V. The Rise and Development of the New National Imperalism since 1870. 1. The Historical Background.— One of the most strik ing phases of the modern dynamic age has been the rise of the new national imperialism since 1870. By this is meant the development of European or American control over the ter ritory or the resources of the less highly devel oped or the less powerful peoples outside of Europe and the United States, accomplished usually with the sanction or the armed inter vention of the states of which the traders were citizens. As a movement this has varied greatly, extending all the way from simply a dominating control over the commerce of a given area to complete political absorption. Perhaps the most conspicuous phase of modern imperialism has been the great swiftness of this European expansion and occupation. More ter ritory has b eenactually procured for European occupation of one sort or another within 40 years than was occupied in the three centuries of the old colonial movement. In 1800 about four-fifths of the land area of the world had not been opened to civilized man through ex ploration, and as late as 1870 more than half of the habitable surface of the earth had not been touched by Europeans. By the beginning of the 20th century the whole planet outside of the extreme polar regions had been traversed by the white man and its resources and potentialities for exploitation had been catalogued. Africa had been explored and partitioned. Oceania and Australasia had been occupied, and a com mercial hegemony of Europe and America had been established in Asia and Latin America.
See GEOGRAPHICAL CONQUESTS.
The forces or causes lying back of this ex pansive movement are conventionally classified as economic, political, social, religious and psychological. The economic causes of expan sion grew directly out of the Industrial Revolu tion. While this movement had affected Eng land and France at a somewhat earlier period, the great era of industrial development in Germany and the United States was in the years following 1860. This new industry, carried on by mechanical processes under the factory system, gave rise to an unprecedented increase in productivity and to an enormous expansion of capital available for investment. At the same time, the vast improvement in the means of land and water transportation made possible the growth of world trade on a scale which ex ceeded anything before known, because of cheap transportation, the rapidity with which ship ments could be made and the decreased proportion of losses in ocean shipments. All of these developments inevitably led to a scramble for foreign markets and to large scale investment of capital in overseas areas. These markets and areas for investment were sought, when possible, in colonies carved out of backward and unoccupied tracts, and, when these were not available, in seats of older civil izations which had not yet passed into the mod ern industrial age. Political causes co-operated
with the economic in producing the new move ment of expansion. The growth of modern r.ationalism stimulated and intensified the de sire to secure and control colonial areas. Italy and Germany had just achieved national unifica tion in 1870 and had developed an intense patriotic fervor which required an outlet in foreign expansion. France turned to foreign areas to secure compensation for the loss of Alsace-Lorraine. Russia, not satisfied with a vast area still awaiting exploitation and devel opment, turned southward to seize more ter ritory in Asia. England had long staked her future on supremacy as a commercial and col onizing nation. Even the United States, before the close of the 19th century, had ocupied all the available free land within its boundaries and turned to the Spanish-American area for a new region of investment and exploitation. This process naturally produced as a sort of psychic compensation the notion of the 'civilizing mis sion' or the 'white man's burden,' and gave rise to sharp national jealousies over the rela tive extent of external possessions. Then, there was a strong sociological motive which com bined with the political impulses to favor expansion. For some set of causes not yet well understood, but which centre about modern in dustrialism and the growth of medical science, the population of Europe increased from about 175,000.0[10 to over 4541000,000 from 1800 to 1915. This led in many countries to a real pressure of the population on the means of subsistence and emigration was stimulated, if not necessi tated. It was natural that the mother country should desire to retain a political control over its emigrants and this could he achieved only when they migrated to colonies. Again, the religious motives for developittg oversea areas had not declined, hut had increased instead. To the Catholic missionaries, who had never ceased actoity since the beginning of expansion, were added an ever-increasing number of Protestants. The appeal of the missionaries was further strengthened when it became possible for them to carry with them not only 'the word which maketh lint() salvation,' but also modern industrial arts and the blessings of sanitary and medical science Finally, psychological im pulses have served to extend the interests of Europe overseas The lose of adventure has operated as ever, and the compelling power of scientific curiosity has not abated. Again. the social prestige usually attached to colonial serv ice has acted as an incentive to the movement Further, the various psycholovical aspects of modern aggressive nationalism have been util ized in the propaganda of skilful and unscru pulous imperialists to effect a popular espousal of their program.