Key Concept 3.5
A variety of motives and methods led to the intensification of European global control and increased tensions among the Great Powers.
European nations were driven by economic, political, and cultural motivations in their new imperial ventures in Asia and Africa.
European national rivalries and strategic concerns fostered imperial expansion and competition for colonies.
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The search for raw materials and markets for manufactured goods, as well as strategic and nationalistic considerations, drove European to colonize Africa and Asia, even as European colonies in the Americas broke free politically, if not economically.
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Europeans justified imperialism through an ideology of cultural and racial superiority.
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Industrial and technological developments facilitated European control of global empires. (The Second Industrial Revolution)
The development of advanced weaponry invariably ensured the military superiority of Europeans over colonized areas.
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Communication and transportation technologies allowed for the creation of European empires. Advances in medicine supported European control of Africa and Asia by preserving European lives.
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Imperial endeavors significantly affected society, diplomacy, and culture in Europe and created resistance to foreign control abroad.
Imperialism created diplomatic tensions among European states that strained alliance systems.
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Imperial encounters with non-european peoples influenced the styles and subject matter of artists and writers and provoked debate over the acquisition of colonies.
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As non-Europeans became educated in Western values, they challenged European imperialism through nationalist movements and/or by modernizing their own economies and societies.
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