Factors That Led To European Imperialism

The leaders of the major industrial powers which were Britain, France and Germany were all wanting to acquire more land for their colonies because they needed more territory. Soon after many small industrial powers such as Spain, Holland, Portugal, Italy, Japan and the USA also wanted to be in the run for more land.This essay will be discussing four factors that led to imperialisation - Religious, Political, Strategic and Economic Many Europeans believed that the African people were of an inferior and uncivilized nature. To most of the Europeans imperialism was a struggle against their belief system which was Christianity. Christian Missionary Societies forced their government to colonize and build the right facilities for the religious and educational upliftment of the local inhabitants. According to pseudo-science at the time, Europe's economic and political strength was proof of the superiority of the European race. This statement was used as a justification for imperialism as Europeans believed it was their duty to bring civilization to the uncivilized colonies. The Europeans had a desire to spread Christianity, to protect European missionaries in other lands, to spread European values and

Christian missionaries have participated in imperialist domination of the Native Americans and Asians, in the past, by imposing cultural changes on native populations in the name of religion. They have succeeded in removing their cultural identities. The technological disparity between the new world and the old world allowed for the west to gain a distinct psychological advantage over the new world. Most of the European missionaries during the colonial era were Catholic. That was partly because two Catholic countries, Spain and Portugal, took the lead in exploration. Later, France also sent Catholic missionaries