Late 19th Century: (Theories of Imperialism — European Rivalries and the Rise of Germany Shattering the Post-Napoleonic Balance, France Seeking Prestige Afte…

Late 19th Century: (Theories of Imperialism — European Rivalries and the Rise of Germany Shattering the Post-Napoleonic Balance, France Seeking Prestige After 1870–71 Defeat, Bismarck Using Anglo-French Rivalry over Egypt, a Domino Effect of Smaller Powers Seeking Colonies for National Prestige, and the Economic Interpretation of Industrial Competition for Markets and Raw Materials Challenging British Free-Trade Supremacy): Debate has abounded over the factors behind the European partition. One standard explanation focuses on European rivalries — competition was complicated by the emergence of a united Germany from the 1870s, shattering the post-Napoleonic balance. States sought to bolster international positions through territorial acquisition overseas. Britain pursued defensive imperialism, France searched for national prestige after defeat by Bismarck in 1870–1871, and Germany itself despite Bismarck’s misgivings sought African territory to maintain the new European balance. A domino effect followed as smaller nations sought colonies as a prerequisite to national prestige — Britain and France ended up with the lion’s share, joined by Portugal, King Leopold in the Congo, Spain, Germany, and Italy. The partition has also been interpreted economically: by the 1870s and 1880s, Britain’s industrial supremacy was being challenged by France, Germany, and the United States. Free trade had suited Britain as the largest producer of the cheapest manufactured goods, but as Western Europe and North America industrialized, competition for markets increased markedly during the economic downturn of the early 1870s. The political interpretation has limited value as an exercise in Eurocentrism, but both political and economic factors operated within a conjunction of processes rooted in the era of the Enlightenment and the Atlantic slave trade.