Preview

Essay On Imperialism

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
648 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Essay On Imperialism
Imperialism has caused many different outcomes in the world; some of which were positive, and some were negative. In this particular source, Ludwig von Mises is stating that imperialism has caused a trail of damaging events, and that these events have been so harmful that they must never be forgotten nor justified. As a result of this, the question being raised is whether the acts that came from imperialism were beneficial and important to society or not. Imperialism to Mises was a negative form of globalization. He is explaining the detrimental effects on groups, all the prosperous land that went to waste, and senseless fighting that occurred between groups. Based on this, Ludwig's perspective on imperialism is that it caused many futile circumstances, …show more content…
This led to a major death rate among the Congolese peoples, and the land that was rich in natural resources soon became one of the poorest countries in the world. When King Leopold colonized, he claimed the Congo as his own personal possession. With this being said, he enslaved the indigenous peoples and used them to gather the natural resources, mainly rubber, so Leopold would gain riches from them. This is an example of flourishing lands going to waste, which was a factor Mises stated when explaining the negatives of imperialism in his quote. Not only this, but the colonization of the Congo is also an example of when Mises states that whole peoples were destroyed and exterminated. This is because when the Congolese resisted colonization or didn’t produce enough rubber to please King Leopold, the Belgian Army would kill everyone they could find. Therefore, it is evident that imperialism in the Congo destroyed parts of their population, and lessened the value of the land, which is substantiated by Ludwig von Mises statement on imperialism.
In conclusion, imperialism portrayed very negative effects in many different parts of the world, including the Congo and Sudan. It destroyed indigenous groups, and lands possible thriving lands were devalued. All in all, when imperialism took place, a lot of undesirable actions came along with it that were very detrimental to society. These damaging events will never be extenuated, and certainly

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Imperialism has many costs and many benefits. Some benefits are new technology, education, and new weaponry. Some costs are many reforms, unfair trade treaties, and many deaths. With all the losses of imperialism, there were benefits that counteracted the costs of all the losses. The costs of imperialism are outweighed by the benefits of imperialism. Imperialism benefits in Japan outweighed the costs by gaining a spot as a world power, building a stronger military, and earning a higher spot in economic trade. Britain’s imperialism was beneficial because it helped make society more productive, less violent, and more organized.…

    • 753 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Belgian Congo Imperialism

    • 637 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In some ways Imperialism made the life of the native people better by building and maintaining new infrastructure that the natives didn’t have before. With the new infrastructure the natives were able to lead longer and happier lives with more amenities provided by things like libraries and hospitals.In India the railroad system put in place by the British is still running and useful today as are many of the roads and hospitals. These services and India’s huge population has led to India being one of the premier economies in the world today. However in the Belgian Congo these improvements were more temporary with very few being serviceable today, and even the ones that are serviceable do not offer much of a service to the natives because of the enormous limits on where they can go and what they can do. This is…

    • 637 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    When one says “imperialism,” what is the first image to come to mind, one that truly represents the practice? Is it the enslaved African, the poor soul who is subjugated, treated as a beast, and physically tortured? Is it the Trail of Tears, the infamous Native American migration forced by the United States government? It would seem as though the word “empire” has taken on a negative, almost sinister meaning in recent years, particularly in the popular media. Ask any child about empires, and they’ll go on about the evil, planet-destroying Darth Vader and his army of Stormtroopers, or about big alien motherships descending upon Washington DC and destroying all signs of life. So, to the modern citizen, “imperialism” seems to entail destruction, domination, and overall evil. It becomes necessary to look closer and give a more thorough examination of the phenomenon that seems to have started this attitude. Over the last two centuries, the Industrial Revolution, along with the discovery of the American continents, sparked a desire in European nations to expand and conquer. This started with the aforementioned Americas, but as the colonies gained independence, European nations were already moving on to places like Africa and the Philippines. Soon enough, almost the entire globe seemed to either be an imperial nation or a colony of one. In many of these colonies, the subjugated peoples faced such hardships as slavery, mass death due to disease or violence, and forced change in culture. While these negative effects are impossible to ignore, it must be noted that Western imperialism has improved other parts of the world, the parts in which a synthesis of cultures and an exchange of ideas truly takes place. Western imperialism, while causing strife for the subjugated, has led to global improvements, such as the increase in trade and wealth, technological improvements, medical advances, and increasing…

    • 1663 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Imperialism Dbq Analysis

    • 497 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Throughout history, we have seen nations form under the common idea for unity and modernization of our country. As time continues, we see strong European countries imperialize other nations for wealth and foreign goods it can control. While some of the methods for gathering these materials were inhumane, unified colonies rose from their backbone of imperialism to become powerful countries such as Venezuela, India, and Canada. That is why a person should believe that imperialism was positive for human kind in the 1800s and early 1900s.…

    • 497 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    A controversial aspect of imperialism is the imperial power’s justification of such actions. Those seeking to justify imperialism pointed out that technological and economic efficiency were often improved in territories subjected to imperialism, through the building of roads and other infrastructure and the introduction of many innovations. A common argument against this is that such improvements would have occurred anyway if the conquered territory were left to its own devices, and as an imperial territory, the benefits of these improvements went to the imperial power rather than the territory itself…

    • 90 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    How Were Concepts Of Race

    • 1368 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Beginning around the 1700s, under the development of technology in many aspects, the Europeans started their expedition to explore the world. After the discover of many unknown lands, they soon developed a policy to extend their power and influence through colonies, with violence and blood. The policy was known as “imperialism”. In Africa, European imperialists ruled, killed, enslaved, and traded millions of native Africans like merchandise while also robbing all the approachable natural resources. Imperialists apparently brought a catastrophe into Africa while they even caused a lot of leftover problems to the modern Africa. However, back to the 1800s, imperialists did not think imperialism was a fault. With better-developed technology, Europeans started to believe that they enjoyed superiority in all aspects, including economics, culture and race. They made up many justifications to defend their crimes that related to these three aspects. Most of the justification could be categorized into two camps: the “internal camp” and the “external camp”. In the “internal camp”, imperialists justified themselves by connecting “nationalism” and “imperialism”, which they believed ruling an “inferior race” was an efficient way to enrich their home countries. One of the related theories was “Social Darwinism”. The “external camp” believed the intention of imperialism was to help and benefit the “barbaric” natives. One of the popular theories was the “duty theory”. However, activist Roger Casement heavily criticized imperialism by using the same concepts. He disproved both camps by pointing that imperialism neither necessarily enriched nations nor brought any benefit to the natives. With his documentary report on the Congo Free State, which was privately controlled by King Leopold II of Belgium, we could observe the…

    • 1368 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Imperialism is a concept that takes control of the world during the early 19th century. Imperialism had lasting effects that are still around in the 20th century. Imperialism also modernized Africa with new and improved weapons and a new variety of foods to grow to eat and sell. In addition, imperialism connected Africa with the rest of the world through trading. Africa’s borders, individual rights, and poverty are seen today because of the lasting effect of Imperialism.…

    • 429 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One might assume that the fact in which imperialism ended means that it was not a good system. However, Hegel showed us that reason rules the world and that everything that has happened over the course of history has brought the world closer to coming into an absolute synthesis. The downfall of imperialism shows that the world was able to take a large step forwards in terms of achieving the absolute synthesis. The after effects of World War II had left Great Britain weak and unfit to rule their colonies in a just and fair manner. In fact, we can see that Britain had started failing in its noble mission when they granted India independence and failed to actually give it to them. Additionally, it is important to point out that imperialism was not necessarily replaced by better systems. For example, in South Africa, after they gained independence, the apartheid system was set up which led to effects detrimental to the nation. Imperialism brought unity to a region. The apartheid system created segregation. British imperialism saved natives from great evils. The apartheid subjected non-whites to unspeakable…

    • 1674 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nationalism: Nationalism is when one country has extreme pride in themselves while believing that other nations are inferior. This is significant because it was a factor which led Spain and Portugal to come to these…

    • 504 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Benefits Of Imperialism

    • 144 Words
    • 1 Page

    Imperialism overseas benefited the European countries because after the Opium wars the chinese had to trade with European countries and this gave the Countries access to silk and spices from the Chinese. Another benefit was the rubber, diamonds, and gold coming from Africa. This also harmed relations due to things like the First Boer war between the Dutch and England. The odomuren massacre also gave people a bad feeling about imperialism because the British mowed down unarmed protesters with machine guns. It also was had a bad name after the photos from the congo was leaked to the public so people could see what the Dutch under Leopold the second were doing to the native people. Something that caused anger and almost conflict was when Wilhelm…

    • 144 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Effects of Imperialism

    • 1272 Words
    • 6 Pages

    From: Imperialism and World Politics, Parker T. Moore, 1926 To begin with, there are the exporters and manufacturers of certain goods used in the colonies. The makers of cotton and iron goods have been very much interested in imperialism. Their business interests demand that colonial markets should be opened and developed and that foreign competitors should be shut out. Such aims require political control and imperialism. Finally, the most powerful of all business groups are the bankers. Banks make loans to colonies and backward countries for building railways and steamship lines. They also make loans to colonial plantation owners, importers, and exporters. The imperialist business interests have powerful allies.…

    • 1272 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In H.G. Wells The War of the Worlds contains imagery of imperialism, he portrays imperialism throughout the story by comparing Martians and the human's appearances, evolution, and Religion. The War of the Worlds can be interpreted in many ways and this is how I interpreted it. I believe the main concept is imperialism as the British were the most power countries at the time. They face a new enemy with the Martians come to earth trying to take over land for power. Throughout the story, there were three main topics that grabbed my attention. The first being evolved, the comparison between the Martians and the human's appearances, and Religion. I believe through these topics the author H.G. Wells expresses his feelings and thoughts about imperialism.…

    • 907 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Imperialism In Zimbabwe

    • 411 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Zimbabwe is seen to been affected by western imperialism through the horrible leadership of Mugabe, who can be compared to Saddam Husain. The Congo still suffers political problems due to western imperialism, they face many civil discrepancies. This Western Imperialism had Africans adapting to various elements of European civilization. But the Europeans exploited Africa’s natural resources and today Africa still suffers from poverty, disease, war, and lack of a stable…

    • 411 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Opinion on Imperialism

    • 537 Words
    • 2 Pages

    If imperialism is used to move toward globalization I believe that it is an evil but if it used to play the role of a police man it can be justified. Britain for example used it to increase their personal welfare, an excellent strategy on their part but not for others exspecially those in Africa. Although if they wouldnt have had as much competetion with country such as France and other european countrys may have slowy moved toward globilization and today they just might have been in control of 3/4 of the world. Another reason too much territory control is a negitve is because it makes it hard for the leader of the dominate country to control all of their land and the people living in that land. Because of this difficulty countrys have been know to resort to abuse and unfair treatment of the newly aquired lands inhabitants, just as Britain did with India. They did this just to intimidate the poeple and keep them under their control.…

    • 537 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Impact of Imperialism

    • 1020 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Throughout history imperialism has been interpreted from a variety of viewpoints. While it was helpful on some accounts there were also several negative effects. Its positive effects were that the Europeans helped the undeveloped countries to be more civilized by introducing them to technologies and cultures they would have otherwise never known. On the other hand, most natives from these lands viewed it negatively because the whites were taking the land and freewill of the people and abusing them as well.…

    • 1020 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays