Final answer:
European imperialism expanded rapidly due to superior technology and ideologies like Social Darwinism and the 'White Man's Burden,' which propagated the idea of racial and cultural superiority, along with religious motives to spread Christianity and Western culture.
Step-by-step explanation:
The rapid spread of European imperialism throughout Africa, the Middle East, and Asia was driven by a combination of technological advancements and ideological perspectives such as Social Darwinism, racism, and religious justifications.
At the core of this expansion was Europe's industrial monopoly, which provided them with superior technology including advanced weapons, improved transportation, and the medical capacity to survive in tropical climates. These technological advancements not only made colonization more feasible but also reinforced Europeans' belief in their own racial and cultural superiority over other peoples.
Moreover, ideologies like Social Darwinism, which misapplied Darwin's theories of natural selection to human societies, suggested that European conquests were a natural process and a societal duty. With such beliefs, European nations felt morally justified in taking control of 'less evolved' populations and imposing their own values, governance, and economic systems.
The concept of the 'White Man's Burden,' for example, which was a term coined by British author Rudyard Kipling, encouraged Europeans to bring civilization and enlightenment to colonized nations, although often against the will of the local populations.
Religion also played a significant role, as many Europeans believed it was their mission to spread Christianity and Western culture to the 'heathens' around the globe. This justification for imperialism often accompanied military and economic pressures that facilitated European control over vast territories.