Informal empire facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

The term informal empire describes how a powerful country can influence another region or country without directly ruling it. It's not a formal colony, protectorate, or vassal state. Instead, the powerful country gains influence through its business deals, important locations, or military interests.

Think of it as a strong country having a lot of say in what a weaker country does, even if it doesn't own that country. This control often comes from business deals, money, or even threats.

How it Started
The British Empire's Informal Reach
The United States' Global Influence
France's Reach
Germany's Ambitions
Japan's Influence in Asia
The Russian Empire's Informal Control
The Soviet Union's Sphere of Influence
See also

How it Started

The idea of an informal empire isn't new! The ancient Greek city-state of Athens had a kind of informal empire over the Delian league way back in the 5th century BCE.

Later, in more modern times, powerful trading companies like the Muscovy Company and the East India Company acted almost like mini-governments in faraway lands. They operated outside official state rules, which was an early form of informal empire.

The British Empire's Informal Reach

The idea of "informal empire" is most often linked to the British Empire. Britain had a huge empire with many colonies, but it also had a lot of influence in places it didn't officially rule.

One big example was Britain's trade with China. Britain also had major business interests and investments in South America, including countries like Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile.

This informal empire often had three main parts:

Special rights for foreigners: People from the powerful country had special legal treatment in the weaker country.
Trade rules that favored the powerful: Business deals were set up so the Western powers benefited the most.
Intervention: The powerful country might use its military or diplomats to get its way.

In China, a big part of Britain's informal control came from the Shanghai Municipal Council. Even though it was supposed to be under Chinese control, it was mostly run by Britons. Many unequal treaties were signed, giving Western powers special areas in Chinese port cities, like the Shanghai International Settlement.

Britain also gained financial power in China through payments after wars, foreign banks, and loans that gave them control over Chinese money and resources. This system became weaker after 1916 and World War I.

The relationship in an informal empire could be tricky. China strongly resisted foreign control, leading to wars like the First Opium War and Second Opium War. These wars resulted in China's defeat and more foreign power. In South America, governments sometimes welcomed British business, but military action was used if countries tried to protect their own industries.

Informal empire was very important for the British Empire. For example, Britain's informal empire in China was linked to its formal rule in India. The East India Company grew opium in India and sold it to China. By 1850, this trade made up a huge part of the British Empire's income.

The British informal empire was also driven by free trade. Historians Ronald Robinson and John Gallagher suggested that the British Empire grew just as much through informal influence as it did by taking over formal colonies. They also noted that most British money invested abroad was in these informal areas, not just in the formal empire.

Even when colonies started gaining independence, Britain hoped to keep some influence through economic ties and defense agreements. The creation of the Commonwealth was one way to try and maintain these connections.

The United States' Global Influence

Since the late 1800s, U.S. foreign policy has also been described as an "informal empire." The U.S. gained international influence through friendly governments, military bases, and economic pressure.

This policy often involved:

Close ties with local leaders: Sometimes these ties were forced.
Veto power: The U.S. could effectively block decisions that went against its interests.
Threats: Using military threats, changing governments, or international pressure to achieve goals.

The goal was to create a global economy that benefited the U.S. by opening up markets for its goods and investments. Countries like the Philippines, Vietnam, Iraq, Iran, and Chile have been examples of this policy.

After World War II, the U.S. chose to use informal influence rather than create new colonies. This was partly because most of the world was already divided into colonies. The U.S. also had to adapt to rising anti-colonial movements to gain allies against the Soviet Union.

France's Reach

France also had its own informal empire. French actions in Mexico (1838, 1861) and other parts of Latin America, like Argentina and Uruguay, have been called "informal empire." France didn't aim to take territory, but rather to control through treaties.

After African colonies gained independence, many became "client states" under a French informal empire known as Françafrique. This network helped France continue to gain wealth from its former colonies.

Germany's Ambitions

In the 19th century, the German Empire (formed in 1871) wanted to get colonies. However, Britain already had a lot of business influence in most parts of the world. So, Germany also tried to build an informal empire like Britain's.

German trade and influence in South America were a big part of this plan. German companies helped industrialize Argentina, and German banks competed with British ones. Building railroads, like the Anatolian and Baghdad railroads in the Ottoman Empire, was another way Germany tried to spread its informal influence.

Japan's Influence in Asia

Japan's actions in China from 1895 until World War II have also been called an informal empire. Japan often hid its plans for territory because it wasn't strong enough to openly challenge Western powers. Instead, Japan promoted Western interests alongside its own to gain special privileges in China.

Japan made a lot of money from its informal empire in China. Its first big manufacturing companies started in China, not in Japan's formal colonies, because China had a huge market and many raw materials. When Chinese people started pushing back against Japanese influence, Japan tried to switch from informal to more direct control, which led to the Second World War in Asia.

The Russian Empire's Informal Control

The Russian Empire also had an informal empire, even though it was already expanding rapidly with formal territories. Examples include Russia's influence in Qajar Iran and its leased areas in China.

After a treaty in 1828, Russia gained a lot of power in Iran. The Persian monarchy became very dependent on British and Russian loans. Russian diplomats became powerful figures in Iran. The creation of the Persian Cossack Brigade by Russian officers in 1879 gave Russia even more influence over the Persian army.

Russia and Britain competed to invest in Iran's industries, like roads and telegraph lines, to gain more influence. This rivalry was so strong that it blocked all railroad construction in Iran until 1907. In the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907, Russia and Britain officially ended their rivalry to focus on opposing Germany. They divided Iran into spheres of influence, with Russia controlling the north and Britain the south.

The Russian Empire also had special areas in China, like the Liaodong Peninsula (including Port Arthur and Dalian) and the Chinese Eastern Railway. However, after the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, most of Russia's influence in China was taken over by Japan.

Some historians also compare Russia's early "fur empire" in Siberia to the French fur trade empire in North America. They also note that Russia's conquest of Central Asia in the 19th century used economic ideas from British Egypt and territorial ideas from Britain's control over the princely states in India.

The Soviet Union's Sphere of Influence

Many experts describe the Soviet Union's international relationships as a Soviet empire. Even though the Soviet Union officially opposed nationalism and imperialism, it dominated the countries in its sphere of influence.

One view is that the Soviet Union was a "classic" empire, just with communism replacing older ideas like monarchy. Another view, especially for the non-Stalinist times, sees the Soviet empire as an "informal empire" over countries in the Warsaw Pact. These countries were technically independent but were under strong Soviet pressure and had Soviet military presence. The Soviet informal empire relied on money from Moscow and links between Communist Parties.

The informal empire included Soviet investments, military presence, and secret actions in countries allied with the Soviet Union. Examples include Soviet influence in East Germany and 1930s Xinjiang. After a conflict in 1929, the Soviet Union regained control of the Chinese Eastern Railway until 1952. In the 1920s, the Soviet empire also included satellite states like Mongolia and Tannu Tuva.

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union used its socialist ideas to control its informal empire. It would signal whether a satellite state's policies were acceptable by saying they were "consistent" or "inconsistent" with socialist ideas.

When the Soviet Union broke apart, its formal empire (like the Warsaw Pact) changed into a more informal influence. By 1989, when Gorbachev stopped enforcing the Brezhnev Doctrine (which allowed the Soviet Union to intervene in other socialist countries), the informal empire became more like a regular sphere of influence, similar to how Finland had a special relationship with the Soviet Union.