How Did Imperialism Help a Country's Status?
- During the late 18th and throughout the 19th centuries Europe industrialized. The factories in Europe required a constant flow of natural resources. The supply required was, in most cases, greater than European countries were able to supply internally. Additionally, raw materials imported from countries in Africa, Asia and South America were less expensive. This was, in part, due to much lower labor costs. Imperialism allowed European powers to own and control the lands from which these resources came.
- While many of the preindustrial countries were rich in raw materials, they had few manufactured goods. Demand in these countries for modern tools, weapons, building materials and other manufactured goods provided new markets for European exporters. These shortages and demands created new opportunities for European investors who imported and exported goods, as well as creating more modern facilities in the countries that came under imperial rule. Controlling economic markets also helped to enrich the tax coffers of the imperial powers.
- In addition to the considerable economic power empire brought to European powers, it also allowed them to expand their military power. In some cases, European powers were able to recruit from the population of imperial countries to expand their forces, and the real estate of the empire allowed countries to expand their naval power and shipyards. At the height of European imperialism in the 19th century, naval power counted more than any other kind. Great Britain's naval bases in Canada, Australia, Africa and Asia allowed them to rule the seas and made them the dominant military power of the age.
- Although the "Age of Imperialism" is officially over, the principles of imperialism still play a significant role in shaping modern foreign policy. Wealthier nations still attempt to control import and export markets as well as expand their military power by treaty and by keeping governments that are friendly to them in power in poorer countries. In the case of Britain, while the empire is gone, most of the nations that comprised that empire are now part of the British Commonwealth and share strong economic and political relationships. Throughout the Cold War both the United States and the Soviet Union attempted to keep developing nations loyal to them by offering economic and military aid to their allies within those countries.