The European
nations moulded by the Renaissance movement developed a craving for modern
imperialism. Because of this craving the entire regions under Asia and Africa
were brought under imperial rule by the year 1914. The various reasons for
imperialism were as follows:
1)
Scientific
inventions: -
a. Life
had gained momentum on account of the extraordinary invention brought about by the
scientist.
b. The
invention of steam power, electricity, coal and iron revolutionized the means
of transportation and communication.
c.
Scientist motivated the creation of
modern weapons which woke up the monstrous ambitious in human beings.
d. Consequently
there grew imperialism in many nations.
2)
Industrial
Revolution: -
a. To
a great extent, industrial revolution boosted the modern imperialism.
b. As
the pace of production of goods went up, it became very difficult for the
nations to sell the products within their national boundaries.
c.
Hence, there was felt on urgent
need for finding out new markets.
3)
Need
for raw material: -
a. There
was scarcity of the raw material as the production had increased due to
industrial revolution.
b. There
had also started a kind of rat-race among the European nations for selling the
domestic production.
c.
Therefore, these European nations
colonized the Afro-Asian countries for just getting raw materials.
d. That's
why the European nations had to turn their imperial attention to Afro-Asian
countries.
4)
Prosperity
of Asia and Africa: -
a. With
a view of taking advantage of the abundant natural resources such as gold,
silver, diamonds, iron and coal found in Africa and Asia, the European nations
brought the Afro-Asian countries under their imperial rule.
5)
Rising
European nations: -
a. In
order to satisfy the want of colonial power, the emerging nations like Germany
and Italy began to attempt at acquiring colonies by seeking inspiration from
England.
b. The
imperial struggle of Germany and Italy brought in an international conflicting
situation, thus giving stimulus to imperialism.
6)
Ambition
of Political domination: -
a. There
were needed security arrangements for the imperial nations to win and maintain
colonies.
b. Eventually,
the European nations got involved into tussle of winning terrestrial and marine
military posts of strategic importance.
c.
Some of the nations expanded their
imperial rule for national pride and fame.
d. The
greatness of a nation would be decided by the number of colonies under it.
7)
Propagation
of Religion: -
a. The
European believed that the white man's religion and culture were superior.
b. Establishment
of the colonies was followed by the entry of missionaries for the purpose of
spreading their religion which intensified imperialism.
8)
Weakness
of Asian and African nations: -
a. The
nation belonging to the African and Asian continent was weaker from political
and economic point of view.
b. They
were infected (dirty) by invasion (attack)
and feudalism, a great damage was done to the agriculture and business of these
nations.
c.
The Europeans nations being
scientifically stronger took full advantage of the limitation of these nations
and brought them under their imperial region.
