How Did Jules Ferry Support Imperialism

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Jules Ferry was a French politician during the Third Republic of France. He was known to heavily support imperialism and expansion of French colonization. He often met opposition from socialists and conservatives, and because of this, had to defend his policies in front of the French National Assembly on several instances (A Defense of French Imperialism, n.d.). His remarks “On French Colonial Expansion” from 1884 is one such instance. According to Ferry, many recent developments in world trade had made it urgent for France to further its colonization. He cites Germany and the United States as specific examples. “…next door Germany is setting up trade barriers…[and] across the ocean the United States of America have become protectionists” (Jules Ferry: On French Colonial Expansion, n.d.). He claims that French stake in those markets were dwindling because these powers were increasingly marketing their own products; not only that, but they were pouring new products into French markets that had never been seen there before. Ferry believed this matter so urgent, in fact, that he urged the French to act now or their former markets would forever be lost to North American products, as evidenced by his statement “Nothing is more …show more content…
He also suggests non-economic reasons as well, however, in this address to the French Assembly. As mentioned above, he suggests that colonization is in the best interest of France in order for it to be able to protect its people. A strong Navy is essential in that protection, and a strong Navy can only be had if it has readily accessible ports. Furthermore, though, he suggests that if the French do not indeed “take part in the affairs of the world” (Jules Ferry: On French Colonial Expansion, n.d.), they may as well abdicate their position as a thriving, international power and kick back and watch the rest of the Western powers take over the