Course title: Imperialism since 1918 Course code: H26B Lecturer: Dr D.A.

Dunkley Name: Andre Robinson Week #:3 Question : Did world war I mark the rise of a modern form of Imperialism?

The Rise of Soviet Imperialism The word imperialism has many meanings as there has been controversy over how to define it. The way in which this term will be defined in this work is as the national policy of the establishment of the domination of one geographical region, nation or people by another. Many historians contend that there are two types of imperialism: old and new. Old Imperialism began to decline with the end of the first French empire in 1763 and new imperialism began to rise with the revival of overseas expansion of European states in 1870. The difference between the two types is that new imperialism is that it is a broader and more sophisticated approach to domination than its predecessor from outright military conquest to less direct techniques like establishing protectorates. This new form of imperialism emphasized hegemony, the strong indirect influence over a given region, to a greater degree. In other words the new imperialism is seen as a modern imperialism. Another way in which modern imperialism was different was the rise of non European empires like Japan and the U.S.S.R. There are those who disagree with calling the Soviet Union an empire. I would argue however that the end World War I in 1918 saw the rise of modern soviet imperialism. The first way in which the soviets acted imperialistically manner was the use of the Comintern to exert influence on France and Spain to protect the Soviets from fascism in 1935. The Comintern, Communist International or Third international was the international organization of communist parties that founded by Lenin in 1919. The French and Spanish branch of the Comintern exerted influence via the popular front policy. This is the formation of popular front coalitions, coalition with other leftist parties. Both of these coalitions would play a role in fighting against the fascist backed right wing coalition during the Spanish civil war of 1936-1935. The Spanish coalition fought against the right wingers directly. The French response

was weak as they only sent 50 aircraft between August 9 and October 11, 1936.1 The Soviets sent weapons to its Spanish allies during the war. In 1936 The soviets also sent 800 air crewmen who flew for the Spanish Republic.2 Bolloten implies that Stalin mobilized international brigades using the comintern to fight for the Spanish coalition.3 The next act of soviet imperialism was the Nazi-Soviet pact of August 23, 1939. This was a secret non aggression pact that divided Eastern Europe into a German and Soviet Sphere of Interest. It placed Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, the part of the Polish state past the San, Vistula and Narew rivers as well as Bessarabia in Russias sphere. In Febuary 1940 the two then sign a commercial agreement. An example of a Soviet delivery was 500,000 tons of phosphate.4 The Soviets invaded these regions in 1940. The Soviets acted imperialistically after World War II ended in 1945. Under the pretext establishing a buffer zone between itself and the West it would go on to claim many Eastern and central European like Hungary, Romania, Poland and East Germany as well as Central Asian States like Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan to form the soviet bloc. These nations were technically independent but were Soviet puppet regimes and controlled by the silencing of opposition and the use of Marxist propaganda. The result is that the U.S.S.R gained 262,533 square miles of land.5 Aside from the annexation of other nations the Soviets would also influence and support truly independent pro Marxist states. They did so by spreading communist propaganda to colonized states as well as to aid pro Marxist rebels. In the case of Cuba they provided, weapons, training, loans and trade. An example of an Africa state it supported was Ethiopia. An example

of how they helped a Marxist regime in South America is that from August 1897 to 1898 the Sadinista regime in Nicaragua had received more than$1 billion dollars worth of arms.6 The Marxist would that the idea that the idea of soviet is false as only capitalist nations can be imperialist. The basis of this claim is Lenins argument that imperialism is the necessary result of capitalism as imperialism is required in order open and monopolize new markets for the goods sold by its businesses. Therefore the expansion of the Soviets is liberation not imperialism. The problem with this argument is that it overlooks the Soviet crackdown of the Hungarian revolt of 1956 against Soviet rule or the fact that travel to western Europe was eventually banned because the bloc was being depopulated at such a rapid pace. The fact is that the Soviets were imperialistic as they forced themselves on others. There are many phases to soviet foreign policy that can be seen as imperialistic. These phases include its popular front policy, Nazi-Soviet pact, the conquest of much of Eastern and central Europe after the war and it support of friendly regimes. The counter argument used to defend the Soviets fails from this accusation fails as it is a dishonest analysis. Therefore the end World War I saw the rise of modern soviet imperialism.

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1.

John F. Coverdale, Italian Intervention in the Spanish Civil War (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1975), 92.

2.

Stanley G. Payne, The Spanish Civil War, the Soviet Union, and Communism (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004), 153.

3.

Burnett Bolloten. The Spanish Civil War: revolution and counterrevolution (Chapel Hill: The

University of North Carolina Press, 1991),107

4

Anthony Trawick Bouscaren, Is the Cold War Over? a New Look at Communist Imperialism.

(Falls Church, Va.: Capitol Hill Press, 1973), 74.

5.

Louis L. Snyder, The Imperialism Reader; Documents and Readings On Modern

Expansionism. (Princeton, N.J.: Van Nostrand, 1962), 14.

6.

Richard Felix Staar, Foreign Policies of the Soviet Union (Stanford, Calif.: Hoover Institution

Press, Stanford University, 1991), 252.

Bibliography

Bolloten, Burnett. The Spanish Civil War: revolution and counterrevolution. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1991.

Bouscaren, Anthony Trawick. Is the cold war over? A new look at Communist imperialism.. Falls Church, Va.: Capitol Hill Press, 1973.

Coverdale, John F.. Italian intervention in the Spanish Civil War. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1975.

Snyder, Louis L.. The imperialism reader; documents and readings on modern expansionism.. Princeton, N.J.: Van Nostrand, 1962.

Staar, Richard Felix. Foreign policies of the Soviet Union. Stanford, Calif.: Hoover Institution Press, Stanford University, 1991.