Editing Empire (section)

===Late modern period===
Beginning around 1760, the [[New Imperialism]] or [[The Age of Empire: 1875–1914|Age of Imperialism]] characterizes a period of colonial expansion by European powers, the United States and Japan. Though the [[American Revolutionary War]] (1775–1783) and the collapse of the [[Spanish Empire]] in [[Latin America]] in the 1820s ended the first era of European colonialism, the period featured an unprecedented pursuit of overseas territorial acquisitions. At the time, states focused on building their empires with new technological advances and developments. During the era of New Imperialism, the European powers and Japan conquered almost all of Africa and most of Asia. The new wave of imperialism reflected ongoing imperial rivalries, their imperial ambitions, and a "[[civilizing mission]]".

With the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 during the [[Napoleonic Wars]] (1803–1815), the [[Austrian Empire]] (1804–1867) emerged reconstituted as the Empire of [[Austria-Hungary]] (1867–1918) and claimed to "inherite" the imperium of Central and Western Europe. Another "heir to the Holy Roman Empire", was the [[German Empire]] (1871–1918).

In the course of the [[Scramble for Africa]] (1870-1914), European empires separated between themselves almost all the continent. Symbolized by the [[Pink Map]], the Portuguese claimed sovereignty over a wide land corridor stretching between the Atlantic shore of Angola and [[Indian Ocean|Indian]] shore of Mozambique. This led to the [[1890 British Ultimatum]] as Britain aimed to establish their own and longer corridor from Egypt to South Africa. In the clash of the corridors, the British prevailed.<ref>Newitt, M. (1995). ''A History of Mozambique''.  (London, Hurst & Co), p. 347.</ref>

The [[Spanish–American War]] of 1898 and the [[Russo-Japanese War]] of 1904–05 signaled the advent of new extra-European empires, the United States and Japan respectively. The two events marked the closure of the "imperial belt"--belt of great empires stretching from west to east. Originally formed in the Old World during the [[Axial Age]] along the [[Silk Road]], this belt shifted northward during the medieval period due to climatic change, penetrated to North America in the colonial period, and "closed" in the Far East c.1900.<ref>Ostrovsky, Max (2006). ''The Hyperbola of the World Order'', (Lanham: University Press of America), p 93-126, https://books.google.co.il/books?redir_esc=y&hl=ru&id=9b0gn89Ep0gC&q=imperial+belt#v=snippet&q=imperial%20belt&f=false</ref> The history of empires ceased being eurocentric. The [[Pearl Harbor attack]] symbolized the fact that two non-European empires clashed on the opposite to Europe place of the globe.

The world political map was completed c.1900 leaving no sovereign void and with empires ruling over four-fifth of the world. A contemporary observer, [[Max Weber]], generalized that great empires claim spheres of interest over a wide orbit and in the 1900s "such orbits encompass the whole surface of the planet."<ref>Weeber, Max (1910). ''From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology''. (tr. Mills, C. Wright, London: Routeledge), p 161.</ref> Though seldom viewed through an imperial lens, the World Wars were imperial wars.<ref>[[Richard H. Immerman|Immerman, Richard H]]. (2010). ''Empire for Liberty: A History of American Imperialism from Benjamin Franklin to Paul Wolfowitz''. (Princeton: Princeton University Press), p 2, https://books.google.co.il/books?id=gTgEl8PN5PEC&printsec=frontcover&hl=ru&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false</ref><ref>[[Akira Iriye|Iriye, Akira]] (Spring 2005). “Beyond imperialism: The new internationalism.” ''Daedalus'', vol 134 (2): p 110, https://watermark.silverchair.com/0011526053887392.pdf?token=AQECAHi208BE49Ooan9kkhW_Ercy7Dm3ZL_9Cf3qfKAc485ysgAAA0YwggNCBgkqhkiG9w0BBwagggMzMIIDLwIBADCCAygGCSqGSIb3DQEHATAeBglghkgBZQMEAS4wEQQMIhu2mzoz8Cmg4fiYAgEQgIIC-VBVvSJv77PYchnly4waME6e0RtyQLMXyNsin-xKVRfoP116XGsFizysZ2cK9xByLqNjd7_3G7_ADNyIdhmFQ81jDBjjak28vH9EAf4GwctoFq7rs3j24aJ4snTcl8pDs2TsmRwf0q0UOe6KUpqpAN3saNqq0cM6DvhEudUV_CYFwSZFuSwoUsMeKBaC9vRRlqk74a8AQNJ2qfuT5d_2yLbk1Qh7WiaFB74YjzgqmP4BppN_B-EInElAdpyDwXudFLlkC2o3qFxe8pJ-dZ4g8zTdgph-sMTe_ys55TqNb3yHYed6GBnjJoGT2gkdqlwNEiSwKtyEpIm9KcvWlQQSO7B9jMEmkAalICNHJ_ADi_gSR2T5DZaXxzPvu_qqnCfNJ2APCIEjHiTKCVmv2lOnMcApVaZ-OhXeHv54ob_6mZTji2z1kCjXmWGsuRXAYIz6znBLNSbbiMYyHLj5cnGPWPsAPrZ2PZeQal1lkITBDFJEc9Q_JCE8miYsnf1hPEbZHXA8hV-AB7ihTCixnWQZaNlvXUIgMLDKzduCsV5qTJfcfh7WuIdVPBT8QAzhXSNgjWOiwt5EfNiVA1ftRVz6Je4hoF8R2yY06PT_bnlzUMBUXjMBF-LQ9H1c56kHJuwRf7z8YgHDsstidXUSauipRtbFvgQoX0VyDPfIJ_tKKKVMBDj7RCPtFKkjp0c1GhRKKn5qvSQ9IFqVnMv0TtzZ0Kmj_T4sLhHlWDJaiccEeFf8eNEHqblM3xtMBfW8D_5CcQIEUrJsp8u3rppZPc-maUurz-7rPmifZyBqxCLu-rXbbqUL11LmY6kEbun8AVIcvl38Md7Zuu2BhEFZYfk-T5cJBtJCBYEPTWG_wlKTnO7qUFp-Qdd1ZEkZLIDpq7WDOFKXameKfxUj7BD6K72fKDtsf0sYG1pY_FCbH-hrkAhPZKsQDprYoZNiyyqdp46ta5AbDr0WWAqXTRAHWMBXidJ_PMvbXBtoaRArv8X92FlZVwN5bAo6rDVd</ref> All great powers which waged both World Wars were empires fighting for their survival or expansion.<ref>Gerwarth, Robert & Manela, Erez (2014). ''Empires at War, 1911-1923''. (New York: Oxford University Press), p 14-15.</ref><ref>Jackson, Ashley (2000). "History of empires and conflicts: World War II and empire," ''Global Security and International Poliitcal Economy''. (ed. Colas, Alejandro, UNESCO-EOLSS), vol 1, p 1-2.</ref>

Many scholars suppose that the end of the overseas space for imperial expansion contributed to the intensity of the World Wars if not was their main factor (chapter "Circumscription theory" below). According to one thesis, the overseas world provided European empires with an enormous outlet and thus prevented Europe from unifying into a single European empire. The European powers turned their exceeding energies outward and the internal European [[Balance of power (international relations)|power was balanced]].<ref>Ostrovsky, Max, (2007). ''The Hyperbola of the World Order'', (Lanham: University Press of America), p 50, https://books.google.co.il/books?redir_esc=y&hl=ru&id=9b0gn89Ep0gC&q=imperial+belt#v=snippet&q=balanced&f=false</ref> Correspondingly, the thesis continues,<ref>Ostrovsky, Max, (2007). ''The Hyperbola of the World Order'', (Lanham: University Press of America), p 129-140, https://books.google.co.il/books?redir_esc=y&hl=ru&id=9b0gn89Ep0gC&q=imperial+belt#v=onepage&q=ratzel&f=false</ref>  when the space for expansion ended, the empires became destined for head-on collisions, as reflected in the anxious,<ref>Bell, Duncan (2007). ''The Idea of Great Britain: Empire and the Future of World order, 1860-1900''. (New Jersey: Princeton University Press), p 37-39, https://books.google.co.il/books?id=qFX7QB7bLVsC&printsec=frontcover&hl=ru&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false</ref><ref>[[Gavin Plumley|Plumley, Gavin]] (27 September 2013). "Anxiety attack: Faces from the fin-de-siècle. An exhibition of turn-of-the-century portraits reveals troubled times," ''Independent'', https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/anxiety-attack-faces-from-the-findesiecle-8844684.html</ref> [[Claustrophobia|claustrophobic]]<ref>[[Christopher John Bartlett|Bartlett, Christopher John]] (2000). ''The Global Conflict: The International Rivalry of the Great Powers, 1880-1990''. (London & New York: Longman), p 22, https://archive.org/details/globalconflictin0000bart/page/22/mode/2up?view=theater</ref> mood of the [[Fin de siècle]]. This was the time when the theory of [[lebensraum]] developed and the term [[geopolitics]] was coined to designate a new science, accompanied by an avalanche of literature envisaging war.<ref>[[I. F. Clarke|Clarke, Ignatius Frederick]] (1995). ''The Tale of the Next Great War, 1871-1914: Fictions of Future Warfare and of Battles Still to Come''. (Liverpool University Press), p 15-16, 21, 25, https://archive.org/details/taleofnextgreatw00ifcl/page/14/mode/2up?view=theater</ref><ref>Clarke, Ignatius Frederick (1995). ''Voices Prophesying War: Future Wars, 1763-3749''. (New York: Oxford University Press), https://archive.org/details/voicesprophesyin0000clar/page/n7/mode/2up</ref> “Raving maniacs, described [[Halford Mackinder]] the opponents of his Empire, suffering from global claustrophobia.”<ref>[[John Gilbert Winant|Winant, John G]]., & Mackinder, Halford (1944). “The Monthly Record: Presentation of the Medals Awarded by the American Geographical Society to Two British Geographers,” ''Geographical Journal'', vol 103: p 133.</ref> Furthermore, the global closure coincided with unprecedented technological advances in weapons now produced on the industrial scale. The same year (1904), Mackinder outlined the [[Geographical Pivot of History|global closure]] and [[Henry Brooks Adams]] the [[Accelerating_change#Early observations|law of acceleration]] in technological progress and production. These factors caused a "clash of empires"<ref>[[Richard H. Immerman|Immerman, Richard H]]. (2010). ''Empire for Liberty: A History of American Imperialism from Benjamin Franklin to Paul Wolfowitz''. (Princeton: Princeton University Press), p 2, https://books.google.co.il/books?id=gTgEl8PN5PEC&printsec=frontcover&hl=ru&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false</ref> of epic proportions, as vividly described by its famous participant:
{{quote|
And the first gust of wind swept across Europe grown nervous. The time that now followed lay in the chests of men like a heavy nightmare... And then the first mighty lightening flash struck the earth ... and with the thunder of heaven there mingled the roar of World War batteries... The fight for freedom has began mightier than the Earth has ever seen.<ref>Hitler, Adolf (1925) ''[[Mein Kampf]]'' (tr, Manheim, Ralph, London: Pimlico, 1992), p 145, 148.</ref>}}
The Ottoman, Austrian and Russian Empires were defeated in the First World War, though the latter Empire soon reappeared in its [[Soviet Empire|Soviet]] form. The German, Italian and Japanese Empires were defeated in the Second World War. Weakened by the same War, the rest of the European Empires underwent [[decolonization]]. The Soviet Empire collapsed in 1989-1991. The United States remained the only superpower, but whether its foreign policy qualifies as imperial is debatable (chapters "Contemporary usage" and 'Present" below).

Egyptologist [[Barry Kemp (Egyptologist)|Barry Kemp]] developed a "basic model" of imperial evolution. At the start, according to the model, we have a number of roughly equal players. The game inexorably follows a trajectory toward a critical point when one player accumulated sufficient power to outweigh other players and becomes unstoppable. Imagining an imperial game of this kind outlines the "essence of the basic process at work in history."<ref>Kemp, Barry J. (1989). ''Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of Civilization''. (London & New York: Kentledge), p 32.</ref> Kemp specialized on the Bronze Age and by accident published his game theory in 1989, the moment before modern empires completed his "basic process." 

An Historian specializing on the world history explicitly applied Kemp's game analogy to modern empires. The global closure c.1900 marks the point when empires ended their "regular season" and entered "play-offs." The knock-out tournament began with "[[Wild card (sports)|wild card playoff]]" (First World War), proceeded with "breath-stopping series of quarterfinals and semifinals" (Second World War), and "culminated with a deadly boring final that went into triple overtime until the Soviets scored a golden own goal."<ref>Ostrovsky, Max, (2007). ''The Hyperbola of the World Order'', (Lanham: University Press of America), p 359-360, https://books.google.co.il/books?redir_esc=y&hl=ru&id=9b0gn89Ep0gC&q=imperial+belt#v=snippet&q=play&f=false</ref>