History - Which statement best expresses the motive for nineteenth-century European imperialism?

Which statement best expresses the motive for nineteenth-century European imperialism? 

A. Living space was needed for the excess population in Western Europe. 

B. European leaders believed imperialism was an effective method for reducing the number of wars. 

C. European nations would benefit from some aspects of the conquered nation’s culture. 

D. Imperialism would benefit the economies of the colonial powers. 

E. European nations wanted democratic governments throughout the world.

Answer:

D. Imperialism would benefit the economies of the colonial powers. 

The statement that best expressed the motive for nineteenth-century European imperialism is that imperialism would benefit the economies of the colonial powers. During the Age of Imperialism, a global economy developed. From the industrialized European nations’ mass-produced goods, investment capital was directed to the colonies. In return, the people of Asia and Africa provided natural resources and cheap labor. Rubber, copper, and gold came from Africa, cotton and tin from southwest Asia. These raw materials spurred the growth of European industries and financial markets. The colonies also provided new markets for the finished products of the Industrial Revolution. Tools, weapons, and clothing flowed out of the factories and back to the colonies, whose raw materials had made them possible. Although imperialists argued that living space was needed for the excess population of Europe, no European country after 1870 acquired any colony to which European families wished to move in large numbers. The millions who left in the late nineteenth century persisted in heading for the Americas, where there were no European colonies. 

Imperialism was not an effective method of reducing the number of wars. In 1896, Ethiopia defeated Italy in its attempt to conquer the region. In 1898, Great Britain and France almost went to war over the Sudan in Africa. In 1905, Germany and France clashed over Morocco. European countries believed that Western civilizations were superior to the civilizations of colonial people. Colonial officials rejected the cultures of the conquered peoples and tried to impose Western customs and traditions on the colonies. European countries did not establish democratic governments in Asia and Africa, but instead ruled directly or indirectly through local rulers without the consent of the people.