Industrial Revolution Dbq

681 Words2 Pages

During the 18th and 19th centuries, Europe went through two industrial revolutions. These revolutions were, in part, dependent on raw material coming from both Europe itself and its colonies. Before the Second Industrial Revolution, Europe was unable to conquer Africa, but with new military technology and medicinal discoveries, it became possible for these countries to gain territory in Africa. This time also brought with it new ideas like social darwinism and the idea of “survival of the fittest”. European countries obtained colonies in Africa to strengthen themselves, to provide for themselves, and because they believed it was their right or duty as “superior races”. Europe was motivated to acquire colonies in Africa in order to strengthen …show more content…

In 1888, Joseph Chamberlain gave a speech saying that Britain would starve without the food provided by its colonies. By saying this, he shows that colonies were also founded natural resources. The purpose of his speech was to justify the conquest of Africa by saying it helped British people, which also proves that. In 1900, the German Social Democratic Party Congress said that the purpose of colonies was “capitalist exploitation” of the foreign markets. Although money isn’t necessarily a natural resource, it’s still a resource that Europe was striving to gain from Africa. The point of view of the GSDP congress was that countries engaged in conquest were greedy, which further proves the fact that Europe was there for economic gain. Industrialization feeds off of natural resources, so when Europe couldn’t provide them for itself, it had to go looking …show more content…

In 1900, Lord Roseberry sent a letter to the London Times stating that strong nations had a right to conquer other countries.This is the exact ideology of social darwinism. The use of the phrase “survival of the fittest” is a direct reference to the work of Herbert Spencer, who was a social darwinist that took Charles Darwin’s scientific theory and applied it to society. The fact that Roseberry truly believed that the “fittest” would survive shows his belief in this ideology. In 1919, Henri Merlin stated that civilised races have the right to conquer “barbarous” races, and that when they did, it was their duty to aid those inferior races. This is also the exact beliefs of social darwinists. European countries believed that conquering Africa was not only their right, but their

Open Document