Reasons For Imperialism

There were two main motivators for the Europeans to establish their empires. The first reason was that the Europeans believed that they had the superior culture and had to save the rest of the world from their own insolence. Another more practical reason for imperialism was that the Europeans want to have their country as the most powerful country in the world. The poem that best described the European sanctimoniousness of their culture is the poem Carry the White man’s burden by Rudyard Kipling. This poem gave the Europeans a justification for establishing colonies and plundering them at the expense of the natives. The lines, “Watch sloth and heathen folly bring all your hopes to naught”, gave the Europeans the best justification, because
Usually it was more grave than not just having the latest technology, usually if you couldn’t compete your country became a colony. In an age when nationalism was rampant, it just unacceptable for your country not to be the top. This desire of people to have their country at the top gave way to the European countries colonizing most of Africa and Asia. The Industrial revolution gave the Europeans the means to conquer Africa as the Europeans were able to survive tropical diseases such as Malaria, easier non-horse based transportation and new weapons to have a technological edge over the fierce native warriors. The industrial revolution also helped the Europeans conquer Asia as the industrial revolution made it possible for the Europeans to rival and surpass the classical super powers India and China. While the Industrial revolution gave the Europeans the means to conquer Africa and Asia, it also gave them a reason to look beyond Europe for new conquests. Africa and Asia were rich in natural resources such as coal, oil, etc. that were necessary for Europe to grow their industrializing economies. With the upsurge of nationalism, Europeans made extensive conquests in hope of making their country have the largest and wealthiest