Understanding Imperialism and Its Impact on Global History

Posted on Dec 9, 2025 in History

Imperialism: It was a political, social, and military movement (19th-20th century). It was led by European countries and later by Japan, the USA, and Russia. The main objective was to become a large empire, so each country needed to conquer some territories (in Africa, Canada, Australia, and Asia) known as colonies.

Causes of Imperialism:

  • Economic Interests: Industrialized European countries were in search of new markets (to sell their surplus products) and they also wanted to obtain more raw materials (cotton, iron, coal…) and colonial products (sugar, chocolate, tea…). In those colonies, the labor was cheaper (workforce).
  • Population Growth: The economic changes caused a huge rise in the European population (fewer deaths and more food). This caused overpopulation, so a part of the population had to emigrate to colonies on other continents. Migration was a solution for the metropole to avoid social problems like unemployment. The Europeans had better living conditions than the natives in the colony.
  • Rivalry Between Empires: They wanted to be large empires to have more political and economic power and influence. This caused conflicts when two different empires wanted the same territory.
  • The Myth of the Master Race: European or Western people believed that they were superior, and for that reason, they could conquer and exploit territories. They considered themselves culturally superior and started to impart traditions, language, culture, and currency.

Colonialism: Imperialism led to colonialism. It consists of establishing different colonies (conquered territories) in underdeveloped regions (Africa, Asia, Australia, and Canada) to facilitate the conquest and exploit their resources and people.

The Conquest of the World

  1. Exploration: Understanding the territory, the type of people living there, and the natural resources available to decide if they want to conquer it.
  2. Conquest: Taking the territory with an army and weapons.
  3. Organization: Organizing the territory to create a colony.
  4. Exploration of the Colony: They (European countries) thought they were better because they had more technological advances and did not act like the natives. So they “educated and civilized” them.

The Metropole and Colony

The metropole is the country (developed countries) that has and controls the colonies (France, Great Britain, Portugal…), while the colony is the territory conquered and exploited by the metropole (Africa, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Angola…). The metropole and colony had an unequal relationship because the metropole controlled the colony, which could not have industries, had to buy industrial products from its metropole, and had to sell their raw materials at low prices to it.

Types of Colony

  • Colony: A territory ruled by the metropole (e.g., Egypt, India).
  • Protectorate: A territory governed by an indigenous government, but the metropole controls the economy (e.g., Morocco, French protectorate, Spanish protectorate).
  • Dominion: A territory ruled by a local government composed of Europeans and their descendants, with the metropole controlling the economy and foreign policy (e.g., Australia, South Africa, Algeria, New Zealand).
  • Concession: A city or small area controlled by a metropole for a period of time (e.g., Hong Kong).

The First World War

Introduction

A global war in 1914. This was a new type of war that involved many different countries and their territories or colonies. Colonial empires had several overseas territories (in Africa, Asia, and Oceania). Non-European countries like the USA, Japan, and the Ottoman Empire also took part in the conflict, making it a global war.

Causes

The main reason was the rivalry and tension between European countries and colonial empires developed during the armed peace period established from the end of the 19th to the beginning of the 20th century by European powers. It led to an arms race, in which European powers spent significant amounts of money to buy weapons, warships, and reorganize soldiers to be ready for a future war.

Alliances

Triple Alliance: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, Italy. Entente Cordiale: France, Britain. (Later changed to) Triple Entente: France, Britain, Russia.

During the war, these alliances suffered some changes:

Central Powers:

Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria, Turkey.

Allies:

Great Britain, Russia, Italy, France.

The Outbreak of the War

The murder of Francisco Ferdinand, the archduke heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, triggered WW1. He was assassinated in 1914 in Sarajevo by a Serbian student (a member of the secret Black Hand society, a nationalist association). At that time, Serbia was supported by Russia, so as Russia belonged to the Triple Entente, the other countries of this military alliance defended Serbia when the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Triple Alliance attacked Serbia. Thus, the war between the two sides started.

Phases of the War

  1. The War of Movements: In this phase, the armies took place near the borders, and two fronts appeared. Germany invaded Belgium and Luxembourg, attacked the North of France but was stopped by the French and British army in the Battle of Marne. Germany also defeated the Russian army in the Battle of Tannenberg.
  2. Trench Warfare: The fronts between the French and British army and the German army became fixed and immobilized. The trenches of both armies, separated by “no man’s land,” were dug from Switzerland to the North Sea. Any advances made during this phase resulted in heavy loss of life. As a result, Turkey, Italy, Bulgaria, and Romania entered the war. Germans tried to break the trench front, but the Allies stopped them in the Battle of Verdun. Later, Britain and France attacked the German lines in the Battle of the Somme but without much success. This was the worst war, as in the northeast part of France, there were long amounts of casualties.
  3. Final Stage: After the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, Russia signed with Germany the Brest-Litovsk in 1918. It was a peace treaty signed because Russia wanted to concentrate on communism. After the sinking of the US transatlantic liner Lusitania (which determined the union between the UK and the USA) by a German submarine, the USA entered the conflict. In 1918, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire called for an armistice, so the Eastern front disappeared. It was when Germany signed the armistice on 11th November 1918. Wilhelm II, the Kaiser, abdicated, and the Weimar Republic was proclaimed. The war was won by the Triple Entente (Allies) because of the armistice signed by them.

Trenches

(2nd phase) Front Line Trench: This trench is the first trench after the front between the two armies, and the distance of no man’s land. Here, the soldiers are fighting against the soldiers of the other first trench army; they had to shoot at the enemies. But they always died there.

Support Trench: This is the second trench, where soldiers replaced the soldiers of the front line trench when they died or got tired.

Reserve Trench: Here, there are new soldiers preparing to move to the support trench.

After the War

The Triple Alliance became the Central Powers, formed by Germany and Austria-Hungary as the most important. Other countries like Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire supported them. The Triple Entente became the Allies, formed by Great Britain, France, and Russia (which in 1917 left the war and signed the Brest-Litovsk treaty) as the most important, supported by Italy (which changed sides when the war began), the USA (1918), Portugal, Serbia, Romania, and Greece.

Consequences of the War

Loss of casualties due to the use of chemical weapons; about 10 million soldiers, injured people, and civilians suffered due to the lack of food, diseases, and new weapons like mustard gas, machine guns, zeppelins, tanks, and early planes. It also produced the creation of new borders, resulting in a new European political map. After WW1, Europe lost power, which was substituted by the USA.

The Organization of Peace: The Treaties

First, a country had to leave the war. Later, a peace treaty had to be established between both countries. Finally, the country that won the war established the conditions for the country that lost the war. They had to sign a treaty in which the country that lost the war had to pay a sum of money (selected by the others) as war reparations.

  • The Treaty of Versailles: Signed with Germany, it was the most important. It was signed by Great Britain and France with Germany. At first, it declared that Germany was responsible for the war (but we know that the war was formed because of the rivalry between European countries over the distribution of Africa and the conquest of Oceania and Asia, and the period of preparation for the war). That is to say, all the countries that participated in the war were responsible for it. It also forced Germany to pay high war reparations, reduce its army to avoid a repetition of that situation, and lose part of its European territories and all its colonies: three colonies in Africa, some colonies in the islands of Oceania, and some concessions on the Chinese coasts (Japan).
  • The Treaty of Saint Germain-en-Laye: Signed with Austria, the Austro-Hungarian Empire disappeared. Austria and Hungary were divided into two different countries. New countries appeared after that empire, like Czechoslovakia in the south (Bosnia-Herzegovina) joined with Serbia and Croatia, forming Yugoslavia. Some territories of that empire became Polish and Romanian territories.
  • The Treaty of Sevres: Signed with the Ottoman Empire.