18.1: Introduction

In a modern historical context, “Imperialism” refers to global empire-building by modern states. To distinguish it from the earlier expansion of European states (e.g. the Spanish empire in the Americas), it is sometimes referred to as “neo-imperialism.” Specifically, neo-imperialism describes the enormous growth of European empires in the nineteenth century. By World War I, European powers controlled over 80% of the surface of the globe. The aftershocks of this period are still felt in national borders and international conflicts today.

Modern imperialism was a product of factors that had no direct parallel in earlier centuries. For a brief period, Europe, and later the United States, enjoyed a monopoly on industrial production and technology. The scientific advances and modern medicine enabled European soldiers and administrators to survive in regions like Sub-Saharan Africa that had been deathtraps in the past because of the prevalence of tropical diseases. In addition, ideological developments like the emergence of Social Darwinism and the obsession with race inspired Europeans to consider their conquests as morally justified, even necessary. It was, in short, a “perfect storm” of technology and ideology that enabled and justified Europe’s global feeding frenzy.

Europeans tended to justify their conquests by citing a “civilizing mission” that would bring the guiding lights of Christianity and Western Civilization to supposedly benighted regions. However, a more tangible excuse for conquest was the rivalry between European states. With the Congress System gone in the aftermath of the Crimean War, and with the wars of the Italian and German unification demonstrating the stakes of intra-European conflict, all of the major European powers jockeyed for position on the world stage. Perhaps the most iconic example was the personal obsession of the King of Belgium, Leopold II, with the creation of a Belgian colony in Africa, which he thought would elevate Belgium’s status in Europe and from which he could derive enormous profits. In the end, his personal fiefdom - the Congo Free State - would become the most horrendous demonstration of the mismatch between the high-minded “civilizing mission” and the reality of carnage and exploitation.