As a process of gaining control over a foreign land and its people, colonization is a uniquely European phenomenon. The technological development of European countries in the nineteenth century allowed it a substantial advantage over less advanced countries, including those on the African continent. This process became known as new imperialism and resulted in large territories being subjugated (Díaz-Andreu 3). Although numerous settlements in the region were established by European countries in 1652, the second half of the nineteenth century became the defining era in the colonization of the continent (Frankema et al. 232). Major European states raced to secure authority over small African countries to obtain more resources and new trade routes. The proposed paper aims to discuss European colonization of the African continent as an economically and politically motivated process. The suggested title of the work is as follows: the economic and political nuances of European colonization and external control in Africa.
The proposed article’s central theme is the economic and political causes of the colonization of the African continent by seven European nations: Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, and Belgium. The paper will also consider how the rivalry among these countries and other states led to the colonization of territories in West Africa. It will be argued that economic necessity should be viewed as the main theoretical framework for the discussion of colonization of the African continent (Wabah and N-Ue 33). In the late nineteenth century, a need for new markets emerged and led to Africa and Asia being explored (Gudova 493). It can be asserted that the process of colonization was inspired by the European states’ need to expand their economic and political influence through the exploitation of the African region. The drive for colonization can also be explained through the prism of technological superiority, social atavism, and civilizing mission theoretical frameworks (Wabah and N-Ue 34-35). However, it will be argued that these theories explain contributing causes of the colonization, with the economic and political necessity explaining the root cause.
For the proposed study’s purposes, a literature review will be employed as the primary research method. Several articles on the colonization of Africa will be analyzed to support the thesis of the paper. The study by Wabah and N-Ue will be utilized to examine the existing theoretical framework for discussing colonization. The review will include research papers and articles on each of the seven nations with colonies in Africa. For example, Belgium’s economic and political needs and pro-empire diplomatic action will be reviewed and examined (Poncelet 152; Schayegh 151). Similarly, the proposed research will include information on the 1885 Berlin Conference and 1896 Berlin Trade Exhibition and their impact on colonization (Babatunde 55; Steinmetz 47). The economic development of African countries and various European nations in the nineteenth century will also be discussed. Specifically, mercantilist imperialism and industrial revolution as a catalyst for colonization will be considered (Liu 687; Oluka et al. 6). Overall, studies examining the causes and the process of colonization from different perspectives will be utilized to support the thesis of the proposed research.
In summary, colonization of the African continent by the seven European nations was a complex process. Several theoretical frameworks can be utilized to explain the motivations behind it, including technological superiority, social atavism, and civilizing mission concepts. However, economic and political necessity can be viewed as the primary cause for colonization of the continents, enabled by the industrial revolution in the second half of the nineteenth century.
References
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Díaz-Andreu, Margarita. “Archaeology and Imperialism: From Nineteenth-Century New Imperialism to Twentieth-Century Decolonization.” Unmasking Ideology in Imperial and Colonial Archaeology: Vocabulary, Symbols, and Legacy, edited by Bonnie Effros and Guolong Lai, ISD LLC, 2018, pp. 3-28.
Frankema, Ewout, et al. “An Economic Rationale for the West African Scramble? The Commercial Transition and the Commodity Price Boom of 1835–1885.” The Journal of Economic History, 2018, pp. 231-267.
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