all right it's time for a new wave of imperialism in European history so I reckon we ought to talk about why the Europeans did it which is to say their motivations and how the Europeans did it which is to say their method so if you're ready to get them brain cows milked let's get to so remember that when this course began in 1450 there was a surge in European imperialism as Western European states began sailing west across the Atlantic and East into the Indian Ocean and in this period there is a new wave of European imperialism and it's going to focus on Africa and Asia Now by definition imperialism is when one country extends political dominance over another country and why would another country want to do that well I got three reasons for it oh and if you're studying for an exam don't forget to check out my AP Euro review pack which is everything you need to get an A in your class and a five on your exam in May Link in description okay the first motivation for the second wave of European imperialism was economic now remember many of the states in Western Europe were in the Heyday of the Industrial Revolution during this period and they were getting fabulously wealthy as a result but in order to keep those factories working states needed two things raw materials and markets they needed raw materials like cotton and rubber and iron in order to make the final manufactured goods coming out of the factory once a nation had tapped all their own resources they went looking in other places of the world to get those raw materials so there was a significant motivation there for the new Imperial events but once the goods were finished they also needed people to buy those manufactured goods and when the markets at home became saturated they needed to go take over other countries so they could open those new markets and other places for example once the British government took control over India after the sepoy rebellion in 1857 they began to exploit the Indians to gain valuable raw materials not least cut but also since there was something like 300 million people living in India the British now had 300 million people to whom they could sell those manufactured textiles and the wealth came pouring into the British coffers as a result starting in this period the British colonized a few places in West Africa and then a huge swath of territory right down the Eastern side of the entire continent in Africa the British were mainly interested in gaining access to raw materials like coal and oil and copper the British also turned their imperialistic gaze upon China but in China they engaged in economic imperialism rather than political imperialism and the story went a little something like the British trade with the Chinese was fundamentally out of balance the Brits wanted Chinese T by the metric but low but there wasn't as much the Chinese wanted from the British so his British money is flowing into China there is no Chinese money flowing into Britain and that's going to be a problem for the British now I'd like to tell you that the British addressed this issue by asking the Chinese what kinds of products they wanted and then used Innovative thinking to create Goods that the Chinese wanted in the trade imbalance was corrected but that's not what the British did instead they began smuggling the highly addictive drug called opium into China from India and it didn't take long for the Chinese to get hooked on this drug and because India had prime growing conditions for opium the British illegally imported it into China by the metric Butler but if that sounds a little underhanded to you well then the Chinese officials of that time would agree with you in 1839 the Chinese government seized like 20 000 pounds of opium being imported into China and destroyed and along with a couple other smaller incidents this event led to the first Opium War between Britain and China now China had been exceedingly sluggish when it came to adapting to the new industrial world but not Britain remember Britain was essentially the first mover in the industrial revolution and so they had a much greater advantage in Weaponry against the Chinese needless to say the British won this war and the second Opium War which also included France and forcibly opened trading rights into China okay now the second motivation for the second wave of imperialism was political now I've been talking a lot about Britain because they were arguably the big dog of the second wave of European imperialism but that doesn't mean that other European States didn't get in on the party too several European nations were clamoring for territory in Africa including the French and the Dutch and the belgians and this became known as the Scramble for Africa this dirty clamoring for African territory began to cause significant tension among these states once the interior of Africa was mapped by agents of Belgian King Leopold European States raced to claim territories before other states got to them and that would cause significant tension that we're going to consider in the next video and the third motivation for the second wave of imperialism was a belief in racial superiority recall a couple videos ago when we talked about the budding racialist philosophy called social Darwinism by the late 19th century that ideology had taken full route and provided the motivation for strong nations with Advanced civilizations that you know at least that's how they sell themselves to take over weak nations with primitive civilization like when you contrasted the wealth and power that industrialized nations in Europe had accumulated with the relative poverty of places in Africa a social darwiness would conclude that clearly Western nations were Superior Western Nations have adapted better to their environment and thus are not only surviving but Thrive therefore if the strong eat the Weak by the laws of nature why shouldn't the strong Nations eat the weak Nation but if you would ask these Europeans directly if what they were doing was morally wrong yeah they would have laughed of course it's not wrong and one of the main reasons is because they truly believe they were bringing the glories of Western Civilization to bear on people who desperately needed it the French term for this was the mission which one being translated means the civilizing mission in other words by European Reckoning imperialism was good for the colonized because they got access to the best culture the world had to offer and probably the clearest manifestation of the beliefs of European racial superiority is a poem by Rudyard Kipling called White Man's Burden entity talks about the peoples of Africa and calls them half devil and half child therefore the white man ought to send the best ye breed in order to serve your captives need and so if this was the belief Imperial Nations clung to then it was not an evil to imperialize another weaker Nation but rather benevolent in Mercy to bring them the glories of Western culture now I probably don't need to tell you that Africans and Asians were not as jazzed about the glories of Western culture as the Europeans were in fact in many cases they put up stiff resistance against European intrusion into their Homeland but unfortunately Europeans had several advantages that gave them the upper hand against those who resist the First Advantage Europeans had was Advanced weapons and I cannot emphasize enough just how much the Industrial Revolution contributed to this Advantage guns were updated to include a rifled barrel which means there were spiral grooves cut along the inside of them which increased the accuracy of the show Additionally the mini ball was invented which was a conical bullet which was more accurate and did way more damage than the traditional musket additional Europeans manufactured the breach loading rifle in which bullets could be loaded much quicker and they had access to machine gun technology which could fire hundreds of rounds at great speed the point is Europeans had weapons that could deliver lead into the bodies of those who oppose them much quicker than anyone who resisted the second Advantage Europeans had was new communication and transportation technology communication was enhanced by the speed of the telegraph graph and the ability to run cables under the water and at Great length this enabled coordination in both conquering territory and maintaining power once it was conquered and once territories were conquered imperializing Nations got to work quickly building up infrastructure the most significant of which was Railroad in this way raw materials and manufactured goods could be transported in and out and around these colonies with great speed and the third Advantage Europeans had was advances in medicine now the reason Europeans hadn't pushed into the interior of Africa prior to this was because of a disease found there called malaria but thanks to French scientists who discovered that quinine could fend off the disease Europeans could invade the interior of Africa without fear of Contracting additionally thanks to the work of French chemist Louis Pasteur Europeans finally began to understand what caused diseases he discovered the germ theory of disease which said that people got sick or you know amputated limbs got infected or whatever because of tiny microorganisms called germs once you discovered this a new Revolution in hospital care emerged in which antiseptics were used in cleanliness and surgical tools was Paramount I know that sounds pretty great but in terms of imperialism that meant that European troops could be vaccinated against diseases and thus remain healthier here on the battlefield and if they got hurt then they would have a much better chance of survival Okay click here to keep reviewing for AP Euro unit 7. additionally click here if you want note guys to follow along with these videos so you can actually learn the material I'm giving and hey I'll catch you on the flip flop I'm around