European Motivations for Exploring and Conquering the New World Essay

Suez Canal in Egypt was recently completed in 1870s when Britain purchased approximately half share. Suez Canal was considered as a highly important route through which trade had become possible to India. So Britain got hold over Suez Canal to limit the trade to and from India. Then the European Empire had expanded to other regions as well such as Africa, the Persian Gulf and in the Middle Eastern countries. Europeans were expanding their Empire to bring about the â€Å"New Imperialism† during which colonization was in accelerating phase. This process was encouraged by the Berlin Conference of 1884, which in effect provided a charter for the division of Africa into ‘spheres of influence’. European Motivations There were various motives behind European zealous participation in the New Imperialism. Firstly, there were intensified rivalries with other powers, as states such as the newly-unified Italy and Germany, along with France, which sought to compensate for its defeat in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, looked to the non-European world for expansion An expansionist Russia posed a particular threat in the decaying Turkish (Ottoman) Empire in the Middle East. British policy-makers wanted to secure further gains before their rivals did, in case they lost out in the international ‘balance of power’. Secondly, there were economic motives, notably the desire to capture new markets and sources of raw materials, preserve or expand trade links and to prevent the loss of existing overseas markets to other countries, Countries such as Nigeria, for example, offered valuable resources such as palm oil, which was used as a lubricant for industrial machinery. Thirdly, there was a growth of imperial nationalism, militarism and a sense of racial superiority (‘jingoism’) throughout British society. This jingoistic sentiment may have been as much an effect as a cause of British expansionism, but in combination with the other factors it helped to push Britain further along the colonial path In relation to Africa, for example, between 1885 and 1914 Britain took control of nearly 30 per cent of the continent’s population, compared to 15 per cent for France and nine for Germany The formalization of British rule in Africa included Somaliland (1884), Bechuanaland (1885), East Africa (1887), Rhodesia (1888), The Gambia (1888), Nyasaland (1889), Swaziland (1890), Uganda (1894), the Sudan (1898) and Nigeria (1900). Expansion before 1914 largely ended with the Second Boer War against the Afrikaner republics of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal in 1899-1902 Britain’s underlying reason for starting this war was the discovery of gold and diamonds in the region Although Britain annexed the two Boer Republics in 1902 and established the Union of South Africa in 1910, the conflict had strained British military capabilities and imperial resolve. In any case, Africa and elsewhere now offered fewer opportunities for expansion. British statesmen also found themselves more and more embroiled in the power politics of the European continent. Although the First World War was primarily a European conflict, about 2. 5 million colonials fought for Britain and there was intensified exploitation of the Empire’s material resources. Strain and Unrest during 1918-39  In 1919-20 the Empire gained an extra 1 million square miles of territory and 13 million new subjects, mainly in the Middle East, which was now valued because of its recently-discovered oil reserves as well as its proximity to India Under the League of Nations ‘mandates’ system, Britain took over Palestine, Transjordan, Iraq and the Gulf States from Turkey, and Tanganyika and other areas from Germany In Britain itself between the wars the Empire remained a source of national pride and identity, not least through the yearly celebration of Empire Day and the opening of the Empire Stadium at Wembley in 1923 In general, though, the 1920s and 30s saw the Empire become more tight-knit economically. The Empire Marketing Board, created in 1926, and the introduction of Imperial Preference (1932), a system of tariff walls around the Empire and Commonwealth, led to a rise in colonial imports from 25 per cent of British imports in 1910-14 to 40 per cent in 1939. Exports to the colonies rose from 36 per cent in 1910-14 to 50 per cent in 1939. But the fact that British industry, once ‘the workshop of the world’, was able to do reasonably well only in sheltered imperial markets was a token of Britain’s general economic decline as a result of the cost of the First World War. In the 1930s the balance of payments was persistently in deficit, making it difficult to afford the cost of stationing large forces across the world. Overall, during the 1920s and 1930s the Empire was outwardly secure but contained forces of strain and unrest. Collapse and Revival during 1939-45 In some ways the Empire was a strategic burden during the Second World War, stretching British resources and tying up troops who might have been better employed closer to home. The loss of Malaya, Singapore, Burma and Hong Kong to Japan by 1942 changed perceptions of Britain’s ability to maintain its empire. There were strikes and uprisings against British rule in India, Egypt, Kenya and Northern Rhodesia. For ideological and economic reasons the United States, which entered the war in 1941 and whose support was vital to Britain’s survival, opposed imperialism? Washington’s voice could scarcely be ignored. Under the ‘Lend-Lease’ program the United States provided Britain with $26 billion worth of aid, twice that from the dominions and colonies. Yet despite such challenges the Empire staged what was on the whole an impressive show of strength and unity, providing nearly 5 million troops, almost as many as Britain itself. In 1940 London set aside ? 20 million for colonial development and welfare, suggesting that in the event of victory the Empire might well have a secure and economically viable future. When Japan surrendered in August 1945 the British were able to reclaim the Asian territories that had previously been lost, many quite undamaged. American anti-imperialism had been more rhetorical than real, especially after the death of President Roosevelt in April 1945. In short, the Empire’s fortunes were revived. Conclusion By the mid-1960s, and certainly by 1980, the British Empire was practically no more. It had expanded from around 1870 until about 1900 as a result of rivalry with other European states, economic pressures and a sense of ‘jingoism’ at home. There were further gains after the First World War due to opportunities presented by the defeat of Turkey and Germany, and economically the Empire became more tightly knit than ever between the wars. Yet the interwar years saw growing pressure for self-rule among the colonial peoples. During the Second World War much of the Empire in Asia fell rapidly at Japanese hands only to be regained equally swiftly in 1945. Decolonization occurred due to colonial agitation for self-rule, changing trade patterns, and the fact that in the age of the superpowers colonial empires seemed anachronistic and because of the indifference of the British public to the Empire. In essence, no real advantage was to be found in its maintenance. Apart from a few remnants such as Hong Kong, Gibraltar, the Falkland Islands and Bermuda, by 1980 the once vast British Empire had disappeared.