Why Create an Empire?
A path to economic growth
‘Take up the White Man’s burden, send forth the best ye breed
Go send your sons to exile, to serve your captives’ need
To wait in heavy harness, on fluttered folk and wild
Your new-caught, sullen peoples, half devil and half child.’ Rudyard Kipling.
Why would a nation state want to invest its scarce resources and capital in ventures that risk financial loss and may become caught up in the difficulty of doing trade in often unfriendly parts of the globe? On the other hand, how does a nation grow opportunities for its people and products in new markets and resources that can be used in their own domestic market? These questions can be answered in several ways, however, for the purpose of this essay I plan to look at what drives a nation to create an empire. I will focus on the period from the mid-19th century, through to the mid-20th century. This period differs from others as it is when technology and innovation in manufacturing saw large increase in production that made nations look for new markets for their goods.
As Kipling stated in his poem, The White Man’s Burden, empire building was a task that men were destined to do. There was a sense that many nations that were prospering through commerce, new technological and scientific discoveries owed to other nations to help them develop through various means. These included education, new labor techniques and the mother nations type of justice. Through this, the nations that become part of the empire, could enjoy stability and peace. The introduction of rail and sea communication being a major enabler of this. The United Nations also has a mandate to assist developing countries improve along similar lines. The creation of an empire also gave nations an opportunity to export their own citizens to new lands and share in the creation of wealth.
The establishment of colonies that prospered and increased productivity of goods, not only served to help the mother countries but also offered benefits to many other modern nations through increased trade. Britain, for example, maintained a low rate of tariffs on imported goods that assisted a freer passage of trade of the exports from their colonies and encourage their European neighbors to trade with them. By maintaining a zero tariff, commerce was encouraged multiple nations both inside and outside of the British Empire. This increase in commerce across the globe saw the emergence of a global economy. The prosperity that Britain enjoyed during this period ensured that they committed to investing capital overseas and continuing the growth for their colonies. In also cemented Britain’s place as a major global force.
The rise in production of machine-made goods for export combined with the opportunity for citizens to emigrate to new lands was also backed up by huge investments from the mother countries. By creating an empire, Britain’s colonies of New Zealand, Australia and Canada all had the fastest growing economies in the world between 1820 and 1950. This benefit also resulted in huge investments in modern technology across these vast nations. An example of this is in the rise of the world’s railway mileage. Between 1860 and 1910, it increased from 66,000 to 465,000. Similar increase can be seen in the tonnage of goods being shipped and the amount of telegraph cables being lengthened. This increase in profits flowing back to the mother nations meant that Europe, in particular, become the finance center of the globe. The British Sterling being the preferred currency of trade.
Education and medicine were other exports that followed that of the trade routes and helped the new nations. In many colonies, the opportunity arose for the imperial nations to unite tribal and ethnic groups or to bring peace to warring groups. This was something that empires had achieved for many centuries but what democracy has often failed to do. Empire ended many brutal customs and taught the locals how to better exploit the resources and land around them. Commerce alone though, is not the only means to transform a country in to productive and civilized society. It takes the effort of the imperialist nation to invest in new societal structures and organization to assist their nations in realizing their potential.
The influence of the imperial nations on those of the colonies also had a major impact on the cultures of the indigenous peoples. The loss of language and other aspects of traditional lifestyle are often viewed in a harsh negative light. It can be argued that cultural transformation under an empire is nothing new. The notion that culture is static and not subject to change can also be challenged. Many cultures that existed before colonization could already have been the legacy of previous victors on the local populations. The difference in the cultural transformations of the period in this essay to those of previous empires is the use of technology to develop more production of resources and products for the use in a global economy. There were also opportunities for the mother nations to import cultural influences from the colonies in the advancement of scientific knowledge and art.
By creating empires, it can be seen that there are benefits for both the colonies and the mother nation. Historians may argue the virtues of empire building and the legacy that remains, however, there is evidence to suggest that during the period of global expansion and empire building in this essay, empires played an important role. In fact, it could be further argued that it was the burden of modern societies to take their new technologies and assist other nations in becoming developed.
