Imperialism and Industrialization

The industrialization of Europe marked a period of intense economic expansion. The growth of industrial parks and the accumulation of capital led to the pursuit of greater market shares by European great powers and the search for cheaper raw materials. This was the context in which, from the nineteenth century, these nations sought to explore regions in Africa and Asia.

Gradually, European governments intervened politically in these regions with the interests of their industrial conglomerates in mind. This new form of exploitation sought to make the dominanted regions large consumer markets for their industrialized goods and sources of low-cost raw materials. At the same time, the great growth of European population made domination of African and Asian "primitive" civilizations an alternative to the excess population of Europe in the nineteenth century.

Despite possessing great spaces of domination, the practice of colonial imperialism generated strong political tensions among the European powers. The first world war of the twentieth century was the result of these tensions.

Added to the political and economic interests, colonial imperialism also relied on ideological support. The theory of social Darwinism, put forward by Spencer, claimed that Europe represented the apex of human development. In contrast, Africa and Asia were the strongholds of "infantile" and "primitive" civilizations. Influenced by this same concept, British writer Rudyard Kipling defended the "receiving" of European concepts of culture by Africans and Asians as "the white man's burden" in the world.

With respect to Africa, we can highlight the Berlin Conference (1884-1885), in which various European powers gathered to divide the colonial territories on the continent. In this region, we can highlight the British domination of the Canal of Suez, in the north of Africa. This great construction was of great importance for the economic demands of the British Empire. In the south, the British created the Union of South Africa through military conquests in the Boer War (1899-1902).

In India, the British presence was also one of the largest colonial powers in the region. After winning the War of the Seven Years (1756-1763), England was able to form a vast empire marked by a heavy imposition of its political and administrative structure. The English oppression was the target of a native revolt that erupted in the War of Sipaios (1735-1741). To circumvent the situation, the English Crown transformed the Indian colony into part of the British Empire.

The Meiji Restoration in Japan in 1868 led to many reforms that changed the country from a feudal society to an industrialized one.

This led to wars with China and Russia, as well as conflicts with other countries in the Pacific Ocean.

These wars and conflicts have had a huge impact on the current problems in these regions, which are related to imperialism.