Essay On European Imperialism

859 Words4 Pages

European imperialism rapidly increased in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries due to economic, political, and social forces. Technology from the industrial revolution started and advanced the desire for more control that European nations obtained. Economic forces such as “survival of the fittest”, political forces like powers of the government and wars, and also social forces such as segregation of races all contributed to imperialism. Political factors played the strongest part in spreading and increasing imperialism. In Focus on World History: The Era of the First Global Age and Revolution by Phan Thanh Gian, the french imperialism was explained. “The French have immense warships, filled with soldiers and armed with huge …show more content…

In The Diplomacy of Imperialism by William L. Langer, the depth of the economic force is discussed. The author states “But the economic side . . . must not be allowed to obscure the other factors. Psychologically speaking . . . evolutionary teaching [about the “survival of the fittest] was perhaps most crucial.” In this statement, the Langer is saying that survival of the fittest increased competition for money and in the long run, survival. In Imperialism and World Politics by Parker T. Moon discusses how the makers of cotton and iron goods were very interested in imperialism. Over time, the interest from this small group of people eventually spread to be an interest coming from many different people such as shipowners, makers of uniforms, producers of railway material and telegraph, and bankers, which were considered to be the most powerful business groups. “Banks make loans to colonies and backward countries for building railways and steamship lines . . .”. All of the interest from these industries greatly strengthened the demand of giant industries for colonial raw material. An excerpt written by American Senator A.J. Beveridge in 1898 also talks about the fact that American factories were making more than the American people could use. This surplus of American products led Americans creating trading throughout the world.