How did the New Imperialism transform the colonized world and Europe itself?
Topic 7.7 Imperialism's Global Effects: the effects of European imperialism on colonized peoples (exploitation, resistance, and disruption) and on Europe itself (rivalry, wealth, and new tensions).
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 7.7, on the global effects of imperialism: the exploitation, disruption, and resistance experienced by colonized peoples in Africa and Asia, the responses ranging from rebellion to nationalism, and the effects on Europe, including economic gain, great-power rivalry, and rising tensions.
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What this topic is asking
Topic 7.7 asks you to explain the global effects of imperialism: how European empire transformed colonized peoples (through exploitation, disruption, and resistance) and how it affected Europe itself (through wealth, rivalry, and rising tensions). The College Board wants you to see imperialism's consequences on both sides of the colonial relationship.
Effects on the colonized world
Resistance and the rise of nationalism
Effects on Europe
Imperialism reshaped the imperial powers as much as their colonies.
Why it mattered
Imperialism's global effects are the consequences whose causes Topic 7.6 explained. They remade the colonized world, laying down the borders, economies, and grievances that still shape the global south, and they sowed the anti-colonial nationalism that would drive 20th-century decolonization. For Europe, the wealth and prestige of empire came bundled with the great-power rivalry that fed toward 1914. Understanding both sides of imperialism's effects is essential to the politics of the later course.
Try this
Q1. Name two effects of imperialism on colonized peoples and one form of resistance. [Recall]
- Cue. Effects: economic exploitation of land and labor, and the disruption of societies and imposition of arbitrary borders. Resistance: armed rebellion, or the rise of anti-colonial nationalism.
Q2. Explain how imperialism affected Europe as well as the colonies. [Short explanation]
- Cue. It brought Europe wealth, raw materials, markets, and prestige, but also intensified great-power rivalry as the powers competed for territory and clashed over colonial frontiers, adding to the tensions that would help cause the First World War.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of College Board exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
AP 2019 (style)3 marksBriefly describe ONE effect of imperialism on a colonized people. Briefly describe ONE form of resistance to imperialism. Briefly explain ONE effect of imperialism on Europe.Show worked answer →
A Short Answer Question (SAQ), 3 points, one per task.
A. Describe: economic exploitation of land, labor, and resources, and the disruption of existing societies, economies, and borders.
B. Resistance: armed rebellion and uprisings, or the rise of anti-colonial nationalism and demands for self-rule.
C. Effect on Europe: wealth and raw materials, but also intensified great-power rivalry and tensions that fed toward 1914.
Markers want an effect on the colonized, a form of resistance, and an effect on Europe.
AP 2021 (style)6 marksEvaluate the extent to which imperialism transformed both the colonized world and Europe in the period c. 1870 to c. 1914.Show worked answer →
A Long Essay Question (LEQ), scored on the 6-point continuity-and-change rubric.
Thesis (1): "Imperialism profoundly transformed the colonized world through exploitation and disruption, and reshaped Europe through wealth and intensified rivalry, though it also provoked resistance and the nationalism that would later undo it."
Contextualization (1): the motives and methods of the New Imperialism.
Evidence (2): exploitation, disrupted societies, and resistance in Africa and Asia; European wealth, prestige, and great-power tension.
Analysis (2): weigh effects on the colonized against effects on Europe, then add complexity by noting the rise of anti-colonial nationalism.
Related dot points
- Topic 7.6 New Imperialism: Motivations and Methods: the economic, political, and ideological motives for the late 19th-century scramble for empire, and the technologies and methods that made rapid conquest possible.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 7.6, on the New Imperialism: the economic, political, nationalist, and ideological motives that drove the late 19th-century scramble for Africa and Asia, and the technologies and methods (steamships, the Maxim gun, quinine, the Berlin Conference) that made rapid European conquest possible.
- Topic 7.4 Darwinism and Social Darwinism: Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection and how it was applied, as Social Darwinism, to justify competition, inequality, racism, and imperialism.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 7.4, on Darwinism and Social Darwinism: Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection, its impact on science and religion, and how Social Darwinists misapplied survival of the fittest to society to justify economic inequality, racism, nationalism, and imperialism.
- Topic 7.2 Nationalism: the idea of the nation, its romantic and liberal roots, and how it became the dominant political force of the 19th century, uniting some peoples and dividing others.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 7.2, on 19th-century nationalism: the idea that peoples sharing a language, culture, and history should form their own nation-state, its romantic and liberal roots, and how it both unified peoples (Italy, Germany) and threatened the multinational empires.
- Topic 7.9 Causation in 19th-Century Perspectives and Political Developments: applying the historical reasoning skill of causation to nationalism, unification, imperialism, and the new ideas of the period.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 7.9, the causation reasoning skill applied to Unit 7: distinguishing the causes and effects of nationalism, unification, and imperialism, weighing motives, and structuring a causation LEQ or DBQ on the later 19th century.
- Topic 7.3 National Unification and Diplomatic Tensions: the unification of Italy and Germany through Realpolitik and war, and the diplomatic tensions and shift in the balance of power that followed.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 7.3, on the unification of Italy and Germany: the role of Cavour, Garibaldi, and Bismarck, the use of Realpolitik and war to build nation-states, and how the rise of a unified Germany shifted the European balance of power and bred new diplomatic tensions.
Sources & how we know this
- AP European History Course and Exam Description — College Board (2020)