Monopolies and the division of the world

At the end of the 19th century the major industrial states entered a new stage of the economy, often called monopoly capitalism. Production and trade in one branch became concentrated in a few giant monopolies, organised as cartels, syndicates, trusts and concerns. For example, the Rhine–Westphalia coal syndicate, founded in Germany in 1893, controlled much of the country’s coal. Banks also merged and joined with industry, creating finance capital; in the USA Rockefeller (oil), Morgan (finance) and Carnegie (steel) became symbols of such wealth. To earn more, the great powers began exporting not only goods but capital: Great Britain, France and Germany quickly increased their investments abroad. Competition for markets and raw materials pushed them to seize colonies; by the end of the century almost no “unclaimed lands” were left, which raised tension and fuelled an arms race. The word “imperialism”, naming this colonial policy, became widely used in that period. By the end of the 19th century more than half of the earth’s land had been divided among the great powers. The largest colonial empire belonged to Great Britain: according to the textbook its colonies covered 33.5 million sq km and held 393.5 million people. France also built a large empire, while Germany, Italy and Japan received comparatively small territories. Germany was first in Europe and second in the world after the USA in industry, yet had few colonies, which made it dissatisfied. The USA had a large home market and first strengthened its economic influence in Latin America; by 1898 it had annexed Hawaii and taken control of the Philippines, Puerto Rico and Guam. These rivalries sped up the arms race and the militarisation of life.