European Colonial Expansion

Legacy of voyages of Discovery

Improvement of navigation techniques: Full-rigged sailing ship, navigation map, compass

New sea and land routes: mostly fleets from Spain and Portugal

• Vasco Da Gama: sailed along coast of Africa and reached India

• Christopher Coloumbus: discovered America

• Ferdinand Magdellan: first to circumnavigate the world

Technology: voyages allowed EU powers to reach out to other parts of world and colonise with superior military forces

Trade interests: EU wanted Africa, Asia and S America goods (Columbian exchange) → silk, tea, spices, tobacco, potato

Industrial Revolution

Rapid development of agriculture, communications, tech, transport, industry and science (acttis) from mid 18th to end of 19th (started in Britain and spread to EU)

Political: imperialism (extend influence through colonisation or military force) to acquire resources, revenue, market, land and labour)

• Economic motives: industrialised countries (W EU) favour the idea of colonial expansion as they can acquire resources and market (Africa)

Economic: increased productivity, living standards, food quality and medicine/ medical treatment quality

Social: Urbanisation, rise of the working class (proletariat), conflicts between factory workers and owners (Exploitations and strikes), child labour, improvement of transport, pollution

• Technological advancements to support colonisation: transport (steamships), weapons (guns) and medicine (quinine to cure malaria)

Ideological factors

Main ideologies (nationalism, liberalism, popular sovereignty, freedom) led to rise of new nations.

• Italy (1870) and Germany (1871)

• Revolution, war, independence and unification

After unification/ independence movements, ideology became extreme → encourage big powers in pursuit of national glory → imperialism

• Expansion, conquering (getting colonies), wars

• Ideology → rise of new nations → extreme → big power want nat glory → imperialism

Cultural and religious factors

• White man’s burden: dry asserted by white ppl too bring their civilisation to non white populations as the were believed to be less developed

• EU powers + US conquer, colonise and impose their systems (change) by military force

• With aims to: spread western civilisation and Christianity (send missionaries), economic benefits (raw materials, markets and labour), encourage national glory by showing national strength

When?

From Voyages of Discovery to early 20th century

Where?

S and N America, Asia and Africa (AAA)

What?

Establish colonies and territories globally to extend influence (cultural, economic, political)

Biggest colonial empires

• Britain: diff continents (Canada, India, Australia)

• France: Africa and Asia (Vietnam)

Political situation in Africa

• Colonised by diff EU countries

• Britain: Egypt and Sudan, France: W Africa, Germany: south

How did EU countries colonise AAA?

Military force, economic conquest