Cracking the AP European History Exam, 2013 Edition by Princeton Review

Author:Princeton Review [Review, The Princeton]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-94453-5
Publisher: Random House Information Group
Published: 2012-09-18T00:00:00+00:00

Although technology was vital for the new imperialism, it would have made little difference without the various motivating factors that stirred Europeans to conquer foreign lands. One important factor was the search for profits that were assumed to be had from imperialism. With the establishment of higher tariff barriers in Europe in the last quarter of the century, nations began to look to colonies as potential free trade zones. Raw materials, such as the palm oil that was used as an industrial lubricant, or precious metals such as gold and silver, led individuals to the African heartland.

Yet those imperialists who saw colonies as a source of unimaginable wealth were going to be disappointed, because many colonies lacked any economic value, or if they did, the extensive investments necessary to make them economically viable never arrived from Europe. The exception to this was India, where the British were able to extract enough wealth for it to be justifiably referred to as the “jewel in the crown.”

Other motivating factors came from social imperialists, who viewed imperialism as a means of relieving certain domestic social problems such as overpopulation. This would also prove to be disappointing because, for example, in the case of Italy, those who left the country much preferred to go to the United States, rather than to an uncertain existence in the Italian colonies in East Africa.

Nationalism also played a major role in empire building. European states believed that the only way they could matter on a global scale would be through the establishment of colonies. For France, building an overseas empire was a way of showing it still mattered, even after its horrific defeat by the Prussians in 1870.

Religion also served as a motivating factor, and Christian missionaries were actually the first Europeans to penetrate central Africa. Some skeptics questioned the actual motivation behind the missionaries, as can be seen in a German political cartoon from the period, which showed an English preacher droning on while behind a curtain, a businessman involves himself in the real business of empire—financially squeezing the Africans.

Social Darwinism also influenced the new imperialism. There was a genuine belief that the white races were destined to have sovereignty over the inferior peoples of Asia and Africa. Paintings would often show colonists with local children, the implied message being that all Africans were children who would benefit from the guidance of Europeans in the role of parents. Elements of this noblesse oblige can be found in Rudyard Kipling’s (1865–1936) famous poem “The White Man’s Burden,” in which he writes that Europeans have a moral obligation to “bind your sons to exile/To serve your captives’ need.” The so-called moral imperative behind imperialism was also discussed at the Berlin Conference (1884–1885), ostensibly called to deal with the control of the Congo, where it was stated that one of the goals for the imperialist nations was “to care for the improvement of the conditions of their [the Africans] moral and material well-being and to help in suppressing slavery, and especially the slave trade.

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