Tools for Empire Building Western technological advances aided Western political ambitions in Africa and Asia. The Maxim machine gun shown at far right was highly mobile and could lay down a continuous barrage that would decimate charging enemies, as in the slaughter of Muslim soldiers at the Battle of Omdurman in the Sudan. Quinine (near right) was also very important to empire building. First taken around 1850 in order to prevent the contraction of deadly malaria, quinine enabled European soldiers and officials to move safely into the African interior and overwhelm indigenous peoples.