Chapter 32 The Building of Global Empires 1899

Chapter 32 The Building of Global Empires 1899 advertisement from Mc. Clure’s Magazine 1

The Idea of Imperialism n n What does the term mean? Term dates from nineteenth century In popular discourse by 1880 s Military imperialism of late 19 th-century q q Later, economic and cultural varieties U. S. imperialism 2

Motivations for Imperialism n Military q n Domestic Politics q n n Overseas conquests take focus off domestic problems Economic q n Conquest to bolster national prestige European capitalism: hope that expansion would help to ease a nation’s economic health through global cycles of boom and bust Religious Demographic q q Ease urban overcrowding Shipping criminal populations and dissident populations overseas 3

Economic Exploitation n Exploitation of natural resources: diamonds in gold in sub -Saharan Africa; rubber in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia; bananas and coffee in Latin America Exploitation of cheap labor: Contracted laborers known as “coolies” sent to colonies as cheap agricultural labor to replace slaves Expansion of markets: Colonies supposedly new markets for mother country’s manufactured goods q The extent that this happened was limited; the colonized rarely had enough money to buy these goods. 4

Geopolitical Considerations n Strategic footholds q q q Waterways: Panama and Suez Canals; city of Singapore founded to control key strait between Indian and Pacific Oceans Supply Stations: Cape Town in South Africa used as a way station for ships on their way to India and the East Indies; Hawaiian Islands serve as base for U. S. naval presence in the Pacific. Imperial Rivalries: territory seized to check the power of nearby areas controlled by imperial rivals across the globe: German Southwest Africa and East Africa were territories taken in the 1880 s to counter British presence in South Africa 5

The “White Man’s Burden” n Rudyard Kipling (1864 -1936) q 1899 Poem excerpt: Take up the White Man's burden-Send forth the best ye breed-Go bind your sons to exile To serve your captives' need; To wait in heavy harness, On fluttered folk and wild-Your new-caught, sullen peoples, Half-devil and half-child. n French: mission civilisatrice 6

The “White Man’s Burden” French propaganda poster from the late 1800 s 7

Domestic Political Considerations n n Crises of industrialism and growing class consciousess Global capitalist crashes in the 1870 s and 1890 s Pressure from nascent socialist movements, such as in Germany Imperial policies distract proletariat from domestic politics q Cecil Rhodes: imperialism alternative to civil war 8

Technology and Imperialism n Transportation q q n Steamships: Quick transport of personnel and goods Railroads: Allow quick deployment of troops to quell uprisings Infrastructure q q q Suez Canal (1859 -1869) Panama Canal (1904 -1914) Both waterways strategically important to respective empires (British & American) 9

Weaponry n n Old muzzle-loading muskets take a long time to reload between each shot. Mid-century: breechloading rifles q n Reduce reloading time Repeating breech-loading rifle; U. S. , 1850 s – 1860 s 1880 s: Refinement of the machine gun q Maxim Gun: American-born Hiram Maxim invents a gun that can fire 11 rounds per second for the British Maxim Gun; England, 1884 10

The Military Advantage n Battle of Omdurman (near Khartoum on Nile), 1898 q q q Five hours of fighting British: six gunboats, twenty machine guns British force lost a few hundred men; thousands of Sudanese killed 11

Communications n Correspondence q q n 1830 Britain-India: A letter could take two years After Suez Canal: A letter would arrive in two weeks Telegraph q q Experiments with submarine cables begin in 1850 s Britain-to-India cables are connected in 1870; it then takes five hours for a message to make its way from London to Calcutta by relays 12

British Empire in India n n n East India Company founded in 1600 Obtains a monopoly on India trade Originally needed permission from the Mughal emperors to trade The Mughal empire begins to declines after death of Aurangzeb in 1707 The company begins to assert its own power with a private army and government 13

British Conquest n n n East India Company: Protects its economic interests through political and military conquest “Doctrine of lapse”: Between 1848 and 1856, any Indian princely state would be annexed by the company if its ruler died without a heir or was judged incompetent. British use Indian mercenaries who become known as sepoys; they are paid poorly and treated poorly 14

Sepoy Revolt, 1857 n Newly issued rifles had cartridges in wax paper greased with animal fat q q n n Problem for Hindus: beef Problem for Muslims: pork Small-scale rebellion ignites a general anti-British revolution Company loses control of much of its holdings, but British troops at gain upper hand in late 1857 15

British Imperial Rule n In response to the rebellion, Britain: q q q Abolishes Mughal empire Exiles emperor to Burma Abolishes the East India Company Establishes direct rule of India by British government Queen Victoria adds “Empress of India” to her many titles 16

British Imperial Rule Queen Victoria, Empress of India, in 1887 17

British Rule in India n Organization of agriculture q n Indian cricket team that toured England in 1886 Cash Crops: Tea, coffee, opium replace sustenance crops, leading to horrific famines Stamp of British culture on Indian environment q q q Common language of English imposed on a land of over 400 different languages British education system helps to create a class of lower -level Indian civil servants; top tiers of government still occupied by British game of cricket becomes a huge Indian pastime 18

Imperialism in Central Asia n British, French, Russians compete for influence in central Asia q q n France drops out after Napoleon falls from power Russia active after 1860 s in Tashkent, Bokhara, Samarkand; and approached India through its machinations in independent Afghanistan The “Great Game”: Russian vs. British intrigue inside Afghanistan q q q British feared Russians using Afghanistan to stage an invasion of India, the “Crown Jewel” of the empire. Britain fought two costly wars to bring the nominally independent Afghans in line and check Russian influence: First Anglo-Afghan War (1838 -1842) and Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878 -1880). Rudyard Kipling’s vivid novel Kim (1901), about an poor orphan son of an Irish soldier in India, uses the “Great Game” as its backdrop. 19

Imperialism in Southeast Asia n Spanish: The Philippines q n n Spanish colonization of these islands began with the Legzapi expedition in 1565; founded Manila in 1571. Ruled from Mexico City until 1821, and then directly from Madrid after that. Dutch: Indonesia (Dutch East Indies) British establish presence from 1820 s q q Had conflict with kings of Burma (Myanmar) in the 1820 s; established colonial authority by 1880 s Thomas Stamford Raffles founds Singapore for trade in Strait of Melaka n n Sir Thomas Raffles (1781 -1826) Base of British colonization in Malaysia, 1870 s-1880 s French: Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, 1859 -1893 q Encouraged conversion to Christianity 20

Imperialism in Asia, ca. 1914 21

The Scramble for Africa (1875 -1900) n n n French, Portuguese, Belgians, and English competing for “the dark continent” Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (1899): promulgates negative stereotypes of the Congo but also a savage critique of imperialism Britain establishes strong presence in Egypt, South Africa, and Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe and Zambia) q q Suez Canal accounts for strategic interest in Egypt Rhodesia: Cecil Rhodes consolidates diamond mines in 1870 s and 1880 s 22

Rewriting African History n n n Ancient African history is purposefully erased to portray sub-Saharan Africans as “uncivilized”/“savage” Justification of imperialist rule: bringing “civilization” European “discovery” of great river sources (Nile, Niger, Congo, Zambesi) becomes a near mania q q Information on interior of Africa comes from explorers like David Livingstone, who sought the source of the Nile King Leopold II of Belgium creates his personal fiefdom, the “Congo Free State” in 1885, along the Congo River, opening up the area to commercial ventures, like rubber cultivation. Slavelike labor conditions and abuses lead Belgian government to take control of colony in 1908, and renamed it Belgian Congo 23

Rewriting African History “Dr. Livingstone, I presume? ” Welsh journalist and explorer Henry Morton Stanley (1841 -1904) was paid by the New York Herald to find the Scottish explorer and missionary, David Livingstone (1813 -1873), who had been in the African interior for years without being heard from. Stanley found him near Lake Tanganyika in present-day Tanzania in November 1871. Newspaper accounts of the meeting in 1872 disseminated the famous question, which was likely journalistic fabrication. 24

Colonizing South Africa n Dutch East India Company establishes the colony of Cape Town in 1652 q q Farmers (Boers) follow to settle territory fertile farmlands, later call themselves Afrikaners Competition and conflict with indigenous Khoikhoi and Xhosa peoples as Boers push eastward (Nelson Mandela is an ethnic Xhosa) 25

South African (Boer) War 1899 -1902 n n British take over the Cape Colony in 1806 British ban slavery in 1833; this causes a conflict with Afrikaners who rely heavily on slavery q q n n n Afrikaners migrate north-eastward in the Great Trek in the 1830 s and 1840 s, overpower Ndebele and Zulu resistance with superior firepower; known as “Voortrekkers” Establish independent republics British tolerate Boer republics until “mineral revolution” of 1870 s: gold and diamonds discovered and mined White-white conflict, black soldiers and laborers Afrikaners concede in 1902; 1910, their republics are integrated into Union of South Africa 26

South African (Boer) War 1899 -1902 South Africa in the late 1800 s, before the outbreak of the Boer War 27

The Berlin West Africa Conference (1884 -1885) n Fourteen European states and the United States q q n No African states present Rules of colonization: any European state can take “unoccupied” territory after informing other European powers European firepower dominates Africa q Exceptions: Ethiopia fights off Italy (1896); Liberia protected by the U. S. 28

Imperialism in Africa, ca. 1914 29

Systems of Colonial Rule n Concessionary companies q q q n Private companies get large tracts of land to exploit natural resources Companies get freedom to tax, recruit labor: horrible abuses Profit margin minimal Direct rule: France q q q “Civilizing mission” Chronic shortage of European personnel; language and cultural barriers French West Africa: 3, 600 Europeans rule 9 million 30

Indirect Rule n Frederick D. Lugard (Britain, 1858 -1945) q q n The Dual Mandate in British Tropical Africa (1922) Argues for the use of existing indigenous institutions to consolidate and maintain power: co-opt local leaders into colonial rule. Legacy of Colonizers: Europeans had difficulty in establishing tribal categories, they imposed arbitrary boundaries, and exaggerated or inflamed ethnic tensions to their advantage. q Rwandan Genocide of the 1990 s: Belgian colonizers in what is now Rwanda favored the Tutsi ethnic group over the Hutus, creating animosity that fed the Rwandan genocide: the government-sponsored massacre of Tutsis by the Hutu groups. 31

European Imperialism in Australia and New Zealand n n n English use Australia as a penal colony from 1788 Voluntary migrants follow; gold discovered 1851 Smallpox, measles devastate natives Territory called terra nullius: “land belonging to no one” New Zealand: natives forced to sign Treaty of Waitangi (1840), placing New Zealand under British “protection” 32

European and Native Population in Australia and New Zealand 33

European Imperialism in the Pacific Islands n Commercial outposts q q q n Whalers seeking port Merchants seeking sandalwood and sea slugs for sale in China Missionaries seeking souls British, French, German, American powers carve up Pacific islands q Tonga remains independent, but relies on Britain 34

Imperialism in Oceania, ca. 1914 35

U. S. Imperialism n President James Monroe warns Europeans not to engage in imperialism in western hemisphere (1823) q n n The Monroe Doctrine: All Americas a U. S. protectorate 1867 purchased Alaska from Russia (“Seward’s Folly”) 1875 established protectorate over Hawai`i q Locals overthrow queen in 1893, persuade U. S. to acquire islands in 1898 36

Spanish-Cuban-American War (1898 -1899) n U. S. declares war in Spain after battleship Maine sunk in Havana harbor, 1898 q q n U. S. takes possession of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, Philippines U. S. intervenes in other Caribbean, Central American lands; occupies Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Honduras, Haiti Filipinos revolt against Spanish rule, later against U. S. rule, under leader Emiliano Aguinaldo 37

Spanish-Cuban-American War (1898 -1899) Lithograph of the U. S. S. Maine explosion in Havana harbor, 1898 Filipino leader Emiliano Aguinaldo around 1900 38

The Panama Canal n n President Theodore Roosevelt (in office 1901 -1909) supports insurrection against Colombia (1903); Roosevelt thinks the Colombian price is to high for the land Rebels establish state of Panama U. S. gains territory to build canal, Panama Canal Zone Roosevelt Corollary of Monroe Doctrine q U. S. right to intervene in domestic affairs of other nations if U. S. investments threatened Panama Canal under construction in 1907 39

The Panama Canal 1909 cartoon from Puck Magazine making fun of Teddy Roosevelt’s imperialist tendencies 40

Early Japanese Expansion n n Resentment over unequal treaties of 1860 s In the 1870 s, Japan colonizes northern regions in Hokkaido and Kurile Islands; also southern Okinawa, and Ryukyu Islands as well 1876, Japanese purchase warships from Britain, dominate Korea Sino-Japanese War (1894 -1895) over Korea results in Japanese victory Russo-Japanese War (1904 -1905) also ends in Japanese victory 41

Early Japanese Expansion Japanese woodblock illustration of Russo-Japanese War naval battle 42

Economic Legacies of Imperialism n n Colonized states encouraged to exploit natural resources rather than build manufacturing centers Encouraged dependency on imperial power for manufactured goods made from native raw product q q n Indian and Egyptian cotton Iron ore and tin in Southeast Asia Introduction of new crops q q Tea in Ceylon Coffee in South America Rubber in Malaysia, French Indochina, and the Congo Cocoa in Sub-Saharan Africa: Gold Coast (now Ghana), Nigeria and the Ivory Coast 43

Labor Migrations n Europeans move to temperate lands q q n Work as free cultivators, industrial laborers 32 million to the U. S. , 1800 -1914 Africans, Asians, and Pacific islanders move to tropical/subtropical lands q q q Indentured laborers and manual laborers 2. 5 million between 1820 and 1914 Chinese laborers in the Caribbean 44

Imperialism and Migration during the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century 45

Colonial Conflict n Many insurrections against colonial rule q n Example: Tanganyika Maji rebellion against German colonial forces(1905 -1906)—Rebels sprinkle selves with magic water (maji-maji) as protection against modern weapons; 75, 000 killed. “Scientific” racism developed q q Count Joseph Arthur de Gobineau (1816 -1882): French diplomat (who was not really a noble) published An Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races in 1850 s, which argued for the superiority of northern Europeans. Actually against imperialism since he thought it would lead to race-mixing Herbert Spencer (1820 -1902) combines classical liberalism with theories of Charles Darwin (1809 -1882) to form pernicious doctrine of “Social Darwinism”: “survival of fittest. ” Darwin was too careful of a scientist to apply his theories of evolution to human society. 46

Nationalism and Anticolonial Movements n Ram Mohan Roy (1772 -1883) q q n n Bengali often called “father of modern India” Sought to eliminate Hindi practices of sati, caste rigidity, polygamy, and child marriages, which the British used as evidence of European moral superiority Reformers call for self-government and adoption of selected British practices; looks to Enlightenment thought/Deism Indian National Congress formed 1885 q q Founded to discuss ways for educated Indians to obtain a greater share in government; not initially opposed to British rule and even contained British members Congress joins with All-India Muslim League in 1916 47

Nationalism and Anticolonial Movements Indian National Congress in 1885 48