...What Was the Driving Force Behind European Imperialism in Africa? During the 19th century, King Leopold II of Belgium compared Africa to a cake. At the Berlin Conference in 1885, seven European nations took slices of Africa for themselves without discussing any details with Africans. From a 21st century perspective, this seems like a selfish thing to have done, so why did Europeans engage in imperialism? Certainly, political factors, cultural causes, and technological advancements were important. But the primary cause was economic. European nations competed to exploit the rich resources of Africa for financial and commercial gain. Much of European imperialism in Africa came as a result of political causes. There were seven different European countries with colonies in Africa (Doc A). This probably created an intense atmosphere of competition. Each of these countries wanted to "keep up" with their neighbors and did not want to be surpassed in riches or glory ... Many in England believed they had to take colonies "or perish." Germany believed it needed to "prove and maintain its newly won position" by taking more colonies (Doc B). National pride created competition among nations that accelerated European movement into Africa. European imperialism in Africa also resulted from cultural causes. One example of this is that at The Berlin Conference, Europeans stated that the "moral and material well being" of the African peoples would be improved by European imperialism (BGE)...
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...From the opening line of the preface, Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs, and Steel is nothing if not an ambitious work: “This book attempts to provide a short history of everybody for the last 13,000 years” (Diamond, 9). This is a bit misleading, however, as Diamond’s motivation is not simply to provide an overview of our species since the dawn of civilization; his aim is to answer the question of “why history unfolded differently on different continents” (Diamond, 9). In the near five-hundred pages of the book, he makes a valiant effort to answer the question in terms of geography (with the adjoining environmental explanations). Indeed, his argument is exceptionally persuasive, and provides strong evidence that Eurasia’s dominance over other parts...
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...The Great War, commonly known as World War I was one of the bloodiest wars in history. Central Powers formed from four different countries: Germany was the strongest, Austria-Hungary, The Ottoman Empire and the Bulgarians who joined later on. These four countries were ruling Europe and expanding their empire. Something had to be done about this and the central powers had to be stopped. Their expansion had a huge impact on France and Britain because they were the strongest countries in the European Union which lead them to fear The Central Powers. So the Allied Powers who fought the Central Powers were formed from France, Great Britain, Russia, Italy and the United States who also joined later on. For many American citizens, U.S entry into...
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...Reasons why Europe Colonized Asia and Africa and not the Other Way Round Student’s Name: Institutional affiliation: Colonization is the governing influence, control or acquiring partial or full political control past another country, occupying it with foreign settlers and manipulating it economically. It also is when a group or society of people migrates from one area to another but keep their original homeland language and culture. Colonialism is establishment and preservation for a lengthy period, of rule over foreign people that are independent from and subordinate to a power ruling. Colonialism takes a variety of forms. There are three basic variations namely; I. Internal colonialism II. External colonization by the neighboring states. III. External colonization This refers to the so called ‘salt and water’ colonization whereby ‘aliens colonized distant places (Keal, 2003). This characterizes Europe’s expansion to America, Africa, Asia and the Pacific. The first wave of European colonization and exploitation started in America in the 15th century until early in the 19th century (Tmh, 2010). It primarily involved the colonization of the Americans by the Europeans. The second extensive phase of European exploratory ventures and colonization was primarily focused on Asia and Africa. It was also known as the era of new imperialism. History of Colonialism in Africa and Asia by the Europeans Between the historical...
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...for the Jewish people.’ * ‘The historic homeland of the Jews was in the land of Israel.’ * ‘Since its establishment, Zionists continue to support it.’ * ‘It encourages the migration of Jews to Israel.’ * ’40% of Jews live in Israel and this % is rising.’ * ‘Zionism wants to strengthen and protect Jews and the State o What problems faced Palestine in 1945 Civil disruption.‘ * Large numbers of Jews wanted to go to Palestine.’ * ‘The US was supporting a state of Israel.’ * ‘Should immigration be allowed?’ * ‘Campaigns of violence by the Irgun.’ Why did Britain decide to hand Palestine over to the United Nations * ‘It did not want to stay.’ * ‘Because of the cost.’ * ‘There was violence.’ * ‘Because of its view of Zionism.’ * ‘The pressure from the Irgun.’ * ‘Because of the guerrilla campaign. Explains why * ‘At the end of the war Britain was under great pressure to change its policy and allow in survivors of the holocaust. They refused and this brought about violent protest.’ * ‘The Irgun deliberately attacked and killed British soldiers including the explosion at the King David Hotel. The violence from the Irgun was intended to persuade the British to leave.’ * ‘Because the Arabs continued to block any proposals regarding partition.’ * ‘The British were finding it too expensive to keep large numbers of troops there, especially having just fought a costly war.’ How far was the war...
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...terrible hardships. In 1520, Ferdinand Magellan set out with three ships to cross the Pacific Ocean from South America. He had guessed, correctly, that the Indies lay on the other side of the Pacific. But Magellan had no idea how vast the ocean really was. He thought his crew would be sailing for a few weeks at most. Instead, the crossing took three months. While the ships were still at sea, the crew ran out of food. One sailor wrote about this terrible time. “We ate biscuit… swarming with worms…. We drank yellow water that had been putrid [rotten] for days... and often we ate sawdust from boards.” Why did explorers brave such dangers? In this reading, you will discover some of the reasons for the Age of Exploration. Then you will learn about the voyages of explorers from Portugal, Spain, and other European countries. You will also learn about the impact of their discoveries on Europe and on the lands they explored. 2 © Teachers’ Curriculum Institute Reasons for the Age of Exploration hy...
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...question was “Why is it that you white people developed so much cargo and brought it to New Guinea, but we black people had little cargo of our own?” (14). One commonly espoused answer is the varying intelligence based on genetics (19). Jared Diamond disputes this by stating that evidence that “human differences in intelligence…parallel human differences in technology is lacking” (19). He also states that, in example, New Guineans who were raised in remote villages and were unschooled may seem stupid to Westerners in large cities. In contrast, when Westerners who visit remote villages in New Guinea seem stupid to the local population (20). The varying definitions and types of intelligent make it unreasonable to compare intelligence of genetically varying people, especially from different environments. Another commonly espoused answer is the differences in climate stimulate human energy and creativity to develop technology. Cold climates encourages one to build a warm home and clothing, while in hotter climates, simpler homes and less clothing(22). Diamond, however, states that, also in example, the people of northern Europe did not create anything important to the Eurasian civilizations until the last couple thousands of years, and simply had the luck to live in an environment that would receive...
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...DBQ: What were the Underlying Causes of World War I? World War I was the first devastating war the world ever saw. From July 28, 1914, to November 11, 1918, over 17 million people died and 20 million more were wounded. The two main alliances that fought each other were called the allied powers and the central powers. The allied powers consisted of France, Great Britain, Russia, and America. While the central power consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Ottoman Empire. Both the allied powers and central powers devoured each other. But, for what cost and why did this happen? There are 4 major reasons why World War I happened. Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism and Nationalism these 4 are the major causes for World War I. First, as Europe advanced their technology and economy because of Industrial revolution; they also increased their military power and the spendings. In the analysis Richard Overy created in 1999, it shows that money spent on Army and Navy from 1890 to 1914 increased greatly. Germany especially had a huge amount of growth when it came to Military.The spendings increased because of the concept people had back then. Like Emile Zola in 1891 said: “We must eat and be eaten so that World may live”. Prince Bernhard von Bulow of Germany also said “In the coming...
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...For some people, having specific geography or a geographical advantage might not seem to be an obvious reason for such elemental differences for nations around the world. Jared Diamond, on the other hand, uses this distinctive explanation to express how and why these nations around the world developed the way they did and what impacts, such as guns, germs and steel, effected them. By beginning his journey at the earliest stages of agriculture, Diamond is able to explain why certain nations and continents thrived and why others perished because of their geographical location. Agriculture can be described as nothing but the earths blessing for those that lived in certain geographical areas that were fertile and significant for agricultural practices. By being so geographically fortuitous, such as people who were around the Fertile Crest, began to master agricultural...
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...Recalling the lecture / discussion on colonialism and Comaroff’s (1989) three models of colonialism in South Africa, explain how European colonialism influenced the present configuration of power and racial relations among nations and peoples in the world. Cite examples when needed. Amid seventeenth and eighteenth century , colonialism was broadly flowed—despite the fact that it goes back to the Romans, Phoenicians , and Greek hundreds of years. In addition, it was just amid the 1900's, while 1960's in South Africa, that era of colonialism finished in Birmingham, in the year of 2010. Numerous Western nations, particularly the Europeans, began colonizing for different reasons, for example, finding a land for agribusiness, natural resources , a space where they can settle, enlargement of their territory and for religious causes. Amid those times, land in Europe was expensive and deficient in quantity compared with the demand, that is the reason numerous Europeans began with a victory to acquire lands that can maintain their whole economy and their whole populace. A concrete example of many colonizing that occurred way back was, when Spaniards came in the Philippines and conquered our country, the reason why Spain needed to colonize the Philippines was on account of the Philippines had a rich and agricultural area which could develop yields required for their nation. As indicated by numerous historians, the Spaniards looked for the 3 G's specifically:...
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...Guns, Germs and Steel Page 1 GUNS, GERMS, AND STEEL: The Fates of Human Societies By Jared Diamond, 1997 About the Author: Jared Diamond is a professor of physiology at UCLA School of Medicine. He is a recipient of a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship and was awarded a 1999 National Medal of Science. He is also the author of The Third Chimpanzee. SUMMARY The book asks and attempts to answer the question, once humankind spread throughout the world, why did different populations in different locations have such different histories? The modern world has been shaped by conquest, epidemics, and genocide, the ingredients of which arose first in Eurasia. The book’s premise is that those ingredients required the development of agriculture. Agriculture also arose first in Eurasia, not because Eurasians were superior in any way to people of other continents, but because of a unique combination of naturally occurring advantages, including more and more suitable wild crops and animals to domesticate, a larger land mass with fewer barriers to the spread of people, crops, and technology, and an east-west axis which meant that climate was similar across the region. The book is well written and contains not only information about the history of cultures around the world, but excellent descriptions of the scientific methodologies used to study them, from how archeologists study the origin of agriculture to how writing evolved to how linguistics can trace the movements of peoples across huge geographic...
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...Nineteenth century Europe began an enormous program of global expansion, establishing colonies in much of Africa and Asia. What domestic factors, old and new, caused this flurry of colonial activity in the period after the 1870s? What is the connection between this new imperialism and Social Darwinism? What can we learn about the process and success of imperialism in Africa and Asia from Conrad’s story? Answer The European colonialism brought different changes to the domestic level in Africa and Asian regions. The period after 1870s brought imperialistic aggression in African and Asian countries alongside the diplomatic pressures, colonial conquest and military invasion especially in the regions of Africa. The domestic people faced the foreign domination and attempt of colonization. During the 1870s the Europeans succeed to under control only 10% of the African region and it was the period when Europe started to grab the African land by the 1914, around 90 percent of the African continent was under control of Europeans (The Creation, 2011). In Africa the Berlin conference played vital role in regulating colonization alongside the trade in the African regions. Similarly in the Asian region in subcontinent, the European Colonialism was established ant later on the imperialism was started in 1857 after the freedom war. The European colonialism gradually extend its control over the political powers that later on let the European regions to take control over the African and Asian...
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...Rebellion. Why was the African people chosen to become slaves? There were plenty of other people they could have picked to become their slaves. But there are some certain principles, for the reason for Africans to become the white’s slaves. Native Americans were able to get for cheap in...
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...factors that contributed to imperialism in Africa? During the late 1800s, a European man named David Livingstone traveled to Africa to promote Christianity and was there for so long, an American newspaper writer Henry Stanley was hired to find David Livingstone as they feared he was dead. During his exposition, he traced the course along the Congo river, and this made King Leopold II of Belgium interested. He then had Henry Stanley help him take over land in the Congo's. Eventually, due to poor treatment of African Americans, the Belgian government took Congo away from King Leopold. When Belgian got control of the Congo's, France wanted land. They eventually got the north bank of the Congo River. Eventually...
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...468) Quiz #2 1. caravel (p. 384) 2. conquistadors (p. 394) 3. Columbian Exchange (p. 431) 4. maritime (p. 402) 5. manumission . (p.467) 6. coerced labor systems (p.475) 7. plantation cash crop (p.470) 8. tariffs (p.469) 9. indigenous (p.393) 10. encomiendas (p. 439) 11. serfs (p.529) 12. mestizo (pp. 442 – 45) Historical Thinking Skills: Periodization, Causation, Contextualization Timeline Exercise: Annotate the timeline with two facts about the important effects of each event Unit 3: 1450–1750 (Early Modern) 1453 Ottomans captured Constantinople; end of Byzantine 1450s Gutenberg’s Printing Press; Portuguese expand trade in West Africa: Benin, Kongo 1483 Babur conquered northern India, and founded the Mughal Empire 1492 Reconquista completed; Columbus claimed Americas for Spain 1498 Vasco da Gama attacked Calicut 1517 Martin Luther posted 95 theses...
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