Page:General History of Europe 1921.djvu/759

 How European History merged into World History 573 than it could sell in its own markets, and the rapid transportation which permitted producers to distribute their commodities over the whole surface of the globe, combined to produce a keen com- petition for foreign markets, as we have seen. The European nations secured the control of practically all the territory occupied by defenseless peoples in Africa and Asia, and introduced Western ideas of business into China and Japan, where steamships now ply the navigable rivers and railroads are being rapidly built. 1041. Foreign Investments. The process of colonization and of Westernizing the oriental peoples was further hastened by European and American capitalists investing in railroads, mines, and oil wells in backward countries. At the opening of the twen- tieth century Great Britain alone had about ten billion dollars invested abroad ; one fifth of Russian industrial enterprises were financed by foreigners, who were also to a considerable extent con- structing the railroads in China. The Germans supplied the money for large banking concerns in Brazil, Buenos Aires, and Valparaiso, which in turn stimulated industry and the construction of railways. 1042. Imperialism in its Various Forms. These two powerful forces factories seeking markets for their goods and capital seeking investment shaped the foreign and commercial policies of every important European country. They alone explain why the great industrial nations embarked on a policy of so-called imperialism, which means a policy of adding distant territories for the purpose of controlling their products, getting the trade with the natives, and investing money in the development of natural resources. Sometimes this imperialism took the form of outright annexation at the desire of the natives, such as the acquisition of Hawaii by the United States ; again, it assumed the form of a "protectorate," which is a declaration on the part of a nation to the effect that "this is our particular piece of land; we are not in- tending to take all the responsibility of governing it just now ; but we want other nations to keep out, for we may annex it sooner or later." Sometimes imperialism went no farther than the securing of concessions or privileges in undeveloped countries, such as for- eigners obtained in China or citizens of the United States in Mexico.