In the late 19th century, between roughly 1875 and 1900, a handful of European nations conquered most of Africa. Since this came after more than three centuries of relatively cooperative trading activity between Europeans and Africans, it represents a significant departure in world history. This "Age of Imperialism" also had long-range consequences including the spread of European languages around the globe, the creation of borders that sparked many subsequent conflicts, and the construction of institutions that made globalization possible. As a consequence, this course begins with an examination of European and African societies in the 19th century in order to determine why Europeans chose to invade Africa in the late 19th century.
EUROPEAN SELF-IMAGEBy the mid-19th century, Europe had undergone major changes that affected their beliefs about themselves. In his book A Generation of Materialism, 1871-1900 (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1941), Carlton J. H. Hayes listed the following major developments in Europe:the French Revolution introduced the idea of the nation-state as an organizing concept for politics, and the Napoleonic Wars showed the strength of the nation-statethe rise of Liberalism supported a belief in progress and changethe Industrial Revolution changed how people worked and acquired goods, the number of goods in circulation, and economic relationship between industrialized and non-industrialized regions of the worldart and religion adapted to the new emphasis on materialismnew techniques for communication and organization gave rise to the concept of "the masses" as a political and economic forceCarrington went on to say that these changes led to the "resurgence of economic nationalism and national imperialism." They initiated a period of intense national competition that culminated in two world wars in the 20th century. That competition, coming at the end of the 19th century, provided a direct challenge to the balance-of-power system created in 1815 to keep the peace in Europe after the Napoleonic Wars.
Confident in the superiority of their culture and institutions, Europeans looked for the same in the rest of the world, and related to other societies as if they existed on a continuum from "primitive" to "developed." In assigning these positions, Europeans looked especially at the level of material culture and the size of political institutions. By these criteria, northern Europeans occupied the top end of the continuum while southern Europeans, Arabs, Chinese, Native Americans and other groups occupied lower positions. Black non-Muslim Africans were near the bottom, just ahead of Australian aborigines.
