In the late 1800s and early 1900s, European nations competed with each other for the control of the continent Africa. Although the countries with the best technological inventions like the maxim gun, repeating rifle, quinine, and the steam engine (Doc. C) had more of an advantage to taking over regions, this was not one of the main causes of imperialism. One of the driving forces behind imperialism was political causes. For example, European nations had a desire to gain power but also had to compete with other European countries for this power and to win more African colonies. Another driving force was culture superiority. European countries had the idea that they were superior to Africans, so they tried to civilize Africa according to what
