The British Empire alone increased its land area seven times and its population by twenty fold. But what advancements helped the Europeans in their conquest for colonies? By looking at three advancements of quinine, guns and steamboats will help explain Europe's Imperialist ideas.
Quinine was the main factor for the penetration of Africa and many other third world countries. Most Europeans conducted business on the coast with African slave traders and had no real motive to go explore the continent. Even if Europeans wanted to explore the interior portions of Africa they had many battles and hardships to overcome. The terrain and climate of Africa was too dangerous for pack animals to survive in, but the major deterrent that kept the Europeans out was disease. There were many expeditions by European and Portuguese captains whose expeditions failed due to a loss of men and animals to diseases such as malaria and trypanosomiasis. As more soldiers poured into the interior of Africa to setup forts, many succumbed to diseases such as yellow fever, typhoid, dysentery and malaria. So many soldiers died from these diseases that Africa became know as the "White man's grave".
Medical science during the 1900's was relatively limited in knowledge and practice. Most medical authorities prescribed the bark of the cinchona tree to lessen the symptoms of the disease. This bark did have a lessening impact, but many soldiers were still dying in great numbers. The break through occurred in the year 1820 when two French chemists successfully extracted quinine from the cinchona bark. The first usage of Quinine was very ineffective because many took it in tiny doses after they had already been infected with the disease.
Two army physicians Jean Antonini and Francois Maillot found an even more effective method to combat the diseases. They would prescribe twenty to forty grains of quinine with the first sight of fever and fed his patients a nutritious diet. The results were impressive as only one patient died from twenty. Many discovered that by taking quinine before traveling was the most effective prevention against the diseases.
This also had an impact on indigenous people as well. The bark seeds were imported from other South American countries and planted in India due to the tropical wet climate. Plantations in India produced a cheaper and lesser potent bark then the Latin American countries. The rise in quinine demand fueled labor of the indigenous people to work on the plantations as well as the usage of land for the cultivation of the bark.
The advancement in medical technology drastically brought death rates down, in return the influx of European populations came in with heavy numbers to the interior of Africa. Without quinine European imperialist goals would have came to an abrupt halt. Quinine was the key to the penetration of Africa and many other Asian countries.
The second technological advancement in guns and weapons played a major role in the conquest of colonial wars. Before the advancement in guns was made, most European forces used the muzzle-loading muskets. These weapons had an effective range of eighty yards and took about a minute to load and reload. Another problem the muskets had was a poor firing record. Even under the best conditions, they fired only seven out of ten times. Factors such as rain and bad weather would almost stop the muskets from firing altogether. This problem was solved when Joshua Shaw put detonation powder into little metal caps. This simplified the loading process and was durable in any type of weather.
Other advancements such as the breechloader made the guns more accurate and efficient. By 1885 guns had repeating mechanisms with smokeless powder. They also could fire fifteen rounds of ammunition in a matter of seconds at a target that was half a mile away. What impact did these advancements have in the European Colonial wars? Colonial troops in Asia and Africa were among the first beneficiaries of the gun revolution. Confrontations between Europeans and Africans after 1870 were among the most lopsided in history. The Europeans quick firing light artillery as well as guns were no match for the Africans that stood up to the confrontations. These battles were so lopsided that they turned into massacres and ended fairly quickly. In 1897 a Royal Niger Co. composed of 539 men defeated the 31,000-man army of the Nupe Emirate of Sokoto . On September 2, 1898, 40,000 Sudanese attacked a Anglo-Egyptian expedition. Within a few hours, 11,000 Sudanese and 48 British lay dead. Many of the African weapons were inferior compared to the Europeans. Some used outdated rifles without the proper instructions; others used arrows and spears, which was no match for the
Europeans quick firing weapons.
These weapons also impacted the African tribes. Africans themselves were well supplied with imported muskets and ammunition. Many of the weapons that were being shipped or traded to the Africans were mostly inferior and even dangerous to their users. Africans copied the Europeans as iron was made in villages to make their own weapons similar to the Europeans. The arrival of this new technology started an arms race from different African tribes. But even with the new weapons many African tribes could not purchase enough, due to the relatively high cost of guns. The penetration of Africa was due in a large part to the advancement in weapons by the Europeans.
Finally the last innovative technology was the development of steamboats and gunboats. The first gunboats, which were run by steam, had a big impact on Africa and China. Both of these countries had many rivers and tributaries to get into the interior regions. The steamboats traveled speedily upriver as well as down carrying Europeans deep into Africa and Asia. This technology played a crucial role in the Europeans show of naval dominance to the world. These gunboats had a substantial amount of firepower. They were equipped with swivel guns and congreve rockets. They also transported many land troops to key battle sites. The gunboats first test came against the Chinese, which showed Europeans dominance in naval power.
The Chinese wanted to restrict trading to certain merchants of Canton, to control the incoming flow of goods. A triangular trade had developed between China, India and the British. India grew opium, which was traded to the Chinese for tea, which went to the British for consumption. By 1834 the Chinese were trying to interfere with the drug trade by banning opium due to the addictions and ills of society. The British sent out many gunboats to harass the Chinese coastal cities and fortifications. The gunboats easily went into the heart of China with relative ease. As the British prepared for Canton they came up against the Chinese Junks. The battle of Woonsung was a quick and swift battle; the Chinese Junks were no match for the gunboats. As the Chinese realized their futile efforts the court in Peking signed a peace treaty with the Europeans allowing trade.
The steamboats were also effective because they brought business deals administrative reports, news dispatches, and personal messages. They also were major transporters in imports and exports. The only problem was that these low-pressure steam engines were not fast enough. A letter sent from India would reach Africa from five to eight months. So the Europeans made many changes to their existing steamships. First they replaced the wood with iron. This was a big change because iron was much stronger, lighter and could run on lesser energy then wooden ships. In 1838 a new method of movement was innovated, the use of screw propellers under ships replacing steam and coal. These propellers were well suited for ocean ravel. By 1850 the iron steamer became an accepted standard ship replacing wood due to its efficiency and speed. This efficiency also brought shipping rates down as more good and exports were being shipped at a relatively short time.
The three technological innovations of quinine, guns and steamboats were key tools in Europeans imperialist ideas. These means were a consequence of the Industrial Revolution that was sweeping Europe's economy. The discovery of quinine and other drugs was sufficient enough to open the African continent up to merchants, officials and missionaries. Gunboats opened up the major river basins to European penetration, as well as key battles against China and the Congo Basin. As European firearms improved the firepower gap widened, making colonial conquest easier then ever before. The industrialization of the late nineteenth century increased the power of Europeans over nature and over the peoples of the continents. They used their newfound power and technology to conquer empires.
