"What Was The Driving Force Behind European Imperialism In Africa?"
Imagine if the Europeans came into America today and tried to take over. You would probably be very scared, and also wondering; why the heck do they want to take over America? Well that’s what the Africans felt like when the Europeans came in and took over Africa. In the 1800's Africa was under control by the Europeans! But each part of Europe wanted to be in control of their own power! Once European leaders became aware that Africa was jam packed with valuable natural recourses. They realized that the struggle for these recourses could result in war. So Germany held a conference (that is today known as the Berlin Conference)with most of the European leaders to discuss
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The Europeans wanted a lot of land so that they would seem more powerful. At the Berlin conference each nation was willing to do whatever they could, to gain the most land they could.
Because with lots of land it meant lots of pride, and power, and who doesn’t want pride and power? In document A, it shows were each nation decided to take over. The Spanish only settled on the coast. The French mostly settled in Northern part of Africa, and so on. In document B it says; "their first aim is to advance the power of England by land and by sea." Which means if they want power they have to colonize not only land but also sea. They have to take over whatever they can. But it's not only the land itself, but what comes on the land. Which ties into my next bullet.
Another driving force behind imperialism in Africa was; natural resources. Without land there would be no natural resources. So they needed lots of land. But without the natural resources they would never have taken the land in the first place. During the 1800's the Industrial Revolution was taking place. The Industrial Revolution was a period of major industrialization. (Document D)They had just created some of the world first machines and needed an abundance of natural resources to put in the machines. Just because they were living in the Industrial Revolution doesn’t mean all they cared about was natural resources and machinery. They cared about
The main reason the Europeans imperialized Africa were their cultural and social beliefs in ethnocentrism. They believed “[the natives] needed European help, reform, or civilization” (Document K). The Europeans considered the Africans savages
European countries tried to civilize Africa and succeeded in their movement on trying to imperialize them but only lead the Europeans to making a profit and nothing for the African workers. The only independent African states were Ethiopia and Liberia, the rest was ruled over strong European nations, like Britain and France. European nations ruled over Africa from the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s, King Leopold was one of the most notorious rulers over the African estates, Leopold ruled over the Congo free state and was considered to be one of the richest near his death. What motivated European nations to imperializing Africa were, money, resources, and nationalism.
During the 15th century, the world was caught in the age of exploration. After Columbus, everyone realized that there were still undiscovered land masses that held numerous resources and extreme profit. Due to the fact that the Americas were occupied by Spain and Portugal, much of Europe turned its eyes to Africa. Consequently, Africa was a huge land mass that was just waiting to be explored, especially since Portugal hadn’t gone beyond the outer edge. The reasons for European imperialism in Africa were due to the want for more resources to boost the economy, the advantage of better technology, and a need to establish a position of power.
One of the many reasons was that Europeans began to believe that the more territory they obtained control for their colonies, the more power one could obtain it would become more solid it would become seen by the others. Other reasons for the Europeans to desire control over African land included that many of the natural resources could only be found within Africa, examples such as diamonds, gold, and as time moved on, rubber. Providing new markets to surrounding places so that manufactured goods could be sold for larger profit. Europeans had many motivations for imperializing Africa. The main motivations were more than likely shielded, as they tried presenting themselves as philanthropist, within reality they were making Africa a horrible place to live with brutal treatment of the natives as well as multiple physical and emotional tolls for the people of
This question is still being asked and there are many opinions about this specific question, but there is one answer. The driving force behind European imperialism in Africa is resources. Africa provided resources that the European countries desperately needed. You see, there was competition in Africa among the European countries, technology development increased, and power gain. These reasons may sound complicated, but it’s actually quite simple each reason
Although the driving force behind European Imperialism in Africa was trading slaves, gold, and ivory through the west coast of Africa and was under full assault as European nations competed for control. The Europeans also agreed to certain principles regarding colonization that which included free trade, elimination of slavery, respect for each others territorial claims, and improving the moral and material well-being of
Europe takes advantage of Africa. The main driving forces behind European Imperialism consisted of three fundamental factors which included Political, Technological, and Economic. The way these three components are involved in the driving force because they all helped shape and push everything together to make more efficient. The first component that helped take over land or “European Imperialism” was Technological power.
African Imperialism begins first with the major European powers scrambling for resources within the mostly unexplored continent in the 1870s. This, however, eventually evolved into conflicts between European powers and a conference held by Chancellor Otto von Bismarck in Berlin in 1884 (Edgar, Civilizations Past & Present, vol. 2, 738). This conference resulted in the colonization of Africa to happen at an increasingly faster rate than what was seen in other parts of the world. This resulted in drastic changes for both the continent of Africa as well as the people. European rule over Africa brought change to all parts of African’s life’s and country, including the political, social, economic, and religious aspects.
Document A presents a map showing that European countries held African colonies. For example, in 1914, Europeans held eight colonies in Africa. Europeans holding colonies showed they were competing for their resources. It presents that many other countries were hungry for other colonies and wanted their resources. Document D shows a chart of African colonies and their exports.
Following the Industrial Revolution was an age known as the age of imperialism. The Age of Imperialism is defined as the time period in which all the European nations decided to colonize Africa. There was only one question that seems to come up again and again. What was the motive for colonizing Africa? Although there are many different reasons that the European nations decided to move in on Africa, there are only a few that stand out over the others.
The authors choice to control some of Africas colonies clearly shows a commitment to form a better Germany based on the intention of trying to eliminate Germany's financial crisis. Someone also hopeful of Africa bringing better advancements for their country was Joseph Chamberlain, a British industrialist. (doc 3) Chamberlain spoke of the situation as a hope for a better tomorrow. The British population would rise and rise again until as a nation they would begin to starve.
During the 19th century many European explorers began exploring the interior of Africa. As a result many European countries wanted to colonize Africa. There were many reasons for Europeans wanting to imperialize Africa. Some of the driving forces behind European imperialism were economic, nationalism and White Man’s burden.
According to the overview, “between 1500 and 1800, European nations traded for slaves, gold, and ivory along the west coast of Africa, but they did not go deeply into the continent.” In 1884, fourteen countries met in Berlin to discuss the division of Africa to prevent war from breaking out.. This meeting would come to be known as the Berlin Conference led by Ottoman Bismarck. Up until 1885, they stated that if a leader wanted to control a certain part of Africa, then they must prove that they have control over that area and that was it. This was the beginning of European imperialism in Africa.
What became known as “The Scramble for Africa” began with the Berlin Conference of 1884 and 1885, when the continent was partitioned among several European powers into several colonies. One of those countries represented at the Berlin Conference was Belgium. At this time, Belgium had already explored the Congo basin and sent missionaries there, so delegates repressing King Leopold II at the conference unsurprisingly lobbied to preside over the region, which soon turned into a reality. Unlike other European nations that occupied African territory, though, Belgium did not immediately annex the Congo. Instead, the King made the region his own personal plantation under the name the Congo Free State.
In the 19th century imperialism was an important part of building European empires. The four major motives for imperialism are economic, strategic, religious and political. These motives helped great empires expand their territory and brought new cultures and languages to both the colonised countries and the countries colonising them. European countries such as Britain and France would use their colonies in Africa for economic gain. They would be able to exploit the country’s natural resources and bring them back to the “mother country” to sell and use.