They were hence able to satisfy their own markets, which they began to protect against imports from Britain by tariffs barrier. Therefore, there is a need for Britain and her rivals to find new outlets for investment with their surplus wealth and fresh markets for their industrial outputs. This can be achieved by accelerating colonial expansion - the acquisition of colonial markets for their industrial products. Establishing colonies also secured raw materials such as cotton from India, rubber from Malaya etc for their manufacturing industries back home and protect trade routes vital to the economy. For instance, Britain occupied Egypt in 1882 to protect the threatened routes (Suez Canal) to India.
2. Political Developments.
It would be overly simplistic to entirely attribute the impetus for the New Imperialism to the capitalistic greed for cheap raw materials and advantageous markets. Rivalries among European nations also played a major part in the scramble for overseas territories. Indeed, so intense was the rivalries that territories were sometime seized simply to beat other powers to them. This mentality was amply demonstrated in the scramble for Africa, where the powers were confronted with the choice of grabbing such advantages for themselves or seeing them snatched by potential enemies. Hence, with the lack of an international organization to exercise control over the scramble of territories, it can be said that this wave of colonialism is a reflection of the interstate rivalries that existed in Europe.
The desire for prestige also explains the motives behind the adoption of the New Imperialism by some of the powers. France, which has lost the Franco-Prussian War, was eager to restore some form of respectability for herself given her glorious imperial past. New states such as Germany and Italy also hoped to assert themselves as industrialized powers not to be trifled with.
Lastly, the sudden surge in colonial expansion can be attributed to the desire of the powers to resolve the European balance of power issue, i.
