1. No category

Nationalism, Imperialism, and World War I
THE NEW IMPERIALISM
THE CAUSES OF “NEW IMPERIALISM”
 New
technological developments,
based on the Industrial Revolution,
made the “New Imperialism”
possible.
 The steamboat made it possible to go
upstream, reaching the interior of
Africa and other places previously too
difficult to reach.
THE CAUSES OF “NEW IMPERIALISM”
The telegram made it possible to communicate
with new settlements deep in the interior
regions of Africa and Asia.
 Later, imperial powers built railroads to ship
goods and raw materials to and from their
colonies.
 New medicines, like quinine to treat malaria
and antiseptics, and a better understanding of
disease made it possible to explore the tropics
with less risk.

THE CAUSES OF “NEW IMPERIALISM”
Military technology like rifles could be used to
control local people.
 New countries such as Belgium, Germany, and
Italy sought colonial empires of their own to
establish their power on the world stage.
 Britain seized control of Egypt to protect the
Suez Canal, which provided the shortest route
from Britain to India.

CAUSES OF “NEW IMPERIALISM”
European powers were also anxious to preserve
the “balance of power” between themselves.
 European powers also hoped to obtain natural
resources and markets to sell their goods.
 Finally, imperialists such as Rudyard Kipling
spoke of the “White Man’s Burden”—the duty of
Europeans to spread their culture to areas of
Africa and Asia.

CAUSES OF “NEW IMPERIALISM”
In
some places, imperialists
were met with fierce local
resistance.
The British fought wars in the
Sudan, South Africa, and
elsewhere to gain control.
REASONS FOR RENEWED INTEREST IN
IMPERIALISM
Technology
 Economic Motives
 Political Motives
 Social Motives

 Many
Europeans believed in Social Darwinism—the
theory that some societies were more successful
because their cultures were superior.
 Other Europeans wanted to spread Christianity.
NOTEBOOK ASSIGNMENT
 There
were two different time periods
where imperialism occurred. The first
wave of imperialism lasted from
1500-1800. The second wave, “New
Imperialism,” generally lasted from
1870-1950. Describe some of the
differences between these two
periods of imperialism.