To what extent was ethnocentrism and racism the greatest motivation for western European nations embarking on an imperialistic conquest of the African continent between the late 1800’s and 1914? “Power mixed with cunningness creates poison cocktail. While power with cleverness makes a perfect pilot whale.” (Stephen Thompson, Ph.D., n.d.). In the imperialistic conquest of Africa this quote proved accurate. The Western Europeans gain power over Africans, however the way they controlled their power, with inhumane, racist and selfish actions mean’t the colonies were bound to failure.
The European powers only had the slave trade with the Africans along the shores of West Africa and African leaders still ruled most continent. According to Saul David, “Until the 19th century, Britain and the other European powers confined their imperial ambitions in Africa to the odd coastal outpost from which they could exert their economic and military influence…. As late as the 1870s, only 10% of the continent was under direct European control....” Joshua D. Settles in his research titled The Impact of Colonialism on African Economic Development also indicates that African economies were advancing in various fields, especially in the trade aspect. Nonetheless, everything changed in the late 1900s. With the development of technology and the discovery of quinine, the European powers started to expand their territories in Africa.
European nations scrambled to take control of Africa due to the opportunity of exploiting resources and colonization. European imperialism was in Africa partly present because of the rivalry for power between Britain, France, and Germany. These countries were each trying to increase their status by accumulating countries located elsewhere on the continent. European countries entered Africa to claim territories, since owning multiple territories with colonies showed their power. Britain.
The industrial revolution propelled African imperialism to a level the world had never seen before. During the late 19th century, borders in Europe became difficult to alter and the only way to expand was in other continents like Africa. Europe exposed Africa’s weakness and preyed on them, leaving the continent in disarray. The industrial revolution induced African imperialism for economic prosperity, the rise in cultural and social power, and political motives. Economic prosperity had a major impact on the advancement of African imperialism.
For example, they were taught new measures of growing crops faster, with fewer effects but with a great profit. The Europeans led Africa out of the economic isolation with the rest of the world, trough trade partnerships. Even though their invasion was solely based on their own economic benefits and to establish economic control over Africa and extracting all raw materials that the land possessed, they continued reasoning their invasion and domination as a form of emancipation, which was saving the Africans from barbarism and poverty. For, example, in Zimbabwe, cash crops such as cotton, sugar and tobacco were farmed and there was an attempt made by the British South African Company to hone in on the state’s gold
By the early twentieth century, however, much of Africa, except Ethiopia and Liberia, had been colonized by European powers. The European imperialist push into Africa was motivated by three main factors, economic, political, and social. It developed in the nineteenth century following the collapse of the profitability of the slave trade, its abolition and suppression, as well as the expansion of the European capitalist Industrial Revolution. The imperatives of capitalist industrialization—including the demand for assured sources of raw materials, the search for guaranteed markets and profitable investment outlets—spurred the European scramble and the partition and eventual conquest of Africa. Thus the primary motivation for European intrusion was economic.
Colonialism first occurred during the Roman, Hellenist, Babylonian and Persian empires, but it is more known during the 15th century as “The Age of Discovery,” led by the Portuguese and Spanish. The colonization of the European in Africa, some parts of Asia and Americas is the most significant factor or could be the basis in comprehending the current state of the countries and people. That is why a deliberate study or reading of the European colonialism is essential to understand how much influence it has made not only on the economy and politics of these continents, but also on how the people look at them and themselves currently. I want to concentrate more on the continent of Africa. In the first place, why did the Europeans even become curious
To do so they looked for territory that they could access for their armies and navies. “As imperial powers consolidated their hold on foreign lands, colonial administrators reorganized subject societies so they would become efficient suppliers of timber, rubber…” (931). The hold of trading and the more raw materials that are valued led to have more control on power over lands, because you have things that other nations want which makes it great for receiving land. Political dominance was a great deal to have, especially to claim land for growing
Towards the close of the nineteenth century and the start of the twentieth century, European imperialist governments in their quest to expand their territories for various reasons aggressively scrambled and invaded the African continent. Initially, the gullible African societies, most of which were decentralized, welcomed the foreigners but after realizing the stakes some mounted resistance (Johnston,43). As expected, the more sophisticated imperialist governments prevailed in most of the colonies and subdued the natives. The effects of the foreign presence were monumental, and it would take more than half a century for these colonies to free themselves from the oppressive rule and become independent governments. Until the late 1800’s,
The gap between the rich and the poor was larger than ever, and homelessness was on the rise as cities became extremely dense and overpopulated. Britain didn’t want this surplus population to go to waste, so the colonization of Africa was a good excuse to export these people so that they could help in taking over Africa. Overall, the reason for Britain’s colonization campaign for Africa was to show superiority to other nations, for natural recourses, and oversight on African trades. It’s clear that they were driven by economic and strategic