American Imperialism From 1870 To 1914

By the time World War I broke out in the late summer of 1914, “Western” nations occupied or controlled, by a variety of different methods, nearly ninety percent of the world’s land mass. England alone controlled nearly one-fifth of the world and a quarter of the population. During the late nineteenth century, many leaders came to believe that the possession of colonies and imperial influence was an important or necessary characteristic of a great European power. The success of European imperialism (colonialism) in general combined a system of “domestic political and economic stability with the production of national prestige and closed markets in the international arena through conquest.” [1] The years between 1870 and 1914 saw the spread…show more content…
In time, they might be ready for self-government and Western democracy. Mother France, in return, would gain millions of new Frenchmen that would help defend her honor at all costs, if necessary. The English model of Association was less about the spread of English culture and more about the efficient extraction of wealth, and was therefore carried out by private companies, who hired and trained local subjects to do most of the dirty work. Because of this, a good portion of England’s colonial possessions were acquired by British companies without the proper authority from the government. This then created a situation in which the British government often got involved in distant lands more than it had originally intended. It also created the need for more manpower to look after the…show more content…
Marcel Merle, "L'Anticolonialisme Europeen, de Casas a Marx," in Postcolonialism: An Historical Introduction, by Robert J.C Young (Malden, MA/ Oxford, UK/Carlton, Australia: Blackwell Publishing, 2001), 30. 4. Edward Said W., "Culture and Imperialism," in Postcolonialism: An Historical Introduction, by Robert J.C Young (Malden, MA/ Oxford, UK/Carlton, Australia: Blackwell Publishing, 2001), 463. 5. Robert J.C Young, Postcolonialism: An Historical Introduction (Malden, MA/Oxford, UK/Carlton, Australia: Blackwell Publishing, 2001), 30. 6. Raymond F. Betts, "Assimilation and Association in French Colonial Theory 1890-1914," in Postcolonialism, by Robert J.C Young (Malden, MA/Oxford, UK/Carlton, Australia: Blackwell Publishing, 2001), 30. 7. Robert J.C Young, Postcolonialism: An Historical Introduction (Malden, MA/Oxford, UK/Carlton, Australia: Blackwell Publishing, 2001), 33. 8. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, "Communist Manifesto in Selected Works," in Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, by Benedict Anderson (USA: Courier Companies, Inc., 2003), 129. 9. Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism (USA: Courier Companies, Inc., 2003),