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Belgium’s Expansionist History between 1870 and 1930: Imperialism and the Globalisation of Belgian Business

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  • Abbeloos, Jan-Frederik

Abstract

This chapter considers if and how the political action of imperialism and the globalisation of business influenced each other in Belgium between 1870 and 1930. In addition to the role that Belgian King Leopold II played in the territorial partition of Africa and the opening up of China, the period sees a growing amount of capital and industrial know-how from Belgium being invested in markets outside Europe. Before World War I, the globalisation of Belgian business and Belgian imperialism operated relatively independently of each other, leaving the financing of the imperial project open to other international investors while strong political support for the globalisation of Belgian business was absent in this small, neutral and open country. Only after the Belgian state took over Leopold’s Congo Free State in 1908 and World War I infused colonial (economic) policy with a stronger patriotic spirit, did Belgian foreign investments start to concentrate on the Congo. From the 1920s on, Belgian business fully seized the opportunities that imperialism had created earlier.

Suggested Citation

  • Abbeloos, Jan-Frederik, 2008. "Belgium’s Expansionist History between 1870 and 1930: Imperialism and the Globalisation of Belgian Business," MPRA Paper 11295, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:11295
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Kevin H. O'Rourke & Jeffrey G. Williamson, 2001. "Globalization and History: The Evolution of a Nineteenth-Century Atlantic Economy," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262650592, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Mai, Nhat Chi, 2020. "Post-war Labour Market Reconstruction : The Case of the Democratic Republic of the Congo," OSF Preprints w87nc, Center for Open Science.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Belgium; business history; imperial history; globalization;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • N13 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • N00 - Economic History - - General - - - General
    • N14 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Europe: 1913-

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