European Imperialism and its Impact on Tensions During and After Independence

In this assignment we will discuss about european imperialism can be blamed for the rise in tensions and below are the summaries point:- European imperialism resulted in the annexation and enslavement of indigenous people, leading to tensions during and after independence. The impact of imperialism in countries like India and Uganda affected the social, ethnic, and cultural spheres. The lure for exploitation and Western supremacy drove nefarious activities in Africa, Asia, and North America.

Running Head: EUROPEAN IMPERIALISM CAN BE BLAMED FOR THE RISE IN
TENSIONS BETWEEN GROUPS BOTH DURING AND AFTER INDEPENDENCE
European imperialism can be blamed for the rise in tensions between groups both during and
after independence
Name of Student
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Author note

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EUROPEAN IMPERIALISM CAN BE BLAMED FOR THE RISE IN TENSIONS
BETWEEN GROUPS BOTH DURING AND AFTER INDEPENDENCE
The notion of imperialism has a relevance since the classical ages of European history. It
can be stated that the concept of imperialism can be seen in a revised form after the advent of
modernity when the European powers tried to annex foreign lands by power and fear and
enslaved the indigenous people. In this regard, Etherington (2014) argued that the modern sense
of imperialism is highly associated with the paradigm of colonialism. As a matter of fact, it can
be stated that colonialism is being treated as a refined version of ancient imperialism (Veracini
2014). Based on this understanding, the purpose of this essay is to deliver a brief account of both
the impact of European imperialism in the colonized countries like India and Uganda and the
consequences that still existed after the end of imperialism. In course of the discussion, the essay
also tries to figure out the impact of imperialism in the social, ethic and cultural sphere of the
India and Uganda and the mayhem that ushered by the infamous and nefarious practice of the
European powers. The lure for exploitation and Oxidant supremacy led to the formation of an
exercise of nefarious activities in other continents not only in Africa and Asia but also in the
North American region as well.
The essence of imperialism had been started with the initiation of exploration and
discovery of new lands. As Burke (2017) argued in the article that the practice of voyage and
exploration were an outcome of the industrial revolution. On the other hand, Raposo et al. (2014)
advocated that the imperialistic attitude had been developed due to the advent of the industrial
revolution in England when the factory owners felt the urge to sale their products to new lands
and earned profit as far as they could. However, the empirical studies advocated that the practice
of discovering new lands was initiated before the coming of industrial revolution. Through the
research of Janssens and Yun-Casalilla (2017) it can be argued that the initiation of the discovery
of new lands was facilitated through the introduction of modern period where new ideas and

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EUROPEAN IMPERIALISM CAN BE BLAMED FOR THE RISE IN TENSIONS
BETWEEN GROUPS BOTH DURING AND AFTER INDEPENDENCE
liberal concepts were identified as an important characteristic. The leading countries in this quest
for new lands were Italy, France, Portugal and Spain. In the latter half of enlightenment Britain
had voyaged in pursuit of new and unchartered territories. However, González-Ruibal (2016)
opined that the primary purpose of those countries was to make a trade agreement with the
indigenous chiefs and kings. In course of the exploration and discovery, the Industrial revolution
created a bad impression through enhancing the lust for the European powers to seek more
advantage from their new relationship with the friends. Aggressive economic boom paved the
way for the explorers to plunder those lands and annexed by force as it can be seen in case of the
expedition of Hernan Cortes, the Spanish explorer to overthrow the Aztec Empire in Sixteenth
century and plundered large chunks of gold and precious metals (Patch 2015). The same thing
happened in India when the Portuguese Captain sailed to the coast of India in 1500.
This gradual practice of looting and plundering the rest of the world was turned into a
fashion since 1500s. As the research of Saikia (2016) the political aggrandizement led to the
colonial rule of the European powers in different parts of the country. As a matter of fact, those
colonized countries faced severe exploitation and drain of wealth during the period of
colonization. The European power not only intended to conquer the political power but also
started manipulating with the help of ‘divide and rule policy’ (Hutchins 2015). The best example
can be seen in case of India’s struggle for Independence. Cultural dominance was a part of the
colonial mechanism. From the beginning of their regime the British colonial government started
pushing the native Indians to follow the Western Education. In the book Naseemullah and
Staniland (2016) showed that the Wood’s Despatch of 1854 was considered to be the cornerstone
for branding the English language. Many of the Indian aristocrats were attracted and later
enlightened by the Western Education. As a result of that they got jobs in the government

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EUROPEAN IMPERIALISM CAN BE BLAMED FOR THE RISE IN TENSIONS
BETWEEN GROUPS BOTH DURING AND AFTER INDEPENDENCE
services. Most of those so called English educated people belonged to the Hindu religion.
Muslims were still stick to their Persian language.
Therefore, a cultural gulf was manifested deliberately to divide the Indian people into two
factions. The mechanism was still continued in the religious sphere as well. The English
missionaries visited India with the so called mission civilizing the nation. The advent of
Christianity started baptizing and converting Indians forcefully or strategically. As a result of
that another faction was created who were fonder of the western culture by undermining their
native cultures. Unrest and dissatisfaction was not a new phenomenon in the history of India but
the difference between the present and the past was that the British colonizers intentionally made
a diplomatic relations with both the Hindus and Muslims and tried to provoke them to conspire
against one another (Darwin 2017). Power checks and balance was the primary purpose behind
such an action. The Declaration of Independence was a major setback for the unity of the Indians
and outplayed by the British politics. As a result of that the partition of the country was evident
and creation of Pakistan was identified as a brainchild of the Crown government. Those ethnic
tensions are still existed in India where the separatist movements became phenomenal and turned
into riots even after the Independence. The infamous Gujarat riot in 2002 was the prominent
example of such colonial hangover where inter-communal outbreaks and bloodbath was
inevitable and the death toll escalated total 2000 murders irrespective of Hindus and Muslims or
discriminating by gender (Viswanath 2014). According to the report of Saikia (2016) it was an
ethnic cleansing developed by the then government in order to wipe out the Muslims from that
region. It can be argued that the root of such hostility was bestowed in the ‘divide and rule’
policy undertaken by the British government.

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EUROPEAN IMPERIALISM CAN BE BLAMED FOR THE RISE IN TENSIONS
BETWEEN GROUPS BOTH DURING AND AFTER INDEPENDENCE
According to Fox (2014) it was actually a syndrome of imperial hangover where the
newly independent countries did not perceive a clear idea of sovereignty because they became
more accustomed with depravity and lack of judgment. As a result of that profligacy and tantrum
became an obvious choice for them as all those isolated groups felt to dominate others by power.
Moreover, Krickovic (2014) advocated that the imperial practice obscured the vision of the
colonized people and tried to recast their mind in such a way that they felt inferior and let the
imperialist power to rule over them. It seemed to happen even in case of the African continent
where after the independence the situation became disastrous as the colonial hangover turned
them nothing but puppet to control the situation. Lack of leadership quality and pure sense of
power was not there for those countries that made them fierce and vulnerable. For an instance,
Parmar (2014) mentioned that Uganda was colonized by the British Crown and got its
independence in the year 1962. However, after the independence the growth of the country was
still in a nutshell because the leaders were not effective enough to deal as per the situation. On
the contrary, Leonard Boyle (2017) advocated that it was the intense exploitation of the
imperialist countries that drained away all the resources essential for those countries to refurbish
order. As a result of that instance like military coup was the last resort that perhaps juxtaposed
the imperial dominance with an authoritarian regime. In case of Uganda, the same process had
been followed where General Idi Amin became the dictator in 1971.
In the writings of Ivory and Durac (2016) there was a brief discussion about the British
imperialism in Uganda and the way it initiated problems in the region. The British intervention in
the Ugandan territory was a reason to discover the source of the Nile River. Gradually, it became
an important territory for the British Crown to expand its colonial hegemony into the distant
parts of Uganda and brought the country under the imperial canvas of Britain. As the British

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EUROPEAN IMPERIALISM CAN BE BLAMED FOR THE RISE IN TENSIONS
BETWEEN GROUPS BOTH DURING AND AFTER INDEPENDENCE
tried to dominate the Indian territories by using cultural domination as an effective tool, the same
practice was implemented in case of Uganda where the British Crown started arriving in
Buganda during the period of 1877. In 1890s Uganda turned into a British territory and
considered to be British Protectorate territory. In this regard, Uganda had to sign an agreement
with the Crown government in 1894 to ensure the protection in cost of the rights to harvest
cotton. However, the real purpose of the British government was to take over the natural
resources of Uganda. As a matter of fact, Benson (2015) advocated that there were a sense of
ethnic clashes between the Bugandan people and the Northern tribes on the question of share of
power. The imperial tendency of the British government mainly responsible for such ethnic
segregation. As far as the research of Xypolia (2016) is concerned, it can be stated that there was
always a divide and rule policy maintained by the colonial government of Britain in course of
annexing and ruling a foreign land. The same things happened in Uganda when the British
Crown asked the Bugandan people to rule the land. Historically the Northern tribes were
generally marginalized and vulnerable in situation and they wanted to get some privileges from
the new power nexus. However, in reality they failed to get any advantage by the new imperial
order. As a result of that clash and conflicts became evident in Uganda where out of frustration
the Northern tribes waged a war against the Bugandan people.
As a matter of fact, the clash between the Northerners and the Bugandan was still
activated even after the independence of Uganda in 1962. After the end of th long drawn struggle
for their independence the Ugandan people failed to cherish the fruits of freedom because the
imperial regime made them subordinated not only politically but also in mind as well. As a result
of that there were huge reparation among the Ugandan people on the question of capturing
power. In this context, Uche (2017) advocated that due to the enmity between different tribes it

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EUROPEAN IMPERIALISM CAN BE BLAMED FOR THE RISE IN TENSIONS
BETWEEN GROUPS BOTH DURING AND AFTER INDEPENDENCE
became obvious that separatist and secessionist sentiments were gradually circled around the
entire country. Military coup was the inevitable outcome for the war torn Uganda that resulted
Idi Amin as the dictator of the country in 1971. Understanding the situation in Uganda and the
impression of the imperial hangover, Baines (2015) argued that the Colonial regime had made
the situation fatal by not only suppressing the political thoughts and voices of the Ugandans but
also instigated ethnic clashes between the different tribes and interests groups that paved the way
for Idi Amin to start the coup d’état. The regime of Idi Amin was considered to be one of the
major setback for Ugandan independence and caused turmoil and atrocities all over the country.
From the above discussion, it can be stated that the essence of imperialism was
considered to be a deathblow for the colonized countries and the consequences were far fierce
that caused ethnic clashes and group violence that further perturbed the sovereign existence of
that very country. In this regard, the discussion not only restricted its vision to the discussion of
the exploitation and violence that the European imperialism intended to develop in both India
and Uganda but also the discussion further contributes to the aftermath of the imperialism of the
European countries in both of the countries. As per the research, it can be seen that the colonial
hangover was played a significant role to damage the political and social cohesion in India and
Uganda as well. As a result of that the newly independent countries faced series of threats and
political debacle in a random manner. Therefore, it can be concluded that the essay rightly
justifies the theme of the discussion and creates further inspection into the impact of imperialism
with a more in-depth analysis.

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EUROPEAN IMPERIALISM CAN BE BLAMED FOR THE RISE IN TENSIONS
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