European imperialism
European imperialism refers to the period during which European powers expanded their influence and control over various regions across the globe, beginning notably with Christopher Columbus's voyages in 1492. This marked the initiation of the Spanish Empire, which was soon followed by other nations like France, Great Britain, and the Netherlands as they claimed territories in the Americas and beyond. The 19th century saw intensified imperial competition, exemplified by Britain's extensive colonial expansion and the establishment of the Second British Empire, as well as the rise of the German Empire after the Franco-Prussian War.
By the late 1800s, the "Scramble for Africa" highlighted fierce rivalries among European nations for dominance on the continent. However, the culmination of these imperial pursuits contributed to the onset of World War I. The war's aftermath heralded a decline in European imperialism, as empires such as Great Britain and France began to grant self-determination to their colonies, partly due to the economic strains of the war. The process of decolonization accelerated after World War II, leading to significant independence movements in Asia and Africa, with many nations gaining sovereignty in the mid-20th century. By the early 1960s, the era of colonialism had largely come to an end, reshaping the political landscape and relationships between former colonies and their colonizers.
European imperialism
The major rise of European imperialism began in 1492 with Christopher Columbus's exploration of the Americas for Spain. Following this, Spain and other nations, such as France and England, aggressively sought to claim territories in America and elsewhere. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the forceful imperialism of empires such as Germany and Austria-Hungary brought all of Europe into conflict and contributed to the outbreak of World War I. European imperialism gradually declined after the war and had disappeared entirely in the years following World War II.
The Age of Exploration
In 1492, the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, sailing for Spain, explored the islands of the Caribbean Sea. This marked the beginning of the Spanish Empire. Spanish soldiers and missionaries soon invaded the Caribbean and southwestern America in great numbers, colonizing the land and subjugating the Indigenous people. Wealth was the main objective of this imperialism, as Spain confiscated North American resources for itself and took control of trade in the areas where it owned colonies.
In time, France, Great Britain, and the Netherlands followed this trend. The French, led by notable explorers such as Jacques Cartier, explored and colonized much of Canada in northern North America. In the early 1600s, the British settled Jamestown, Virginia, and later expanded into thirteen North American colonies. Around the same time, Britain also colonized the West Indies and India, where it founded the British East India Company to oversee the territory. By this point, Great Britain had become the dominant empire in Europe, but it fell from this status in 1783 after losing the American colonies during the Revolutionary War. This marked the end of the First British Empire.
The 1800s
One of the most obvious examples of nineteenth-century European imperialism was the First French Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte, which began in 1804. During his reign as emperor, Napoleon was almost constantly at war with England, but he also managed impressive victories over Germany, Austria, and Russia. By the 1810s, the territory of the French Empire covered Spain, Prussia (the future Germany), Italy, Austria, and areas of Eastern Europe, such as Poland. Following his failed invasion of Russia in 1812, Napoleon began losing more battles to the combined forces of his enemies until he was completely defeated in Paris in 1814 and then again in 1815 after a brief return to power.
After the defeat of Napoleon, the Second British Empire, which had been formed after the American Revolution in the 1780s, became the primary imperial power in Europe. Great Britain had already begun expanding its global colonial holdings to previously unseen extents. By the 1780s, it had claimed both Australia and New Zealand for itself. In the early 1800s, Britain began moving into Chinese territory, and the British government superseded the East India Company as direct governor of India in 1857. While the British Empire was enjoying this period of renewed colonial expansion, other European powers were poised for their own large-scale growth.
By 1870, Prussia was growing in power as it began to unite its various states under one rule. But the influence of France in the region prevented Prussia from uniting entirely. To combat this, Prussian chancellor Otto von Bismarck provoked the French into declaring war on Prussia, and the Franco-Prussian War that resulted became one of Prussia's greatest victories. With France's defeat came Prussia's complete unification, and 1871 marked the beginning of the German Empire.
Unlike Great Britain, Germany did not seek to accumulate a wealth of overseas territories but rather began to secure domination of the European continent by expanding eastward. Meanwhile, the British Empire had continued to grow. In 1876, Queen Victoria became the empress of India, solidifying Britain's domination of the Indian subcontinent. In the 1880s, Britain eagerly joined rivals France and the Netherlands in what became known as the Scramble for Africa, a period in which the great European imperial powers occupied, divided, and colonized Africa. By the early 1900s, the British and French colonies had become particularly extensive, with British lands ranging from Egypt in the Northeast to South Africa in the South and a large swath of French territory established in West Africa.
The End of Imperialism
By 1914, the struggles between the various European empires for control of the continent and the world had intensified to such a degree that World War I broke out. By 1918, Great Britain, France, Russia, and the United States had defeated the powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. The end of the war brought the destruction of the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires and signaled the decline of European imperialism. In the years that followed, the empires of Great Britain and France conceded to a policy of granting their colonies self-determination, or the power of a country to govern itself. This was due, in part, to the fact that the financial costs of World War I made it nearly impossible for these empires to continue maintaining their colonies throughout the world.
The process of decolonization continued after the end of World War II in 1945. During that war, Germany had risen up again to conquer Europe. However, the allied forces—which included the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union—defeated the Germans after six years of fighting. Germany's invasion of many sovereign European nations convinced Britain and France that the era of empire needed to end.
In 1947, Great Britain granted independence to India and Pakistan. The British then awarded independence to the Republic of Ireland in 1949 and granted freedom to the majority of their African and West Indies colonies in the 1950s and 1960s. France also relinquished its African territories during this period. The early 1960s are generally recognized as the official end of the worldwide colonial and imperial eras.
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