The Impact Of European Imperialism

Throughout the 19th century, European Imperialism had a major effect on Africa. As countries expanded in terms of wealth, resources, and innovation, more territory and workers were needed. The first solution to solve these problems was to begin colonizing in Africa. The driving force for imperialism in Europe and Africa was mainly economical. This economical approach was established through many ways including cultural and nationalistic ideas.

There are many actions taken by the Europeans of the late 19th and early 20th centuries that, in retrospect, modern people view as abhorrent. Among these practices, and possibly at the top of the list, is European imperialism in Africa. Really beginning in the late 1870s and early 1880s, European imperialists managed to subdue an entire continent of people in less than 40 years. However, before one dismisses these actions as a lapse in human reasoning and morality, he or she must consider the motives and attitudes of the Europeans towards their imperialistic actions in Africa. Though to the modern observer these actions may appear wretched and evil, Europeans of the time did not see them as such. Rather, Europeans had strong economic and political motives for entering these countries, and the attitudes of the time towards the indigenous African people supported European intervention. In fact, until around the time of World War II, attitudes towards imperialism in general were quite positive.

America came slowly into imperialism, during most of the 18th and 19th century 's being occupied by internal matters, such as industrialization, the construction of the railroads, and the settlement of the West. Near the end of the 19th century political and business leaders alike began to look toward the idea of imperialism as a way to advance themselves. They did so by advocating an activist approach to world affairs, emphasizing the supposed benefits to the country’s domestic health (Norton, M.B.,2015.) The idea of imperialism created a need to increase the size of America, both the annexation of the Hawaiian islands and the United States involvement in World War One were a result of this ideology.

If we look at the world we live in today, we notice that it has changed dramatically over the years since the 1800’s. Many historical events from the past have changed the way we live today. It has turned our knowledge and our lifestyle into something so ordinary, that we are not even aware of it. For instance, our education system, since we were kids we were always taught to read the map a certain way so that when we grew up and started to draw and label the map of the world, we always put Europe in the center. Our teachings have taught us to view the world through such a Eurocentric perspective. Furthermore, it is important to understand that our ways of practicing various fundamentals of life regard the historical background we come from. In the past the European powers had an impact on majority of the world. These European powers adopted a policy of Imperialism. Imperialism is an act that takes place when one with greater dominance takes over another nation in order to control its economical, political cultural, industrial and social life. By adopting the policy of Imperialism, most of Europe held dominance over the majority of the world and for that reason the map is drawn that way, in order to show how superior Europe is than other nations, or so it is perceived to be.

The New Imperialism during the 19th century throughout Africa and Asia was an influential prompt to the rise of colonialism and powerful European empires. Consisting of raw materials, markets for European business, and provided resources made the African and Asian colonies extremely ingenious for European empires. However, as the 20th century emerged, imperialism suddenly faded and became a sentiment of the past. Surely even one of the most influential empires at a certain point in time – Britain, gradually came at ease with dropping its imperial rule over some colonies. Likewise, following gory and extensive battles, a parallel approach was taken by France. Nevertheless, the utmost spark to the 20th century decolonization was primarily spurred by Europe’s economic condition, the altercation of superiority thought by Europeans, as well as the worldwide expansion of nationalism.

The sociology of imperialism seeks to define this phenomenon as an atavism in the social structure, in the specific person, in their psychological habits, which thus triggers an emotional reaction. According to Joseph A. Schumpeter - "The word imperialism has been abused as a slogan to the point where it threatens to lose all meaning. For whenever the word imperialism is used, there is always the implication - whether sincere or not - of an aggressiveness" (Conklin & Fletcher, 1999, p. 44). The history behind this word has lead us to view the corruption and destruction it has caused at the hands of people with perhaps to much power. This statement goes with debate because like it or not history in essence; has shown us that nations have pursued war for the sake of winning and expansion for the sake of expansion, we ...

The period of formal Western empires and imperialism involved industrialized countries having complete rule over developing countries and territories. With the decolonization of the remaining colonies in Asia and Africa during the 20th century, the developing countries were given complete independence from Western states. This could not be farther from the truth. The recently freed countries were still influenced by external entities. The third world countries were still under developed western nations control, but more in the form of international monetary institutions and big business than an actual country. Today, most countries in the world, including the some of the more developed nations, are subservient to the will of corporations and banks. While these corporations do not have physical control over nations, they have shown their influence economically, politically, and even culturally.

Imperialism is a process in which an imperial country dominated over a subject state. The imperial nation is able to take over due to advanced industrial economy, strong government, and superior military. Due to a weak or non-existing government and primitive military and economy, the subject states are easy to dominate. Along with their untapped natural resources, these states make an ideal target for the industrial powers. Beginning in the early 19th century, a concept of new...

Throughout the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, almost every country in Africa was imperialized by other countries in Europe. To imperialize is to conquer another country, whether it be in the means of politics, economics and/or culture, and control that land. The aftermath for the imperialized country was either beneficial or harmful. The amount of African countries that a European country imperialized varied. Great Britain imperialized fifteen countries in Africa, including Egypt in 1882, Sierra Leone in 1808, and the Union of South Africa in 1910. Although Great Britain’s reasons to imperialize were selfish, Britain helped each country progress afterwards.

New imperialism was the mid nineteenth and twentieth centuries cultural equivalent to a modern day mafia, its roots entangled in the economic, cultural, and humanistic aspects of life. The sole objective of the nations entailed the exploitation of their controlled state. Gestating from the change in control of Asian and African nations to the Europeans by means of political deviance, malicious sieges, and strategic military attacks. The juxtaposition to the modern equivalent endures as the aforesaid is sheltered by the fairytale that these nations were in need of aid and by doing so the Europeans were the good guys. The ideas of new imperialism are greatly influenced by those of the enlightenment. Taking place during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the enlightenment was an intellectual movement with the goal of social progress (Genova, 1/11). Armed with scientific thought and reason, enlightenment thinkers set out to explore the fields of science, economics, and human nature. Brilliant minds such as Voltaire, Kant and others all across Western Europe collaborated to further knowledge. The enlightenment laid the foundation on which new imperialism sprung, embedding the ideas of an incessant need to explore not only the scientific world but the physical world as well. The enlightenments goals and ideas significantly influenced new imperialism, because the enlightenment created a need for new means and a purpose to accrue them.