History: European Imperialism in Africa

European Imperialism in Africa    

I recently read an article about European colonial expansion during1885-1914 and European imperialism in Africa. A fact that shocked me the most was that by 1914, Great Britain had almost 40% of Africa’s population under its control and used Africa as a new market for manufactured goods that were used to be sold for high prices in Europe. For European countries such as Britain, France and Portugal, this colonial expansion in Africa represented a good opportunity to control strategic African waterways like Suez Canal and to use a cheap labor force. In addition, European powers tended to civilize Africa with their “white man’s” ideology and culture through language, religion and traditions. The impending domination of Europeans was eventually leading to the destruction of African culture, values and social customs.

Moreover, the concept of Eurocentrism was also raised in the article since it explained that African people were depicted as inferior to the European people and were divided up with no respect for any cultural or ethnic boundaries. As a result, these divisions have led to continued conflicts in many African republics.

Hence, instead of posting the link of this article, since it is not in English, I am posting the link of a video talking about European imperialism in Africa. I think it would be much more interesting for you guys to watch a four minutes video instead of reading the whole article, since it raises the same facts and the same ideas that in the stated above article.

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJe1W_HIWmA