The importance of geography in the 19th century

Geography plays a key role in imperialism during the 19th century, its placement, effectiveness, and consequences. Resources and their geographical accessibility determined the success of imperialists and the imperialized alike, along with both of their nations as a whole. Depending on geography, European imperialists could access different resources and ship them back to their motherland. Fertility and landscaping essentially directed the course of imperialistic success, an advantageous circumstance to either the imperialists or the imperialized, depending on the situation.

However, aside from resources and economic drive, geography plays a key role in nationalism, a new fad developed especially during the 19th century. While Europeans countries intruded Asian and African territories, nationalistic status altered for both sides. As we observed in our game of RISK, nationalism weakens when countries expand their domain. On the contrary, victimized nations pack together more when imperialized, creating a more likely atmosphere for nationalism. In other words, imperialism not only opened economic doors, but also highlighted the importance and power of nationalism. Nationalism is arguably the reason why European nations are currently not present in Asian or African countries anymore - the nationalistic power of these imperialized nations was too strong to permanently control. Cultural geography evidently shapes this nationalism as people of a similar goal unite and fend off intruders. Therefore, geography acts in roles beyond the limits of physical landscaping; nations and their populations have united under the boundaries of their geography, both culturally and physical.