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European expansion into Africa in the 19th century transformed African history significantly. The European influence on the African continent began with the entry of missionaries and traders between 1808 and 1880, but the impact was minimal (Boahen 127). The drive behind Europeans’ presence in Africa is evident through the African countries’ reaction to the intrusion. Khapoya asserts that African states struggled to retain their political values through African nationalism (139). Accordingly, the need to enhance economic stability and European nationalism motivated Africa’s colonization, as demonstrated in this discussion.
European countries identified Africa as the best market place to trade European commodities. Due to the rapid development, there was a “need for new markets for surplus manufactured goods caused by the spread of the industrial revolution” (Boahen 129). As many industries occurred in Europe, the producers required a place to dispose of the overproduction, and Africa was the right area. Thus, European powers encroached on Africa in search of a market to dominate to attain the supply-demand equilibrium.
Europeans struggled to rule Africa to control the valuable raw materials to meet the manufacturing requirements. The pace of industries’ emergence introduced the worry of low availability of crucial resources. In this respect, the motive “was not so much on overproduction of factory goods in Europe as an undersupply of raw materials” (Boahen 129). Consequently, obtaining a colony allowed the colonizer to control raw materials in that territory for regular supply to the home factories.
Industrialization in Europe lead to wealth accumulation, and nations required a place to invest the acquired monies. Consequently, Europeans expanded to Africa, looking for places to invest the surplus capital (Boahen 129). Although it was not straightforward that African countries are the best places to keep stakes, colonizing them could offer multiple investment opportunities. Thus, in the hunt for where to put the massive profits, Europeans opted to capture colonies as capital stores.
European states fought for the African countries to supplement the territorial expansion in Europe. The creation of a power balance in Europe in the post-Russo-Turkish war was constrained European nations from expanding their political influence within the continent (Boahen 129). Appropriately, the rise of European nationalism forced countries to seek other spaces to govern. In this case, “the expansion along the line of least resistance was made almost inevitable by the second and the greatest of the operating political force, namely the force of nationalism” (Boahen 130). Therefore, going for African countries was a strategy to compensate for political growth.
European powers battled for the African share to demonstrate their strength. Other parts of the world were resilient for the Europeans to conquer and rule, and African happened to be the less-resistive area. Subsequently, European nations began the race to administer as many African homelands as possible. “The more colonies a nation-state had, the more powerful and great she was considered to be” (Boahen 130). Accordingly, the scramble for Africa was an expression of the European countries’ authority level.
The European-lead partition of Africa was unavoidable due to the rapid transformations that were occurring in Europe during the 19th century. Europe experienced industrial development ahead of Africa, and the latter served as the lead consumer of the European goods, a perfect source of the essential raw materials and an investment hub. Additionally, because of European nationalism, Africa became the battleground for measuring the nations’ political might, where the number of colonies acquired signified the supremacy level. Accordingly, the European scramble for African territories was the best strategy to support sustainable economic and political development in Europe.
Works Cited
Boahen, Adu. Topics in West African History. Longman, 1966.
Khapoya, Vincent B. “African Nationalism and the Struggle for Freedom.” The African Experience: An Introduction. 4th ed., Routledge, 2015, pp. 139-168.
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