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Causes Of Imperialism

Decent Essays

Imperialism Essay

Growing up, many children play the board game “Battleship,” where a player’s main goal is to conquer his opponent’s ships and, eventually, land. Similarly, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the nation of Europe and other countries took over and influenced countries that they believed were inferior to them. This process, known as imperialism, is defined as “a policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force” (google.com). Clearly, both children in military board games and Europe in the real world used imperialism when they seized lesser countries like Africa and the Philippines. However, there were many different factors that caused countries to be …show more content…

Clearly, making money was important to European nations, so that is how the economy influenced imperialism during this time period. The economy was not the only force responsible for imperialism in Europe; another very important cause was the political aspect that related to government affairs. According to Raymond Aron, imperialism was caused by “political ambitions… the nations’ will to power… [or] glory or national greatness.” This means that Europe used imperialism because they wanted to be the most powerful force in the world and have glory over everyone else. Specifically, this political power was apparent in the French military because they had the strongest weapons, warships, soldiers, and cannons (Gian, Phantom Thanh). Therefore, they were easily able to take over other any desired country and go wherever they wanted without resistance. Furthermore, another political cause of imperialism was that many nations wanted to gain land and natural resources by taking over lesser countries. One of these unfortunate countries was Africa, as shown in a 1914 map. In it, Africa was divided into numerous territories that were ruled by seven total countries: Britain, France, Belgium, Germany, Portugal, Italy, and Spain (African Map in 1914). Only one territory was independent and not conquered yet, which really shows how imperialism spread all across Europe in this time period

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