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Sunday, August 2, 2020

Imperialism and Capitalism

Lenin saw imperialism as the highest stage of capitalism. In his 1917 essay, “Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism,” he says that when capitalism reaches its final stage, the capitalists try to maximize profits by conquering new colonies. But the truth is that the founding of colonies went hand in hand with the Industrial Revolution and the subsequent manufacturing boom in the European countries. The Industrial Revolution happened between 1760 and 1840, and this period was followed by a phase of capitalist expansion which lasted for a century, till the Second World War. Between 1760 and 1920, Britain, Spain, France, and other European powers took major initiatives to conquer new colonies. Imperialism was finished after the Second World War, when the European powers started moving away from capitalism and towards socialism.

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