Imperialism in Africa and Asia
Imperialism in Africa and Asia
The entry of European nations to Afro-Asian-Indian countries in the 15th century, and the later years brought both positive and negative impacts on these cultures. When they invaded, they took with them ideologies as well as innovations to Afro-Asian- Indian countries. There were challenges as well as tremendous changes which took place in the regions that the European colonialists entered. The European military provided a way of fighting the resistance of the hostile communities. The strong economic power of the European nations also was a contributing factor for their ability of accessing these nations. It finally led to strong opposition as well as adaptation by the communities as they took the western culture as modernity.
Impact of western modernity
Impact of western modernity refers to the way in which the traditional cultures were affected by the western civilization. The embrace of western culture has been considered as civilization and anything outside it is viewed as backwardness. Asia, Africa as well as India were among the countries that experienced the effect of colonialism and imperialism. Much of the effects can be traced back to 1945 even though there are other nations whose effects can be traced earlier than that (Craig et al, 847). Western modernity was not speedily accepted since it came at a time when the local communities had their own well established social, religious and political traditions. There was a slow transformation as they tried to balance between the challenges of modernity with their traditional lifestyles. African nations for instance are good examples of the countries who by adapting European ideologies managed to come up with strong African leaders. Some of the leaders are like Mwalimu Julius Nyerere (1922-1999) of Tanzania and Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya (1889-1978). These leaders managed to study outside their countries and when they came back they became prominent freedom fighters. Some of these leaders of the twentieth century got the opportunity of learning abroad and this was an opportunity of learning the European system of governance which became a weapon for fighting the colonialists. The colonial imperial experience had an intention of instilling confidence among the people affected by the west dominance. The African movements which came up after 1945 were modeled after the European and American systems and not their indigenous ones. Their purpose was to find away of chasing the colonialists but not to go back fully to their earlier lifestyles. They purposed to have the Europeans go then inherit the systems which the European had put in place. The Africans faced serious exploitation in the hands of the Europeans. There was a rise in poverty among the nations especially the African nations who could work for the Europeans yet were poorly paid. Although they were negatively affected, there were also positive impacts for instance, the European allowed these nations to enjoy the advancement in technology. For example the construction of the railway lines was not only an asset to the Europeans but also to those that they were colonizing. Africans also lost some of their cultures and instead took in the European's cultured some of which was done willingly yet others were forced. In Africa still one of the impacts of western modernity was the rise of nationalism which occurred after World War I. Despite the different tribes and cultural divisions, the African nations were ready to forget all about their differences and work together as a team.In India, the effect was mainly economic since India was integrated into the British economy. In addition its raw materials were taken to Britain as well as other products from the country. It was also negatively affected in that the policies put in place led to deforestation that led to India becoming a peasant farming region.
How they managed to enter the cultures.
Europeans faced lots of opposition as they entered both India and Africa among other colonized nations. India is a multicultural nation and so it was difficult to penetrate. The British therefore looked for a multipronged plan to help them go through. They planned to extract raw materials from this community at a very low cost and encouraged the local community that by cooperating with them, they would benefit a lot since they were there for their own good. In Africa, they used force in some regions and in other regions they bribed the elders and chiefs who managed to go before them and calm the communities thus becoming less hostile (Craig et al, 847).
Resistance
With the entry of Europeans, there was tremendous resistance. In India there were revolts through such movements as peasant movement, Muslim farm worker's movement which all protested against the European grabbing of land. The National congress was the first group to work together with the European under various reforms to help India obtain its independence. Some of the key figures in this congress include G.K. Gokhale and Mohandas Gandhi. Another group was nation Hindu Nationalist Movement whose leader was B.G Tilak (Craig et al, 850). There was a political activism in India founded to help do away with traditional regionalism. The Hindu militants also resisted the use of the European language and wanted to keep on using their own Indian languages. They also wanted a rebirth of the trampled upon Indian culture as well as their form of learning. A-Z of kolkata Travel and Tourism Karbonn k1212 enjoy the fun of dual sims at the same time Goa Holiday on Visit to India – Must See Attractions North-East Exploration and Ha Long bay Kayaking Tour (9 Days) - Viet Nam Ukrain President says building LNG terminal is the country top priority India Travel – Tips for Budget Travel MBAUniverse.com Exclusive: MBA destinations of India - Delhi NCR Las Vegas Trip Planning Get a tour of the secret world of Bentley Essential Baccarat Tips How To Become A Baccarat Master Nha Trang makes Spratly Islands focus of fifth annual Sea Festival Top Kashmir Tourist Attractions to Visit