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The Imperialistic Conquest Of Africa

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To what extent was ethnocentrism and racism the greatest motivation for western European nations embarking on an imperialistic conquest of the African continent between the late 1800’s and 1914?

“Power mixed with cunningness creates poison cocktail. While power with cleverness makes a perfect pilot whale.” (Stephen Thompson, Ph.D., n.d.). In the imperialistic conquest of Africa this quote proved accurate. The Western Europeans gain power over Africans, however the way they controlled their power, with inhumane, racist and selfish actions mean’t the colonies were bound to failure. In the conquest for colonies racism and ethnocentrism played a role in how the Europeans went about with their Imperialistic conquest, however it wasn’t the original …show more content…

In the article “Does Germany Need Colonies?” by Friedrich Fabri, it explains the motivations Germany have for going to get colonies. It explains how Germany is superior to everyone else, “Should not the German nation, so seaworthy, so industrially and commercially minded, more than other peoples geared to agricultural colonization” (Friedrich Fabri, 1879). It further mentions how it with be beneficial to the nation and its spirit, “Our national spirit will be renewed, a gratifying thing, a great asset. … At the same time, this is the only way to stability and to the growth of national welfare, the necessary foundation for a lasting expansion of power.” (Friedrich Fabri, 1879). He also states the economical benefit, “Colonies will have a salutary effect on our economic situation as well as on our entire national progress.” (Friedrich Fabri, 1879). From the quotes, it is clear the Friedrich believes that Germany will receive economical and nationalistic benefits for the country. He believes that by gain colonies an already superior country will gain the belief of it’s people again and will help grow the country both economically and the power it has. In the whole article it mentions nothing that is or can be viewed as racist, this shows that the true intention was not of a racist motivation but an economically and nationalistic motivation. Since the true, …show more content…

Those intentions were economical and nationalistic gain which were the greatest motivations for the Western Europeans in their imperialistic conquest of Africa. The fact that the “racist” actions were used in a similar fashion on different races and religions, an insight into the original motivations for the Western Europeans and the way the racism way used as a gateway for other motivations all help to show that racism was present but it wasn’t the greatest motivation, economics and nationalism where the true greatest motivations for the Western Europeans in the conquest for colonies in Africa. Overall, history is quite challenging to accurately analyse and know how the people truly thought and felt because people nowadays weren’t actually there which means they have to rely on information that may be unrealistic or biased. This means that although it makes logical sense and evidence suggests that economics and nationalism were the greatest motivations, the Europeans at the time may have thought

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Within the 1800’s European Explorers forced their way through the insides of western and central Africa. Along the west coast of Africa, European nations traded for slaves, ivory, and gold. Africa was under full assault by the 1800s, as European nations competed with one another for control of the continent. Europe wanted to imperialism (take over) Africa and the forces (what they did) that helped them succeed is the new technology, Nationalism, and lastly the most important industrialism.     Europeans invented many different things in order to help them take control of Africa.

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The main reason the Europeans imperialized Africa were their cultural and social beliefs in ethnocentrism. They believed “[the natives] needed European help, reform, or civilization” (Document K). The Europeans considered the Africans savages

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According to the overview, “between 1500 and 1800, European nations traded for slaves, gold, and ivory along the west coast of Africa, but they did not go deeply into the continent.” In 1884, fourteen countries met in Berlin to discuss the division of Africa to prevent war from breaking out.. This meeting would come to be known as the Berlin Conference led by Ottoman Bismarck. Up until 1885, they stated that if a leader wanted to control a certain part of Africa, then they must prove that they have control over that area and that was it. This was the beginning of European imperialism in Africa.

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