I. General causes
A. Commercial gain
1. Industrial Revolution - the need for
a. raw materials- european countries relied heavily of these materials from asia, americas and africa. Raw materials were crucial for industrialization to grow. As industrialization grew, resource competition rose resulting in some european industrialists to push colonization of africa in order to secure resource availability
b. markets- with the surplus of goods from european manufacturers, the european people could not keep up with consumption. So, these industrialists were forced to expand their product range with the use of markets. Like raw materials at one point, competition arose with markets and once again industrialists pushed colonization of africa to secure
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Strategic and political reasons- Britain, france, and germany were in political twists trying to defend their dominance, but with no room left for expansion in europe they saw to africa for further control. France had lost land to germany and was going to gain land from africa to supplement the lost territories. Britain looked toward egypt and control of the Suez Canal. Germany was late to the overseas colonization game but was proud of their worth.
C. Medical advancements- roughly 1 in 10 european sailors who traveled to africa died due to malaria and yellow fever. However, in 1817, two french scientists, Pierre-Joseph Pelletier and Joseph Bienaimé Caventou, discovered that quinine extracted from cinchona tree proved to be a viable and effective solution to malaria
D. Exploration- european expeditions were very continuous with barely a year between them. The African Association, created by wealthy men who wanted to find the city of Timbuktu, triggered this exploration boom. After a while, venturing out of curiosity diminished and travelers started keeping record of markets, good, and resources for their wealthy contributors.
E. Development in transport- steamboats and iron hulled boats allowed ease of passage along with formidable protection. The steamboats could navigate non-tidal sections of the river and allowed inland access. It was also heavily armed.
F. Moral
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Specific causes
A. Britain- Wanted to make sure France and Germany did not get their hands on the recently discovered gold, diamonds, and other resources. So they secured as much of East Africa as quickly as they could. They seeked great commercial gain from Africa by building a telegraph line and railway system from Cairo to the Cape (north to south) (this would ultimately reinforce Britain’s commercial gain)
B. France- More active in the west and north-west whereas the British were centralized in the East. After establishing coastal region control in Senegal and Algeria, they sought raw materials like palm oil and timber, and markets new to them. They believed that developing an overseas empire was critical in enhancing their wealth as a county.
C. Belgium- King Leopold II wanted to have his country have its own spot on the map. He was going to do this by taking the Congo Basin as his own. He was going to make a colony that was quite larger than Belgium and fund all of this himself.
D. Portugal- Stretched its claims forward to Angola and Mozambique in efforts not to fall and be left behind in the territorial expansion
The main reason for European imperialism in Africa was for political reasons. According to Document A, the purpose of the colonization of African countries was for political competition between European countries (Doc. A). The partition of Africa in 1884 through 1885 showed that France and Britain were the biggest winners in seizing Africa. The British took most of north and south Africa, when the French took most of western Africa. According to Document B, John Ruskin said,” This is what England must either do or
Resources,they carry a country financially.A big driving force for imperialism at the time was resources,and Africa just so happened to have an abundance of them.Ranging from diamonds to slave labour ,Africa was a gold mine in the eyes of the Europeans.Proof of this is the
During the late 1800’s, Europe was looking for a way to improve themselves as a whole. With growing population and a steady decline in available work, something new had to be done. Countries looked towards Africa to serve as new colonies for the Europeans in order to better their own countries. During the European acquisition of African colonies in the period 1880 to 1914 Europe’s attitude towards Africa was that Africa was the inferior race in comparison to the Europeans. With the help of a strong feeling of nationalism, Europeans were motivated to acquire new lands in order to improve their motherland’s
There were many reasons for the European countries to be competing against each other to gain colonies in Africa. One of the main reasons may be that Europeans believed that the
The imperatives of capitalist industrialization, including the call for guaranteed sources of raw materials, especially copper, cotton, rubber, tea, and tin (European consumers had become accustomed to, and thus depended on these resources), and the search for guaranteed markets and profitable investment outlets, which territories like the gold and diamond-rich Egypt and South Africa provided, caused the European conquest for Africa. Therefore the primary reason for European colonization in Africa was
Prior to the 19th century imperialism of both Africa and Asia, revolutions and changes of territories led the Europeans to colonize these continents. The industrial revolution was a major impact to new imperialism. This revolution raised Europe’s economy and forced them to find new opportunities to sell the goods they have produced. Also, the change and loss of territories around the world meant a decline of power for Europe, and yet another reason to imperialize. The 19th century imperialism of Africa and Asia was caused by the industrial revolution because of goods, resources, and new markets in their countries. The industrial revolution also influenced imperialism based on the military and technological advances, such as the invention of
Between the period from 1880 to 1914, European powers went after overseas empires in Africa. The governments and political leaders of the European powers believed that this colonization of the African empires was necessary to maintain their global influence. A second group of people supposed that African colonization was the result of the greedy Capitalists who \only cared for new resources and markets. The third group of people claimed it to be their job to enlighten and educate the uncivilized people of Africa. Although the political leaders of European powers encouraged colonization of African empires to advance their nation’s global influence, others argued that it was only for the profiteering of the Capitalists who sought new
To further evaluate Europe and Africa one could look at the economic consequences of European colonialism in Africa. There are several consequences to this subject. The two that seem the most important was the transformation of individual colonies into export-oriented
The economic motives that were responsible for the new imperialism was the desire for raw materials such as coal, iron, and cooper. Asia and Africa were a main target to get these materials from and trade to. According to Imperialism and World Politics, the makers of cotton, iron, telegraphs and railways were strengthened by the higher demand of industries for raw materials (Document 1). Another economic force that was necessary for the new imperialism was expansion, according to American Senator A. J. Beveridge, the Americans surplus of goods brought on the idea of the expansion of the market, and therefore, expansion was necessary to keep up with the high demand (Document 2). According to the map provided in document 9, Africa was an easy target by strong countries such as Great Britain because of the fact that Africa had many raw materials. The main motive behind political forces was the fact that European nations were involved in rivalries and were competing for power. The political reasons that were responsible for the new imperialism were the strategies. According to The Century of Total War, the true cause for imperialism was political
The European powers that were in much need for resources during the 1500s through 1800s were Great Britain, France and Germany. During 1500 and 1800 Africa seemed like an impossible feat to conquer because of malaria but this wouldn’t stop the persistence of the leaders of France and Great Britain. The idea of exploring and conquering new land meant more to these leaders because of the motivation to keep their national security strong and keep their economy stronger. These countries would use their remaining resources to look for more disposable ones so that their empires could grow considerably. Great Britain would be dug in the
In the early 1880’s, the powers of Europe started to take control of regions in Africa and set up colonies there. In the beginning, colonization caused the Africans little harm, but before long, the Europeans started to take complete control of wherever they went. The Europeans used their advanced knowledge and technology to easily maneuver through the vast African landscape and used advanced weapons to take control of the African people and their land. The countries that claimed the most land and had the most significant effect on Africa were France, England, Belgium, and Germany. There were many reasons for the European countries to be competing against each other to gain colonies in Africa. One of the main reasons was that the
After the Europeans began to colonize Africa, they saw great results rather quickly. European influence had caused the opening of many lumber, mining,and planting corporations, as well as
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
The abundance of resources, especially salt, gold, and slaves in Africa, especially after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, was too much for Europe to ignore. Most European countries, Italy
Before the Europeans began the New Imperialism in Africa, very little was known about the inner parts of the continent. However, after some explorers delved deeper into the heart of Africa, the Europeans soon realized how economically important this area was, and how much they could profit from it. At the time, Britain had only small occupations of land in Africa, but after they realized that they could make money from the rich resources from the inner regions of Africa, they wanted to invade the African countries and take over. This led to the scramble and ultimately, the partition of Africa. During the Age of Imperialism, from 1870-1914, Britain was a major country, which proved to be true in