Chapter 33 The Building of Global Empires The
Chapter 33 The Building of Global Empires
The idea of Imperialism n n n Term dates from mid 19 th century In popular discourse by 1880 s Military imperialism n n Later, economic and cultural varieties US imperialism
Motivation for Imperialism n n n Military- More people to fight. Strength in numbers. Political-focus outward. Economic-source of resources and consumers Religious-spread Christianity Demographic-Australia n criminal populations n Dissident populations
Manifest Destiny Discovery of natural resources n Exploitation of cheap labor n Expansion of markets n n limited
The “White Man’s Burden” n Rudyard Kipling (1864 -1936) n n n Raised in India, native Hindi speaker Boarding school in England, then return to India (1882) French: mission civilisatrice. Save the backward people from their lives of barbarity.
Geopolitical considerations n Strategic footholds n n n Waterways Supply stations Imperial rivalries
Domestic Political Considerations Crises of industrialism n Pressure from nascent Socialism n Imperial policies distract proletariat from domestic politics n n Cecil Rhodes: imperialism alternative to civil war
Technology and Imperialism n Transportation n Steamships Railroads Infrastructure n n Suez Canal (1859 -1869) Panama Canal (1904 -1914)
Weaponry muzzle-loading muskets n Mid-century: breech-loading rifles n n n Reduce reloading time 1880 s: Maxim gun, 11 rounds per second
The Military Advantage n Battle of Omdurman (Sudan), 1898 n Five hours of fighting British: six gunboats, twenty machine guns, 368 killed n Sudanese: 11, 000 killed n
Communications n Correspondence n n n 1830 Britain-India: 2 years After Suez Canal, 2 weeks Telegraph n n 1870 s, development of submarine cables Britain-India: 5 hours
The Jewel of the British Crown: India East India Company n Monopoly on India trade n Original permission from Mughal emperors n Mughal empire declines after death of Aurangzeb, 1707 n Britain turned to direct rule after Sepoy. n
Home of a Wealthy Family in Calcutta
British Conquest Protection of economic interests through political conquest n British and Indian troops (sepoys) n
British Colonial Soldiers
Sepoy Revolt, 1857 n n n Enfield rifles Cartridges in wax paper greased with animal fat-told to tear with teeth n Problem for Hindus: beef n Problem for Muslims: pork Sepoys capture garrison n 60 soldiers, 180 civilian males massacred (after surrender) Two weeks later, 375 women and children murdered British retake fort, hang rebels
Britain establishes direct rule Pre-empts East India Company n Established civil service staffed by English n Low-level Indian civil servants n
British Rule in India n Organization of agriculture according to British aims. n Crops: tea, coffee, opium Stamp of British culture on Indian environment n Veneer on poor Muslim-Hindu relations n
Imperialism in Central Asia n n British, French, Russians compete for central Asia n France drops out after Napoleon n Russia active after 1860 s in Tashkent, Bokhara, Samarkand, and approached India The “Great Game”: Russian vs. British intrigue n Preparation for imperialist war n Russian Revolution of 1917 forestalled war
Imperialism in Southeast Asia n n Spanish: Philippines Dutch: Indonesia (Dutch East Indies) British establish presence from 1820 s n Conflict with kings of Burma (Myanmar) 1820 s, established colonial authority by 1880 s n Thomas Stamford Raffles - Singapore for trade in Strait of Melaka n Base of British colonization in Malaysia, 1870 s-1880 s French: Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, 1859 -1893 n Encouraged conversion to Christianity n Siam left on own. Seen as a buffer state between British and French colonies.
Imperialism in Africa, ca. 1914
The Scramble for Africa (18751900) French, Portuguese, Belgians, and English competing for “the dark continent” n Britain establishes strong presence in Egypt, Rhodesia n n n Suez Canal Rhodesian gold. diamonds
Africa n European exploration of rivers (Nile, Niger, Congo, Zambesi) n Information on interior of Africa n King Leopold II of Belgium starts Congo Free State, commercial ventures. Brutal life for people. n Belgian government takes control of colony in 1908, renamed Belgian Congo
The Berlin West Africa Conference (1884 -1885) n Fourteen European states, United States n n n No African states present Rules of colonization: any European state can take “unoccupied” territory after informing other European powers European firepower dominates Africa n Exceptions: Ethiopia fights off Italy (1896); Liberia a dependency of the US (freed slaves)
Imperialism in Oceania, ca. 1914
English Imperialism in Australia and New Zealand n n n English use Australia (found by James Cook near Sydney) as a penal colony from 1788 Voluntary migrants follow; gold discovered 1851 Smallpox, measles devastate natives Territory called “terra nullus”: land of no one New Zealand: natives forced to sign Treaty of Waitangi (1840), placing New Zealand under British “protection”
Australian Aborigine
European and Native Population in Australia and New Zealand
European Imperialism in the Pacific Islands n n Commercial outposts n Whalers seeking port n Merchants seeking sandalwood, sea slugs for sale in China n Missionaries seeking souls British, French, German, American powers carve up Pacific islands n Tonga remains independent, but relies on Britain n French-Fiji; Germany-Marshall Islands; Dutch. Indonesia;
US Imperialism n n n President James Monroe warns Europeans not to engage in imperialism in western hemisphere (1823) n The Monroe Doctrine: all Americas a U. S. Protectorate n Opened up imperialism in Western hemisphere to U. S. 1867 purchased Alaska from Russia 1875 established protectorate over Hawai’i n Locals overthrow queen Lili”uokalani in 1893, persuade US to acquire islands in 1898
Spanish-Cuban-American War (18981899) n n US declares war in Spain after battleship Maine sunk in Havana harbor, 1898 n Takes possession of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, Philippines n US intervenes in other Caribbean, Central American lands, occupies Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Honduras, Haiti Filipinos revolt against Spanish rule, later against US rule under leadership of Aguinaldo
The Panama Canal n n President Theodore Roosevelt (in office 19011909) supports insurrection against Colombia (1903) Rebels win, establish state of Panama U. S. gains territory to build canal, Panama Canal Zone Roosevelt Corollary of Monroe Doctrine n U. S. right to intervene in domestic affairs of other nations if U. S. investments threatened
Early Japanese Expansion n n Resentment over Unequal Treaties of 1860 s 1870 s colonized northern region: Hokkaido, Kurile islands, 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 (China) Russo-Japanese War (1904 -1905) also ends in Japanese victory. World power now.
Economic Legacies of Imperialism n 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 n Indian cotton Introduction of new crops n Tea in Ceylon
Imperialism and migration during the nineteenth and early twentieth century
Labor Migrations n Europeans move to temperate lands n n n Work as free cultivators, industrial laborers 32 million to the US 1800 -1914 Africans, Asians, and Pacific islanders move to tropical/subtropical lands n n Indentured laborers, manual laborers 2. 5 million between 1820 and 1914
Colonial Conflict n n Thousands of insurrections against colonial rule n Tanganyika Maji Rebellion against Germans (1905 -1906) in East Africa. n Rebels sprinkle selves with magic water (maji) as protection against modern weapons; 75000 killed “Scientific” Racism developed-Europeans better n Count Joseph Arthurd de Gobineau (1816 -1882) n Combines with theories of Charles Darwin (18091882) to form pernicious doctrine of Social Darwinism -strong will control the weak.
Nationalism and Anti-colonial Movements n n n Ram Mohan Roy (1772 -1883), Bengali called “father of modern India”. Member of elite, hindu intellectual, and newspaper publisher. Reformers call for self-government, adoption of selected British practices (e. g. ban on sati) n Influence of Enlightenment thought, often obtained in European universities Indian National Congress formed 1885 n 1906 joins with All-India Muslim League
Imperialism in Asia, ca. 1914
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