Why did Europe seize most of the world after 1870, and how did it do it?
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.
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What this topic is asking
Topic 7.6 asks you to explain the New Imperialism: the motives that drove the late 19th-century scramble for empire and the methods that made rapid conquest possible. The College Board wants you to weigh the economic, political, nationalist, and ideological motivations and to understand the technologies that gave Europe its decisive edge.
The motives: economics, rivalry, ideology
Weighing the motives
The methods: technology of conquest
What made the scramble possible was new power.
Why it mattered
The New Imperialism reshaped the entire globe and stamped the modern world map. It tied the motives of the later 19th century, industrial economics, nationalist rivalry, and Social Darwinist ideology, into a single dramatic project of conquest, and it brought enormous, often devastating effects for the colonized peoples and lasting consequences for Europe (Topic 7.7). The imperial rivalries it generated also sharpened the great-power tensions that would help ignite the First World War.
Try this
Q1. Name the three main motives for the New Imperialism. [Recall]
- Cue. Economic (raw materials, markets, investment), political and nationalist (prestige and great-power rivalry), and ideological (Social Darwinism and the civilizing mission).
Q2. Explain how industrial technology made rapid conquest possible. [Short explanation]
- Cue. Steamships and the telegraph let Europeans project power and communicate over vast distances, repeating rifles and the Maxim gun gave them overwhelming firepower, and quinine let them survive malaria in tropical Africa, while the Berlin Conference set rules for partitioning the continent.
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 2018 (style)3 marksBriefly describe ONE motive for the New Imperialism. Briefly explain ONE method that made rapid conquest possible. Briefly explain ONE way ideology justified empire.Show worked answer →
A Short Answer Question (SAQ), 3 points, one per task.
A. Describe: economic motives (raw materials, markets, investment), political and nationalist rivalry (prestige and great-power competition), or strategic concerns.
B. Method: industrial technology, steamships, the telegraph, repeating rifles and the Maxim gun, and quinine against malaria, gave Europeans a decisive advantage.
C. How ideology justified it: Social Darwinism and a "civilizing mission" framed conquest as the natural order and a duty.
Markers want a motive, a method, and an ideological justification.
AP 2021 (style)6 marksEvaluate the most important motive driving the New Imperialism in the period c. 1870 to c. 1914.Show worked answer →
A Long Essay Question (LEQ), scored on the 6-point causation rubric.
Thesis (1): "The New Imperialism was driven above all by great-power rivalry and nationalism, with economic motives and ideological justifications reinforcing the scramble, all made possible by industrial technology."
Contextualization (1): industrialization, nationalism, and Social Darwinism.
Evidence (2): economic demand for raw materials and markets; nationalist competition and the Berlin Conference; the technologies of conquest; the civilizing-mission ideology.
Analysis (2): rank rivalry and nationalism while weighing economic and ideological motives, then add complexity by noting how technology made the scramble feasible.
Related dot points
- 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.
- 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 7.4 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 6.3 Second-Wave Industrialization and Its Effects: the new technologies and industries (steel, electricity, chemicals, the internal combustion engine) of the period c. 1870 to c. 1914 and how they deepened economic and social change.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 6.3, on the Second Industrial Revolution (c. 1870 to 1914): new technologies such as Bessemer steel, electricity, chemicals, and the internal combustion engine, the rise of mass production and big business, and the economic and social effects of this deeper phase of industrialization.
- 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)