On Imperialism and Colonialism

Imperialism is the idea or theory of extending authority or exercising sovereignty or influence over external territories through political or economic means for the expansion of an empire. This could be in form of indirect rule through indigenous local authority.

The Berlin Conference in 1884 – 1885 marked the beginning of Imperialism in Africa. Africa was a continent known for its vast natural resources and Europe lacked resources to fuel their Industrial revolution. Germany, England, France, Spain, Belgium, and Italy decided to share the African continent into territories to get access to these resources. This was known as the “Scramble for Africa”.

The National prestige of Empire extension, Social Darwinism and “the White Man’s burden” for civilization were other political and cultural reasons that fueled imperialism. However, these reasons in themselves were egotistic and lead to other inhumane treatment of the locals.

On the other hand, Colonialism is the action taken to implement forced rule over territories. This involved Movement of people to conquered territories, forced rule of the locals through military or political means and exploitation of the local resources.

Although the partitioning of Africa had been done during the Berlin Conference (1884-1885), it took some time before the start of the rapid colonization as Africa posed difficult to conquer.  Africa had relatively large armies with relatively good weapons at that time, the tough terrain for Europeans and presence of mosquitoes and microbes which the Europeans had no solution.

Inventions like the Maxim Machine gun between 1884 and 1886 and discoveries of Quinine as an anti-malaria substance aided the colonial warfare in Africa.

Any form of Imperialism and Colonialism is a malicious tool for any government or authority to use on any group of people. The Impacts of Imperialism plaque the world. Issues of racial segregation, religious segregation, the class system and social unevenness have roots in Imperialism as these were tool used on the locals in other to implement an indirect rule or "divide to conquer" strategies. An example is the segregation in Rwandan people by Beguim which ultimately lead to the genocide. It is unacceptable that the world still has a subtle version of imperialism. 

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