Reasons why Italy Expanded essays

Reasons why Italy Expanded essays During the 1800s many European nations began to colonize Africa. The Italians had many reasons to colonize Africa. One main reason for Italy colonizing Africa was economics. By expanding Italys control to Libya, Eritrea, and Italian Somaliland, Italy gain the natural resources in the country. Another reason the Italians needed to colonize was the need to keep up politically with the other European nations. If Italy did not control territory in Africa, it would be politically inferior to other European nations, thus more susceptible to being taken advantage of by other nations. A third reason why Italy needed to colonize Africa was for security purposes. If Italy did not have territory in Africa then their military influence would not be as effective, since they would have much less influence with world affairs. Libya, Eritrea, and Italian Somaliland each had their natural resources that helped strengthen Italys economy. Libya was particularly important to Italy because it is one of the worlds leading petroleum-producing countries. Having a direct source to a large deposit of oil gave Italy an edge over other European nations, because around this time period petroleum products started to become widely used in developed countries. Italian Somaliland had valuable farmland and pastures that helped produce food for Italy. The new source of food in Italy requires there to be less farmers, so they can move to the cities and work in factories, and help promote the economy. Francisco Crispi knew that in order to secure the political status of Italy he needed to follow the trend of European nations and colonize into Africa. Politically, if a country had control of a colony, it was considered stronger, and more influential because the nations political decisions would influence a greater area. It was very important for nations back then to stay politically parallel with each other, because if one nation begins to grow weak,...