New Imperialism

New Imperialism is the expansionist foreign economic policy seen amongst the more powerful of the European nation-states, between the Franco-Prussian War and World War I, during the late-Victorian Era, also known as, "The Era of Empire for Empire's Sake". During this period, Europe added almost 23,000,000 km² (20% of Earth's land area) to its collection of overseas colonial possessions, with the focus of this period being that of colonizing Africa.

Scholars debate the causes and ramifications of this period of colonialism, most notably, the relationship this period might have to the First World War.

Readers should also become familiar with the earlier eras of European imperialism. (See: mercantilism, free-trade colonialism)

Pax Britannica

In those years, between the Congress of Vienna and the Franco-Prussian War, Britain became known as, "the workshop of the world", being the world's most advanced industrial nation. Following the defeat of Napoleon, British goods were produced so cheaply that they could often undersell, locally manufactured, goods in almost any other market. At this time, Britian was supplying half the manufactured goods of such nations as Germany, France, Belgium, and the United States.

The decline of Pax Britannica, was made possible by changes economics and the balance of power, such as the breakdown of the Concert of Europe and the establishment of nation-states in Germany and Italy. As France, Germany, and the United States, increasingly became industrial powers, Britain's comparative advantages began to decline.

Loss of Britain's Comparative Advantage

German textiles and metal industries had, by the beginning of the Franco-Prussian War, surpassed those of Britain and usurped British manufactures within their own domestic market. Meanwhile, Britain was growing incapable of dominating its captive markets, such as India, and was likewise witnessing market depletion in the industrializing regions of central Europe, Latin America, and China. Britain had lost, and would continue to lose, much of its comparative advantage. Britain’s share of world trade fell from 25%, in 1880, to 16% in 1913, to 12% by 1948.

The Long Depression

The abovementioned problems coincided with the ‘Long Depression’ of 1873-1896, which had followed fifteen years of economic instability. Business, after 1873, suffered from lengthy periods of falling profits. During this period, production often exceeded domestic demand. The capitalists, being powerful political forces, urged the nation towards securing new markets in Africa.

The Second Industrial Revolution led increasingly efficient machines, along with monopolistic mass-production, resulting in greatly expanded output and lowered production costs. As a result, production often exceeded domestic demand. People, such as [[Joseph Chamberlain, concluded that profits were falling because, "too much capital was chasing too few markets". He argued that formal imperialism was necessary for Britain because of the relative decline of the British share of the world’s export trade and the rise of German, American, and French economic competition.

Technology and Innovation

New techonologies also played an important role during this era. The development of steam ships greatly decreased transportation costs and made previously unviable markets, in Africa, of great economic interest. New techniques, especially that of mass production, reduced production costs, further increasing the potentials for profit.

The African Power Vacuum

The continent of Africa was also largely unclaimed by nation-states of significant military power. Most of this region consisted of territories claimed by the ‘dying nations’ (i), (Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, and the Ottoman Empire), none of which were significant powers by the begining of the twentieth century. As a result, the major European powers felt that the entire continent was open to colonization. This led to what is known as, "the scramble for Africa".

Increasing Competition

As mentioned, by the end of the Franco-Prussian War, Britain was no longer the world's sole modern, industrialized nation. Germany, Italy, and France were no longer as embroiled in continental concerns and domestic disputes, as they were prior to the Franco-Prussian War. The industrial nations began to enter an era of aggressive national rivalry, particularly in regards to trade and colonialism, this era is the that of the New Imperialism.

Continental political developments of the late 19th century, rendered imperial competition feasible, in spite of Britain’s centuries of naval superiority. As unification of Germany, by the Prussian "Garrison State", proceeded, the Germans began to compete against the British, for control of foreign markets, notably in southern Africa. The rise of Napoleon III and the Third Republic also rendered France more capable of challenging Britain’s global preeminence. Likewise, Italy became interested in securing African markets.

Many European statesmen and industrialists wanted to accelerate the rise of formal colonialism, securing colonies before they strictly needed them. Their reasoning was that markets might soon become glutted, and a nation’s economic survival depend on its being able to offload its surplus products elsewhere.

Chamberlain, Hobson, capitalism, and finance

Pro-imperialist industrialists, like Joseph Chamberlain, never represented a majority in Britain’s Parliament. Joseph Chamberlain argued on behalf of a grand imperial Zollverein, or customs union. This campaign failed in the 1890s and for another forty years afterwards until the premiership of his son, Neville.

Just as industrial capitalism had replaced mercantilism and commercial capitalism in the 18th Century, finance capitalism supplanted industrial capitalism in the late 19th Century. Late-Victorian political leaders, most of whom were stockholders , “shared a common culture with the financial class.” This prompted critic J.A. Hobson to conclude that the financier were manipulating events and in possession of far too much power.

British Strategic Expansions

For Britain, the 1869 completion of the Suez Canal, prompted the strengthening of control over Egypt. Battles over the Nile headwaters caused Britain to expand in Sudan, and the close proximity of Russia's expanding empire, to India, triggered wars in Afghanistan. Rhodes and Milner advocated a “Cape to Cairo” empire, which would link, by rail, the Suez Canal to the mineral rich regions of southern Africa. Though hampered by the German conquest of Tanganyika, Rhodes continued to lobby on behalf of a vast British empire, in East Africa.

Social Darwinism and Human Rights

Racism and Social Darwinism were terms sometimes used to describe the so-called "mission of civilization", that is, the practice of spreading republican government and capitalist economics. Human rights issues, during this era, were similar to those of earlier imperialist eras.