Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Why did political and territorial domination of colonial areas become necessary for the European powers?
Wow. I think that after reading Cote's view on this I can only hope to back it up since he really did answer the question well. I think that the main reason had to have been for expansion of certain countries and people. Populations were growing and as Cote said it wasn't just a two or three person game anymore. Everywhere in Europe many more than just a few countries were flourishing. Seeing as taking over colonial territories was relatively cheap in comparison to the other options, it's no wonder that it became a habit for these countries. They needed to expand their land, their economy, and their people. And the difference between that imperialism and the imperialism of the earlier centuries was that religion was no longer the motivation for colonization. This was about the race for power and success.
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3 comments:
You make a good point in saying the religion was no longer THE primary drive for colonization/expansion. The greed of men (gold) definitely overshadows religious pursuits(god) at this point in imperialism.
...in saying THAT religion...
I agree, Sam. Gold and Glory have definitly overtaken the pursuit of God regarding 19th c. colonization. Its just one giant competition I like to think of it as an Olympics with the overall victor and lots of different events. One event could be gaining the most markets/buyers, another seeing who could win over the most mini-allies. There is deep nationalism and pride in the representatives from each country. But who will be named victorious of these Imperialist Games???
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