Economic Imperialism
| English | Chinese | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| Industrialised states and businesses within those states practiced economic imperialism | 经济帝国主义 | jīng jì dì guó zhǔ yì |
Control without a colony
- Industrialised states and businesses within those states practiced economic imperialism 经济帝国主义 primarily in Asia and Latin America.
- Economic imperialism shapes another country's economy without governing its territory.
- The CED names businesses alongside states, because much of this was done by firms with government backing.
The CED says economic imperialism was practised primarily in...
Regions with functioning states that could be dealt with rather than replaced.
Two named cases
- Britain and France expanding their influence in China through the Opium Wars.
- The construction of the Port of Buenos Aires with the support of British firms.
- One is coercive and one is infrastructural — and the CED lists both under the same heading, which tells you the category is about effect, not method.
Select all the commodities the CED names for European and U.S. advantage.
Palm oil from sub-Saharan Africa completes the CED's list.
Trade organised for advantage
- Trade in some commodities was organised in a way that gave merchants and companies based in Europe and the U.S. a distinct economic advantage.
- Organised is the CED's word: the advantage was built into how the trade was arranged, not just into who was stronger.
- The named commodities: opium produced in the Middle East or South Asia and exported to China, cotton from South Asia and Egypt to Europe, palm oil from sub-Saharan Africa, copper from Chile.
Territorial empire, economic imperialism, or a commodity?
Sort each item by what it is.
The CED says trade was ____ in a way that gave European and U.S. firms an advantage.
The advantage was built into the arrangement, not just into who was stronger.
Economic imperialism does not require a colony. The CED places it primarily in Asia and Latin America — regions with functioning states. Contracts, loans and treaty terms shaped economies that no European power governed, which is why territorial maps understate the reach of nineteenth-century empire.
Economic imperialism required governing the territory involved.
Contracts, loans and treaty terms shaped economies no European power governed.
How it differs from territorial empire
- A colony has a governor, a budget and a garrison; economic imperialism has contracts, loans and treaty terms.
- The second is cheaper, and it leaves the responsibility for governing with somebody else.
- That is why the CED locates it primarily in Asia and Latin America — regions with functioning states that could be dealt with rather than replaced.
This subtopic supplies a mechanism for which earlier finding?
Trade organised so raw material leaves and finished goods return.
Connecting to 5.4
- Unit 5 said Asian and Middle Eastern shares of global manufacturing declined while output continued.
- This subtopic supplies one of the mechanisms: trade organised so that raw material leaves and finished goods return.
- Linking the two is a strong move, because it converts a statistic into a process.
A port is built with foreign capital, on terms set by the lenders, to move a single export outward and manufactured goods inward. No flag changes. The country runs its own government, and its economy has been organised around somebody else's factories — which is exactly what the CED means by organised.
Industrialised states and their businesses practiced economic imperialism primarily in Asia and Latin America — the Opium Wars, and the Port of Buenos Aires built with British firms' support. Trade in some commodities was organised to give European and U.S. merchants a distinct advantage: opium to China, cotton from South Asia and Egypt, palm oil, Chilean copper.