About Imperialism In Africa
African people were divided into hundreds of ethnic and linguistic groups. Most of them continued to follow traditional beliefs, while others converted to Islam or Christianity. Powerful African armies were able to keep the europeans out of most of Africa for 400 years. European exploration did not happen because they could not navigate through rivers, and disease started to be a factor. Finally, Africans controlled their own trade networks and provided the trade items. The networks were specialized in many ways.
The race for colonies grew and Europeans viewed an empire as a measure of national greatness. Each country was determined to gain as much of the world as possible. But it was not easy to conquer so many places because of the competition. Many factors contributed to the Europeans conquest of Africa. One was the Europeans technological support. They had the Maxim gun and it was the worlds first automatic machine gun. The Europeans quickly acquired the gun while the Africans were still using there outdated weapons. Also the invention of the steam engine allowed Europeans to easily travel on rivers to establish bases of control deep in the African continent. But they were struggling badly with malaria, which was a disease carried by dense swarms of mosquitoes in Africa's interior. The drug quinine eventually protected Europeans from becoming infected.
Imperialism was a very profitable foreign policy which came at the expense of the foreign regions where it was being practiced.
The race for colonies grew and Europeans viewed an empire as a measure of national greatness. Each country was determined to gain as much of the world as possible. But it was not easy to conquer so many places because of the competition. Many factors contributed to the Europeans conquest of Africa. One was the Europeans technological support. They had the Maxim gun and it was the worlds first automatic machine gun. The Europeans quickly acquired the gun while the Africans were still using there outdated weapons. Also the invention of the steam engine allowed Europeans to easily travel on rivers to establish bases of control deep in the African continent. But they were struggling badly with malaria, which was a disease carried by dense swarms of mosquitoes in Africa's interior. The drug quinine eventually protected Europeans from becoming infected.
Imperialism was a very profitable foreign policy which came at the expense of the foreign regions where it was being practiced.