British Imperialism - The cause

British Imperialism - The cause

In the nineteenth century, Britain had a huge empire, extending to many different regions of the globe. Before 1869’s, Britain only controlled a small amount of land in Africa. The British concentrated on imperialism in other, more profitable places around the world; places that would give them ore markets for trade and more opportunity to increase their economy. Suddenly, the British were annexing land in places like Egypt and South Africa; in 1869, these were places that did not have monetary value.

The British economy has always depended heavily on trade, and Britain did want the West Coast of Africa for its palm oil. They took control of it simply because the native political structure was too unstable for good commerce without British control. For trade purposes, they concentrated on practicing imperialism in India and the Caribbean. Since the slave trade in Europe was stamped out in the 1830’s, the British were not very interested in Africa. People had been one of the few resources they were interested in. However, after the 1870’s, the motivations behind British imperialism in Africa changed drastically, for several reasons. Probably the greatest reason the British annexed land in Africa after 1869 was to protect their biggest money maker: India. In 1869 the French completed the Suez canal in Egypt. In 1875 the British gained the control of Egypt. The British also annexed south Africa in 1877. Once again, the motivation behind this was the fear of losing India to another country. Capetown was an essential stop on the route of India. The British didn’t fear losing South Africa – there was nothing there except Boers and Zulus. Nothing there, that is, until 1870 – gold and diamonds were discovered. The British decided to annex all of South Africa to save their route to India. They endured a crushing defeat at the hands on the Zulus at Isandlwana (mountain in South Africa) in 1879, and went to war with the Boers in 1899. Keeping India was essential to Britain’s survival as an empire.

Before the 1870’s, the British had very little competition in gathering colonies-Germany and Italy were not unified, the French very busy fighting with the Prussians, and the revolutions of 1848 created internal instability in other European countries. They didn’t have any interest in external affairs. However, by 1871 Germany and Italy were unified. In order to encourage the French, Bismarck, who had never wanted colonies before, began some imperialism in Africa. France quickly followed. The English were suddenly faced with competition. They felt if they did not take over land first, the Germans or the French would and thus take away they markets They also believed that if Britain didn’t expand, she would lose the colonies she already had to Germany and France. Because of this, the British mentality was that the Germans and French forced them to expand to save the empire. An economic depression in Europe in the 1870’s and the 1880’s didn’t help matters. The British believed that markets were scarce because foreigners (especially Germans) were taking them all, and if other countries cut Britain off in foreign trade, she would no longer be economically first, no longer an empire. So, in 1883 the British divided up the Niger with France, and began taking colonies in 1884 out of fear after Germany claimed Togo and Cameroon as protectorates. They tried to take control of the Sudan while supporting the Italians against Menelik in 1896. The British also had an excuse for their imperialism; many of the colonies were supported by trade and not by taxpayers. In short, land was cheap. After 1890, the reasons behind British imperialism in Africa were the same, with a new added. The British had no allies. Colonies would provide them with allies around the world. They believed that they were already in an economic war with Germany, and a real war would not be far behind. Some referred to imperialism as gearing up for war.

From 1869 until nearly the start of World War I, the British practiced imperialism in Africa out of fear of losing their empire. They took South Africa and Egypt to keep India from being stolen, and they annexed other parts of Africa (such as areas around the Niger) to compete economically with France and Germany, and keep the land they already had from being taken by France and Germany. They also annexed land in order to have allies in case a war should start. The British claimed they didn’t want to practice imperialism; that Germany and France forced them to do it to keep their empire. Maybe so, but fear of losing the British economic status and the British empire to Germany and France, not Germany and France forcing imperialism down the English people’s throat, seems to be the better answer to why the British practiced imperialism in Africa from 1869 to 1913.