Imperialism, is it the big, bad master who enslaves the good, little child or is it the good, big master who protects the bad, little child? As history has shown in the past; sometimes, it is both. Through examination of three important pieces of literature “Shooting an Elephant by G. Orwell, White Man’s Burden by R. Kipling, and The War Prayer by M. Twain, it becomes obvious that there are serious consequences in supporting imperialistic ideals. Three very important ideas about Imperialism can be gleaned from these writings, which then provide a distinct concept about the subject.
Empires are made weak by their own indignation, they are believed to be the master but are actually the slave, and they are ravaged by their own conquest until
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Imperialism is a double edged sword which has been wielded by nations around the world for centuries but which serves no purpose but to harm all it touches. Orwell described the beginning of the end of the empire as a hollowness, and the futility of the British dominion in the colony of Burma, as a sea of yellow faces momentarily watching to see the elephant killed. The Burmese people hated Britain and saw the empire as a mad elephant, a good for nothing beast in need of destruction. At the moment in time when the British Empire had outlived its days of glory, it was described as when the white man has turned into a mad tyrant that it is his own freedom that he has destroyed. It would take several more years for the British Empire to let go of the colonies. The empire would never again stretch across the globe never to see the sun set upon it, but it was also far from dead. The spirits of the British people and the colonized territories endured a slow and painful tug of war before it was done. There was much more agony for both sides. Mr. Kipling wrote of eloquently of the selfishness of Imperialism, as did Mr. Twain, and how it ravages all involved. Nothing is left untouched by the ruthlessness of war, so take heed with the selfishness in the building of empires, for the harm it will bring to you in the …show more content…
Building empires required great cost of life and limb in order to obtain wealth. This blessing, which countries asked for themselves, was also a curse (Twain, 1923). Alas, the words of these writers fell on deft ears however, as Mr. Twain knew it would. That was the “glad and gracious time”, the time, was a time of empires! Anyone who disapproved of such imperialistic conduct would not convince the majority that it was a terrible and vicious losing battle, crushing the spirits of all it touched. Imperialism is like the prayer of a man that does not realize what he has just asked for, and has no idea of the real and terrible outcome. This was the message Mr. Twain, Mr. Kipling, and Mr. Orwell tried to convey in their writings. Imperialism comes at too high a price to pay. The lesson is there to be learned. Empires are made weak through haughty indignation, they are conceived to be the master but are actually the slave, and they are ravaged by their own conquest until the people’s spirits are
Throughout history, many powerful nations interfered with nations that were weaker than they were. This form of sabotaging a nation is economic, political or cultural life is called as imperialism. Imperialism is often separated into two sects. The first one is old imperialism, which was the period from the 1500s to the 1800s, where European nation started to colonize many areas such as the Americas, and parts of Southeast Asia. On the other hand, the new imperialism was the period between the years “1870-1914”, where Europe became more focused on expanding their land into Asia and Africa. Imperialism had many pros and cons. In addition, it also had many causes led by the feeling of nationalism.
Until recently, world history has been a history of empires. From the Mongols to the Ottomans, empires have always sought to push their physical boundaries, yet none have achieved the success of the British. With colonies in the Americas, Africa, and Australia, 19th century Britons were able to claim that the sun never set on their empire. This far-reaching and wide-encompassing empire allowed the British to establish a global movement of people, goods, ideas, and capital. This global movement not only asserted Britain’s financial dominance, but it also enabled the British to project their western ideology on to the rest of the world. However, the British visions of empire did not always match up with reality. Although there was a British presence across a large part of the globe, the diversity of people and their treatment created sharp distinctions among
During the second half of the nineteenth century, many Europeans came to believe that imperial expansion and colonial domination were crucial for the survival of their states and societies as well as the health of their personal fortunes.
At a glance Imperialism is seen as a horrendous practice that many European nations practiced at the turn of the century. With Britain at the top and many other nations coming up behind them Imperialism seemed to be the way to go. But why would such a practice that involved exploiting the natives and harming both the land and people be so appealing to the public? The profits offered by Politicians and Officials hid the truth behind Imperialism, swaying the opinion in favor of money, goods, and a sense of moral duty. Imperialism was a great example of ‘a wolf in sheep’s clothing’, its promise of greatness for everyone involved outweighed the hardships many endured from it. The pros and cons of Imperialism
In the 18th to 19th century the factor determining the everyday life of many people was egotistic, uncompassionate nations of ‘superior’ cultures and religious doctrines. These nations with their superior ideals studied and applied imperialism to nations, they thought were uncivilized. According to Merriam Webster Imperialism is ‘the effect that a powerful country or group of countries has in changing or influencing the way people live in other, poorer countries.’ Imperialism was an era of major changes, in which for the better and the worst, the imperialized nations were affected. Many poets and philosophers commented on imperialism in their writings, some were in agreement and others were opposed of imperialism. One of these poets is Rudyard
Imperialism is the policy of a state aiming at establishing control beyond its borders over people unwilling to except such control. Because of this unwillingness imperialist policy always involves the use of power against its victims. It has therefore often been considered morally reprehensive, and the term has been employed in international propaganda to discredit an opponent’s policy. In the Nineteenth Century America, this was conveyed as the awakening of economic and political values. Principally, the goal was to seize the market of raw materials for its cultural gains and to create dominion by appealing to a wide range of people. Even though the import business is an important source of capital and worldwide gain, it also is the main factor in separating classes of people from their moral and traditional values. For this purpose, the Anti-Imperialist was formed in 1899 to neutralize the economic and political views of the Imperialists. Even though Anti-Imperialists are against domination, American Imperialism was widely accepted because imperialists viewed expansionism and foreign trade as the solution to military empowerment, cultural superiority, and the accumulation of new markets.
In this essay we'll examine the practice of imperialism throughout modern history. Specifically, the philosophies and doctrines that provided justification of its offenses. We'll allow the life of Cecil Rhodes to serve as an entry point for this topic. This is ideal, first because Rhode's ideas and doctrines provide an illustration of imperial doctrine as a whole. Secondly, because Rhode's life is a microcosm of historic imperialism, as we shall see.
No force has had a greater impact on modern nations and their cultures than imperialism. Imperialism is a policy of extending a nation’s rule over foreign areas by acquiring and holding colonies. During the nineteenth century in particular, imperialism became a trend among wealthy European nations such as Great Britain, France, and Italy, as countries competed to gain resources and expand their empires. In enforcing these policies, imperial powers spread numerous effects over the span of the globe. The question is, were the effects of imperialism beneficial or detrimental to the colonized nations? For the nation of Somalia, it is clear that imperialism was nothing but a perversion of justice, as their bloody post-independence history in particular shows when compared with the peace that existed pre-imperialism. The British and Italian imperial policies proved destructive to the nation of Somalia, as shown by the current absence of governmental stability, lack of economic prosperity, and increasing ethnic conflict.
At the turn of the 20th century, African states had been colonized and were being used by the European nations with imperialistic ideals. With imperialism came the praise and promotion of the imperialistic ideas. However, unlike other times in history where a nation had taken over another, there was criticism written by some of the writers living in the imperialistic countries. Two of these writers were Joseph Conrad, who wrote Heart of Darkness, and George Orwell, who wrote “Shooting an Elephant”. Both of their pieces comments on the dark side of imperialism and the effects it has on the colonized states and the people of the states.
New imperialism was the mid nineteenth and twentieth centuries cultural equivalent to a modern day mafia, its roots entangled in the economic, cultural, and humanistic aspects of life. The sole objective of the nations entailed the exploitation of their controlled state. Gestating from the change in control of Asian and African nations to the Europeans by means of political deviance, malicious sieges, and strategic military attacks. The juxtaposition to the modern equivalent endures as the aforesaid is sheltered by the fairytale that these nations were in need of aid and by doing so the Europeans were the good guys. The ideas of new imperialism are greatly influenced by those of the enlightenment. Taking place during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the enlightenment was an intellectual movement with the goal of social progress (Genova, 1/11). Armed with scientific thought and reason, enlightenment thinkers set out to explore the fields of science, economics, and human nature. Brilliant minds such as Voltaire, Kant and others all across Western Europe collaborated to further knowledge. The enlightenment laid the foundation on which new imperialism sprung, embedding the ideas of an incessant need to explore not only the scientific world but the physical world as well. The enlightenments goals and ideas significantly influenced new imperialism, because the enlightenment created a need for new means and a purpose to accrue them.
...n economic one. As the case of Lenin and the Bolsheviks showed, economic concerns were inevitably tinged with political overtones and questions of national grandeur and moral purposes as well. In terms of British rule in India was concerned, economic wealth, national status, and political power went hand in hand with the possession of a colonial empire. In the years leading up to the First World War, the Western imprint on Asia and African societies, for better or for worse, appeared to be a permanent feature of the political and cultural landscape. Ultimately, the fundamental weakness of imperialism was that it was ultimately based on the self-interests of the citizens of the colonial powers, not the colonizers. The ultimate result was to deprive the colonial peoples of their intrinsic value and the right to make their own choices about their own destiny.
In the end imperialism hurts not only the weak but it hurts the one using it, like a double edge sword bouncing back at you. The oppressed people those their freedom to govern their own country, have to face the abuse of the oppressors, and watch as the lives they once knew start to change before their eyes. But they are not the only ones to see change happening, the oppressors as well must see this change. To keep their chain link to the oppressed, the oppressors must change the way they do things from the inside their countries and show a different face outside of their country.
Imperialism is a policy of a country spreading their power and influence with diplomacy or military force. The act of imperialism is widespread across the world because of three main motives. These motives consist of political, religious, and economic factors involved in the expansion of the industrial nations. These imperialists weren’t necessarily evil. The main reason nations participated in imperialism was because they had strong feelings of nationalism, and felt it needed to be spread to weaker countries. Some decided imperialism was a way to spread their religious beliefs. Imperialism is terrible, and the nations who participated in it did terrible things to others. However, no matter how awful the imperialists were to foreigners imperialism
Through a modern lens, imperialists seems either incredibly naïve, like Chamberlain who genuinely though he was saving the Africans, or malicious like Kidd, who thought whites were destined to “exterminate” inferior races like the Africans (Kidd, in Armstrong 229). Yet, as seen in TFA, the realities of imperialism were much more ambiguous. Imperialists like Mr. Brown were benevolent, though not necessarily beneficial. Likewise, not all Africans were victims or saw imperialism as a negative development. Imperialism benefitted certain Africans like Nwoye and the osu. In the end, Achebe’s message about imperialism is best summed up by Obierka’s observation: “[the white man] does not even speak our tongue [.] But he says that our customs are bad” (Achebe 124). TFA shows that one of the main reasons imperialism was so harmful to the natives is the sometimes unintentional, sometimes deliberate lack of understanding of by the Europeans. Because they assumed that Africans were incomprehensible and inherently different, they decided that Africans needed outside help to become
Imperialism has not only influenced colonial territories to better themselves or to further the mother country’s realm of power, it also had a significant impact on the people’s culture, education, environment, and political systems. Japan and Britain were two imperial systems that countered each other in many facets but also had strikingly similar qualities that had helped them become strong imperial powers that needed one another to continue their position amongst others.