New Imperialism In The Late 19th Century

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New Imperialism refers to a rise in imperialism among European countries, mainly between 1870 and 1900. Countries would sometimes invest capital in less industrialized nations, then loaned local governments money or intimidated them in order to create a more favorable balance of power. Other times, Europeans used their military and technological advantage to conquer the native people. European leaders annexed or directly ruled these foreign nations, or added them to their spheres of influence. New Imperialism came from the rising tensions in Europe; rather than open war at home, leaders would redirect it through their colonies. In addition, European leaders fought over strategic colonies to use as military bases. Later, possession of colonies became a trait of a great European power, and nationalists argued that a great country must possess colonies. Many people justified their country’s imperialism through racism. Imperialism favored the European mother countries because it expanded the economies, opened new markets to trade, and allowed the country to support a larger population. However, mother countries …show more content…

New Imperialism involved an unprecedented number of countries, such as Britain, France, Russia, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, the newly united Germany, Italy, Belgian, the US, and Japan. They focused on Africa and Asia, and both the era and the empires lasted a relatively brief period of time. Many of the empires fell apart after World War I and II. In addition, the mother countries either took direct political and administrative control or annexed a country into their spheres of influence. These countries were intentionally imperial, but there was no significant number of immigrants. New Imperialism was closely linked to the cultural confidence of the mother countries. Therefore, there is a clear distinction between the Old and New

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