Was Imperialism a good or bad thing for the Third World?

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Chris Ritter

Mr. McGonigal

AP European History

Was Imperialism a good or bad thing for the Third World?

The term “imperialism” carries with it many (perhaps rightfully attributed) negative connotations: slavery, subjugation, genocide, et cetera.  Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary defines it as: “The policy… of seeking… the extension of the control, dominion, or empire of a nation, as by the acquirement of new, especially distant, territory or dependencies.”  Now one knows what it literally is and what it may entail, and thus, further inquiry into the subject of its “good”-ness or “bad”-ness may entail, from the perspective of the conquered.  With what little example one might find in the 21st century of current applied imperialism, one must look to the past, and to what has become of former colonies to understand whether the impact of European imperialism was for the whole part positive or negative.  

There are nations that have prospered after imperial control.  One must remember that the United States of America, the last surviving world superpower, was once a series of British colonies, worked diligently to profit not itself but a nation across the length of an entire ocean.  In one’s consideration of this topic, one must also consider that Japan was once forced open to Western civilization, though not actually colonized, and is now one of the richest and most technologically advanced nations in the world.  In addition, India, another former British possession, has the technology to create their own nuclear arsenal.  China, once carved into spheres of influence, now poses one of the largest threats to the United States.  Even Canada maintains a respectable position upon the world stage.  

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Those are the success stories of post-Imperialism.  Many nations that are former colonies are not nearly so prosperous as of the year 2002 A.D., and reside in an economic, social, and technological position that places them under Third World nation status.

Perhaps the best example of post-colonial failures is with the nearly the entire continent of Africa.  Josef Conrad, who wrote many stories involving the Dark Continent, wrote “Everything here is repellent to me,” upon his arrival in the Congo—the sights of colonized Africa had sickened him to the core, and the supposedly high-minded ideals of the European imperialists, especially ...

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