Belgium Imperialism

Between the years 1881 and 1914, African territory was being invaded by Europeans during the New Imperialism period. Before Europe’s invasion, Africa consisted of various tribes and had no central government due to this during the mid nineteenth century. Europe attempted to colonize Africa using harsh military force and resulted in the European Scramble for Africa. The European Scramble for Africa caused African leaders to have different reactions such as some wanting to have no conflicts, but peace, surrendering to the Europeans due to fear, and also attempting to fight back against the Europeans.

In order to achieve his dream, King Leopold II wanted to be sure that no other country got in his way. Belgium was a small country and Leopold knew that his country posed no threat to others. If he started to conquer the Congo, other

Due to the clear and present danger of the Belgian people living in the Congo, the Belgian government felt that they had to intervene. Soldiers from Belgium were back on the ground in the Congo to bring stability to the situation. This was a horrific sight to most of the Congolese people as

Siam was a small country that was slightly smaller than france. It was never colonized during the Age of Imperialism and instead managed to stay independent. It was the only Southeast Asian state to avoid European colonial rule. Siam, now modern day Thailand, was located at the center of the Indochina peninsula in Southeast Asia. To the north was Burma, which was ruled by Britain, and to the east was Cochinchina and Cambodia, which were annexed by France. With these two superpowers and their mutually competitive imperial projects closing in around Siam, it was a very dangerous time period for them. They had to remain vigilant against the two countries or else be annexed by either one.

For centuries, European nations had been trading slaves, gold, ivory, and more with the west coast of Africa. Throughout the early 1800s, Europeans barely knew anything about the rest of the country of Africa. This quickly changed as Europe grew a sudden interest in exploring the rest of the country and taking advantage of their many valuable resources. Many wonder what motivated Europeans to Imperialize Africa, or extend their country’s power throughout Africa. The driving forces behind European Imperialism in Africa were the strive for ultimate power in Africa between competing countries, the need for money and technological advancements in European civilizations, and the constant attempt for Europeans to spread their cultures throughout

What were some of the political, economic, social, intellectual, and military factors that explained the sudden increase in the pace and importance of European imperialism in the late 19c? The essential impetus was the Industrial Revolution which led to a search for (and control of) sources of raw materials and captive markets to sell manufactured goods, and become a world power with the most colonies and most money.

During the 1800s, many European countries sent explorers to colonize Africa. Many European missionaries and explorers went to Africa in an effort to help their countries to achieve power, pride, and money. The main driving forces behind the imperialism that helped Europeans attain power, pride, and money were technological forces, politics, and economics.

The Spanish war gave the United States an empire. At the end of the Spanish war the United States took Spanish colonies such as Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and many other islands. The creation of the American Empire leads to the end of the Spanish Empire. The United States wanted to build up the countries so that markets would open up and purchase American goods and to improve the American economy.

Many white Europeans believed that they lived in a civilized nation with the right religion and culture and had a duty to influence the less developed non-whites by taking care of the inferior civilizations; this is known as the white man’s burden. According to Prince Leopold, the heir to the throne of Belgium, “[L]et us see where there are unoccupied lands...to prove to the world that Belgians also are an imperial people capable of dominating and enlightening others.” He states that Belgium wants to imperialize in order to “dominate and enlighten others” with the others being the “uncivilized” cultural groups as stated in the white man’s burden. Even though it is not explicitly said, it can be inferred that a major motivation for Belgium was

Imperialism is the policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries, or of acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies. In 1870, the European powers took over the African Congo and enslaved the natives. Moreover, they were forced to work the land, so the Europeans could obtain the products they needed by using a cheap labor force to turn around and sell them at a profit. These products included such commodities as rubber, diamonds and coffee (A New World Order: Imperialism and World War I). Unfortunately, the people of the Congo were beaten, over worked, raped, and even killed by the European powers if they did not do their job correctly or if they refused to do their task entirely. Eventually,

The Europeans all scrambled to colonize Africa for t’s raw materials and land. THey had justified it as the White Man’s burden. They believed that is was their responsibility as a more developed race to help Africa catch up in technology, government, economics etc. Rhodes even said, “-and that the more of the world we inhabit, the better it is for the human race.” (Doc, 1) With this mindset, Europeans colonized Africa and started to export raw materials such as rubber, diamonds, gold, palm oil etc. White man’s burden led to Imperialism because they thought taking over other countries was the only to help them move forward. In doing so, they also spread their power and influence throughout the world. The White man's burden was also accompanied

Jules Ferry was a French politician who served two times as a Prime Minister during the Third Republic. Third Republic was the name of the French government for nearly 69 years from 1871 to 1940. Jules Ferry was known as the passionate imperialist. During his time as the Prime Minister, occupied Tunisia, some parts of Indochina and he also started exploring certain parts of Africa. In his speech, Ferry is urging the French Parliament to expand the borders in order to increase the economic and political as well as the military power of France as other countries began to export more goods than France. Therefore if they had more colonies they set up more so that they could send more of their goods out of the country. Jules Ferry believed that France should push its politics onto less developed countries with the goal of increasing revenue and becoming economically powerful. What made it urgent for France to have colonies are the recent events in the world trade in order to broaden their own trade lines. In the text Ferry states,

Legally, a country has full rights to the natural resources present within its borders. However, this right has not always been respected by other countries in the past; and in some cases, the present. Many nations have had their resources taken away forcibly, either by colonialists or plundering invaders. This often leads to the pauperization of the general populace and the fall of the nation’s economy. The Kingdom of Belgium (hereinafter Belgium) itself has suffered in such a way when Belgium was invaded by the Prussian Empire. Belgium’s natural resources were stripped and its populace humiliated.

The Belgian independence was recognized in 1931 by the Treaty of London. Treaty in which the major powers recognize the existence of our country. Belgium exists only through the agreement of these powers.

Many European countries had seen this and instead of siding with Germany (except Italy) had worked together to defend Belgium. Later in the war, the United Stated joined in not only to take down Japan, but to as well defend Belgium. If the US or any other nation stepped in to help Belgium we could have