Raw Materials and Markets

EXPANSION IN THE INDUSTRIAL AGE HIST 1301 | History Raw Materials and Markets By the start of the Second Industrial Revolution, new technologies and industrial procedures necessitated the use of new raw materials, such as petroleum for engine fuel, natural rubber for tyres and valves, palm oil for machinery lubrication, copper for heat and electricity conductivity, silver for photography and medicine, and lead for pipes. For the conversion of iron into steel, the production of gas for house heating, and the electricity needed to run machinery and illuminate buildings and streets, coal was in high demand. Not every industrialised country could generate enough to meet their rising demands. The need for imports from abroad was also fueled by emerging trends and tastes. In Europe and the US, middle-class families encouraged their girls to play the piano, which created a demand for ivory, the material used to make piano keys. The demand for coffee, tea, and sugar surged as a result of industrial workers' need for rapid energy supplies. Elevated individuals and prospective middle-class citizens furnished their residences with mahogany, rosewood, and ebony furnishings. Although cotton textiles remained in style, cloth makers could no longer rely on an affordable supply of raw cotton when slavery was outlawed in the United States. Only by extending their frontiers to regions in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific Ocean could the industrialising nations meet their demands for markets and raw supplies. But in order to make huge profits, they had to harvest raw resources at such cheap costs that it seemed doubtful that people from Asia, the Pacific Islands, or Africa would agree to them. Furthermore, and this is much less likely, these countries would have to consent to buy manufactured goods from their industrialised partners, even though it is possible that they could create these items on their own. Thus, officials and businesspeople in developed nations felt that in order to manage these far-off nations as a part of an empire, they needed to seize control of them. Their method of doing so was frequently armed conquest. After securing these foreign regions, creating markets, and investing money, the imperial powers had to keep rival industrial powers from invading their territory. As a result, they attempted to annex nearby areas often and exerted even more control over their colonies. For instance, in an effort to prevent Russia from accessing Britain's prize colony of India, Great Britain and Russia engaged in a struggle for control of Afghanistan. Compared to the colonies that European powers had founded in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the new colonies were very different. It was not widely anticipated that a significant number of Europeans would migrate to Africa or Asia and establish permanent residences there; also, the colonies were not meant to have the same degree of ties to their home countries as previous "settler colonies" had. For example, the way the United States treated the Filipinos in the Philippines differed greatly from how colonists in North America had been treated by Great Britain. Instead of settling their colonies, the industrial countries planned to exploit their people and resources. A few were not the norm. Algeria, a colony in North Africa that France had taken over in 1830, became a part of France in 1848. During the nineteenth century, the government encouraged a large number of French and other European immigrants to settle in the coastal areas of Algeria and Tunisia. In the southern African colonies of the British and Dutch, a large European population also established. But this was not the standard imperial practice.