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.
Homes and land were transferred to the power of the British and the natives could not do anything about it. The Europeans did not care for the social state of the Africans before acting inhumane, as it was for the sole purpose of taking away africans to use them as miners. In conclusion, to the three driving reasons of imperialism in Africa. Economy, where the Europeans came and took control of what they wanted in ability for them to succeed. Technology, when the Europeans
Relative power and prosperity of Europe increased dramatically during this time in comparison to empires in the longer-established civilization areas but, Europe did not entirely eclipse powerful empires in Southwest Asia, Africa, and East Asia. When the Ming drove the Mongols out,
For one thing, the raging flame of nationalism and the spread of the Industrial Revolution throughout the European Continent forced major European powers such as Germany, France and Britain to vie for more resources to fuel their industrial manufacture and compete for new markets for their factory products. As such, these nations had their eye on Africa as a source of raw materials and as a market for their industrial products. To achieve their objects, the European powers occupied immense areas of Africa during the late 19th and the early 20th centuries, which heralded the era of European imperialism in Africa. During the imperial period, the European nations with strong political, military and economic power muscled their way across the African Continent and shouldered the weak ones aside, completely dominating every aspect of the African people. Strategic motivation also played an essential role in the scramble.
European nations involved in the trading system with the wealthy nations of Asia, Africa and the New World, wanted better and more effective routes of transportations. This urge for territorial acquisitions pushed the governments to acquire new advances in shipbuilding and navigation, hence began the expeditions. The Europeans powers began to strive for control of the New World almost immediately after Christopher Columbus announced the earth earth-shattering of the discovery of the New World in 1492. During the missionary duty the Spanish and
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 reason that iImperialism became so popular was because it was economically quite profitable, which in turn created competition amongst the European countries to colonize the most countries. Without this competition between nations, there would be no driving force for colonization. In other words,“Colonies and spheres of influence abroad became symbols of ‘Great Power’ status for a nation, and their acquisition was a matter of urgency” (882). Note that possessing tTerritories and colonies became a source of pride for the citizens of a nation, thus putting pressure on governments to continue colonial expansion. From this quotation, it can be inferred that the creation of industrial societies gave rise to nationalism and state unity, which eventually lead to the rebirth of imperialism throughout Europe.
Materials were a cause as countries wanted to depend on themselves for raw materials. They didn’t want to depend on other countries so in times of war, they still have access to all of these materials. Since these imperialist powers own country did not hold many of the necessary raw materials for crafting, they went and colonized other countries in different parts of the world so they could use those countries to obtain the necessary materials. Markets were also a cause of imperialism, as western countries were selling products to other non-industrialized regions in Africa, Asia and Latin America. This would cause the western countries to be able to make a profit, and with more money, comes more power.
Following the end of the Industrialist Era and the emergence of countless technological advancements, the United States entered the world stage. The United States was attempting to create an empire by expanding to land outside of its own borders in order to benefit the country’s economic interests. Many citizens, whose views were greatly influenced by their understandings of national identity, saw this overseas expansion in conflicting ways. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, these groups differed in their opinions on the idea of expansion due to either their wanting to remain a democratic country built on the ideals of freedom and liberty to preserve their sense of national identity, or their wanting to expand for economic reasons and nationalism. Imperialism, which is the extension of a country’s power and influence through expansion, began as early as the 17th century, when Britain colonized the New World in order to expand economically and gain natural resources for manufacturing.
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.