World War 1 Imperialism Essay

During this pre World War 1 era, many countries of the world were subject to imperialism by the more powerful countries of Europe. Even though these great European powers did imperialise in many countries, the countries that resisted this era as much as they could were Ethiopia, The Phillipines, and Japan.

In the 1800’s, Italy and other European countries took advantage of other countries resources but Ethiopia. When Italy planned an invasion on Ethiopia for its resources and people, this country was prepared because they were already somewhat modern. The moment Italy stepped foot on Ethiopian soil, they were beat. Under the command of Menelik II, the Ethiopian forces drove Italy out and back to their own country. Hummiliated and defeated, Italy had remained the only European country to be beaten by an African force.

Meanwhile, on the eastern coast of Japan, some European nations saw Japan as a golden opportunity. The country to go ahead and take the chance of going to Japan was Portugal. When the switching powers onto the new shogun of Japan, he didn’t like the thought of being westernized/modernized. As a result, any foreign power caught in Japan was either thrown out of the country or executed. As for the Portugeise, they had to leave and leave the chance of imperializing
Wanting to be a major force to be reckoned with, the U.S. saught territories in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and finally, The Phillipines. In the process of taking The Phillipines, a young commander named Emilio Aguinaldo thought the U.S. was trying to help them gain their independance. As word spread that they wanted to keep the country for their own benefit, Aguinaldo rallied up troops in effort to fight the U.S. for independance. Despite the horrible things the U.S. did to the Filipino peoples, The Phillipines didn’t gain independance till later in history, but there was a huge effort to do so at this time by the