Medicine as a Tool of Empire: How Medical Developments Advanced European Imperialism in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries

Abstract

Significant research and historical analyses have been performed regarding the driving factors of imperialism in the years preceding World War I, but the role of medicine in enabling imperialism during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries has been comparatively understudied. Additionally, existing analyses focus mainly on specific imperial-era medical and public health measures, such as the development of quinine for malaria or the establishment of schools for tropical medicine. This analysis synthesizes much of the research that has been done on medical developments during the Age of Imperialism to explore the various ways in which disease and medicine intersected with colonial rule. Primary sources and secondary historiographical perspectives suggest that medical developments advanced imperialism by both facilitating colonial arrival and cementing European colonial power in developing regions. Furthermore, they support the assertion that developments in medical technologies and infrastructures were more important than economic, military, political, humanitarian, and religious motives in advancing imperialism.