Great Britain sought control of Egypt to safeguard the route to their flourishing empire in India. Russia also sought strategic land in the Balkans to gain access to the Mediterranean Sea. Nations (China, Africa) that were targets of this Imperialistic game suffered heavily. Cultures were destroyed, and civilization destroyed. Some may say it was a “necessary evil”, because Imperialistic powers took control of their lands, which brought about many achievements, both industrial and economical, and modernized the areas they took control of.
Furthermore, for many centuries, European nations had been building empires, slowly extending their economic and political control over various peoples of the world and practicing imperialism. Colonies supplied the European imperial powers with raw materials and provided markets for manufactured goods. As Germany industrialized, it competed with France and Britain in the contest for colonies. In continuation, because each nation wanted stronger armed forces than those of any potential enemy, the imperial powers followed a policy of militarism—the development of armed forces and their use as a tool of diplomacy. Empires were expensive to build and to defend, and the growth of nationalism and imperialism led to increased military spending.
Around the early 1600’s, the race between the European nations for industrial and commercial revolution brought about a dramatic impact on Canadian soil. New settlement was established by the French close to St.Lawrance river, influenced by the trans-Atlantic trade that seemed to be more profitable because of high fur prices in Europe. However the introduction of military, religious and political policies played a big role towards growth and development of the colony, New France. To begin with, the French crown was keener to consolidate his power and the control of the majority of the fur trade in North America given the fact that fur and beaver trade had high returns of profit because of the high demand in the fashion market. Just like any other colonial emperor, the French established alliance with Huron native tribe who were considered to be the strongest tribe amongst Natives tribes.
As time went on, the Spanish had so much money that inflation began to occur. There was not enough available supply of goods and services in demand for the rising prices and currency was happening. The Spanish French, and Dutch all began to explore more of North America to compete with each other for wealth, control over territory, resources, and domination of trade with the Indians as well as the Indians themselves as allies or slaves. The constraints on which the choices of colonists placed on administrative policies were due to corruption. As layers of bureaucracy developed over the centuries, so did the inefficiency and corruption within government operations.
The Renaissance was a time of great intellectual change and achievement. Beginning in Florence, this cultural movement later spread throughout Europe. The Renaissance profoundly affected European beliefs; it was one of the most significant periods of growth and progress in Western Europe and has been described by Wilde as “ending the medieval era and heralding the start of the modern age.” A number of factors contributed to the conditions which enabled the Renaissance to take place and must be considered in any broad analysis of causes. At the time the growth of the economy and trade enabled ideas to spread throughout Europe. Additionally the reintroduction of classical works encouraged the search for forgotten knowledge, whilst the creation of the printing press enabled works to be mass produced and allowed knowledge to spread effectively.
Revolutionary Protestant Changes During the Times of Martin Luther Imagine experiencing the constant feeling of being taken advantage of by a more powerful force. Imagine what it has felt like to not have a say or movement in the areas surrounding you. Everyday life in the majority of Europe became submerged in these feelings because of the Roman Catholic Church which during the 1500s had an over extensive amount of power. The Roman Catholic Church had not only immense religious authority because it remained as the main religion of Europe, but in addition had a vast political influence in Europe. Its political power mainly came from the excessive expanse of wealth and economic success.
The need to raise, transport, and supply the large armies led to a flourishing of trade throughout Europe. Many roads had been largely unused since the days of Rome, but the Crusades increased the traffic of merchans significantly as they began to expand their horizons. This was a direct result from not only the Crusades preparing Europe for travel, but also the want to travel after being reacquanted with the Middle East. These new trade routes brought many foreign products that were previously unidentified or extremely rare and expensive, such as a variety of spices, ivory, jade, diamonds, glass manufacturing techniques, early forms of gun powder, oranges, and apples. This need also brought up the need to maintain control of the Black Sea,
The society of industrialism that was developing meant that countries needed newer and larger selling markets. Germany had entered the race for colonies late and only acquired small parts of Africa; this led to bad feeling as they did not want to fall behind in their rivalry with France and Britain. This Imperialism and the rivalries it caused would later become a major factor in the outbreak of the war. With these rivalries growing many countries became suspicious of those around them and many
Age of Exploration – The European Colonization of the World The 16th century presented a huge social and economic change in Europe and even the world with the start of European exploration. Explorers from European nations such as Portugal and Spain changed the way the Europe worked at the time and shaped the world into what it is today. Many factors lead to this time period becoming the Age of exploration. The state of financial success and economic stability in the western nations put them at an advantage to explore compared to other nations. The merchant class created a connection and trade route to other areas which gave way to financial gain in those areas.
Their accomplishments became known to other Europeans who were intrigued by the stories of the Vikings’ discovery of the New World. Between 1000 and 1650, developments in Europe provided the incentive for exploration and colonization of America. The most powerful influence for exploration was trade. Due to political and religious changes, the overland trade routes to the East were dominated by the merchants who limited their use. As a result, a search for new trade routes to the East became necessary.