| 释义 |
imperialism|ɪmˈpɪərɪəlɪz(ə)m|
[f. imperial + -ism: after imperialist.]
1. An imperial system of government; the rule of an emperor, esp. when despotic or arbitrary.
1858Westm. Rev. Oct. 344 To lower the intellectual vigour of the nation,..to exhibit to the world how the waywardness of mind will yield beneath the compression of a stern resolution—these are the tasks set itself by Imperialism. 1861Pearson Early & Mid. Ages Eng. xxxiv. (L.), Roman imperialism had divided the world into master and slave. 1861Goldw. Smith Irish Hist. 18 There appears to be in the Keltic race a strong tendency to what is called Imperialism. 1869Times 15 Oct., Imperialism, or, indeed, any worse form of despotism. 1870Daily News 8 Sept. 3 That this meeting begs to express its delight at the downfall of Imperialism in France, and the proclamation in lieu thereof of the Republic.
2. The principle or spirit of empire; advocacy of what are held to be imperial interests. In nineteenth-century British politics, the principle or policy (1) of seeking, or at least not refusing, an extension of the British Empire in directions where trading interests and investments require the protection of the flag; and (2) of so uniting the different parts of the Empire having separate governments, as to secure that for certain purposes, such as warlike defence, internal commerce, copyright, and postal communication, they should be practically a single state.
In the United States, imperialism was similarly applied to the policy of extending the rule or influence of the American people over foreign countries, and of acquiring and holding distant dependencies, in the way in which colonies and dependencies are held by European states.
1878J. Chamberlain Let. 15 Oct. in J. L. Garvin Life J. Chamberlain (1932) I. 267 This infernal Afghan business is the natural consequence of Jingoism, Imperialism, ‘British interests’, [etc.]. a1881W. R. Greg Misc. Ess. Ser. i. ii. 39 Under the pretext of Imperialism and farseeing statesmanship, the habitual and hitherto incurable fault of our Governments—especially of Tory Governments—has been to look too far ahead. 1895Westm. Gaz. 15 Jan. 2/2 ‘The Expansion of England’—with its firm grasp on the great possibilities of the New Englands beyond the sea, and its vivid realisation of the British Empire as ‘a world-wide Venice with the sea for streets’—gave..a decisive impulse to what may be called, in the slang of the day, ‘the new Imperialism’. 1898Daily News 28 May 2/2 That odious system of bluster and swagger and might against right on which Lord Beaconsfield and his colleagues bestowed the tawdry nickname of Imperialism. 1899H. H. Bancroft New Pacific viii. 145 The word imperialism is used in this connection in a modern, American sense, as applicable to the empire of industry as well as to domain... It [implies]..the extension of political and commercial influence, particularly in the Pacific. 1899Carnegie in North Amer. Rev. Jan. 5 Imperialism implies naval and military force behind; moral force, education, civilization are not the backbone of Imperialism. 1899J. L. Walton in Contemp. Rev. Mar. 306, I define Imperialism as a principle or formula of statesmanship for interpreting the duties of government in relation to empire. 1899Ld. Rosebery in Daily News 6 May 4/2, I mean the greater pride in Empire which is called Imperialism... Sane Imperialism, as distinguished from what I may call wild-cat Imperialism, is nothing but this—a larger patriotism. 1914Cycl. Amer. Govt. II. 152/1 As used in American politics, imperialism is employed to designate the policy on which the United States has embarked of acquiring territory not a part of the United States proper, nor contiguous to it.
3. Used disparagingly. In Communist writings: the imperial system or policy of the Western powers. Used conversely in some Western writings: the imperial system or policy of the Communist powers.
1918Manch. Guardian 13 Dec. 7/4 The Menshevik and the small bourgeois parties have published a declaration calling on workers all over the world to rally to the support of the Russian Revolution against the Imperialism attacking it. 1939Varga & Mendelsohn (title) New data for V. I. Lenin's ‘Imperialism, the highest stage of capitalism’. 1957C. Hunt Guide to Communist Jargon xxiv. 82 The term imperialism has largely replaced Capitalism in the Communist vocabulary. Ibid. 83 The essential features of imperialism are the concentration of capital, the merging of industrial and banking capital into ‘finance capital’ and the division of the world between national and international monopolies. 1957Encycl. Brit. VI. 135/2 They [sc. the Communists] regarded the cause of World War II to be not German aggression but British and French imperialism. 1964Gould & Kolb Dict. Social Sci. 319/2 It is sometimes said that Russian control of East European countries is ‘Russian imperialism’. |