中東に平和を！ ６８： なぜ疲弊したのか ６： 帝国主義の時代背景 １
＊１
We have seen who has scattered the disaster to the world until now.
It seemed like ordinary people fascinated by demons.
However, this eventually will push our world into the mire.
これまで誰が世界に災厄を撒き散らしたのかを見て来ました。
それは悪魔に魅入られた普通の人々のように思える。
しかし、このことがやがて世界を泥沼に突き落とすことになる。
< 2. colonial countries that were once controlled by Western Europe >
＜ ２． かつてヨーロッパの植民地だった国 ＞
Introduction
Later, we see that the imperialism which colonized almost all countries of this earth was deeply involved in the confusion and conflicts of present developing countries.
But before that, there is something we need to confirm.
That is to say, why was the imperialism that was selfish, violent and ruthless done by the people.
Why did the people do the inhumane exploitation?
Why could the people be cruel to indigenous people?
This was at most half a century ago.
Until now, we've looked at some cases, but people easily sacrifice other people.
If the imperialism was done by not so much demon but consensus of ordinary people, even now, their minds do not change, it may be a possibility of repeating easily.
はじめに
後に、地球上のほぼすべての国を植民地化した帝国主義が、現在の発展途上国の混迷と止まない紛争に深く関わっていることを見ます。
しかし、その前に確認したいことがあります。
それは身勝手で、暴力的で、無慈悲であった帝国主義がなぜ行われたのかと言うことです。
なぜ人々は人道に反する搾取を行ったのか？
またなぜ人々は先住民に対してあれほど残虐になれたのか？
これはたかだか半世紀前のことです。
今まで、事例を見て来ましたが、人々はいとも簡単に他者を犠牲にします。
もし、帝国主義が悪魔ではなく普通の人々の総意で行われていたとしたら。
今でも、その心性は変わらず、容易に繰り返す可能性があるかもしれません。
＊３
What is the imperialism?
It is a policy to make other country a colony and dependent country by military power.
Although there was an expansionism and conquestism from a long time ago, especially it refers to the policy done by nations that became a monopoly capitalism stage since the end of the 19th century.
It began with the African division of Western Europe and then spread to the world.
The essential point is like that, but strangely the opinion of historians about it has divided.
The imperialism is an undeniable fact, but they can not identify its motive.
It is largely divided into three opinions. Annotation 1.
A: A capitalist state developed through the industrial revolution was seeking many export destinations for not only goods but also excessive capital to the world.
B: At that time, economic depression repeatedly had occurred, income disparity was bigger than now, the dissatisfaction was accumulating in the countries.
In addition, the reversal of economic power was occurring among countries having many colonies (Britain) and countries no having it (Germany).
Thus, the Western European countries tried to divert the public's dissatisfaction by making an advance outside the area, and it became a competition.
C: The imperialism progressed sequentially by the interaction between the ruling side and the colonial side, and the factors differed from region to region.
In addition to the two above-mentioned reasons, the major factors were for recovering the losses due to prohibition of a slave trade, and the resistance and looting in the locale against the Westerners' residents and immigrants.
After all, it was tangled with the past Western intervention, and it headed for further intervention.
In other words, rather than that the imperialism was initiated for a purpose, it can be said that it occurred as a result of various factors overlapping.
帝国主義とは何か
軍事力で他国を植民地や従属国にする政策。
古くから膨張主義や征服主義はあったが、特に１９世紀末以降、独占資本主義段階に至った国家が行った政策を指す。
これは西欧のアフリカ分割から始まり、その後、世界に蔓延していった。
要点はこうなるが、不思議なことに歴史学者の意見が分かれている。
帝国主義の事実は動かせないのですが、その動機を確定出来ないのです。
大きく三つに分かれています。注釈１．
Ａ： 産業革命を経て発展した資本主義国家は、商品だけでなく過剰な資本の輸出先を世界に求めていた。
Ｂ： 当時、恐慌が繰り返し発生し、今より所得格差は大きく、国内に不満が鬱積していた。
また植民地を多く持つ国（英国など）とそうでない国（ドイツ）で経済力の逆転が起こりつつあった。
こうして西欧諸国は、域外に進出することで国民の不満をそらそうとし、競争することにもなった。
Ｃ： 帝国主義は支配側と植民地側との相互作用で順次進行し、地域ごとで要因が異なる。
主要な要因としては、上記二つの理由に加えて、奴隷貿易の禁止による損失挽回の動き、西欧人の居留民や移民に対する現地の抵抗や略奪などがある。
これにしても、以前からの西欧の介入で紛糾し、さらなる介入を招いたことになる。
つまり、帝国主義は目的を持って始められたと言うよりは、対立国との競争、国内の不満回避、植民地との紛争を巡って、いつしか泥沼に突き進んだしまったと言える。
＊４
Something seen from a misunderstanding
There are persons who say that the former action is not exploitation against East Asia because the Empire of Japan made huge investments (dam and railroad) for it.
Actually, the imperialist countries of the Western Europe came to have large loss due to deployment of troops and investment in the locale, and the people disliked it in the late stage.
Even so, the governments continued to take the policy for securing the colonial security and prestige of the state.
Similarly in Japan, the people amassed a huge debt (foreign bonds) for the war, lost everything in the defeat, and had to keep returning the foreign bonds even after the war.
In other words, in the time of the imperialism, it expanded because there were people got profit even though the government and the people were suffering.
This continues to the next time.
誤解の先に見えるもの
かつて大日本帝国は東アジアに莫大な投資（ダム、鉄道など）をしたのだから、搾取ではないと言う人がいる。
実は、西欧の帝国主義国家も軍隊派遣や現地への投資で、政府としては損失が大きく、末期には国民に嫌われていた。
それでも植民地の安全確保や国家の威信の為に続行された。
日本も同様で、戦争の為に莫大な借金（外債）を行い、敗戦ですべてを失っただけでなく、戦後も外債を返却し続けなければならなかった。
つまり、帝国主義の時代、政府と国民は苦しんでいても、利を得る存在があるからこそ拡大していったのです。
次回に続きます。
注釈１．
この説明は主に「講座／世界史５ 強者の論理／帝国主義の時代」ｐ．４４を参考にしています。
