Explain ‘Imperialism’ write a note on the stages of imperialism.

According to Maritz Julius Bonn, “Imperialism” is a policy which aims at creating,  ‘organizing and maintaining an empire; that is a state of vast size composed of various more or less distinct national unit s and subject to a single centralized will”  Charles a beard wrote : “Imperialism is…..employment of the engines of government and diplomacy to  acquire territories, protectorates, and on spheres of influence occupied usually by other races or peoples, and to promote industrial, trade, and investment opportunities …..”A clear yet crisp definition was given by p.t. moon. He wrote, “Imperialism ….means domination of non- European native races by totally dissimilar European nations. “Thus moon clearly indicates domination of colored peoples of Asia and Africa by the Europeans who considered themselves superior and their colonial administration as burden on the white man. Though Beard excludes all economic motivations, the history of imperialism definitely points to economic exploitation as a primary drive in expansion of the empire by western countries. History reveals that the world has gone through many stages of development. It is known that the history of humankind is related to the development of society and social structures. Capitalism generally developed out of feudalism, and was Responsible for colonialisation and imperialism, Feudalism prevailed before the 16^th- 17^th century. In Europe, feudalism was generally associated with medieval states based on aristocracies (run by kings and nobles) who controlled the economic and political power of the state. The church too had an important role in the functioning of the feudal state. Feudalism as a system began to decay in different parts of Europe, beginning from England in the thirteenth century. The industrial revolution, the growth of towns, inter-feudal wars etc. led to this decline , social life in Europe thus began to change, this also involved a change from the feudal type economic organization to a different one where the control was no longer with the land owning aristocracies. Independent groups of merchants and traders began dominating the economy. This meant, thus, the growth of new classes which formed the bases for mercantile capitalism. The letter was a transition from feudalism to capitalism to capitalism, which was prevalent between the 16^th and 19^th centuries. The kind of transformation made by each nation out of feudalism differed. For example in England capitalism grew faster than in any other European nations. France followed this transition and later Germany, Russia and others did the same. Thus each transition was a unique experience. Industrialization in Europe led the capitalists to look for raw materials and markets outside Europe. This search fueled imperial penetrations into Asia and Africa. Capitalism can be defined as a system in which goods and services are produced for exchange in the market so that profit is made. The form of capital in the capitalist system is deferent from that of the feudal system where merchant capital was dominant. Under capitalism productive capital dominates, that is capital invested in labor power. Labor power is what the worker has to sell in exchange for money in order to survive. This labor power is then organized in the production process to produce new commodities for making more profit. Thus the capital of the merchants and financiers circulated and are invested for commodity production. The function of this merchant finance, Capital is determined and based on the need of productive capital. Labor power thus becomes like a commodity which can be bought and sold according to market prices.The growth of capitalism had an important effect on the social and political life of people and social systems. Just it had on their economic life. Capitalism brought about the formation of two large classes- the capitalist class (bourgeoisie) and the working class. In addition to these there also give rise to new political systems wherein besides landed aristocracies, other classes’ also shared state power as in England. Similarly it led to the overthrow of the French landed aristocracy and brought into being the French republic. Thus with capitalism began as era of private enterprises in the economic sphere and popular participation in the exercise of state power in the political sphere.