INVENIRE

The study of imperialism speaks to the reality that great man theory, in its emphasis on the talents and volitions of a handful of individuals in determining events, is the foremost historiography. National borders are shaped by individuals and small groups of particular note, not the people at large. This strikes in contradiction to history from below, which considers ordinary people in societies to be the crucial factor for the development of historical events. In applying history from below to events, historians tend to favour social histories to biographies as historical accounts. While history from below is useful in reframing our reaction to historical events, great man historiography is far more useful when answering questions like, “Why was this empire able to acquire this territory?” and “Why was this state unable to maintain control of these territories?” It is difficult to support the notion that the ordinary people in the nations of Europe drove the division of Africa. The ...