Effects Of Imperialism

Mankind has come a long way since the beginning of time. People have evolved and made life easier for themselves. Different cultures have formed and different mindsets and ideas have been put forward. Often cultures cross and mix and new cultures are formed and if they don’t mix, conflicts break out. Different peoples come together for different reasons; whether it is a religion, similar ideas, or cultural activities. These occurrences are referred to, as crossroads, now crossroads can either be physical place, like a border or a port or a trading market or intersections reflected in practices of everyday life.
“Means of communication were few and slow, and most Spanish sailors were poorly equipped for foul weather. Neither side regarded the
invasion as foolish at the time, however, and ultimately it was defeated due to a host of factors”, the Spanish were not accustomed to the English Channel and communication was complicated which lead to their demise. If the Spanish had traded with the English first to learn the surrounding areas and developed routes, their invasion would have been more effective. “The Europeans were as capable of savagery as America’s famous warrior cultures”, this was a crossroads of culture but in the figurative sense in how the European cultures became like the American culture. The Mughals “made a variety of alliances with subject peoples, offering them a share of power and the right to carry on established livelihoods.”, the Mughals made alliances in an effort to better their land, and share power, making a real world crossroad, by establishing relations. In British India “The contest in Central Asia has been called the ‘Great Game’ but that hardly conveys the destruction inflicted on local peoples and on the imperialists themselves--all in the name of advancing the nation by forging an empire”, the British and the Indians suffered great losses but did what they had to, to better equip their nation, they combined their cultures and took the best of each.
Imperialism was a force that swept through most of the world to better it, “Imperialism brought closer connections among peoples far distant from one another, through trade, migration, and warfare.”, imperialism was the simplest crossroad of cultures, where a nation tired to change another nation and better it, examples: Britain to India, Europe to Africa, France to West Indies.
“Missionaries brought another kind of disorder, as the Boxer Rebellion demonstrated. European missionaries rushed newly secured areas of Africa and Asia.”, the missionaries main function was to spread religion, and they made a crossroad to new found lands to spread their beliefs and ideas. “In the Qing Empire as well, with foreign powers in control of revenue collections as a result of the Opium War, taxes were no longer used for upkeep of the reservoirs, irrigation systems, or even water ways that might have transported aid to stricken regions.”, in this instance, the crossroad failed the nations that were involved, the foreign powers took the wrong steps and inevitably led to the sickness of native population. Often times this occurred and imperialism was looked at in a negative way and cultural diffusion was taboo and frowned upon in most nations, because the “outsiders” could not be trusted. At the same time imperialism greatly improved most nations “the imperial powers aimed to transform local life with new public health programs, in large part to protect their own soldiers and officials”, imperialism greatly changed life in less developed countries, and countries that were more developed often clashed with the imperializing power and conflict
brewed.
“Europeans, Asians and Africans alike followed a pattern of global migration, moving well beyond their national borders to countries where land was being taken from native peoples to give to white settlers, or where imperialism created new job opportunities.”, imperialism often created new jobs and strengthened the economy, so it was welcomed by the country being imperialized, and that’s the reality of it, the country being imperialized was left stringer than what it was previously. Media also played a role in cultural diffusion “To build circulation, Western journalists puffed up the triumphs of ‘explorers’ and roused readers’ emotions with lurid stories of the global trade in women and girls.”, often times the media, makes the world a smaller place, by encouraging a norm, and other cultures follow along and a cultural crossroad is formed.
“The tensions created by imperialism and modern state-building were apparent in many parts of the world by 1910”, in many places imperialism led to conflicts and rebellions, cultures wanted to preserve their own/old ways, countries such as “Mexico, China, and the Balkans”.