Challenges in East Asia 1800-1912

¶ … East Asia, 1800-1912

Even with the fact that it would be absurd to claim that Charles Darwin is responsible for the spread of Imperialism, it would only be safe to say that he played an important role in making particular influential bodies in feeling justified as they were conquering other peoples and imposing their power in these areas. World powers such as the British Empire and Spain were inspired to look at the world as an environment consisting out of communities who were superior and communities who were inferior. As a consequence, it seemed that only those who were superior were worthy to survive while others needed to make place for evolution.

The fact that the British Empire was one of the greatest powers in the world during the nineteenth century and that Darwin issued a series of theories during the period enabled the English to look at life from a whole different perspective. Many started to think of themselves as being superior and Europeans were perceived as a community that was entitled to dominate Non-Europeans.

Social Darwinism was a dominant ideology throughout the nineteenth century as people looked for practically any motive they could use with the purpose to upgrade their social status. "Social Darwinists believed that in the struggle between races and nations, the fittest are victorious and survive" (The New Imperialism 7). Moreover, these people considered that 'inferior' communities played an important role in the overall evolutionary process as a result of how they stood as stepping stones assisting greater nations experience progress at a faster pace.

Social Darwinism could explain why particular European powers performed particular acts. A series of individuals ranging from soldiers to entrepreneurs thus came to have a different understanding of the concept of imperialism and felt less bad about how they produced suffering in areas where they went. To a certain degree people were convinced that their missions were meant to benefit humanity as a whole, even with the fact that they reflected negatively on communities they perceived to be inferior. These people believed that they were not only entitled to persecute other nations, as it was presumably essential for them to do so.

Compassion was rarely felt among Social Darwinists who supported the idea of imperialism. They were more concerned about gathering as many profits as possible and one can actually say that they employed a rational method of thinking in an attempt to justify what it was in their best interest to persecute other nations.