A Glance at the Late 19th Century

When tracing human history， each turn of a century becomes important for social development， especially the end of the 19th Century. At that time， the global situation was changing drastically and international relations had become complicated， in a key era of societal development.

Over a century ago， the world had already become an integrated community and various countries and peoples were altering the planet’s trajectory thanks to the Second Industrial Revolution， also known as the Technological Revolution， which lasted from the 1860s until World War I. During this revolution， many great innovations such as electricity generators and motors emerged， pushing the world from the “age of steam” to the “age of electricity.”

In terms of economics， thanks to the revolution， heavy industry replaced light industry in the dominant role. In succession， the U.S.， Germany， and Britain became industrialized with heavy industry as economic pillars. This change determined the dominant role of industrial capitalism in the global economic structure， and enabled capitalism to economically radiate throughout the world.

Before the 1870s， transportation， communication， and living facilities in everyday life were relatively primitive. With the Second Industrial Revolution， a number of advanced transportation and communication technologies emerged， such as railways， automobiles， airplanes， the telegraph， and telephone， greatly reducing the distance between countries， improving quality of life， and making the world effectively smaller than ever.

The Second Industrial Revolution also brought rapid development to capitalist economics. Capitalist elites attached greater importance to protecting and fighting for raw materials as well as markets for sales. In the late 19th Century and early 20th Century， as monopolies began dominating some sectors in Britain， France， Germany， Russia， Japan， and the U.S.， these countries shifted focus to resources and markets in other nations around the world. Through armed forces or economic pressure， they opened closed doors of Eastern countries， and turned the world into a massive market incorporating Asia， Africa， and Latin America. The handful of “advanced” countries set up an international system to enhance global colonialism and economic oppression.

The establishment of the global capitalist system marked the interconnection across the world. In late 19th and early 20th centuries， the economic and political activity of almost every country and people in the world became closely interwoven.

However， during the process of the world becoming integrated， world patterns underwent great changes. Before the revolution， Euro- pean powers， with Britain as representative， had enjoyed significant edges in terms of proportion of global industrial production， foreign trade， and colonial occupation for more than 300 years. In the late 19th Century， European powers began facing stiff competition from the U.S.

In the wake of the American Civil War from 1861 to 1865， the U.S. witnessed rapid economic development. In 1894， the nation’s gross industrial output value ranked first globally， marking its emergence as the world’s top industrial power. In the early 20th Century， the U.S. accounted for 38 percent of the world’s total industrial output value， 2 percent more than the totals of Britain， France， and Germany. However， the U.S. possessed only a very small share of international and colonial markets， which left the country’s numbers in international trade much lower than major European nations. Rapid economic development formed a sharp contrast with limited international and colonial market access， which created major roadblocks for the U.S.’s continued economic development.

To solve the problem， the U.S. began seeking colonies and fought for regional and global domination. In 1898， the U.S. declared war with Spain， the first time it challenged Europe’s leading position since its revolution. In 1899， the U.S. initiated the Open Door Policy， thus gaining an equal say on issues related to China as other European powers and mediating competing interests of colonial powers in China.

At the same time， important changes were happening with the economic status of major capitalist countries. UK and France’s shares of global industrial output value began to decrease， and UK gradually lost its industrial dominance. However， these countries’colonial occupation didn’t change much. In the late 19th Century， UK occupied a total of 33.5 million square kilometers of colonies， France 10.6 million square kilometers， Russia 17.4 million square kilometers， while the U.S. and Japan maintained only 300，000 square kilometers each. With economic changes， the various sizes of colonies brought conflicts. “Re-dividing” the world became an urgent task.

War turned out to be the method to fix the problem. In 1882， Germany， Austria， and Italy formed an alliance. In 1908， Britain， France， and Russia formed an alliance. During the process of forming two opposing blocs， a series of wars aiming to re-divide the world broke out， such as the First Sino-Japanese War in 1895， the Spanish-American War in 1898， and the Russo-Japanese War from 1904 to 1905.

All of these incidents foreshadowed the arrival of a larger war over colonial interests.