Imperialism
Imperialism, also known as capitalist imperialism or advanced monopoly capitalism, is the ultimate stage of the capitalist mode of production which involves the centralization and merging of large bourgeois entities, the creation of a financial oligarchy, and the exportation of capital to other, less developed countries. Imperialism results in massive conflicts and strife between rival imperialist powers as they fight to divide and re-divide the imperialized countries among themselves.[1] Imperialism itself takes on different forms based on the ebbs and flows of the capitalist system, including neo-colonialism. Imperialism conducted by revisionist states is known as social-imperialism. The most prominent imperialist powers in the present day include the United States, the European Union, United Kingdom, Russia, and China.[2]
Characteristics
Imperialism maintains five primary characteristics. These are, as identified by Vladimir Lenin:
1. The concentration of production and capital has developed to such a high stage that it has created monopolies which play a decisive role in economic life.
2. The merging of bank capital with industrial capital, and the creation, on the basis of this “finance capital”, of a financial oligarchy.
3. The export of capital as distinguished from the export of commodities acquires exceptional importance.
4. The formation of international monopolist capitalist associations which share the world among themselves.
5. The territorial division of the whole world among the biggest capitalist powers is completed.
Contradictions
Imperialism creates or otherwise intensifies multiple contradictions, of which there are three major ones.
Labor and capital
Imperialist aggravates the domestic struggle between labor and capital in the industrial countries. The development of monopolies, trusts, cartels, and other financial institutions devastates small producers and forces the working class to endure even more brutal hardship. Legal forms of struggle such as trade unionism become increasingly unyielding in imperialist countries, further driving the working class towards revolutionary means.
Among rival imperialists
Imperialism entails the redivision of an already divided world among an ever-more narrow collection of financial entities and imperialist powers. When a territory or market has already been seized by a rival imperialist power, new and emergent imperialist interests campaign viciously for the redivision of the colonized territory to secure their power. The inevitable conclusion of this tendency is inter-imperialist war (such as the First World War), with brings immersion to the whole of the proletariat and demands the need for the imperialist war to be turned by a revolutionary communist movement into a class war based on the stance of revolutionary defeatism.
Oppressed and oppressor nations
Imperialism partitions the world between a small amount of imperialist countries on one side and a large periphery of imperialized nations, dependencies, and colonies on the other. In their exploitative pursuit of profits, the imperialists are compelled to develop the productive forces in the imperialized countries to facilitate the attainment of super-profits. In time, the oppressed peoples will develop a native proletariat and intelligentsia and develop a national consciousness of their own, leading to the eventual overthrow of imperialism through national liberation struggles.
Varieties
American imperialism
The United States represents one of the largest imperialist states ever to exist, being a leading member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The United States engages in large-scale exploitation of less developed countries in Central and South America and has heavily funded and otherwise supported far-right autocracies against left-wing movements to maintain and facilitate this exploitation.[3] This began with the "banana republics" of the early 20th century and continues in various forms. As of 2024, the United States maintains over 750 military bases in 80 countries and territories.[4]
British imperialism
French imperialism
Russian imperialism
The Russian Federation is a modern imperialist power, with the country being dominated by monopolies and corporate syndicates. Based on the official statistics of the Russian state, the top 600 firms in Russia account for over 70% of Russia GDP. Furthermore, there exists a clear fusion of banking and industrial capital in Russia, with massive banking firms such as Sberbank holding vast economic assets worth billions of rubles. This is in addition to the various military actions conducted by Russia to maintain its imperial sphere in countries such as Ukraine (see Russo-Ukrainian War).
German imperialism
Social-imperialism
Social-imperialism encompasses the imperialist states which form in formerly socialist countries which have underwent a counter-revolution and restored capitalism.
Soviet social-imperialism
Following the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953 and initialization of "de-Stalinization" in 1956, the Soviet Union restored capitalism and transitioned into a social-imperialist state similar to the other imperialist states of the West. The revisionist Soviet Union established itself as a hegemonic power and exploited neighboring revisionist states in Eastern Europe and elsewhere through organizations such as COMECON and the Warsaw Pact.[5]
Chinese social-imperialism
The People's Republic of China represents a modern social-imperialist power which imperializes less developed countries abroad. Through policies such as the "Going Global" strategy and more recently the Belt and Road Initiative, China engages in the large-scale exportation of capital and loans in countries throughout Eurasia and Africa. The PRC has furthermore allied itself with the imperialist Russian Federation against the Western imperialists.[6]
Further reading
See also
References
- ↑ Vladimir Lenin (1917). Imperialism: The Highest State of Capitalism. Available on the Marxists Internet Archive.
And so, without forgetting the conditional and relative value of all definitions in general, which can never embrace all the concatenations of a phenomenon in its complete development, we must give a definition of imperialism that will include the following five of its basic features: 1) the concentration of production and capital has developed to such a high stage that it has created monopolies which play a decisive role in economic life; 2) the merging of bank capital with industrial capital, and the creation, on the basis of this ‘finance capital,’ of a financial oligarchy; 3) the export of capital as distinguished from the export of commodities acquires exceptional importance; 4) the formation of international monopolist capitalist combines which share the world among themselves, and 5) the territorial division of the whole world among the biggest capitalist powers is completed. Imperialism is capitalism in the stage of development in which the dominance of monopolies and finance capital has established itself; in which the export of capital has acquired pronounced importance; in which the division of the world among the international trusts has begun; in which the division of all territories of the globe among the biggest capitalist powers has been completed.”
- ↑ Joseph Stalin (1924). Foundations of Leninism: I – The Historical Roots of Leninism.
- ↑ Rich Whitney (September 23, 2017). "US Provides Military Assistance to 73 Percent of World’s Dictatorships". Truthout. Retrieved April 7, 2025.
- ↑ "FACT SHEET". overseasbases.net. Retrieved April 7, 2025.
- ↑ Enver Hoxha (1969). The Demagogy of the Soviet Revisionists Cannot Conceal Their Traitorous Countenance.
- ↑ "Inter-imperialist Contention: China vs the United States" (March 3, 2023). The Red Phoenix.