Analyze The Reasons For The Expansion Of European Imperialism

653 Words3 Pages

Expansion by the European countries was found necessary for many reasons. The Ottoman Empire was encroaching on land and population growth was pressuring Europe to find ways to expand their empire. Europe was overcrowded, had dwindling resources, a lack of farm land, and the human desire to explore beyond their current borders. Many people had the desire to migrate due to religious persecution and rumors of gold. The developments in shipbuilding and navigation allowed for Europe to be more successful in sailing across the oceans. In addition, it was necessary to find new trade routes through Asia as the Ottoman Empire had domination over the old trade routes. Along the trade routes the European nation gained influence with the islands and land masses. Also, the expansion would allow the military to gain strategic naval bases overseas as fueling stations for traveling ships. After the industrial revolution, there was a need for additional raw materials and excess goods were available for markets. Humanitarians wished to bring a message of their beliefs to oversea colonies and humanitarians had a desire to share their lifestyle with people around the world. It …show more content…

The new imperialism was a renewed interest in overseas land and this led to the “Scramble for Africa” and indeed most of Africa would be colonized. A rise in industry was the cause of competition between countries for colonization overseas and colonies would be a source of raw materials for industry at home. Britian decided it had to be in the lead in the race for conquests. For Europe the colonies would provide a market for finished goods, but as Britain would find out, the colonial people could not afford British goods. However, goods from the colonies would provide a market at home. Although the rise in industry caused competition between countries clammoring for overseas