The Impact Of European Imperialism

In summary, although the colonized nations of Africa, Asia, and the Middle East gained their independence from their European rulers the effects of imperialism were lasting. The hardships these countries faced still go on today. African countries still remain some of the poorest and unstable in the world, India and Pakistan both face economic problems that are overshadowed by the nuclear crisis due to the hatred of their differences, differences that can be argued were somewhat fueled by Britain. The economic and political hardships faced by the newly independent countries, begs the argument of whether or not they had it worse when they were still being drained of their resources.

In the 1800s the industrial Revolution put European powers far ahead of other nations in terms of technology. This gave the British the advantage and success when imperializing Africa, India and, China. Nationalism played a major role in sending Europeans overseas. Many other motives sent European powers overseas included, the desire to expand economically, political rivalries and military strategy, and humanitarian and religious concerns such as the need to spread Christianity and to civilize the barbaric, this was commonly known as the white man’s burden. Social Darwinism, a theory that Darwin’s “Survival of the Fittest” applied to society; this was advocated in order to justify imperialism.

The economic and political effects were also great, but nothing could measure up to the stark social consequences of Social Darwinism, and how that still affects Western Society today. Imperialism has taken many forms, one of the most heinous being the Social Darwinism occurring in Africa in the late 1700's. Europe's sudden swell of power lead it to invading and exploiting Africa, its people, and its resources. This effect of Imperialism in European Colonies in Africa sent a lasting social message to Western civilizations. While the political and economic effects of this tragedy cast a large shadow, the social repercussions of Social Darwinism are by far the most prominent.

For most of the Africans they change they wanted to see after independence were economic. The problem is the economy that the Europeans left behind. Europeans left Africa in worse shape when it comes to the economy then before they came. The European abused the Africans they tricked them into thinking they were there to help, but that was not the case. They used their resources for their own benefit.

Not only this, but imperialism helped build a strong economy in the mother country because they could invade their colony and strip them of their natural resources in order to produce goods with. In turn, that country could then sell these good to the colony in order to make money. Rudyard Kipling talks about this fierce competition in “The White Man’... ... middle of paper ... ...ike Germany and France also imposed new poll taxes on their colonies in Africa to make up for money they had lost. As a result of the Great Depression in America, countries across the world faced depressions of their own. From 1870-1945, Imperialism, World War I, and the Great Depression had a global impact economically and socially.

- Like the building of empires, the establishment of colonies in foreign lands is a practice dating from the ancient times. - During the second half of the nineteenth century, many Europeans came to believe that imperial expansion and colonial domination were crucial for the survival of their states and societies as well as the health of their personal fortunes. - Entrepreneurs like Rhodes tried to promote overseas expansion because it benefitted them. - Proponents of imperialism also held that colonies would consume manufactured products and provide a haven for immigrants in an age of rapidly increasing European population. - As European states extended their influence overseas, a geopolitical argument for imperialism gained prominence.

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.

With the birth of the colonies in the New World, Europe was hungry for a cheap workforce in order to extract the resources of the new colonies. The Native Americans proved too difficult to use as a workforce and were prone to European illnesses. So consequently the Europeans turned to Africa to provide the resource and thus the transatlantic slave trade was born. Europeans traded guns in exchange for human beings to brought over to the New World to work on plantations. Nations that received these guns used them to attack other nations for slaves to be sold for more weapons and so on.

Motives for British Imperialism in Africa Before the Europeans began the New Imperialism in Africa, very little was known about the inner parts of the continent. However, after some explorers delved deeper into the heart of Africa, the Europeans soon realized how economically important this area was, and how much they could profit from it. At the time, Britain had only small occupations of land in Africa, but after they realized that they could make money from the rich resources from the inner regions of Africa, they wanted to invade the African countries and take over. This led to the scramble and ultimately, the partition of Africa. During the Age of Imperialism, from 1870-1914, Britain was a major country, which proved to be true in the “carving up” and division of Africa.

During the 19th century, European countries were implementing a new form of imperialism on many areas. Through this process these European countries gained a lot of power. Some of the areas that were affected from imperialism form the European countries was Asia especially was China and Japan. Asia was a huge area for imperialism, but both China and Asia were very appealing areas to colonize. Both countries reacted differently towards western imperialism, which would change their fates regarding foreign relations and the future of their nation.