What causes led to the rise of imperialism?

The Industrial Revolution of the 1800’s created a need for natural resources to fuel newly invented machinery and transportation. Resources like coal, iron, and rubber were in high demand. Some nations did not have enough raw materials to support their industrialization and looked to other lands to find them.

Expanding outside of its borders also allowed a country to enter foreign markets for the purpose of selling industrial goods. Traditional industries became displaced as manufacturing and markets moved to foreign countries. One such company, the British East India Company, became highly profitable by obtaining natural resources in India and selling goods in markets throughout the world.

Imperialism was also influenced by nationalism, a sense of pride in one’s country. People were proud of their growing countries and their accomplishments. A famous saying from that time was, “the sun never sets on the British Empire”, meaning that the British empire was so vast that there was always a territory that had sun shining on it. This created a sense of competition among European countries to show off their power and prestige around the world. This competition ignited already heated tensions between European countries and conflicts began to spread.

Imperialism is not only political and economic, but also cultural. When European powers took over foreign lands, they felt superior to the natives. They looked down on indigenous civilizations and felt that they needed to bring western culture and “civilize” and educate the “savage” population. This was often called the “White Man’s Burden”.

Religion was an important part of imperialism as well. Christian missionaries looked to convert native people to Christianity and also called for an end to slave trade in hopes Africa so it could become part of western civilization.

Of course, this imperialism had a devastating impact on millions of people across the globe. Innocent people across Asia and Africa in particular endured untold suffering at the hands of invading European powers. They often fought back as you will see in the coming sections. 

In the 19th century imperialism was an important part of building European empires. The four major motives for imperialism are economic, strategic, religious and political. These motives helped great empires expand their territory and brought new cultures and languages to both the colonised countries and the countries colonising them. European countries such as Britain and France would use their colonies in Africa for economic gain. They would be able to exploit the country’s natural resources and bring them back to the “mother country” to sell and use. The natural resources would be able to be changed through factories and businesses that the African countries did not have. The colonies also provided people for labour. These people were paid in very low wages or would be taken as slaves for the new Europeans who moved to these colonies. New markets for goods were also now…show more content…
This increase in empire brought much pride to Europeans and increased nationalism. The European people saw the increase in colonisation as a good thing and it gave them a reason to feel superior to the countries with fewer colonies to their own. This then encouraged rival nations to join in the race for colonisation to compete with the other nations. The nations with the most colonies were considered to be superior and therefore brought European countries to fight for colonies more to win the hearts of their people and of the people from other countries. Because of the pride and nationalism that this brought, political parties would use the promise of colonisation to win votes during elections. There were many reasons and causes of imperialism however these four were by far the most influential of all. Imperialism increased trade, created strategic advantages, spread Christianity and education and increased nationalism. Imperialism was one of the major reasons for great Empires such as Great

The term imperialism implies the extension of the dominion of one country over others. The country that conquers is the metropolis and the conquered territories are the colonies. This practice, which dates back to antiquity and acquired great relevance between the 15th and 18th centuries, reached its peak during the last third of the 19th century and the first years of the 20th century. If in previous centuries the countries with colonial empires were Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom, France and Holland, in the 19th century the British Empire became the main protagonist, extending its dominance over 20% of the earth’s surface and about a quarter of the world’s population.

Imperialism: causes

The imperialist powers conquered or annexed most of the world. While in 1800 35% of the earth’s land depended on Europe and the United States, in 1914 this percentage was 84%. It could be said that Europe was the master of the world. How was arrive to this situation? The causes are diverse.

Economic causes

In part, imperialism was a consequence of the Industrial Revolution. Faced with the increase in production and wealth, the colonies became profitable markets for the metropolises where they could sell their production without having to pay customs fees. They were also spaces where they could invest their capital, through the construction of public works, such as railways and ports. In addition, the metropolises colonized those territories rich in natural resources, which offered cheap raw materials for their industries.

Demographic causes

In western countries the population grew intensely in the 19th century. Millions of Europeans migrated to the colonies seeking new opportunities. This lessened the problems of unemployment and social unrest in the metropolises. Improvements in transportation (steamships, rail) made travel easier.

Religious causes

Imperialism was justified in many cases by the desire to Christianize peoples who preserved their own religions. The missionary work of the Catholic and Protestant Church was of great importance: missions were founded in Asia, Africa and Oceania.

Political causes

The powers conquered certain places that were strategic to control important sea and land routes. For example, the United Kingdom considered it essential to dominate Egypt to control the routes between Europe and India. Territorial expansion also served to increase the prestige of a country in the world and strengthen national pride among its population.

Ideological causes

The feeling of superiority of the white race and the ideal of civilizing peoples that they considered backward also drove colonial expansion. In the West, during the 19th century, racist ideologies were very powerful. Westerners were convinced that the white race was superior and that this gave them the right to dominate other peoples, whom they believed inferior.

Scientific causes

Scientific curiosity also contributed to the momentum of conquests. In the United Kingdom, France, the United States and Germany geographic societies were created that carried out scientific expeditions around the planet. Once a territory had been explored, the country that had organized the expedition had the right to conquer and exploit it.

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Imperialism: consequences

Economic exploitation

The metropolises exploited the natural resources of the colonies for their own benefit. An economy based on plantation agriculture and the exploitation of the mineral wealth of its subsoil (gold, diamonds, coal …) was imposed. The native populations were dispossessed of their lands by private companies from the metropolis, which created large plantations of coffee, tea and rubber.

The metropolises had no interest in developing the industry of the colonies and the local artisans did not resist the competition of European industrial products, so they were impoverished. The indigenous people were converted into cheap labor that worked on the plantations and in the mines in conditions similar to slavery.

The colonizers built transport infrastructures, such as ports and railways, to carry out their activities, but these did not benefit all the colonies, which remained poorly communicated with each other.

The social and cultural effects

The introduction of Western sanitary practices made it possible to reduce the mortality of indigenous populations. However, the birth rate remained high, which caused a notable increase in the population, which resulted in frequent famines.

Colonization caused the breakdown of traditional society. The colonizers occupied the highest levels of colonial society: they controlled the economy and held high positions. The indigenous people, considered inferior, were marginalized: they were forced to live in separate neighborhoods, they were prohibited from entering certain places, etc. In some regions, like Australia and New Zealand, they were even systematically exterminated.

The diffusion of Western ways of life in the colonies originated a deep crisis of autochthonous cultures, giving rise to a phenomenon of acculturation, that is, of loss of one’s own culture due to the imposition of another. Indigenous elites studied at European universities and became Westernized.

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