The European people saw this continent as a source of endless possibilities and in turn made efforts to take advantage of all the resources that were available. Known as one of the most powerful expeditions, the European …show more content…
During this time, Europe was struggling with an economic depression of their own and looked to Africa and the raw goods that they possessed in an attempt to escape the dreaded reality of their economic failures. Due to the nature of capitalism, poverty and economic struggle is an implicit flaw, and in an analysis of Hegel’s Philosophy of History and Philosophy of Right Eze states, “For Hegel, the imperial and the colonial expansion of Europe is the necessary and logical outlet for resolving the problem of poverty inherent to capitalism” (Eze 215). Major raw materials and goods desired by the Europeans included “gold, copper, palm oil, cocoa, diamonds, tea, and tin” (Settles 4). The demand for the aforementioned resources was so extreme as most were unattainable in Europe. The European demand for economic power was delineated by the desperate search and utilization of these exterior resources. Shortly after the initial exposure to the new world for the Europeans, it became clear that the materials, in particular gold, were run dry and thus creating the need for a new economic source in the European economy. The intense exploitation of African raw materials surely put a dent in the economic capability of Africa and forever set them back in the race to become the world’s most powerful …show more content…
The war benefitted the African economy as the production of manufactured goods and tobacco farming industry in Southern Africa materialized, and subsequently lead to the economic expansion that Africa desperately needed to get back on their feet. Additionally, the large numbers of Africans that joined the army “came back home with widened horizons, while their experiences of demobilization and discriminatory compensation fueled nationalist feeling” renewing the self-pride in themselves and in their country, that had been so brutally ravaged during the European colonization. With this pride and rejuvenated value of life the “African National Congress began to demand full democratic rights in South Africa for the first time, and its influence, began to be felt throughout the region, spread partly by returning migrant laborers”