Imperialism, interimperial rivalry & WW 1

conclusion

• Problematic for complete explanation
• Stagiest approach argues for finite 'ceiling' to capitalism
• Confusion over different Marxist interpretations of imperialism weakens argument
• Combination of issues for imperialism (state and capitalist interest grey area)
• Combination of issues for WW1

Raihan: Gallagher/Robinson

• Imperialism and Free Trade: the beginnings

Jinju: Green

• The Uneven and Combined Development; Critique of Historical Materialist's view to the WW1

Raquel: Brewer

• Comparisons and critiques of Marxist theories; Lenin, Bukharin, and Kautsky

features of imperialism:

• Reasons of colonialism for Great Britain
• General strategy: convert these areas into complementary satellite economies, which would provide raw materials and food for Great Britain, and also provide widening markets for its manufacturers.
• British expansion sometimes failed, if it gained political supremacy without effecting a successful commercial penetration.
• Types of informal empires and the situations it attempted to exploit were as various as the success which it achieved.

Congress of Vienna

• Relative peace in Europe

Increasing trade liberalization/ economic integration

• repeal of the corn law & repeal of the navigation act

Negative long term effects on Holy alliance empires

• Export based economies with no diversification

Move to protectionism - 1870s

• unification of Germany and new power imbalances

The Imperialism in Free Trade

(John Gallager and Ronald Robinson)

• Orthodox view: 19th c inspired the Imperial Federation movement
• mid-Victorian period: the formal empire disintegrate and seen as anti-imperialist
• late-Victorian period: a qualitative change in British expansion
• Main imperial interest was pursued by maintaining supremacy over the whole region

Anthony Brewer, Marxist Theories of Imperialism

What is imperialism?

• Bukharin- " a policy of finance capital and an ideology...." then "characteristic of the world economy at a particular stage of development
• Lenin- " a stage of development in capitalism"
• Kautsky- "ultra-imperialism" 'idea that the major powers would agree to exploit the world jointly rather than fighting over the division of the world"

Jeremy Green, Uneven and combined development and the Anglo-German prelude to WW1

• The pre-WW1 situation in Britain and Germany

and 'Uneven and Combined Development (UCD)'

• Critique of the dominant explanation of the approach to WW1; Critique of Historical Materialist's view

redefining imperialism:

• government sacrificing/endangering British paramountcy/interest
• Imperialism largely decided by various and changing relationships between political and economic elements of expansion
• The mid-Victorian period now appears as an era of large-scale expansion & the late-Victorian age does not seem to introduce any significant novelty into that process of expansion

Uneven and Combined Development (UCD)

• UCD theory?
• Critique of Beverly Silver;

"All actors are presumed to be

functionally similar in capitalist states"

`

Trotsky's UCD theory;

In the period of development,

backward countries would adopt

their own historically unique path of development

that would proceed in a different order to that experienced by advanced countries

(*)

Capitalist development in Britain and Germany

Comparison between British and German Capitalist development

• Britain; Domination of World Market, Relatively Strong Labour Power, Parliamentary System
• Germany; Economic Backwardness, Strong State Authority, Repressed Labour Power

Imperialism:

WHY?

• Mercantilism had already

introduced Europe to the wider

world (*)

• Industrial and medical

development allowed Europeans

to explore deeper into foreign lands

• Opportunities for exploitation
• Led to new inter imperial

rivalry for foreign land

For example : The 'scramble for

Africa' :

Imperialism, inter-imperial rivalry & WW 1

Tom - intro etc

1 vienna agreement

2 declining empires of the 'holy alliance'

3 increasing efficiency of british capitalism

4 franco prussian war upset the power balance in 1870, defeating france and uniting germany

5 unilateral trade becoming dominant - scramble for africa - imperialism was sought after was various reasons, but we are going to focus on the marxist reasoning