Old imperialism ¨C ¡°Gold, God and Glory¡±

Global expansion and imperialism in Europe initially began in the fifteenth century. Colonization and expansion of the European countries during this time to 1815 was termed old imperialism. Old imperialists generally steered clear of territorial claims and major players during this time were the Dutch, Portuguese and the Spanish. These imperialist countries were mainly concerned with trade monopoly and channeled their resources into establishing forts and ports essential for promoting trade. Wealth from non-interference trade was the main driving factor. Old imperialists recognized the economic burden in colonization as it could possibly lead to colonial wars and raise taxes, hence harming their economic interest. Therefore, old imperialists established themselves as crown enterprises which colonizes by means of treaties and alliances which prev

contented to operate along the coastline. They became more ambitious and took further steps to take the entire colony as hinterland or as protectorates. Europeans imperialists found it more profitable and advantageous to conquer the colonies rather than to trade since raw materials were free and they can offset the administrative and maintenance cost of owning territories by collecting tributes and protection money.

Another important factor driving old imperialism was religious missionization. The Portuguese and Spanish were fervent Roman Catholics, eager to spread their faith to the indigenous natives. Hence in the old imperialism era, the Christian missionaries went first into unknown lands to spread their faith, followed by traders and soldiers to protect them. These groups also played an important role by discovering new lands, assessing its potential and encouraging their respective governments to imperialize and trade in these areas.

and communication improved, bringing all parts of the world within easy reach. This enabled the Europeans to extend their control over Asia and Africa, whereas it led to the introduction of advanced means of transportation and communication in Asia and Africa.

During the new imperialism period, since colonial territories could possibly generate long term wealth, imperialists were more willing to invest and develop the communications and transportation network and establish schools to consolidate their hold on the areas which were annexed as colonies. Missionary efforts also included building schools and churches which benefited the locals. There was also significant societal transformation and assimilation. E.g. The establishment of schools to teach English as a unifying language in India have brought about unification of India which was otherwise fragmented and multi-lingual. There were also significant political and social reform in India was achieved as a result of the European political principles such as human rights, freedoms of speech, travel and association, and liberalism taught in Western education. These formed the positive and long lasting effects of new imperialism. On the flipside of the coin however, economic backwardness of the colonies is probably the most lasting effect of new imperialism. Most economies which were once colonies with the former imperialist powers e.g. India have fallen in the category of 'underdeveloped' or 'developing' economies. The reason is that their natural speed of economic development was disturbed due to imperialism. According to the needs of the imperialist countries, their economies were changed.1 Another effect is the destruction of local industries. With unfair competition of cheap European goods, the competition was so high that there was a decline in the industries producing textiles in India etc. This was all due to the policies of the imperialist rulers. Besides, a different outcome is the exploitation of natural resources. The imperialist po

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