1. In what ways did the Industrial Revolution shape the character of nineteenth-century European imperialism?
Behind most of Europes nineteenth century expansion was the basis of the Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution led to new economic needs which the Europeans easily found a solution to. There was a high demand for extensive raw materials and agricultural products and the Europeans would collect these from external countries. They would get wheat from the American Midwest and Southern Russia, meat from Argentina, bananas from Central America, rubber from Brazil, cocoa and palm oil from West Africa, tea from Ceylon, and gold and diamonds from South Africa. Eventually there was a change in the pattern of European economics and the social life in Europe. Apart from the high demand in importing goods Europe also needed to sell its own products. Industrial Capitalism periodically produced more manufactured goods than Europeans could afford to buy and by 1840 Britain was exporting sixty percent of the cotton available to them. The Industrial revolution made overseas expansion more necessary and provided new means for making these things possible. What really helped imperialism expand in Europe was the growth and spread of mass nationalism. Imperialism benefited economic and social grounds to the wealthy and looked politically and strategically needed for the international power politics.
Colonial rule was established in Asia and Africa instead of the Western Hemisphere and it included Germany, Belgium, Italy, the United States, and Japan. While these countries were gaining rule in Africa and Asia, the Spanish and Portuguese who led the conquering of the Western Hemisphere now played smaller roles. The European empires in Africa and Asia included the idea of a military force and in the nineteenth century the Europeans had access to firepower and other strong weapons. The Europeans in Afro-Eurasia however were different in the sense that they preferred informal control instead of a large colonial takeover. Although the Europeans had a strong military system and an advantage in