Imperialism and its Negative Impacts in the 19th and 20th Century

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As the age of exploration began, European dominant powers stumbled upon great regions across our globe ranging from Africa to Asia. At first, the continents offered phenomenal trading posts along the coastlines, but eventually European empires realized the exotic territories had much more potential. These great foreign lands represented a feeding source of incredible possibilities that could fuel the great industrial revolution that ignited across Europe during the 1800’s. European powers quickly began to crave precious resources that helped propel the newfound industries to new heights. Unfortunately for the European empires, most of these rare resources did not exist in their homeland. This resulted in the creation of distant colonies operated by the ‘Mother Land’ European empires. The sole purpose of the colonies was to secure the resources necessary to continue running the new economic powers. In addition to securing resources, the colonies were designed to be effective trade posts to boost economic standings, spread European religions, and of course be an outlet for Nationalism. Many consider colonies as a symbol of national pride and a way to establish a sense of power abroad while simultaneously protecting national interests. The European powers sought after the establishment of colonies to secure resources, particularly cotton, iron, copper, and rubber (Andrew Clemming, Effects of The European Imperialism In Africa). Industrialized nations pressured economic integration upon developing regions, like many African, Asian, and Indian regions in the 1800’s, and then quickly extracted as much value as possible from the developing nations. These resources that were extracted was the tinder that helped spark and continual... ... middle of paper ... ...tion." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, 24 Feb. 2002. Web. 01 Dec. 2013. N/A. "Imperialism." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, 11 Jan. 2001. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. Parenti, Michael. "Imperialism 101." Imperialism 101. Political Archive, 12 Mar. 2005. Web. 29 Nov. 2013. Perry, Dave. "WESTERN IMPERIALISM." WESTERN IMPERIALISM. Gulf Coast Education, 9 July 2008. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. Rawski, Evelyn S. "Chapter 21/The Weakening of China." World Civilizations: Sources, Images and Interpretations. By Susan Naquin. 4th ed. Vol. 2. New York [etc.: McGraw-Hill, 2006. 136-37. Print. Smyth, Frank. "Belgium's True Rule in Rwanda." The Australian [Sydney] 6 Oct. 1994: 67-68. Print. Snyder, Louis L. "Chapter 22/Imperialism and New Global Entanglements, 1880-1914." World Civilizations: Sources, Images and Interpretations. 4th ed. Vol. 2. New York [etc.: McGraw-Hill, 2006. 141-42. Print.

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