“im·pe·ri·al·ism imˈpirēəˌlizəm/ Noun a policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force.”- Imperialism was the exact way Africa came to be the way it is. We’ve all had that moment when we said, “I want to visit Europe,” or, “European culture is different, I would love to see it.” Now imagine yourself roughly 125 years before now. Now, imagine that you are living in Africa. Would you still think about moving to Europe? Would you know what Europe is? Would you have anything against that continent because it’s trying to take over your country and the ones around you, proclaiming that you are animalistic? In 1884 and 1885, almost every country from Europe had representatives come to a meeting in Germany …show more content…
The Germans always wanted to be “as good as the British” and the British always powered themselves to gain strength in the same region of knowledge. Document B has phrases of how Britain aimed to be more powerful, such as “Do or perish,” “...seizing every piece of fruitful ground,” or “advance to the power.” The British always wanted more power, with the Germans not far behind. They always endeavoured to colonise more of Africa. The Germans tried hard to catch up, to be as good as the “do or perish” Britain and colonise Africa too. The British wanted to acquire every piece of land that was manageable, no less. The map on document A shows how Germany was behind on all the land colonising in Africa. The country only owned a small fraction, while others such as France and England owned abundant amounts of land. Germany had a very different range of things it was good at. They had the best art, the most creative people, which didn’t help them at imperialising Africa. Germany wanted to be able to be as strong as the other countries, as powerful, taking Britain as their example. In document A it shows that all of Germany’s small colonies in Africa were next to the gargantuan British ones. Germany wanted to be as good as the British, which evolved into “friendly competition” between the two countries. Competition to prove who was able to colonise most of …show more content…
The Europeans did not count Africans as civilized humans. They wanted to imperialise Africa to help. Document F states, “your new caught, sullen peoples, half devil and half child…” as a description of the African people. Every single country in Europe believed that African countries were extremely uncivilized “animals”. Everyone wanted to make their lives better. They thought by imperialising and taking control over African countries they will be able to make a civilised colony. They always underestimated Africans, believing that continent had a lower social standing than they did. “It would be wise if we Germans would learn about colonial skills from our Anglo-saxon [British] cousins and would begin in a friendly competition to strive after them.” says a German writer in Document B. The Germans viewed the British in higher “cultural appreciation.” They wanted to be as good as the British, they wanted to have as many colonies in Africa. The more colonies you had the higher you were on the social ladder in Europe. The more colonies, money, power… the better you were
The slave trade was a controversial issue for many people and still is even today. However, many of the leaders of European countries at the time of the slave trade were considered Enlightened Despots due to their reforms set in place to actually help the people and the betterment of the country. Also most of the writing at this time was observing treatment of slaves and most of the people in the world had accepted Enlightenment ideals or traditional christian values wherein both, everyone deserved rights. This is why it can be inferred that during the 17th to 19th c. there was not an absence of humanitarian concern for slaves when it came to the slave trade, but instead it was individuals who lacked humanitarianism while the rest of the world
German leader, Otto Von Bismarck organized the Berlin conference to decide how Africa would be colonized. They decided
Martial Henry Merlin believed that Europe was entitled to occupy territories in Africa to “civilize” them. (Doc. 6) His speech was given to justify the colonization of Africa. Most Europeans in this time would agree that it was a virtue for a “fully developed race” to develop countries full of “backward peoples who are plunged
Pain. Deception. Hatred. These words are rooted in the minds of the African countries whenever the mention of Imperialism. This practice of extending a government's reign to gain economic control, using missionaries as facades, hurt many African’s during 1750 to 1914.
Amir Patel Miss. N Honors U.S. History 2 10-27-15 RST: The Industrial Revolution had caused an economic boom in the United States. At this time, many citizens of the United States demanded for expansion over seas.
They wrote a treaty to give a limit to African rule and held the Berlin Conference to divide Africa for the six European countries.
In the late eighteenth century imperialism became a major theme until the mid-eighteenth century. With the new imperialism Africa as a whole became colonized by different European countries. As described by Hochschild in the book Africa “had become the kingdom of slavery” (Hochschild, p.). Since the colonization of Africa symbolized the wealth and power the ruler of that country had Leopold needed to become apart of it as well. Leopold wanted the little country of Belgium to be seen as a contender with the large power house countries like England, France, and Germany.
How did nationalism cause WW1? 1910-1919 Nationalism was the main cause of World War One. The direct result of it led to the militarization of Europe’s countries, nationalistic feelings in Yugoslavia, and the alliances formed before the war. Despite the common idea that the first world war started because of Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s assassination, it was only a reason for Austria-Hungary to declare war. Nationalism was the driving factor to his assassination, and would not have happened without it.
This question is still being asked and there are many opinions about this specific question, but there is one answer. The driving force behind European imperialism in Africa is resources. Africa provided resources that the European countries desperately needed. You see, there was competition in Africa among the European countries, technology development increased, and power gain. These reasons may sound complicated, but it’s actually quite simple each reason
Although the driving force behind European Imperialism in Africa was trading slaves, gold, and ivory through the west coast of Africa and was under full assault as European nations competed for control. The Europeans also agreed to certain principles regarding colonization that which included free trade, elimination of slavery, respect for each others territorial claims, and improving the moral and material well-being of
So Europe invaded Africa, took possession of Africa, and divided Africa into colonies of Europe. The period of invasion, lasting some twenty years, was more or less completed by 1900. There followed a longer period, between sixty and ninety years, of direct European rule, called colonial rule. This was a time of profound upheaval for all of Africa’s peoples. It brought irreversible changes” (4).
The authors choice to control some of Africas colonies clearly shows a commitment to form a better Germany based on the intention of trying to eliminate Germany's financial crisis. Someone also hopeful of Africa bringing better advancements for their country was Joseph Chamberlain, a British industrialist. (doc 3) Chamberlain spoke of the situation as a hope for a better tomorrow. The British population would rise and rise again until as a nation they would begin to starve.
Within the 1800’s European Explorers forced their way through the insides of western and central Africa. Along the west coast of Africa, European nations traded for slaves, ivory, and gold. Africa was under full assault by the 1800s, as European nations competed with one another for control of the continent. Europe wanted to imperialism (take over) Africa and the forces (what they did) that helped them succeed is the new technology, Nationalism, and lastly the most important industrialism. Europeans invented many different things in order to help them take control of Africa.
What is imperialism? Imperialism is an approach to expand a nation’s power and their influences over other lands. Empires would look for expansion in their rule over other countries like Africa, Asia, and the Middle East starting in the 1870s and continued until 1914. But, was Imperialism beneficial for developing nations? Imperialism benefited developing nations from the positive aspects of technological advancements, economic gain, and political power.
The three factors that motivated the British to colonise South Africa is to expand land, to colonial competition against other European Empires, and to take over South Africa for routes to India. These three factors motivated the British to colonise South Africa for its power. Firstly, South Africa had a lot of space for the British to grow their economy and expand their empire. By expanding their land to South Africa, they could start mining for rich minerals like diamonds, gold, iron e.t.c and grow larger armies. The next factor that made the British colonise South Africa for power is for colonial rule.