The Expansion Of Europe | Page 5

in modern
history.
In its first form the book had the advantage of being read by my friend
Major W. L. Grant, Professor of Colonial History at Queen's University
Kingston, Ontario. The pressure of the military duties in which he is
engaged has made it impossible for me to ask his aid in the revision of
the book.
R. M. July 1917

CONTENTS

Preface I. The Meaning and the Motives of Imperialism II. The Era of
Iberian Monopoly III. The Rivalry of the Dutch, the French, and the
English, 1588-1763 (a) The Period of Settlement, 1588-1660 (b) The
Period of Systematic Colonial Policy, 1660-1713 (c) The Conflict of
French and English, 1713-1763 IV. The Era of Revolution, 1763-1825
V. Europe and the Non-European World, 1815-1878 VI. The
Transformation of the British Empire, 1815-1878 VII. The Era of the
World States, 1878-1900 VIII. The British Empire amid the
World-Powers, 1878-1914 IX. The Great Challenge, 1900-1914 X.
What of the Night?

I
THE MEANING AND THE MOTIVES OF IMPERIALISM
One of the most remarkable features of the modern age has been the
extension of the influence of European civilisation over the whole
world. This process has formed a very important element in the history
of the last four centuries, and it has been strangely undervalued by most
historians, whose attention has been too exclusively centred upon the
domestic politics, diplomacies, and wars of Europe. It has been brought
about by the creation of a succession of 'Empires' by the European
nations, some of which have broken up, while others survive, but all of
which have contributed their share to the general result; and for that
reason the term 'Imperialism' is commonly employed to describe the
spirit which has led to this astonishing and world-embracing movement
of the modern age.
The terms 'Empire' and 'Imperialism' are in some respects unfortunate,
because of the suggestion of purely military dominion which they
convey; and their habitual employment has led to some unhappy results.
It has led men of one school of thought to condemn and repudiate the
whole movement, as an immoral product of brute force, regardless of
the rights of conquered peoples. They have refused to study it, and have
made no endeavour to understand it; not realising that the movement
they were condemning was as inevitable and as irresistible as the
movement of the tides--and as capable of being turned to beneficent
ends. On the other hand, the implications of these terms have perhaps
helped to foster in men of another type of mind an unhealthy spirit of
pride in mere domination, as if that were an end in itself, and have led

them to exult in the extension of national power, without closely
enough considering the purposes for which it was to be used. Both
attitudes are deplorable, and in so far as the words 'Empire,' 'Imperial,'
and 'Imperialism' tend to encourage them, they are unfortunate words.
They certainly do not adequately express the full significance of the
process whereby the civilisation of Europe has been made into the
civilisation of the world.
Nevertheless the words have to be used, because there are no others
which at all cover the facts. And, after all, they are in some ways
entirely appropriate. A great part of the world's area is inhabited by
peoples who are still in a condition of barbarism, and seem to have
rested in that condition for untold centuries. For such peoples the only
chance of improvement was that they should pass under the dominion
of more highly developed peoples; and to them a European 'Empire'
brought, for the first time, not merely law and justice, but even the
rudiments of the only kind of liberty which is worth having, the liberty
which rests upon law. Another vast section of the world's population
consists of peoples who have in some respects reached a high stage of
civilisation, but who have failed to achieve for themselves a mode of
organisation which could give them secure order and equal laws. For
such peoples also the 'Empire' of Western civilisation, even when it is
imposed and maintained by force, may bring advantages which will far
outweigh its defects. In these cases the word 'Empire' can be used
without violence to its original significance, and yet without apology;
and these cases cover by far the greater part of the world.
The words 'Empire' and 'Imperialism' come to us from ancient Rome;
and the analogy between the conquering and organising work of Rome
and the empire-building work of the modern nation-states is a
suggestive and stimulating analogy. The imperialism of Rome extended
the modes of a single civilisation, and the Reign of Law which was its
essence, over all the Mediterranean lands. The imperialism of the
nations to which the torch of Rome has been