During the period of discovery in the 15th century, Europeans introduced the idea of ​​colonialism. Colonization is a process by which a more dominant country approaches a weaker country and establishes control over it. Its main purpose was to serve as a source of cheap labor, natural resources or to open new trade routes. The reasons for the African rush were therefore mainly economic, political and religious. After the slave trade was declared illegal, European powers began looking for ways to obtain money, one of them being the natural resources provided by Africa. Since the Europeans knew how rich they could become by selling raw materials such as diamonds, salt, cocoa and gold at a much higher price than the original, their immediate goal was to occupy the region. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay. Another cause of colonization was the consequences of industrialization. As problems such as unemployment, poverty, homelessness and social displacement from rural areas arise, Europeans believed that the only way to get rid of this "surplus population" was to acquire colonies and settle them. send back. Therefore, this brought the idea of ​​establishing colonies in places like Algeria, Namibia, Nigeria, Angola, Zimbabwe and eventually the entire African continent. In the 1900s, almost 90% of Africa was colonized by seven European powers such as Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Portugal and Italy. Additionally, this period of colonization had negative and positive effects on both sides. However, have the benefits been equally good for Africans and Europeans, or has the treatment been equally horrible for both nations? No. One nation is always more privileged than another. In this case, Europeans colonized Africa solely for their own purposes, thereby gaining money and territory. However, this period cannot be put aside, because it transformed Africa from a crude, uncivilized and uneducated nation to a simpler and organized nation. It also brought a mechanized model of production that helped the typical African man in farming and agriculture. There were many positive effects, such as the introduction of Christianity to Africans, which brought more opportunities for religious mission, and now many states remained Christian. However, by introducing new religions and cultures, their own culture was diluted, traditions were washed away and their ways of life were destroyed. On the one hand, Europeans built new institutions, hospitals, schools, factories, but on the other, they took all their raw materials and never gave Africans the opportunity to learn how to use their own resources . So, in the end, are these “positive effects” actually also beneficial for Africans or are they just being used as cover by politicians? Furthermore, it is natural for human beings to look for the positive sides of such an event, but that does not mean hiding the painful truth. Historian Alain Ruscio says that many political powers try to overlook the horror of this period by balancing the situation with the “benefits” that Africans obtained. Which is partly true, as mentioned before, new hospitals were built, but Algeria for example, even though it was.