How were Causes of War Related to Imperialism?
The New Imperialism was a way for imperialist nations to take territory in regions of Asia, Africa, and abroad, where they saw precious resources, including in the form of human capital, that could be owned and possessed for personal consumption. In the past, colonialism was used as a means of promoting mercantilism primarily, where countries were concerned more with gathering as much money as possible and gaining wealth through the acquisition of gold, silver, and other precious commodities. While the balance of trade was promoted in theory, early colonialists were more interested in their own welfare and accumulating wealth for personal interests.
Hull discusses the political rights of Africans that were violated repeatedly by colonists and those in charge of them. In many cases, outright lies were spoken by the leaders of colonialist parties, including German leaders, telling stories of atrocities, including women and children that were murdered at the hands of African uprisers who protested colonialism or imperialist rule. However as was demonstrated by the reading, in Chapter 1 Hull notes that oftentimes such stories were fabricated, as were orders given to “shoot everything with dark skin” suggesting that anyone that may revolt may be shot down, again denying the political rights of Africans living in the colonized regions (Hull, Chapter 1). While these stories were often denied by those in charge, they led to much bitterness, particularly when women and children were slaughtered as a result. Many point out that it was the settlers brutal behavior that resulted in uprisings to begin with; however, German press reports denied the legitimacy of such reports.
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In Chapter 2, Hull comments that the British acquiesced that Germans could not possibly run a colony humanely, and often resulted in inhumane behaviors. Shooting of civilians was quoted as being so common that it was more common not to take prisoners. According to Ballantyne and Burton, the very existence of indigenous communities in many places, including in Australia, was simply denied, as laws were put in place to deny their power and existence. Revolts were simply put down in bloody massacres. This was not simply commonplace in African, but in all regions including in Asia where imperialism was seen as a means to master people, and govern finances in a highly sought after land. Resistance was as one may put it, futile. Europeans simply saw their ways, their practices and culture, particularly in Germany and Britain, as more refined than that of the indigenous peoples. This contributed to the massacre of the indigenous people, despite the proclamation that settlers were going in to end slavery and assist with reorganization in a humane and revolutionary manner (Hull, Chapter 1; Ballantyne and Burton). When the British settled into India, the Queen designated a royal title for herself, although the Indian people already had a political system in place for governing themselves, seeing the British monarchy as a far superior method for monitoring and ruling after the services and crops that the Indian people had to offer (Hull, Chapter 1). The exchange of natural Indian spices for cash crops the Europeans put in, including cotton and related crops, ultimately led to as Hull states, widespread famine among the Indian people. Such ignorance and the lust for money does not suggest ignorance on the part of the native people, but rather a great degree of pride, lust, and ignorance on the part of the imperialists seeking power and control in the territories they were setting into.
The New Imperialists wanted to control trading routes, which would allow them more access to primary routes. Germans were always interested in power and control, and absorbing as much territory as possible. The earlier colonialists or imperialists would impose more tariff barriers to impose control over others. However the later imperialists would attempt to gain more of Africa and control more of Africa, seeing it as a great empire and acquisition; Asian lands were also seen as a new way to expand, and acquire more land acquisition, in essence gaining more power through imperialist land control and trade routes. More advanced countries including Britain and Germany were interested in developing the less developed regions of the world which they saw as brutal and ripe for domination. In addition to imposing their supreme views of political domination, the later 19th and 20th century imperialist were determined to keep other countries, who could be threats or financial competitors, out of the financial market.
As always one may conclude that in a relatively undeveloped land like Africa and parts of Asia, there may be resources that are yet to be taken advantage of. The less protestation from the people, the easier it would be for each of the superpowers to dominate the people. Hence the methodology for simply wiping out protestors, or brutally annihilating them. The war resulted as a competition not simply for land and resources, but as countries including Britain and France allied with each other against Austria and Germany as superpowers, in their efforts to dominate minorities (Ballantyne and Burton; Dubois). Germany would like nothing more than to gain as much power as Britain had by gaining access to more territories through Imperialism, and Africa presented an opportunity to do so. However, the Royal Navy had much power and control of many regions; Britain saw Germany as a threat, and began building up its resources and militant forces to defend itself against Germany, allied with Austria, to defend its territories (Ballantyne and Burton). Ultimately this could only lead to war.
- Ballantyne, T. and Burton, A. “Empires and the Reach of the Global.”
- Dubois, W.E.B., “The African Roots of War,”
- Hull, I.V. Absolute Destruction: Military Culture and the Practices of War in Imperial Germany: Cornell University Press.
- Hull, I.V. “Pursuit and Annihilation, Chapter 2. Cornell University Press.
