Reasons+for+Imperialism

(everyone contributes) || Great Britain (British) || France (French) ||< Netherlands (Dutch) || Belgium (Belgian) || Elaborate on each reason with evidence found in your case study. Don't forget to cite your sources. Just click on edit and start typing in the appropriate box. It will enlarge as you type.
 * Reason || General Explanation
 * Economic || Foreign Trade. Controlling an economy to take the money back to a monarch. || Getting resources like lumber from Canadian colonies, refining it and selling it back to citizens of the mother country and then back to citizens of the colony from where it came. Many European businesses required a labor force which some Aboriginal traditions did not support, such as potlatch. The British not only exploited the indigenous people as a source for labor workers, but they had taken over their colony's economy as a way to ensure that the money ultimately benefited the British Monarchy, therefore increasing the wealth of the empire. Also, they built trading posts in their colonies and visited their regularly to keep the flow of supply or raw materials to the mother country. || The French wanted to enhance their economy to help recover from the Great Depression. In addition, France wanted more resources and goods. ||< The Dutch introduced many different products (such as coffee, tea, cacao, etc.), which resulted in the labour of peasants. The goods were then sold and shipped to European merchants. || Belgium took part in the infamous "Scramble for Africa". All of the countries involved were interested in colonizing select parts of Africa for the available recourses, and labour work forces. ||
 * Political || To spread their systems of government, and to ensure that the government was controllable by the mother country. || European countries thought their lifestyle was the best way of life, so governments wanted to expand and colonized countries would adopt government and political system to expand over other European cultures to become dominant, as they were power hungry. Also, in spreading their political systems, the British were able to ensure that they still had power over the government, to stop the colony's government from becoming strong enough to overpower the British rule. Even after they gave in dependency to a country like Sudan, they kept their government under control and continued to influence their political system. || As the French and British were two competing powers in Europe, France wanted to block Great Britain's expansion in West Africa. ||< To make sure that the mother country played a large role in the government, up until 1848, the monarch chose the Governor General. ||  ||
 * Religious || God given duty. || Sent missionaries around world to assimilate and spread the word of god, like Cortez going to mexico and assimilating the aztecs for spain, and also Himself. || The most predominate religion that was practiced in france was Roman Catholic which was spread through imperialism. ||< The main religions that the citizen's practiced were: Buddhism, Christianity, Hindu, and Islam. || The religion that was practiced by the majority in Belgium was Roman Catholic which was spread around africa. ||
 * Nationalism || Patriotic feelings towards one's own Country and the Monarch || [|British settlers believed that it's their duty to make their monarch rich and their nation wealthy. After they got their permission from a Feudal Monarch to claim and exploit the land, they did their best to extract as much resources as possible which resulted in ignoring the rights of indigenous peoples.] ||  ||< Only in the first half of the 20th century, Indonesia began to develop some sort of national pride.In 1927, the Indonesian National Party was formed, and it was devoted to independence. ||   ||
 * Eurocentric || Spreading European lifestyle to as many parts of the world as possible || Forcing assimilation instead of letting the Indigenous peoples voluntarily transition. Sent Catholic missonaries to convert religions, brought goods and clothing from Europe and sold it to the original inhabitants of the land. Wanted to "civilize" those who did not follow the European ways. || As Europeans believed that their culture and lifestyle was superior to all others, the French wanted to civilize those who lived in West Africa. ||< Even though most European countries forced language and culture on to the citizen's, only two percent of the population spoke Dutch. || As Belgium began to colonize in parts of Africa, such as Congo, it became evident to the locals in these countries and villages, that to prosper in this new European controlled society, they would be forced to assimilate. ||