Imperialism from 1884-1914 served as a preparatory stage for totalitarianism

Evidence

THE THREE DECADES from 1884 to 1914 separate the nineteenth century, which ended with the scramble for Africa and the birth of the pan-movements, from the twentieth, which began with the first World War. This is the period of Imperialism, with its stagnant quiet in Europe and breathtaking developments in Asia and Africa. Some of the fundamental aspects of this time appear so close to totalitarian phenomena of the twentieth century that it may be justifiable to consider the whole period a preparatory stage for coming catastrophes. Its quiet, on the other hand, makes it appear still very much a part of the nineteenth century. — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 338

Categorization

• XREF: This is the framing chapter of the whole book — the scaffolding claim that totalitarianism is not a break but the endpoint of imperialism. Connects to the reader’s biopolitics/necropolitics toolkit reading. — connects to: No major pre-1914 scholar foresaw the rise of totalitarianism — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1135