19th Century European Imperialism

229 Words1 Pages
Europeans had been colonizing places all over the world ever since Columbus in 1492 but imperialism did not really begin until around 1880s and lasted until WWI in 1914. After the war, Europeans held on to the colonies they had already imperialized, but did not expand more. By the 19th century, Europe together with its colonial possessions occupied more than 80 percent of the globe. It was said that "The sun never sets on the British Empire."
Political strength of European nations resulted in renewed interest in imperialist endeavors. Europe's and economic, political and military domination of the world gave birth to the British notion of the white man's burden. The white man's burden held that the white man had a duty to forcefully spread