Europa y Colonialismo en el Siglo XIX

• Europe's privileged position globally began in the late 15th century with Columbus's discovery of America and Vasco da Gama's voyage to India
• European powers consistently dominated overseas territories until the 20th century, starting with Iberian empires, and later including the Dutch, French, and British
• The Iberian empires quickly declined in the early 19th century, marked by Brazil's independence in 1821 and the Battle of Ayacucho in 1824
• By the early 19th century, two-thirds of European-controlled colonial territories gained independence
• From 1830, European colonization shifted towards Asia and Africa
• Colonialism in 19th-century Europe was not new, but involved a shift in dominant colonial powers
• There are two distinct phases in the history of contemporary European colonial expansion
• Before 1880, colonial exploitation was "informal," characterized by unequal economic relations without direct political control
• The industrializing states adopted territoriality as a guiding principle after 1880
• Western colonial powers established "formal" control over vast areas, organized specific administrations, and engaged in costly wars to secure possessions
• These colonial empires persisted with variations until after 1945, when decolonization and the rise of the Third World began
• From 1830 to 1914, European continent dominated by world history
• The “long 19th century,” from the late 18th century to 1914, was Eurocentric due to European colonization and control
• By 1914, European powers controlled nearly 85% of the Earth's surface
• The most significant expansion occurred between 1880 and 1914, coinciding with the era of imperialism
• Imperialism had a long gestation but rapid execution, driven by a generation preceding the decolonization era after World War II
• Colonial empires were a brief phase in world history
• The primary focus in the first half of the 19th century in the exploration of uncharted lands and seas
• The late 19th-century saw major European powers, along with the United States and Japan, led to the near-total division of colonial territories
• Consolidation of British presence in India and Southeast Asia, French colonial empire in Indochina, partition of Oceania and the Pacific, and division of Africa marked this expansion
• Industrialization, technological advances in transportation and medicine, and control over endemic diseases drove European dominance
• On the eve of World War I, Europe expressed its sense of superiority through a "civilizing mission" and a belief in dividing the world into strong and weak races
• This idea was articulated by Lord Salisbury in 1898
• Imperial expansion was seen as a manifestation of competition among major powers, hence contributing to European hegemony
• Globalization was evident through intense trade, a global market, the agrarian crisis and homogenization of economies
• Globalization also emerged with commercial exchanges, foreign investment, and intercontinental migration
• These factors expressed European primacy and were also causes/agents of the territorial expansion of 19th-century colonial empires

The Imperialism as Economic Fact

• The term "imperialism" was coined in the late 19th century to describe colonial conquests by Western powers
• Hobson described this as "most powerful movement of current Western political life"
• Economists contemporaries explained imperialist expansion
• Hobson's Imperialism (1902), Hilferding's Financial Capital (1910), and Lenin's Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism (1916) linked imperialism to economic factors
• These authors associated imperialism with the development of financial or monopolistic capitalism and a need to find new spaces for exporting goods and capital
• Colonial expansion was seen as necessary to open new markets and ensure Europe's industrial dominance
• Jules Ferry considered colonial policy a "daughter of industrialization"
• Hobson, Hilferding, and Lenin established a connection between overseas expansion and capital investment
• Hilferding stated that "imperialism as a political phenomenon would be the product of the economic needs of financial capitalism"
• European capital investment was a key tool in achieving global hegemony
• Capital export was part of global economic integration, but also created dependency of some countries on others
• This facilitated an organized international economy with a center producing industrial goods and a periphery providing raw materials
• Foreign investment spurred industrialization in the United States and parts of Europe
• Foreign investments followed uneven rates in the 19th century
• Starting after the Napoleonic Wars, it reached 420 million pounds by 1850
• Growth was rapid after 1850, tripling by 1870 and doubling to 9.5 billion by 1914
• Largest amounts of capital went to government bonds, transport (especially railroads), and extractive industries (iron, coal, copper, etc.)
• Preference for lending to governments led to creditor oversight, complementing late-19th-century imperialist policies
• Foreign investment was primarily British until 1914, with France and Germany, Belgium and the United States also participating
• Seven countries controlled 95% of all foreign investment
• Investment was not spatially uniform
• French investors focused on the Mediterranean and Eastern Europe, while Britain preferred investment outside Europe
• British investments were in America and colonies like India, Australia, and Canada
• European investments specialized globally with the same goals like opening new markets, gaining higher profits, and integrating peripheral countries into the capitalist economy
• These investments balanced creditor countries' payments, offsetting trade deficits with "invisible earnings" (interest and loan dividends)
• United Kingdom exemplified this, with ongoing deficits
• Increased commodity traffic marked European dominance beginning in 1870 with increased volumes of raw materials and manufactured products
• Increased production, communication, and reorganization drive this
• The value of traded goods nearly quadrupled from 1870 to 1914, with Europe maintaining global trade primac
• Each industrial power was its competitor's best customer
• Trade structure showed unequal relationship between Europe and the world
• Raw materials accounted for three-fifths of trade, heading to industrialized nations, while manufactured goods only came from Europe and North America
• British vessels represented 45% of the world fleet and exceeded the European fleet
• London's City centralized financial operations
• Economic interpretation of imperialism is not universally accepted by historians
• Studies of French imperialism show no direct link between foreign investment and colonial expansion
• French capital primarily went to the Russian and Ottoman Empires with limited trade
• Only in Germany and the United States, Marxist analysis of imperialism is followed
• Eric Hobsbawm remarks in the economic dimension of imperialism
• Great Britain’s commercial structure and relations with its Empire were very high

The Imperialism and Politic Facts

• Capital and commerce alone do not fully explain the imperialist process
• Political, ideological, technological, and ecological factors are important
• Political and ideological explanations may be more powerful than commercial factors
• Competition for new territories was part of rivalry among major powers, using imperialism as a tool of power
• From 1890, under Wilhelm II, colonial expansion became integrated into German Weltpolitik
• Imperial powers acted in response to their rivals
• Russian expansion in Central Siberia accelerated British control in northern India
• British control of the Nile drove French expansion from Senegal toward central Africa
• Fear of Portuguese African holdings falling to Germany increased British oversight of Portugal
• Colonies influenced the internal politics of states
• "Chauvinistic" or "jingoistic" factors led to mass imperialism
• Public opinion influenced government policy
• Popular nationalism linked to racist ideologies aided European governments' decisions and legitimized the subjugation of other cultures
• Jules Ferry stated that "the duty of superior races is to civilize inferior races"
• This patriotism benefited colonial administration
• Interpretations of imperialism emphasize the strategic perspective of colonial expansion over economic analyses
• Robinson and Gallagher argue that crucial imperial changes occurred within colonized territories rather than in European centers
• Western powers responded to problems beyond the control of the metropolises, and colonial settlements influenced this
• European expansion through trade, emigration, and settlement made it harder for settlers to maintain their positions relative to indigenous populations
• Peripheral weakness led to demand for metropolitan protection and the conversion of informal colonies into formal empires
• Official annexation resulted with resistance to European incursion or dissolution of political structures
• Pressures from colonial societies to expand territories to secure borders and relations with governments led to colonial sub-imperialism
• French expansion in the Maghreb defended Algeria, and British expansion in India and Oceania
• Occupation of the Great Plains was accelerated by pressure from white settlers
• Treaties with Native Americans were often violated by white pioneers

Geographic Factors / Missionaries

• Imperialism involved both "metropolitan dog" and "colonial tail," meaning that core and periphery were deeply intertwined
• Problems that hindered economic and commercial activities had to be solved by government policy
• Government was obligated to create colonial empires
• European dominance was possible with ecological and technological components accompanying colonist expansion
• Colonists introduced non-native species, animals, and diseases for temperate climates
• Alfred Crosby’s "ecological imperialism" accompanied by advanced in weapons and communications
• Imperial domination was affordable with better communication and deadly weapons
• Headrick argues that new technologies "made imperialism cheap enough to reach the threshold of acceptance among the peoples and governments of Europe"
• Understanding European dominance is not just financial reasons
• Darwinism and populism pushed a society like Europe to “civilize” the races
• This resulted in the first planet-wide globalization
• Before 1880, colonies were not systematically conceived as division
• It continued trading posts based around access to zones that were inland, though in Asia, Indochina parts of the south occupied, along with Australia, New Zealand
• It cemented the foundation for major imperialism towards the end of the era, spreading culture
• The territorial expansion was made possible with an expansive territory for powers to control
• Geography helped to uncover new areas of land
• Accurate cartography from this era helped to contribute information
• Expeditions helped to discover states on interior civilizations of Africa
• There were pioneers who would take long trips, such as explorers
• African rivers were being uncovered by the explorers leading to expeditions.
• Albert, married to Queen Victoria, would try to advocate for the exploration by Livingstone