EARLY BELGIAN COLONIAL EFFORTS - The University of Texas at ...

we are to understand the non-Western world that has once again begun to feel its own
destiny. Did Western society and its philosophical and political hegemony advance or
retard the non-Western world and its own destiny? If it did advance it, as I think it did,
how, and did it have any right to do so? I propose that any new or additional analysis of
the roots of the New Imperialism may provide some understanding of the present world
situation and its globalizing trend. Further, the imperialistic and colonial efforts of
Belgium, certainly no imperial giant of the mid-nineteenth century, provide a unique,
and to a large extent overlooked insights into these issues. 1
The causes and motives for the expansion of European imperialism and
colonialism in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the New Imperialism, remain a
contentious topic. These roots, and their lasting effects, both positive and negative, are
subject to often-deadly debate, as the last ten years have shown. The proposed
background of this phenomenon has included economic domination, cultural
superiority, religious destiny, social values, political balance, and strategic
consideration. It could be added that opportunity and gamesmanship were certainly at
work, as was a heavy dose of unmitigated arrogance. It was also unbelievably
profitable, at least in the beginning. 2 Are these factors relevant? Will deeper knowledge
of these factors change anything? Yes, because the wider debate on the nature of
1
The tendency among Belgian historians, at least until the last twenty years has been to treat the
different colonial efforts on an individual basis.
2
The realization that colonies were not generally profitable seems to have become evident in the
early part of the twentieth century, especially in Britain, where the cost of military protection of South
Africa and India exceeded the economic benefit. This realization was especially evident, perhaps to all
but Winston Churchill, after the First World War. The possibility of home rule in some of the colonies at
least, was contemplated, thereby reducing the size of the empire. See John Charmley, Churchill; The End
2