Analyze the reasons and motivations for, and the strengths and weaknesses of imperialism.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answers will vary. Historians give many different reasons for imperialism's spread at this time, including economic improvement, political and demographic factors, national rivalries, a desire to spread Christianity, and the idea that Europeans (and North Americans) had a moral responsibility to spread their culture and technology around the world. While materials procured from tropical regions were certainly useful for furthering the growth of industry, this was really only beneficial in certain areas like England and Germany, which were more reliant on machine technology. Germany, however, spent more to sustain its colonies than it ever made from the sale of goods produced using raw materials from their African colonies. Hence, political rivalry is also seen as motivation; competition for territories in Africa and Asia became a measuring stick for the success and viability of an empire and were to be obtained as a trophy. The partitioning of Africa is a prime example, with England and France looking at each other with suspicion over occupations in the northern states of Africa. Competition motivated Italy and Germany to colonize, not because they wanted the fruits of labor from these territories but because they feared being perceived as second-rate nations if they didn't have colonial territories. The spread of religion and culture was also a motivation for imperialism: it was seen as a moral obligation to civilize the non-Western worlds and bring Christianity and European culture to these regions. Examples on opposite ends of the spectrum, in this case, include Henry Livingstone as a missionary and explorer versus Cecil Rhodes as an imperialist and exploiter of natural resources.