Political factors were more important than economic motives in explaining New Imperialism

... Q. Political factors were more important than economic motives in explaining New Imperialism. How far do you agree with this view? Ans. The reasons for the emergence of new imperialism were both economic and political but I must agree that political reasons outweighed the economic ones. There was no doubt a glut of capital in Europe and, so, many nations opted for colonies. The fact that Africa was large enough to accommodate the need and greed of the Europeans only made it a more susceptible target. Apart from that, Britain, the leading imperial power, had a policy of free trade because of its extremely high industrial development and so trading with the colonies gave them great advantages. However, there were a lot more political reasons. Firstly, having an industrialized country, military strength and a large population alone did not grant "Great Power" status anymore and hence colonies had become a prerequisite. This was especially true

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