Events Between 1870-1945
Bentley first talked about cross-cultural interactions as a way to categorize the World’s history. He in addition wrote about the importance of understanding events from a global perspective, not just one country’s point of view. Because of these two fundamental elements to his argument, we can assess events differently than before hand, finding out ways to take a step back and look at actions as they affect multiple nations simultaneously. Of these international events from 1870-1945, the Age of Imperialism, World War I, and the Great Depression had worldwide impacts on economic and social issues.
Imperialism in the late 19th century became a competition among European countries to take control of as many areas in Africa before the others did. For the most part, France, England, and Germany competed for bragging rights to these countries. They thought at the time that the more colonies a country had the more prestigious and noble that country looked. European countries were in pursuit of demonstrating their power. Not only this, but imperialism helped build a strong economy in the mother country because they could invade their colony and strip them of their natural resources in order to produce goods with. In turn, that country could then sell these good to the colony in order to make money. Rudyard Kipling talks about this fierce competition in “The White Man’s Burden”. He however states that Imperialism is a two way street. It should also be the white man’s job to go into Africa to teach them how to be civilized. These colonies according to Kipling needed protection from their surroundings.
Imperialism had an impact on the world because it created a new market for goods to be exchanged. Countries in Europe were able to acquire new natural resources and raw materials for further production. Then, these countries could sell their goods back to their colonies or elsewhere in the world. The imperialistic movements also had a global impact because of...
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