European Colonization During the Nineteenth Century
Summary:
Explains the motives behind European expansion during the 18th and 19th centuries. Discusses how colonization gave western Europe an economic boost. Analyzes other reasons behind the quest for new colonies.
Motivation for Expansion
During the nineteenth century, the Industrial Revolution gave certain countries in Western Europe a big boost of economic power. France, Britain, Italy, and Germany emerged as industrialized powers, with high population and high production. During a time when Social Darwinism was popular, it was only natural that these nations compete with each other for survival. The most important motivation for Europeans to colonize during the 19th and 20th centuries was to strengthen their own countries in order to compete with the other European powers.
One of the major ways a colony can strengthen a nation is by providing it with another economic market. As a result of Industrialization, production was too high for consumer demand in Europe. Jules Ferry wrote an appeal to the French, urging colonization. In his appeal he wrote, "The European consumer-goods market is saturated: unless we declare modern society bankrupt and prepare, at the dawn of he twentieth century, for its liquidation by revolution (the consequences of which we can scarcely foresee), new consumer markets will have to be created in other parts of the world" (pg.259 source3). Meaning that unless there is another market to sell national products to, then employment could decline drastically within the nation and eventually cause revolution. Englishman, Joseph Chamberlain, once gave a speech to the Birmingham Relief Association in 1894. In this speech Chamberlain stated, "That in order that we may have more employment to give we must create more demand" (pg.259 source4). This proves that the idea of a foreign market as a means of economic power was widespread among Europeans at the time. Both an Englishman and a Frenchmen used the same argument in pushing for colonization. There were only so many potential colonies around the world, and if one colony could bring another economic market to one country, that colony could not produce the same for another. This is one reason why the main motivation in obtaining these colonies was to compete with other imperialist nations.
Another reason why a colony could strengthen a nation is because of the raw materials a colony could produce. These colonies could be used to grow mass quantities of cotton for textile factories, or other cash crops like sugar and tobacco. In his speech, Joseph Chamberlain was trying to convince the public that Britain should colonize Uganda. One of his main reasons was because of the potential Uganda had for producing raw materials. He said, "It (Uganda) contains every variety of climate; in a large portion of it European colonization is perfectly feasible; the products are of the utmost richness; there is hardly anything which is of value or use to us in our commerce which cannot be grown there" (pg.261 source4). This means that any kind of crop that the British need or want, can be grown in Uganda because there is rich soil and lots of land. By colonizing a country like Uganda, Europeans would bring more raw materials for the factories, and more goods for the market; this would strengthen the economy and give one nation an advantage over another.
One of the strongest reasons why countries competed for colonies was Nationalism. This was a popular notion among Europeans at the time. Nationalists felt a strong pride in their country and felt that their country should be superior to all others. This combined with Social Darwinism and the "survival of the fittest" attitude, created a situation where even if countries didn't need a colony to sustain their people, they needed one to compete with the other nations around them, or to "survive." A German named Friedrich Fabri wrote a book in 1879 called Deutschland der Kolonien? Which was very popular among Germans at the time. In his book, Fabri states "the German nation, which is fundamentally seaworthy and adept both commercially and industrially, which is more skillful at agricultural colonization than others, and is provided with a workforce more abundant and available than that of any other civilized people, should that nation not now successfully set off on this new path"" (pg.254source1). Fabri was trying to convince the reader that a German colony would be beneficial to the nation. He does this by playing on the nationalism that the public surely feels; he uses words that make Germany sound like the strongest nation in the world, and that in order to stay at the top, they must colonize. Fabri, as well as other European writers and politicians, believed that they must beat other countries to the punch, when colonizing Africa and Asia. Fabri often writes about England and how they are superior in colonization, and he even quotes French Economist Leroy Beaulieu saying "The greatest nation in the world is the one that colonizes the most; if it is not that today, it will be tomorrow" (pg.255 source1). These examples prove that nationalism comes also with a kind of paranoia, a fear that other European nations could become greater then them.
There were many motivations for Europeans to colonize Africa and Asia. The new markets and the source of raw materials that the colonies could provide, offered economic growth to the home country. Nationalism is another motivation, countries want to keep improving, and they believe nationalism is the only way to do that. The most important motivation for Europeans to colonize was to compete with the other European powers. Everyone wanted more power, and colonies provided that power.
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