4 Types Of Imperialism (Everything To Know) (2023)

Imperialism is one of those concepts that you probably learned about in school but didn’t fully understand.

There is a lot to know when it comes to imperialism, and it’s an important concept in history to understand and know.

We have put together a guide which explains the four types of imperialism and what you should know about them.

Remember that understanding history is the only way we can make sure history doesn’t repeat itself.

What Are the Four Types of Imperialism?

The four types of Imperialism are Colony, Protectorate, Sphere of Influence, and Economics.

We will break down what each of these means and gives you some examples which should help you understand the concept better.

It is also important to understand what imperialism is as a general concept.

The definition of imperialism is the domination by one country of another country or region.

Sometimes this control can happen because of the use of military force, and other times, it is done with a gain in political power.

The domination can occur in several different ways, and that is where we come across the four different types of imperialism.

1. Colony Imperialism

Colony imperialism is when a nation with a lot of wealth or power starts to extend its control over other countries.

The nation that has more strength seems to be superior to the lesser-powered colonies, and because of that, they start to exploit them in several ways.

When this happens, the more powerful country tends to start taking resources and sometimes establishing settlements as well.

It is important to remember that there is a difference between colonialism and imperialism.

Although some historians say the lines will sometimes cross, there is more to colonial imperialism than there is to colonialism.

Colonialism is when countries are looking to acquire more land.

With imperialism, land is part of the concept, but the countries are also looking to extend their presence, power, and influence.

An example of Colony Imperialism would be Somaliland, which is in East Africa and was a French Colony.

France had extended enough of its influence to rule this country even though they are nowhere near each other.

This was done for the benefit of the French people.

2. Protectorate Imperialism

The next type of imperialism is protectorate imperialism.

With this type, the country or a territory will have its own government, but the government of the country is not making all the decisions.

There is another outside government (a stronger, more powerful one) which is making decisions for them.

Essentially, with protectorate imperialism, you lose control over your own country, but you are still responsible for running it.

This is different than colony imperialism because, with colony imperialism, you have no need for your own government.

Everything is managed and handled by the ruling country.

Protectorate Imperialism has happened many times in history.

One example would be when Britain established a protectorate over the Niger River delta.

The people in this area had their own government, but it was controlled by Britain.

3.Sphere of Influence Imperialism

The sphere of influence is a bit different than colony or protectorate imperialism.

With a sphere of influence, a more powerful country will use its power to develop exclusive rights to resources or other benefits.

The less powerful country will still have their own government and their own power, but they will be losing some control.

Certain things will be out of their hands simply because they don’t have the power that the larger countries have.

This can happen with certain investments or trading privileges.

One example of this in history is when Liberia was under the sphere of influence of the United States of America.

4. Economic Imperialism

The last type of imperialism is economic imperialism.

Economic imperialism has more to do with business and money than it does with the government.

With economic imperialism, the lesser-powered, newer, or weaker country is controlled by private business.

Instead of having another government controlling what is happening in the country, the power of the local business dictates what happens.

This makes sense considering the strength of money and the fact that people need money and jobs to survive.

An example of this in history was when the Dole Fruit company controlled the pineapple trade in Hawaii.

This had nothing to do with government control of any sort.

It was all because of the power of money and big business.

Sometimes economic imperialism can happen in smaller countries without the citizens even being aware it is happening.

Generally, the business that is involved in economic imperialism is looking to benefit themselves in some way.

The business will not have any checks-and-balances systems in place, and it is generally not a good thing for a country to be controlled by economic imperialism.

What Are the Two Imperial Management Methods?

With imperialism, there are often two ways it is managed.

The first way is indirect control, and the second way is direct control.

You can look at these methods any way you like, but there are a few important facts to know about both types.

The indirect method is used when taking advantage of the strengths of the local government and simply assisting and aiding.

There is limited rule by the more powerful country, and the goal is to eventually develop leaders in the weaker country.

With indirect rule, the concepts are based on the larger styles (like the United States or European), but local rules and concepts may be taken into consideration.

Direct control is a bit different, and it is where the more powerful country takes complete control.

They will bring in officials from the larger country and let them stay in the new country and rule from there.

The idea is to get the people of the new colony or country to completely conform to the style and the ways of the larger, more powerful group.

No local rules or concepts are taken into consideration, and this type of rule generally tends to anger the populace.

Their country is essentially being taken over with no regard for what they want to happen.

Is Imperialism a Good or a Bad Thing?

Imperialism has worked out as both a good and a bad thing throughout history.

There are many examples of how it helped a country and also how it hurt a country.

Let’s take, for example, the British Imperialism in Africa.

The negatives were, of course, that the African people had their lives completely disrupted.

They lost control of their lands, and they were no longer an independent country as they were under the control of the British.

Of course, as this process was happening, there were many Africans who chose to resist.

Unfortunately, there were many who lost their lives in this process of fighting for their independence and freedom to make their own choices.

Another unfortunate impact was that some of the strong cultural aspects of the country started to break down.

Since the Europeans were trying to get the Africans to assimilate to their culture, they discouraged much of the traditional ways of life.

Families and homes were broken up, and traditional practices were amended to conform to European norms.

Europeans also split the country however they felt necessary, and this was unfortunate, to say the least.

It has caused many problems for the people of Africa even years after the British first started their efforts.

Of course, the overall impacts of imperialism in this instance were negative.

The lives and the interests of the African people were initially ignored, and they were forced to enter a new way of life.

There were, however, a few positive changes that did occur, even if they did come with force and unrest.

There was more money in Africa with imperialism, and this did help when it came to building and expanding the countries.

People had more access to schools and hospitals, and even new technologies have been introduced.

Things like telephone lines, railroads, and dams were installed.

Although these did benefit the African people in some ways, they were not necessarily built for the Africans.

Instead, this was a business venture on behalf of the Europeans.

As you can see, most of this example of imperialism was negative for the weaker country and positive for the more powerful country.

Unfortunately, this has often been the case when dealing with examples of imperialism throughout history.

What is Modern Imperialism?

Imperialism is something that has existed at all different times throughout history.

The more recent examples of imperialism are considered new or modern imperialism.

The term new imperialism describes a time period in history when several key countries started to extend their influence over other parts of the world.

The main countries involved were those in Western Europe as well as United States, Russia, and Japan.

The new imperialism or modern imperialism mostly took place in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

These large countries were looking to gain territory and grow in strength by acquiring control in other areas.

The industrial revolution had some part in this as new technologies and discoveries gave people the idea that all areas of the world needed these things.

Larger countries also wanted to see what resources they could gain access to by establishing some rule over other areas.

There were still discoveries to be made regarding natural resources and trade resources, and these were a large part of what led new imperialism.

Lots of changes happened in the world during new imperialism.

This was when most of Africa was taken over by other countries and even part of Asia as well.

After the age of the new imperialism, many countries started to regain their independence.

This happened after World War II.

As we mentioned earlier, imperialism was not always a good thing, and the age of new imperialism certainly angered many people and caused some great divides.

Unfortunately, some of those divides still exist today.

What is the Difference Between New Imperialism and Old Imperialism?

Now that you have a general idea of what new imperialism is, you may be wondering what the difference between new and old imperialism is.

The difference mostly has to do with the time period.

New imperialism happened during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Old imperialism was a time during the 1600s and even earlier.

The industrial revolution greatly influenced new imperialism.

Older imperialism was happening in a much simpler time, although there were advancements during this period as well.

During old imperialism, the mercantile system was introduced, and some countries were starting to get a bit more sophisticated in their financial dealings.

With new imperialism, you saw a need for large countries to get larger.

They wanted more money, more resources, and more economic power over other countries.

Although this was sometimes a motivator in old imperialism, there were other objectives as well.

With old imperialism, countries were looking to spread religious beliefs, to look for gold, and to win battles with other areas of the world.

The objectives were not solely financial, and that is genuinely what made them a little more unpredictable and undefined.

As we mentioned, new imperialism was largely led by Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and the USA while there were other influencers in the earlier imperialism.

In old imperialism, the biggest players were Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, France, and Britain.

As you can see, Britain and France were heavily involved in both times of imperialism.

Unfortunately, many of the same difficult effects we saw with old imperialism repeated themselves with new imperialism.

What Is Decolonization?

Decolonization is when a country becomes independent of the country which had established rule over it.

This is what started to happen after World War II when many areas of the world once again became independent.

Although decolonization can be a great time period in the history of a country, it also takes a bit of work.

All of a sudden, a country that was under the complete rule is now left on their own to figure out what they need to do to run and operate their country.

For some, this led to tremendous growth and change, while others discovered that they were better off remaining a colony of another country.

The entire process of old imperialism, new imperialism, and the decolonization of many areas are very interesting to study and understand as it has a major impact on the makeup of our world.

Conclusion

Hopefully, our article highlighting the four types of imperialism has helped clear up some of the questions that you had.

Sometimes when we are younger, and we learn this information while studying for a test, the true impact of the people, the change, and the experience is lost.

Looking back and thinking about what it would have been like to be a part of imperialism makes us all realize the differences between the world then and the world now.

There are hundreds of examples of imperialism in history, and it is essential to understand them and have a general concept as to how we arrived where we are today.