The Technologies That Helped Expand Europes Empires

“Building the railway from Sekondi to the gold mining region of the Western Gold Coast”; New York Public Library, strucID 1149574 european nations had begun to expand before the nineteenth century, however, it wasn ’ t until the industrial revolution midway through the hundred that european expansionism accelerated. Whilst the industrial rotation, born out of discoveries in both skill and engineering, was at the heart of this expansionism, it was besides fuelled by a aggressive population, which increased the need for land, natural resources and food. There was a force by european nations to expand their colonies in order to access resources, acquire land and control new trade routes. Technology was a major factor, specially in the latter years, contributing to and facilitating the rise of european imperialism. The introduction of steam power, raw factory and farming techniques, new mining and extraction methods and newfangled medicines, equally well as changes in military technology enabled this, creating dynamic contest, as european states searched and competed for newfangled resources, markets and wealth. Whilst engineering provided european nations with the ability to expand, it besides contributed to an increase in colonial uprisings and inter-state dispute adenine well as increasing the want for higher national spend.

Steam Power

One of the most normally mentioned and most significant technical advances was the introduction of steam power. Steam ships gave nations a huge advantage in terms of “ penetration and conquest of non-Western areas ”. They allowed troops and merchants to access hard-to-get-to places, deep in down, through rivers that previous sailing boats and warships would have found very difficult to sail through. A adept exemplar, demonstrating steam embark capabilities, was the Honourable East India Company ’ randomness habit of them in “ the first large-scale river war in modern history… against the Kingdom of Burma. ” able to move 500 miles into Burma, these ships were a meaning serve in winning the war and at a faster accelerate than if they had been without them. This achiever led to an increase in production of steam powered gunships to aid in the old age of imperialism. They were late used with annihilative effect during the beat for Africa to gain access deep inland. In contrast, before steam ships, nations had to come ashore at the coast to begin the process of colonization. This demonstrated the baron of steam and its significance in aiding european powers to promptly and efficaciously conquer lands ; not fair on the coasts but deeply in land, where resources were more ample .The steamboat Daily; University of Washington digital image collection

Industrialisation

industrialization in Europe had a considerable impact on the constitution of a global economy. During the nineteenth Century, many european countries became significant exporters of goods, leading to a smash in ball-shaped trade. This gave rise to newly trade and fiscal policies and the transport revolution. Currencies were fixed to the gold standard making them more fasten. “ Between 1850 and 1914 world deal increased by about 600 per penny ”, due to the increase in department of agriculture, textile mills and manufacturing within Europe. All of this demand raw materials and resources in order to produce goods in the right quantity. This increase in demand caused a rush to set up newfangled deal routes and consequently, colonialisation became even more authoritative to the search for newly resources. This industrial technical advancement spurred the old age of imperialism and helped to far colonial expansion. furthermore, once colonies had been established, fresh manufacture and agrarian technologies and railroads were put to use, within the colonies, to speed up the add chain, which led to an increase in the demand for security and stability, in turning generating employment for autochthonal people .

Military Technology

The development of military engineering, during the nineteenth century, was a major factor in successful colonial expansion. once european powers realised the likely of steam ships, they altered them by building boats made of iron alternatively of woodwind, to provide more auspices and to be more bouncy. They added mounted guns and skyrocket launchers, with the ability to swivel on the decks, making them much more able of destruction. Their first major use was in the Opium war in 1840 where the british used them, against an deficient chinese united states navy. It resulted in the british easily capturing Fort of the Bogue, which allowed them to work their way through the rivers “ destroying junks, bombarding forts, and terrorizing the population. ” The developments in Naval war were used to such annihilative effect that Britain was able “ to impose her will on China ” and create trade wind deals entirely in her prefer ; this was of considerable importance in securing Britain ’ s colonial expansion.

There were besides major developments in bring war and firearms. Flintlock muskets, bayonets and artillery were abandoned and replaced with breech and magazine load rifles and the maxim gun, both of which provided a much higher rate of fire. Combined with the insertion of rifling this dramatically increased weapon accuracy and effect. These technological adaptations provided Britain with an overpower superiority over most enemies. They were used with a devastating effect in Africa, where autochthonal weaponry was nowhere near deoxyadenosine monophosphate advanced as the Europeans. For exercise, in the 1879 Zulu war, a little number of british troops were able to defeat an african united states army number in the tens of thousands. This demonstrates the baron that modern military engineering can have over an enemy and how important it was to have a military advantage over the colonies. military dominance provided increased security, making it much easier and faster to move people, goods and resources, all fundamental to the expansion of colonial empires .A painting depicting a battle during the Anglo-Zulu War

Medicine

Medicine proved to be highly helpful to colonial expansion particularly during the ‘ Scramble for Africa ’ as none of the european troops were immune to african diseases, such as Malaria. Soldiers would often die from malaria without facing an enemy, inhibiting Europe ’ s ability to colonise Africa. This was until quinine prophylaxis was discovered. It was a boastfully respite in medical technical research. Whilst it didn ’ t wholly cure malaria, it prevented many people from dying and kept them available for security duties. This progress ultimately enabled european nations to invade Africa without the threat of disease seriously affecting their expansion .

The Negative Effects of Technology

Whilst engineering facilitated colonial expansion, it besides directly led to more conflict in the contest for land, resources and trade routes. More wars and uprisings occurred as a result. A good exemplar is the Boer War in 1899 when Afrikaners rose up against the british government in South Africa. They proved to be a much more formidable fighting force than the british anticipated. They had been supplied with like weapons to those of the british and this meant more soldiers had to be deployed to South Africa, which in turn, dramatically increased the spend of Britain.

To Conclude…

Advancements in technology clearly had a significant separate to play in facilitating european colonial expansion through the learning of steam power, industrialization, a global economy, music and military technology. These adaptations enabled nations to access new lands, acquire resources and protect barter routes. technology provided the means to penetrate deeply into the heart of new lands and to acquire and distribute resources faster. It besides allowed for better checkup protection and treatment which enabled a more productive manufacture and military work force. military technological advantage gave the colonize powers considerable advantage over its enemies. It allowed for the build of new military bases and outposts, a well as the creation of potent military forces, that could provide the constancy and security required to enable growing prosperity in Europes expanding empires .