The Rise of Colonialism in Africa Between 1870 and 1900, Europe set out to colonize Africa for their raw materials. Africa was up against invasions of Europe's military and diplomatic pressures. This did not happen without a fight, and Africans were not happy about this attempt to be colonized. With the exception of Ethiopia and Liveria, Africa had been colonized by Europe by the early twentieth century. Europe wanted to set up and colonize in Africa, mainly because of Africa's raw materials it was purely economic.
Fundamental factors like the growing powers all the governments, a new thrust and desire for foreign goods- especially Asian goods, and a desire to spread the Christian religion drew the Europeans to the exploration, conquest and settlement of the New World. The key players in exploration of the New World all became more powerful. The Portuguese set up trading posts along the coast of Africa which allowed money to flow through the country, giving them more power. The marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile unified the kingdom of Spain, which increased its power. This increase in power made many countries and governments hungry for more power and would do anything to find it.
This need is commonly satisfied through the expansion of power, and in this case, Imperialism. Another common idea throughout history has been that because one nation is more civilized or successful than another, they seem to have the right to champion their ways throughout the world by taking over less powerful nations. The justification for this in Heart of Darkness, as said by Kurtz in his report to the International Society for the suppression of Savage Customs, is that “’by the simple exercise of our will we can exert a power for good practically unbounded’” (Conrad 92). These initial motives brought Europe into Africa, though both ideas set a scene for prejudice and suppression as Europe came to exert their power and obtain
Meaning these now obsolete slaves were being subject to have to watch European countries take over their lands and began industrializing on african soil because of how rich in materials the African land is. This was also seen in India, when the British took control of the Indian Company, and the British’ habits began to get to the indians to the point of which they eventually revolted (as seen in Document
To what extend was the colonisation and decolonisation of Britain’s Africa driven by individuals within Africa? Before the 1870’s Africa was largely unknown to the outside world but, in the 1880’s the scramble of Africa began, where European counties, especially Britain all wanted to colonise Africa. Was the whole reason for British colonising Africa economically or strategically driven or was it led by individuals in Africa (men on the spot) or was it more of a top down process led by the government in Britain? And even though Britain fought so hard to control large parts of Africa it is clear that after World II Britain’s empire was declining especially after India gain independence in 1947. However, the British did try to revive their African empire in the late 40’s and early 50’s but their sudden fall into a steep imperial decline with the Suez crises saw individuals like Macmillan to acknowledge that decolonisation was the only way forward, as it would be more beneficial for Britain to decolonise than to resist the rise of nationalism.
Analyze the causes and effects of the Boer War The turn-of-the-century Boer War (1880–1881) also known as the South African War was fought between the British and the Boer people in an unequal power struggle in South Africa. The war came as a result of British restrictions which had been placed on the Northern expansion of the Boers in an effort to placate the native African population, who were at this time resisting any European expansion. The Boers resisted and defied British rule and continued their Northern expansion, and the power struggle evolved and progressed until serious hostilities erupted. Some of the concepts we have to define before answering the question are analyze, causes and results. Analyze means to examine methodically and in detail the constitution or structure of (something, esp.
Imperialism: The Scramble for Africa (1880-1900) was a period of rapid colonization of the African continent by European powers. But it wouldn't have happened except for the particular economic, social, and military evolution Europe was going through. In the end Britain and France had the most colonies and Germany lost out so it was also a major contributor to tension in Europe. Nationalism: Triple Entente, an informal alliance among Great Britain, France, and Russia in the period before World War I. It opposed the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy.
The countries involved in the ‘Scramble for Africa’ were Britain, France, Portugal, Spain, Belgium, Germany and Italy. A key economic feature of colonialism was producing and exporting raw materials either agricultural or mineral, precious metals such as gold, silver and copper. Tropical products for luxury consumption such as coffee, sugar, spices, timber and fabrics like cotton. Later when Britain, France and Germany were competing against each other for colonies in Africa in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the international market had changed rapidly with a huge demand for raw materials for manufacturing such as jute, cotton, rubber and sisal (Bernstein, 1992:48). Mass consumption demand such as tea, sugar and vegetable oils (Bernstein, 1992:48).
After witnessing two thriving centers of capitalism, Nkrumah returned home with hopes of turning his homeland around. One thing that was occurring in Africa and not the United States was a process known as “balkanization”. The United States were strong because they realized that even a confederacy was not adequate to maintain a successful capitalist state. Africa was continually being exploited due to the many isolated governments that could be swayed by powerful foreign investors. One of the examples Nkrumah used was cocoa production.
These and many other questions still remain to be subject of concern to scholars. Colonization of Africa by European countries was a monumental significant in the development of Africa. The Africans took into account the impact of colonization on them to be perhaps the most important factor in understanding the present condition of the African continent and of the African people. Therefore, a close scrutiny of the phenomenon of colonialism is necessary to understand the degree to which it influenced not only the economic and political development of Africa but also the African people’s perception of themselves. This dissertation focuses on the reaction to colonialism from 1900 to 1964 in Northern Rhodesia.