European Colonial Conquests (1800-1914) PDF

# What motivated European powers to conquer empires? At the end of the 19th century, European countries, taking advantage of their economic, technical and military superiority, embarked on the conquest of colonial empires. Between 1870 and 1914 they occupied vast territories in Africa and Asia, ma...

# What motivated European powers to conquer empires? At the end of the 19th century, European countries, taking advantage of their economic, technical and military superiority, embarked on the conquest of colonial empires. Between 1870 and 1914 they occupied vast territories in Africa and Asia, mainly continents without large organized states. ## Economic interests Imperialism was primarily driven by economic motivations. This was because the industrialized countries of Europe needed: - **New markets** where they could sell their surplus production. - **Buy raw materials** (coal, iron, cotton, rubber...) and colonial products (sugar, chocolate, tea...) at a better price. - **Invest their surplus capital** outside Europe, where cheaper labor allowed for greater profits. Europeans seized vast territories to establish plantations (cocoa, tea, sugar, rubber, coffee...), exploit mineral resources (copper, gold, diamonds...) and build infrastructure to facilitate transportation (railroads, highways...). ## The increase in European population The economic changes during the 19th century led to significant growth in the European population, reaching 450 million by 1900. This "white explosion" drove millions of Europeans to leave the continent to settle in other countries. Until 1875, emigrants were mainly British, Irish and German. After that date, immigrants from the Austro-Hungarian empire, Russia, and Mediterranean countries (Italians and Spaniards) were more numerous. ## European Migrations (1800-1914) A map showing the flow of European migration (1800-1914), from different countries to North and South America, Australia and Africa. - **Canada:** 5 million emigrants - **United States:** 34 million emigrants - **Antilles:** 2 million emigrants - **Brazil:** 1 million emigrants - **Argentina:** 1 million emigrants - **South Africa:** 6 million emigrants. - **Siberia:** 7 million emigrants - **China:** 1 million emigrants. - **India:** 1 million emigrants - **Australia:** 5 million emigrants - **New Zealand:** 1 million emigrants ## How were the world's great empires divided? ### Conquering territories was easy and fast The search for new territories in which to expand led to scientific journeys and geographic explorations in central Africa, like those undertaken by the British David Livingstone and Henry M. Stanley, and by the Frenchman Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza. Once the territories were explored, the military conquest began, carried out relatively quickly and easily. This can be explained by the technological superiority of Europe, and by exploiting internal rivalries between the indigenous tribes and ethnic groups, aiming to set them against each other and recruit troops to serve them. ### ... leading to rivalries and confrontations Conquest had a warlike nature, with constant wars and clashes of interests between rival powers. These rivalries for the division of Africa led to the convening of the Berlin Conference (1885) in which they decided on the rules to divide the territory and the areas that each power would occupy. Yet despite these agreements, confrontations and colonial wars continued: - France and England clashed in 1898 in a territory east of Lake Chad, called Fachoda, and war was on the verge of breaking out. - The Anglo-Boer Wars (1880-1881 and 1899-1902) pitted the British against the Dutch colonists (Boers) of South Africa. - The Opium Wars (1839-1860), between China and the British Empire, forced the opening of trade and the entry of Western interests into China. ### ... and creating different types of colonial administration Once a colony was conquered militarily, they began to organize its administration and control. Not all colonies had the same characteristics: - **Exploitation colonies** were those territories fundamentally dedicated to economic exploitation. The colonizers took possession of the land to establish large plantations (coffee, sugar, cocoa, tea, rubber...) or exploit mines for copper, gold and diamonds. - **Settlement colonies** were those inhabited by Europeans permanently (settlers); this was the case of French Algeria. Some of these colonies had a special relationship with their mother country, granting them a degree of autonomy in their internal government (British dominions, like Canada). - **Protectorates** were established in territories where structured states existed. An indigenous government remained, but a parallel government imposed by the mother country dominated the local government and reserved the functions of defense and foreign policy. An example was the British protectorate in Egypt.