Motivations And Justifications For European Imperialism In China

Introduction Once the systems created by the Industrial Revolution began to stabilize, Europeans started to look to other continents for resources as theirs had depleted. African and Asian nations had their own systems and an abundance of resources which Europeans saw as motivation to invade the continents. Local militaries and populations in the areas targeted by Europeans resisted but eventually fell victim to more advanced weaponry such as machine guns that Europeans now possessed. This resulted in devastating political and economic consequences in Asia and Africa and large shifts in local cultures that have lasted until present day.

Motivations and Justifications for European Imperialism The rise of industrialization led to a boom in

Chinese leaders felt as though Europe did not have much to offer them, they had all they needed within the borders of China. They also wanted to minimize foreign influence in China after the past Mongol takeover. To overcome this lack of resources from China and gain more of a control over Chinese trade, Britain deliberately introduced opium to the Chinese people which quickly created a population of people dependent on opium and weakened the government, economy and military. By the 1820s and 1830s opium became used by millions of people. This increased Britain's profits and gave them an advantage over China’s

Like Africa, the Indian subcontinent was also raided of much of its wealth and resources under British rule and during the events leading up to its independence from Europe. It was also a subcontinent divided by the Partition of India and Pakistan later which some fault alluded to British rulers dividing up the subcontinent very hastily right before giving them their long awaited independence. Today, India is another great exporter with its main focus in exporting things such as minerals and oil but also being one of the biggest exporters for rice which is a food popular on a global