their arguments were dismissed at the Paris Peace Conference for different reasons. Manela tells us,” The “revolt against the West,” emerged “not from the
It therefore becomes difficult to integrate a country’s ‘independence’ and post-colonialism. On one hand post-colonialism is used to refer to the following periods after independence gained by the colonized nation and on the other hand post-colonialism is associated with opposing and resistance moves against colonial rule by the colonized nation. In this case, independence is only used to refer to the setup of a free government by the local people without the influence of the imperial power. It is however argued that even though the period of obtaining independence for a country is considered as a post-colonialism historic movement, it does not necessarily imply full independence from the influence of colonial rule (Ashcroft et al.,116). This takes into consideration that currently some countries even after obtaining independence in terms of the time period, they still rely on their colonial masters mainly for financial aid.
Peebe Harry, Osaki. “Colonialism in Africa Is Still Alive and Well | Letters.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 1 Aug. 2017, www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/01/colonialism-in-africa-is-still-alive-and-well
The whole notion behind imperialism, more often than not, is regarded as a negative chapter in history, due to the obvious damaging effects that it had (for the purpose of this inquiry) on India specifically. Regardless of that fact, we need to analyze this era with an
There is an appallingly long standing history of white supremacy in this world, embedded in the anglo-saxon cultures of Britain, France, and The United States. Past and some present leaders of these nations claimed that their Christianity and invincible military powers gave them the inherent right and obligation to conquer and manage the world. Whiteness was considered a direct assertion of superiority and with this racial superiority came a mission. In the late 19th century, the British and Americans assumed the responsibility of “educating” and “civilizing” victims of their colonization, which included almost all of Africa and large parts of Asia. The rise of imperialism prompted a desire to learn about the inhabitants of these colonies (Mullings). The resulting study of human beings-including the language, culture, and physiological makeup- is now known as anthropology. Anthropology is the study of the development human societies and cultures based on biologic and social observation (Britannica). It is fair to say that given the European perspective on Africans and Asians at the time, the researchers likely viewed their subjects through condescension (Mullings). The mere fact that historians felt entitled to simply utilize a group of humans as a subject field, with or without their consent, in an experiment demonstrates a complete disregard of ethical and moral principles of human rights. Despite a transformation in the anthropology field, white supremacy remains a
Some parts of the world are not as free as other parts of the world. People that are free don't think about that a lot. Lots of places don't have freedom of speech and freedom of religion and freedom of rights. That’s why there's the declaration of the rights of man. Imperialism and the enlightenment affect the world so much in history.
Relationships between the powerful and the powerless are fundamental ideas that drive the need for imperial takeover. Such events can be identified simply as colonization. To say that imperialism leads to positive or negative effects is subjective. Positive effects of imperialism are very limited by definition however, W.E.B Du Bois offers an approach to the issue that highlights the possibility of beneficial aspects of imperialism. Although subjective, there is a need to address the damaging effects that happen as a result of the process that occurs. Poet, playwright, and politician, Aimé Césaire expresses his stance on colonization by reflecting on consequences of colonialism on all parties involved. With the analysis provided by Césaire
A political-economic phenomenon whereby various European nations explored, conquered, settled, and exploited large areas of the world.