The Methods and Causes of Imperialism in Africa

From the mid to late 19th century, the Industrial Revolution brought many changes for European countries as they became advanced compared to the rest of the world. The Industrial Revolution led to progress in the naval and military power of Europe, enabling Europeans to demonstrate their power worldwide through a strong military base. Before imperialism, Africa and China had kingdoms and dynasties, for example, Africa had the Zulu kingdom and China had changed from the Ming dynasty to the Qing dynasty.

Both countries also had customs, native languages, and culture before imperialism by Western powers. Industrialization has led to the growth of urban populations and the need to import more and more food. Europeans began to see colonies as access to raw materials and markets for growing production.

Both Africa and China possessed an amplitude of raw resources that the Western powers lacked and demanded. Africa had been colonized because of the intense competitions between European powers that have led to the use of Africa’s raw resources and China had been exploited for its resources.

While the Berlin Conference transformed Africa into several colonies, eliminating its culture and creating tensions between tribes, unfair treaties were used by European powers in China to establish indirect control. In Africa and China, the aftermath of European imperialism was similar, both leading to the loss of previous kingdoms and dynasties.

MOST SIGNIFICANT CAUSES OF IMPERIALISM

The most significant cause of imperialism in Africa was the competition between European powers involved with Africa because each country wanted to increase their influence by owning more land and territory around the world.

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For instance, there were intensified rivalries among the European states forcing them to engage in imperialistic takeovers out of fear that if they did not, another state might do so, leaving them at a disadvantage. In general, many Europeans had the mindset that “…national status, and political power went hand in hand with the possession of a colonial empire.” Many nations became involved in the pursuit of colonies to gain an advantage over their rivals such as the Dutch who didn’t want anything from Africa but still negotiated for trade routes. Europeans saw Africa’s land as a rich source of raw materials to use in markets that would benefit the European country and demonstrate its wealth. Hence, they became involved with Africa by creating trade routes, establishing markets to sell their goods, and exploiting the people for labor. Much of the land in Africa was valuable as it held strategic value in securing the flow of overseas trade.

Furthermore, the most significant cause of imperialism in China was for Europeans to create a market for their goods in China because the Westerners wanted resources like tea and silk for cheaper. As a result of the Industrial Revolution, the demand for raw materials skyrocketed, making it necessary to exploit goods from other countries. For instance, for the British to improve their profits, they created a market for their goods in China and got tea cheaper by trading closer to its sources in the Yangzi river provinces. As a powerful and thriving country, Britain felt that it was imperative for them to establish markets in China that will benefit them by trading closer to the resources and thus purchasing it for less. This overall helps the British as it benefited them during this time and allowed them to prosper into a wealthy country. Africa was colonized due to the intense competitions among European powers that led to the utilization of Africa’s natural raw resources and China was exploited for its raw resources. These causes for imperialism are similar because they are both economic causes which would then help benefit the European countries’ economy.

Accordingly, it is exemplified in the past how pressured countries were looking to secure markets for themselves to profit before their rivals could. To compare in China, many spheres of influence from Europe controlled territories in order to gain access to raw materials and trading ports. This is also an economic cause that is significant during European imperialism. In the end, this demonstrates that the Western powers only imperialized these countries so that they could utilize them to benefit themselves and progress economically. These similarities are important because they highlight the dependency of European powers on the resources of other countries so that they can dominate the world market and technologically advance. Historians would want to know about these differences so that they could see how the European powers established control directly and indirectly and still profit from their superiority.

 MOST SIGNIFICANT METHODS OF IMPERIALISM

The most significant method of imperialism in Africa was the Berlin Conference because it regulated European colonization, trade in Africa, and the conference sparked a period of heightened colonial activity by European powers. This was a significant method of imperialism since it split Africa into many colonies, thus shaping their borders and their previous culture and tribes. It was important because the boundaries created by the European powers during the Berlin Conference created areas of “…peoples with different cultures, traditions, origin, and languages.” The conference sealed Africa’s fate by creating tensions among the existing African tribes since they carved Africa up into colonies without regarding how the African ethnic groups were distributed. To add on, the most significant method of imperialism in China were the unfair treaties that allowed the indirect takeover of China with different spheres of influence from Europe because this allowed the Western powers to gain more control, access, and power over the Chinese. Some examples of this in China is when Germany seized Jiaozhou in Shandong, Britain acquired Weihaiwei, and France taking Guangzhou bay. China did not want to interact with the Western countries, as it followed a policy of isolationism. As a result of the Western powers in China, they were able to control the people and gain access to their raw materials and products.

This was significant because the Westerners were able to seize control over several areas of China, gaining special trading rights and thus putting the Europeans at an advantage. While the Berlin Conference shaped Africa into several colonies, removed their culture and created tensions between tribes, in China there were unfair treaties used by European powers to establish indirect control. These two methods used by the Europeans were different because the method used in Africa created social effects while the method used in China created economic effects. For instance, in Africa there were many social changes that occurred as a result of dividing Africa into sections, interfering with tribes. However, in China, the unequal treaties resulted in economic benefits for the Europeans only. It indicates how in the past, many countries viewed Europe as dominant while the rest were inferior, as Europe was advanced compared to the rest. A historian would want to learn about these differences because it led to the elimination of past cultures and modernization while also exploiting them of their own resources. The social and economic changes after imperialism in both China and Africa allows a historian to see the transformations that came about due to colonization.

MOST SIGNIFICANT EFFECTS OF IMPERIALISM

The most significant effect of imperialism in Africa was the loss of African sovereignty because colonialism deprived Africans of their rights to control their own destiny when the British took over the Zulu kingdom. The Zulu land consisted of diamond and gold which the British would force people into labor once the kingdom fell. This is the most significant effect of imperialism because the British success in the Anglo-Zulu war resulted in the loss of supreme power by the Africans. The fall of a kingdom was the beginning to the immense tensions that arose as well as the loss of culture. Furthermore, the most significant effect of imperialism in China was the fall of the Qing dynasty because the absolute monarch held by the Manchus for hundreds of years was lost due to imperialism. This is significant because the western powers and the ongoing presence of foreign military powers intimidated the Chinese for many years. Several years of humiliation and defeat as a result of European and Japanese dominance laid out the end of the Qing dynasty.

This is important since the “…Western powers had slowly eroded Chinese sovereignty and undermined Qing dynasty and power.” The imperialist powers destroyed the way of life in China because they drove the Qing Dynasty to its end, forcing them to eliminate generations of culture. The aftermath of European imperialism in both Africa and China were similar in the way that both led to the loss of previous kingdoms and dynasties. The fall of the Qing dynasty that was in place for hundreds of years and held an absolute monarchy which was common for most of China’s history was completely gone. The Chinese and Africans had their pasts destroyed, becoming solely dependent on European powers preventing them from progressing as a country during this period. A historian would want to know about this similarity because of these Western powers constantly colonizing lands and forcing modernization, these countries lost their meaning and value. These similarities are imperative to understand because the elimination of both country’s sovereignty led them to not being able to develop and make proper choices or become an independent country.

Africa was colonized because of the intense competition between European powers that led to the use of African raw resources and the exploitation of China for its resources. While the Berlin Conference transformed Africa into several colonies, eliminating its culture and creating tensions between tribes, Europe’s powers in China used unfair treaties to establish indirect controls. The consequences of European imperialism in Africa and China were similar, leading to the loss of previous kingdoms and dynasties. As a result of imperialism, it can be said that it brought out many positive and negative effects, but overall has proved to show the transformations it brought out for countries like Africa and China. Indisputably, the increasing number of European countries that took part of imperialism during this century, has left a long lasting legacy in the modern world. China is one of the many countries that has the fastest growing economies today, while some of the countries in Africa were the poorest in the world when they received independence from European imperial control. Imperialism was the root of the shift in technological advancements and progress in most countries while also leaving some countries with a major disadvantage to this day.