Final Exam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Final Exam - Essay Example From the ‘means to expand’ side or expansionism it was argued by Jared Diamond (1997) that some of the major factors that helped Europeans dominate other nations was simply Guns, Germs and Steel. At the time of colonial expansion European technological expertise had given them a significant advantage in firepower. An example of this would be at the Battle of Rorke's Drift during the Anglo Zulu war in which A few hundred British soldiers were able to repel an attacking force of several thousand Zulu Warriors largely because the British had an advantage in firepower (Heavy caliber rifles). It could also be argued that because of prolonged fighting amongst neighboring European powers had given them a sort of ‘Veterans’ advantage, insofar as many colonial armies had actively been engaged in combat for many years and the commanding officers had several hundred years of battle texts to draw examples from. A second contributing factor according to Jared Diamond wou ld be the advantage of germs. Although it is the case that several tropical diseases exist in these continents Europeans had been living in dense, overcrowded, over-polluted populations for many generations that they had developed a better tolerance to serious diseases such as smallpox. When European colonists came into contact with indigenous populations in many places, local populations were often nearly wiped out because of the introduction of infectious disease. A final factor that gave Europeans an advantage in the colonization of new lands was an advantage in infrastructure and supply chains. Because Europeans had better supply chains they were better equipped for long standoffs with indigenous populations, by having preserved food, better access to ammunition, easier access to luxuries which in turn helps morale. It was even argued by Diamond (1997) agricultural techniques that produced more food per acre for the colonial powers (Through the use of draft animals, irrigation s ystems, and domesticated crops) allowed the nations to provide food for larger armies than the armies they hoped to defeat. With all of this in mind it could also be argued that the Europeans had desires of expansionism in order to gain an advantage over their European contemporaries or to further their own wealth. Some of the most important colonies were often established because of access to natural resources (Such as the Belgian colony in the Congo being exploited for its rubber, or the Dutch East Indies being exploited for its spices). These sorts of economic factors would play a huge role in motivating European nations to expand outward. The second main issue that this paper will address is what the legacy of imperialism in our contemporary world is?’ It could be argued that there are really only three perspectives that could be left by imperialism in the contemporary world which is that the legacy is positive, negative or somewhere in-between. From a positive perspectiv e of positive influence according to the Whittington writing for the BBC (2005) it was argued that one lasting legacy was strong infrastructure. Because European powers were looking to export significant resources