There were many factors that contributed to imperialism in Africa. Imperialism is when a nation plans to dominate or take over another but in political, economic, or social ways. The Europeans’ were trying to dominate Africa and there were many factors that played a role in this. One of the major advantages that the Europeans’ had was their technological advancements. They were usually the first people to acquire new items that were more advanced. One of these items was the Maxim gun. It was the worlds first automatic machine gun and it was created in 1884. As the Europeans’ got ahold of this new weapon, the Africans’ were forced to use the outdated weapons. The steam engine was another advancement that the Europeans’ had. It allowed them to travel on the rivers in order to create bases of control in Africa. They did this because they wanted to take control over their empire. Steam engines weren't the only thing helping people communicate with close nations. Railroads, cables, and steamships all allowed the nations to talk with each other. There was a major problem as time went on. Malaria started to take over Africa. Malaria is a disease that is carried by swarms of mosquitoes. The problem kept the Europeans’ on the coast and prevented them from going too deep into Africa. Of course there was another factor that allowed them to travel into Africa. That was the perfection of the drug quinine in 1824. The factors in Africa made it easier for the Europeans’ to colonize it. Africa had such a diverse community that it made it hard for them to unite. All the different languages and cultures were the problem. The Europeans’ learned to play rivals groups against each other for their benefit. These ethnic groups fought wars which were caused by control over land, water, and trade rights. Since the groups already disliked each other then why not create more tension between them in order to help yourself? That's exactly what the Europeans’ did and it was a very good idea. These were just a couple of factors that played a role to imperialism in Africa. Africans weren't buying a lot of the Europeans goods. The Europeans’ were trying to find a way that they could divide Africa without causing a war between each other.
Africa was an essential for Europe to gain power in economics and trading position and land. It was a great leap in the civilized world as said by Beaulieu “This area of the world [Africa] needs civilized people to intervene.”(Document S). The Imperialism of Africa was a success in the eyes of Europe, them walking away with the goods of the new land, but was a step back for the people in Africa them entering a cycle of slavery and unjust rule as talk about in Document
Between the 1870’s and the 1900’s as African societies put up various forms of resistance against the attempt to colonize their countries and impose foreign domination, European imperialist aggression, diplomatic pressures, military invasions, and eventual conquest and colonization. By the early twentieth century, except for Ethiopia and Liberia, most of Africa, had been colonized by European powers. In the nineteenth century, following its abolition and suppression, the collapse of the profitable slave trade, and the expansion of the European capitalist Industrial Revolution, along with the motivation of economic, social, and political success, the European imperialists moved into Africa. The laws of capitalist industrialization-including
European countries such as Britain and France, which they owned most of the African land, they had the most power during this period of time but Germany was a rising power during this period of time. During 1500 to 1800 Europeans used Africa for its resources, for example the Europeans gathered gold and ivory, which was very important at that time. One of the big questions in this article is “how did European countries cooperate with each other?” this is a good question because they shared most of the land with each other. The three main reasons why this was unfair was because first of all European countries took over native lands without permission and second of all they took all their valuable resources and last but not least they destroyed their homes and forced them to work.
European nations traded for slaves, gold, and ivory along the west coast of Africa for the 300 years between 1500 and 1800. The European nations wanted to express their superiority because they felt that their countries were the best. According to Wikipedia, “Imperialism is taking a country's pride, their culture, or capturing their land.” That is exactly what the European nations did to Africa. The reasons behind European imperialism in Africa are nationalism, cultural reasons, and economic reasons.
Beginning in 1881 and subsiding in 1914, Africa underwent an invasion of European power known as Imperialism. While african territory was being occupied, divided, and colonized by larger countries, the driving force behind European Imperialism in Africa became rather transparent. The sizable countries sought after power and resourceful profit in which they looked to the smaller African colonies to provide. Two of the biggest winners in the race to seize these colonies were Britain and France, they desired a gain in technological advancements, exported African resources, and economic growth.
The colonization of Africa by the Europeans led to to years of hardship and discrimination. European countries fought each other for more land and demolished both relationships and cultures. Although Europe can be credited for “modernizing” Africa, bringing roads, transportation, and communications, the destruction they brought with them far outweighed the good.
If you want to profit from Africa, your first need to colonize it. That's what John Ruskin wanted when he said in one of his lectures at Oxford University, “a source of light, a center of peace”. Ruskin was trying to say that England needs to colonize as fast and as much as possible. Profit was the biggest reason for colonizing
Before the 19th century, Europeans knew very little about the interior of Africa. Between 1500 and 1800, European presence in Africa was mostly about buying and selling slaves from local chiefs. With the end of slavery, European interests in the continent shifted to imperialism and seizing colonies. The driving force behind imperialism in Africa will have to due to the fact of nationalism, cultural reasons and resources and economics which helped formed colonialism.
One of main causes of European imperialism in Africa was because Europeans wanted power, including Germany and Great Britain. According to John Ruskin,” Seizing every piece of fruitful waste ground she can set her foot on, and there teaching these her colonists … that their first aim is to be to advance the power of England by land and by sea “( Ruskin ,265) . European countries wanted all this power to compete with other countries to show they were wealthier and more powerful than them. Since Africa had a lot of resources, European countries wanted to take them and make money of it.
The race for expansion was the particular driving force for the scramble of South East Asia and Africa. The motivation or theme when imperializing a country would be for its size, quantity raw/natural materials, and the native people basically Social Darwinism. These two countries both contained the abundance and natural materials needed by the colonizers. The view on how the same country affected each country was completely two different outcomes and results.
A main reason for the cause of the Imperialism in Africa was Nationalism. Nationalism is having pride in one's nation. The Europeans had this great competition for power. By controlling different parts of Africa, they gained more power. Europe wanted everyone to see how powerful they were
Between 1870 and 1914, European countries ceased about ninety percent of Africa. Native Africans faced political, military, and imperialism pressure from various European countries. After the end of the profitable slave trade in Africa, due to abolishing of slavery, Europeans explored for new guaranteed markets, and heavily profitable investments. In addition, European countries were under industrialization, the demand for raw materials heavily increased. Europeans as well faced power struggles with one another and competition for political influence in Africa. European power struggle ultimately lead to the “Scramble for Africa.” Europeans undertook the process of imperialism in Africa in the late 19th century by exercising political, economic, and military power on their African colonies. Some African leaders and societies welcomed Europeans in hopes to protect and develop their native land. Some African leaders and societies responded to European occupation by gathering resistance groups in attempt to fight off foreign imperialists.
There are various reasons behind imperialism in Africa. Economics, National Competition, and Cultural Superiority are the main ones. European countries often thought that their culture or ways of living was better than the Africans; therefore they just had to take over.
The European people and nations have conquered the Earth many times with continents such as Asia and Africa. There came a time when after slavery there was some need to imperialize in the world. So then the Europeans found a huge landmass called Africa and wanted to imperialize it. The main driving forces of the sudden European imperialism in Africa would be natural resources, land/power, and trade access. The European imperialism would be a collaborated effort between the countries of France, England, and many other countries.
Colonialism is the general road-map or the experience of getting full or not complete, in part control over another country, taking up (time, space) it with settlers and making use of it by money and goods. Colonialism in Africa started between the 1870s and 1900 as Africa faced imperialist's Aggression , diplomatic forces to do, military taking by force, in the end Conquest and process of making countries come under the control of another, in addition process of making countries come under the control of another in Africa can be separated into 2 stages, namely the Greek and Latin days long past and European process of making countries come under the control of another, but in pleasing to all parlance the discussions of colonialism in Africa