Imperialism In The Nineteenth Century

Imperialism is the notion of empire building by extending a country’s power through negotiation and military force. Some common motivations for starting imperialism is aimed at receiving territory, obtaining natural resources, conquering the enemies, gaining wealth, and receiving glory. Since the fifteenth-century imperialism has been a previous theme in history but imperialism reached a peak in the nineteenth century with the rise of Europe. Europe began to dominate the world, especially in the Western Hemisphere, with the aid of centralized governments, industrialized economies, and supremacy over the seas. Nineteenth-century imperialism was far different than in previous centuries. European nations would assert their power by intimidating
Nationalism is an urging for a shared identity based on culture, race, or ethnic origin. Nationalism can be defined as a drive for national unification or independence. . Therefore, the ultimate duty of people of a nation is military service to defend the nation. Although, in the nineteenth century, nationalism created more competition between nations because nations felt they needed to overpower another nation. Nationalism, like imperialism, justified Europeans were superior to non-European people. Thus nationalism and imperialism pertained to racist ideas, these two concepts perceived that white Europeans were more superior to non-white Europeans. Rudyard Kipling expressed racism in his poem “The White Man’s Burden” by presenting a point of view centered on Europe’s view of the world. This view proposed that white people subsequently have an obligation to rule over and encourage people of different ethnic backgrounds to adopt Western customs. During European imperialism, the white man’s burden was an explanation for expansion and annexation. The first and second line in the poem, “Take up the White Man's burden / Send forth the best ye breed”, along with the rest of the stanza, explained an overall mindset that the Europeans placed their race above all others and associated their “breed” with the “best”. The Europeans associated any other culture besides the white men as a threat to society. “To veil the threat of terror / And check the show of pride” (Kipling,