Final Essay

Miriam Zepeda

Humanities

Guerrero

March 5, 2009

Imperialism in a Civil War

Just imagine someone taking over everything that is yours and you have nothing to do with them and just because they have more power than you or are bigger than you they have the right to treat you badly, that just because of where they are socially ranked. What if someone would have the right to tell you where you belong and where you are suppose to be? To be treated differently than others and brought down. What would you do if someone forced you to do something that you absolutely don’t want to do? To pursuit a brutal career that puts you life at risk and you have no choice or say in what you want to do. That is the power of Imperialism and that is what great power Britain had over Africa. Which later Britain’s imperial power lead to Nigerians’ Civil War.

Imperialism causes a lot of trouble for the Country that is being affected. “Imperialism has existed for millennia but in the nineteenth century European powers appeared to take little interest in it until the late 1870s” (Imperialism). Which their interest went to Africa. The reason why is because Nigeria has a large amount of oil and the only way to obtain the oil is to take over Africa. “An example of imperialism is when a country may attempt to dominate others by direct rule and settlement – the establishment of a colony – or by less obvious means such as control of markets for goods or raw materials” (imperialism). Like when Britain took over Nigeria and started new corporations and used Nigeria for their benefits like oil and transports Slaves around the world. European imperialism was encouraged for economic opportunities and for finding the cheapest way to obtain cheap supplies to fuel Europe’s industrial revolutions (Imperialism, 19th-century European). Many people don’t realize how much imperialism could affect a country.

Nigeria did not have a say in how their borders were defined. “From the earliest days of African independence, this continent’s leaders have repeatedly had to wrestle with the legacy of the arbitrarily drawn borders established and frozen in place by Europe’s colonial powers” (French). This was not at all affair for Africa because they had no say in how they would be divided. “Even more troublesome are cases like Nigeria, where European boundaries forced caused rival cultures, each with long-standing political traditions of their own, to cohabit within the confines of a single state” (French). The rivalry lasted for about when Nigeria won its independence in 1960. These rivalries remained which caused a lot of chaos. These tribes were the Igbo tribe and the Biafra tribe. Which later in time turned into the Nigerian Civil War that became one of the continent’s most destructive “War. The founding fathers of Nigeria tried to avoid the confrontations and rivalry so they tried to focus on different things like creating larger federations” (French). If Europe had never sectioned Africa the way it did, Nigeria would have not started its war.

After Nigerians difficulty and struggle things soon paid off. “In 1960, Nigeria peacefully gained its independence from Great Britain” (Humanitarian Issues In The Biafra Conflict). But still that didn’t really end the conflicts in the region. “The Northern and Southern regions of Nigeria were on opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of socioeconomic development” (Humanitarian Issues In The Biafra Conflict). For example if the North had some kind of benefit the South would not. The South of Nigeria had benefited in education. That is what the south was more focused on ( Humanitarian Issues In The Biafra Conflict). On the other hand the north lacked education dramatically. In addition, economic development in the South had far outpaced that of the North (Humanitarian Issues in the Biafra Conflict). Which later all these differences cause the Civil war in Nigeria to grow along with their rage and anger.

The European’s greed grew rapidly. The greed war so big that it lead to exploiting the Nigerians right. They brought changes into their life and work. To pay the new taxes, Africans had to undertake wage labor Imperial enterprises created vast demanding skilled labor: rail road, rubber sugar and cocoa estates, and mining operations in central and southern Africa were all highly intensive labor. Human resources were exploited for the benefit of European industry and commerce. Portugal shipped off people for labor where they would live and die. The Europeans brutal crime brought people helplessly having to work with no right to make their own decision.

The war was concluded finally in January 1970, with Biafra surrender after Ojukwu had fled to the Côte d'Ivoire (Nigeria). The war left the economy gravely weakened, and warfare and famine had cost an estimated 1 million lives (Nigeria). Imperialism had a great impact on this revolutionary war in Nigeria. They took over the lives on the citizens of Nigerians which later caused Nigerians Civil war. That is what their independence later lead to. The rivalry between two tribes in one continent, Nigeria.

If it were not for Britain and its imperial power there would not have been any need for a war. They started with their arbitrary boarders, which they had no say in how Africa would be divided. Then they had different beliefs and with their boundaries there was little room to practice the religion they wanted to practice just because one side had more power than the other in different areas. Later European greed after imperialism aimed at exploiting Nigeria’s resources. Britain took their oil and put unskilled labor workers in jobs that could not be done with their knowledge. That is the power of imperialism and how it started the Nigerian Civil war.

Work Sited

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French W. Howard “Africa’s Arbitrary Borders” Encarta. March 6, 2009. .

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"Imperialism." Study Unit. History Study Center. ProQuest LLC. 5 Mar. 2009 .

"Nigeria: British Colonization to 1914." Encyclopedia of African History. London: Taylor and Francis Ltd., 2005. History Study Center. ProQuest LLC. 5 Mar. 2009

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"Nigeria: Biafran Secession and Civil War, 1967–1970." Encyclopedia of African History. London: Taylor and Francis Ltd., 2005. History Study Center. ProQuest LLC. 3 Mar. 2009 .

"Imperialism, 19th-century European." Helicon Encyclopedia of World History. Abingdon/Cambridge: Helicon, 2007. History Study Center. ProQuest LLC. 11 Mar. 2009 .

“Humanitarian Issues In The Biafra Conflict.” Blogspot. 12 March 2009