Defining European Imperialism

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Heather DeLancett

HIST 445Spring 2011

Prof. Bitter

First Short Paper

Defining European Imperialism

Our task of analyzing the globe spanning phenomenon ofEuropean Imperialism from

our current paradigms and place within imperialist and post-colonial history is a bit daunting.

The resources at hand to guide us are testament to the multiplicity of theories, approaches and

focuses that scholars utilize to contextualize the meaning and methods of these events. The span

of time focused on by each individual researcher changes, or is changed by, the stipulative

definitions employed for analysis. Several scholars point to two eventsthe discovery of the

New World and navigation around the Cape of Good Hope as the catalysts which broke open

a new era in human history and began the series of events categorized in our study of European

Imperialism. Starting in the late 15th

century, these new opportunities for global trade and

territory acquisition were seized by the dominant European nation states and the world, and what

it means to be human in it, has been irrevocably changed in a relatively short span of time.

Taking the surveyed resources on our topic, there are clearly some complimenting and

contrasting approaches. In the style of presenting a range of contrasting theoretical analyses,

Theories of Imperialismand European Imperialism, 1830-1930 - Climax and Contradiction

both offer a variety of perspectives. These two sources are good companions as summaries of a


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range of period in Imperialisms scholarship Mommsen offers his interpretation of many of the

various primary sources presented by Conklin and Fletcher. These theories tend to emphasize

the rise of ideologies, particularly nationalism, free market liberalism and scientific racism. A

great deal of time and thought is given to whether Imperialism is a necessary consequence (or

stage) of capitalism, and if so, whether it is an acceptable consequence for the political and

economic health of a nation.

Retracting from the ideological approach, Tools of the Empire Technology and

European Imperialism in the Nineteenth Century and Ecological Imperialism The Biological

Expansion of Europe 900-1900 both aim for more empirical and practical cause and effects of

European expansionism. Though these authors differ in spans of time covered, their approaches

to understanding Imperialism focus on the means of change, both controlled (e.g. weapons,

horses, etc.) and uncontrollable (e.g. diseases, weeds, etc.). Even by looking only at the

supposedly controlled types of means which were products of the Industrial Revolution, both

of these perspectives bring the ideologies down to the ground by throwing into question how

much choice was involved as humans played out developing drama of evolution.

Focusing on the people directly impacted by colonialism, The European Colonial

Empires1815-1919 and Colonial Encounters in the Age of High Imperialism shine light

upon the local politics and cultural transfusions and transmutations of specific colonial locations.

These books focus on the desire for resources driving colonialism, but specifically on the human

dimensions of mass migrations and slavery as experienced by the colonizers, indigenous peoples

and the enslaved. These views into our economic and political histories explain the roots of so

much of our global strife, economic inequalities, and geographical tensions which we are the

bearers of today.


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Most of these perspectives define European Imperialism as the forcible expansion of

more powerful and/or technologically advantaged nation states into the lands of less powerful

groups for profit, resources, trade and increased prestige. This composite definition is a baseline

template to grasp the subject of our investigations, but lacks the precision of specific methods,

time range and territorial regions to be very useful as a working definition for research. From

my perspective, it would be most beneficial to partition the great generalization of European

Imperialism into three distinct periods Age of European Exploration, Age of European

Innovation, and the Age of European Exploitation. While it may still present a challenge to find

distinct timeline boundaries, this method of categorization may prove helpful for exploring the

tightly interwoven interplay between biology, technology, ideology and psychology as these

elements evolved and changed during European expansionism. It strikes me that there were

different actors, goals, means and consequences of each of these stages. By seeking to define the

characteristics of each wave of this phenomenon, our investigations could seek more precision

in definition without falling prey to over-generalizations or disassociating ourselves from other

regions historical periods of expansionism.


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Works Cited

Conklin, A. &. (Ed.). (1999). European Imperialism, 1830-1930 - Climax and Contradiction. Boston:

Houghton Mifflin.

Cook, S. B. (1996). Colonial Encounters in the Age of High Imperialism. New York: Longman.

Crosby, A. W. (1986). Ecological Imperialism - The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900-1900. Cambridge:

Cambridge Univ. Press.

Headrick, D. R. (1981). The Tools of the Empire - Technology and European Imperialism in the Nineteenth

Century. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.

Mommsen, W. J. (1980). Theories of Imperialism. (P. Falla, Trans.) Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.

Wesseling, H. L. (2004). The European Colonial Empires 1815-1919. (D. Webb, Trans.) London: Pearson

Education Limited.

Documents

Defining European Imperialism