Of the many developments that took place in Europe during the nineteenth century, two had far-reaching consequences for Africa in particular and the nonEuropean world in general: European industrialization and imperialism.
The industrialization of Europe was the result of the Industrial Revolution, a term generally used to refer to the rapid economic and technological innovations which transformed Europe from an agrarian and mercantile society to an industrial society. The Industrial Revolution started in Britain in the last quarter of the eighteenth century and continued there steadily until approximately the middle of the nineteenth century, when it reached its peak. From Britain it gradually spread to Western European countries and the United States. The most notable features of the Industrial
Revolution were the changes that came about in the production of goods and in the distribution of the produce. These changes led to the replacement of handicraft production with production by machines.
In Britain the innovations began with the introduction of machines in the textile and wool industries; other innovations took place in power production with the invention of the steam engine, and in iron manufacturing. Inventions and improvements in one area impacted, and resulted in, corresponding improvements in other areas. For example, initially machines were made of wood; improvement in the iron industry resulted in the replacement of wooden tools with iron tools which improved the quality of machines used in the factories. Similarly, invention of the steam engine and the harnessing of steam power resulted in efficient operation of machines, and also made it possible to locate industries virtually anywhere. Moreover, the steam engine was applied to the transportation sector and resulted in the development of canals and railways which made possible cheap and fast freight transportation. The combined effect of these various innovations was massive increases in manufactured goods, which in turn led to other economic and social changes in areas such as finance, markets, labor, and urbanization among others. By the 1850s, as a result of its lead in the Industrial Revolution, Britain had become the “workshop of the world,” and a major world power.
As the Industrial Revolution spread to other European countries and the United States, it had similar economic and social consequences. This impacted relations between European nations, particularly in the search for markets and raw materials for the expanding industrial output as well as for capital investment. The resulting competition went beyond the boundaries of Europe into overseas territories in the form of European imperialism in Asia, the Pacific region, and Africa.
There is dispute among scholars as to the precise meaning of the term “imperialism,” as well as its origins, nature, manifestation, and consequences. The word is used here to refer to European expansion into areas of the world previously not inhabited by Europeans in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, resulting in empire building or the acquisition of overseas colonies by the major European powers.
With reference to Africa, European imperialism took place from the 1870s to about 1914 and lasted until the 1960s in most parts of Africa, the 1970s and 1980s in the remaining areas. This is not to say that Europe did not have interest or territorial holdings in Africa before the 1870s, but such holdings as there were, except in a few isolated spots such as Algeria and the southern tip of Africa, were mainly trading or coaling and refueling posts. The Europeans did not directly rule or govern these holdings and did not have to do so in order to safeguard their interests or exert influence. From the 1870s, however, competition among European nations for colonies in Africa intensified to such an extent that by 1914 virtually all of the continent, except Morocco and Ethiopia, had been parceled out as colonies/protectorates among the main European powers (Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Belgium). These colonies were directly governed or administered by the European powers through structures set up by them in the colonies.
Scholars are not agreed on the motives behind European imperialism in Africa. Some scholars have pointed to economic motivation and have argued that the search for new and guaranteed markets for the ever increasing output of European industries, new sources of raw materials to feed the industries, new areas for capital investment, and cheap and reliable labor force was the driving force behind colonial acquisition. Others have pointed to noneconomic reasons and have argued that nationalism, the pursuit of international power, security, and strategic—even humanitarian considerations—were the primary motivation. These seemingly divergent views are not necessarily mutually exclusive. All these factors were at play in varying combinations at different times in the calculation of the various imperial powers. While the economic motives were probably foremost in the thinking of the imperial powers none of the other considerations can be ruled out as either unimportant or irrelevant. Imperialism was a complex phenomenon, as were its motivation, its nature, its manifestation and its impact on the colonized territories. Each of the various motives was connected in one way or another with the industrialization of Europe.
The nineteenth century was not only a century of European industrialization and imperialism but also of nationalism in Europe, a phenomenon as complex and difficult to define as imperialism. There was a connection between all three phenomena, as each added to and reinforced the others. For example, industrialization sharpened the nationalist sentiment among leaders and other opinion makers in various European nations and either led to or intensified competition among the nations in terms of political power, overseas trade, international stature and national security among others. This kind of competition was a major factor in unleashing European imperialism on Africa and Asia in the nineteenth century.
R. H. Kofi Darkwah
See also: Colonial European Administrations: Comparative Survey; Colonialism: Impact on African Societies.
Further Reading
Berlanstein, L. R., ed. The Industrial Revolution and Work in 19th Century Europe. London: Routledge, 1992.
Fieldhouse, D. K. Colonialism 1870-1945: An Introduction. London: Macmillan Press, 1983.
-. Economics and Empire, 1830-1914. London:
Macmillan Publishers, 1984.
Gollwitzer, H. Europe in the Age of Imperialism, 1880-1914.
London: Thames and Hudson, 1969.
Hobsbawm, E. J. The Age of Empire 1875-1914. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1987.
Porter, Andrew. European Imperialism, 1860-1914. London: Macmillan Press, 1994.
World History
