Causes of 19th century colonialism

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The last third of the 19th century was the time for the Second Industrial Revolution that generated a largest economy in European countries. This made progress in the techniques and materials related to the war, something that, together with the need to obtain more resources, made them have to look for it outside Europe. In this lesson from a TEACHER we will talk about causes of 19th century colonialism that had its repercussion in countries of Asia and Africa which were subjected in a short time to the designs of the European powers.

Index

1. Causes of the colonization of Africa and Asia
2. The economy, one of the causes of colonialism
3. Political factors
4. Ideological causes of colonization
5. Other prominent causes of colonialism

The colonization It meant for the European countries the obtaining of a series of lands that they could exploit economically, in addition to exercising their political dominion over them.

One of the main drawbacks that were seen from the beginning of the colonization were the borders that the different countries had to respect after the Berlin agreement, a meeting that served in order to divide the territories of Africa and Asia between the various European powers.

This, without a doubt, would be one of the triggers of the Great War, since the countries did not give in their ambition to own more and more lands on which to exercise their political right, in addition to being able to exploit new lands with resources, especially miners, who on the African continent were so important.

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Continuing with our lesson on causes of colonialism in the 19th century We must stop at the most important ones, such as the situation of the economy.

We have to take into account that the Industrial Revolution had caused new machines to be created that consumed a series of raw materials that were already in short supply in Europe. For this reason, the powers decided to exploit to the maximum those areas where the underdeveloped countries did not use these materials.

In the same way, gold was the one that continued to command the global economy, so obtaining more precious metal from African virgin mines was an incentive to occupy these areas. Mercantilism has always been in search for new items to trade with and in these countries we will find great raw materials that in Europe were sold at a high price, in addition to having a place where to sell the surpluses of European production (since they forced the colonies to buy the merchandise national).

And last but not least, being able to count on cheap laborWe can say almost a slave, it was something that the industries and companies of the different nations came up with like a glove.

Another very important element that gave a lot reputation to the governments of the time it was ruling over various territories, something that made the people of the nations feel proud of belonging to them for controlling large territorial masses.

An example can be found in France, which had lost a war against Prussia shortly before obtaining the colonies. This fact made the French population unhappy with their government, but after the annexation of various colonial territories, the attitude of the French towards their government changed dramatically.

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A very important factor is that they defended nationalisms, which in many cases defended racial superiority over other peoples. Those in the lower echelon had to be subjugated to a major power.

In the same way these nationalisms spoke of the need to civilize the peoples that existed in the African and Asian continents, therefore, a series of education programs were imposed on these "inferior" nations.

That is why racism began to grow in Europe and in this way any ethnic group that was different from that belonging to the white man was inferior and therefore had to obey.

In this other lesson from a TEACHER we will discover the causes and consequences of the discovery of America.

And to finish with the causes of 19th century colonialism We will now have to talk about two factors that were also important in the appearance of this movement: demographic and scientific aspects.

Demographics

The high birth rate of the 19th century led to a great surplus population in many of the European countries, something that produced a series of social tensions for survival.

The possibility of emigrating to other territories belonging to the nation opened the way to being able to eliminate that series of tensions, in addition to allowing the living conditions of the emigrants.

The science

But not all the causes that we will find will be so bad, this time we will talk about the scientists and adventurers who came to these territories looking for learn more about the land. For this reason we will find a great work in the exploration and mapping of territory.

In the same way, many adventurous doctors who spent much of their lives in these lands, were learning from the shamans and magicians of the different tribes, about the uses of various herbs to treat diseases, something that helped advance medicine.

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