Talk:New Imperialism/Archive 10

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Archive 5

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Hoolie Doolie this thing is huge! I tried to take a look at it just now to get my mind around the issues, but it's just too darn big. That talk page I just archived was 54k! Let's start afresh.

First up, the article is so long that I can't hold a picture of it in my head in order to think about it sensibly. Indeed, it would take me all night to read it as carefully as one should read something that has been as heavily disputed as this thing. It has to be broken up, one way or another. It occurs to me that the best person to break it up would be the person who is most familiar with it - i.e., 172. Let's face it, most of the rest of us probably have difficulty conceptualising an article as long as this clearly, let alone debating it. Wikilove to all. Tannin 14:17, 29 Jul 2003 (UTC)

To everyone:

I would like to clarify weak sections of the article rather than remove them. I'd also like to improve sections for readability rather than having a user pick out a typo or two, an unclear sentence or two, and use it as a pretext to attack the entire article. I'd also like to engage in a dialogue with users well versed in the subject over the proper division. Would people agree to give this a chance and move past all this squabbling? Please, this is very complex subject matter. A lot of content is needed to explain all the important points. I'll go through them below.

The most important is the transition from informal control to formal rule, the motivations behind this, and the factors underpinning this shift, which are extremely complex because we're dealing with one broad trend, but not carried out everywhere, among many rapidly changing nations dealing with an even greater number of rapidly changing colonies. We're also going to need to deal with imperial rivalry; why less developed nations, such as Italy, decided to follow Britain's lead in formal colonialism; and the role of all parties involved (finance, adventurers, explorers, missionaries). While accomplishing this, we're going to need to deal with the promotion of imperialism in the main powers, and all the shifts involved (as an aside, the promotion of French imperialism is notable for shifts reflecting developments in the history of France, such as the founding of the Third Republic, its humiliation in the Franco-Prussian War).

While some users have proposed going into great detail on the colonial encounter (the role of race and class in colonial societies, the emergence of nationalism, de-colonization, and the emergence of the "North-South divide"), these are best left as concluding remarks since there are specific articles on the histories of colonial societies.

The current article accomplishes most of these tasks. If I'm given a chance to copyedit it thoroughly for readability, I'd be able to present it in a more effective manner more approachable to lay readers.

I'd also like to add this very brief paragraph:

"Technological advancement facilitated overseas expansionism. Industrialization brought about rapid advancements in transportation and communication, especially in the forms of steam navigation, railroads, and telegraphs. Medical advances were also key, especially vaccines for topical tropical diseases. The development of malaria treatment enabled vast expanses of the tropics to be penetrated in the first place."

BTW, due to so many edits by so many writers, I can't be blamed for everything! 172 16:05, 29 Jul 2003 (UTC)