A new appetite of territory expansion was observed among European empires in the nineteenth century. Several European countries participated in the race of empire building. In this round of expansion plans, these empires competed to one another and after a number of war expeditions and treaties, established their colonies in various parts of Asia and Africa. Their expansion plan was instigated by several needs and it was not possible for these countries to close their eyes to these demands. There were more than a few factors behind the spreading out plans of European empires and in this paper we would examine all the related aspects.
New markets
All the European countries were looking for new trading centers and a market to sell their goods. After the industrial revolution in European countries their own markets were flooded with new products and saturated. It was a matter of concern and to sell their products in other markets was a need of time which almost compelled these countries to hunt for new markets. Asia and Africa were good options for European countries because these newly made products were new-fangled in all the ways for the markets of these continents since these Asian African countries were still unaware to the concept of industrialization.
Raw material and cheap labor
After industrial revolution in European countries they started facing the dearth of Raw materials for their products. Their machines were getting modern and hungrier day by day but raw material was not available in that proportion for these machines. This requirement forced the European countries to look for new places from where the raw material could be supplied for their industries. Another associated factor was the lack of cheap labor in these countries. European countries have heard and learnt enormous from the early expeditions of Marco polo and other travelers about the population in these continents and decided to bring manual workers from these places. Thousands of people from Asia Africa regions were lugged in European countries as free laborers.
Christianity
European countries considered their moral duty to spread out the Christianity across the world and in the continents of Africa and Asia they witnessed success in their mission. People of these countries were very poor, illiterate and suffering from hundreds of problems. These people proved to be a good target for the missionaries and were persuaded to embrace Christianity.
Territorial strength and Prestige
The pursuit which was initially started for materialistic purposes, turned out later in the game of power and prestige among European countries. All the European imperialist powers started capturing on the maximum part of land and in this course also fought wars. England, France, Spain and other powers kept fighting for years in the course of their supremacy in several parts of Asia and Africa. The whole affair became a question of supremacy and no one was ready to compromise with their prestige.
Conclusion
Having observed the abovementioned expeditions of European countries in the continents of Africa and Asia and their motives behind that, it is easy to say that though a number of European countries started expeditions in the several parts of Asia Africa continents but finally the England was proved to be ahead among all. The empire of England was spread in larger parts of both the continents and their supremacy was maintained for more than two centuries, though they start a bit late but lasted long.
References
"New Imperialism in Africa and Asia: Culture and Colonialism." salemstate. 28 October 2011
Peter Blunt and Merrick L. Jones. "Exploring the limits of Western leadership theory in East Asia and Africa." Personnel Review (1997): 6 - 23.
Wesseling, H. L. Imperialism and Colonialism. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1997.
