Imperialism Causes and Context Background to Imperialism Old

Imperialism: Causes and Context

Background to Imperialism Old v. New Imperialism

“Old Imperialism” After the Age of Exploration in the 1500 -1600 s, European countries took colonies in many other regions From the 1500 s until the Industrial Revolution, the countries of England, France, Holland, Portugal, and Spain were dominant Fought wars over colonies, ex. French and Indian War

New Imperialism—Late 1800 s Reasons for imperialism: Economic Political Social

Economic Reasons for Imperialism Economic: Second Industrial Revolution led to an increased demand for raw materials such as tin, rubber, copper AND a new market for finished products

Political Reasons for Imperialism Political: Increased Nationalism Colonies represent political and economic power AND pride “The sun never sets on the British Empire. ”—literally!

Social Reasons for Imperialism Social: Belief in Social Darwinism “White Man’s Burden” by Rudyard Kipling Religious desire to convert native peoples Sending of missionaries to China, Africa

What Was New? European Beliefs That they could divide up huge regions (ex. Africa) That racism was truly a science—eugenics That they should use modern weapons to win colonies Technology Ability of mother countries to communicate more quickly Scale of raw materials taken from colonies Spheres of influence v. colonies (ex. China) Dominant countries Great Britain, United States, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan Pace of settlement was increased

Case Study: India Britain Dominates

Examples of Imperialism: India The British East India Company had a monopoly over trade in India since the 1600 CE, but it wasn’t considered to be an actual colony Eighteenth Century: 1700 -1750: British traded at posts along the coasts 1750 s—Britain started to take over India They started in the east and the southeast and continued in the rest of the country The British army and Indian army members (sepoy) enforced order

Examples of Imperialism: Sepoy Rebellion, 1857 Rifle cartridges that the sepoys used were thought to have pig & cow fat on them, and that offended both the Muslim and the Hindu soldiers Built-up frustration about British control Started in West Bengal in the eastern part of the country At first the rebellion was small, but the British responded harshly, so the rebellion grew quickly and spread; it lasted for a year

Examples of Imperialism: Effects of the Sepoy Rebellion Effects Thousands of casualties Huge property damage in northern India Rebuilding programs Reorganizing the army and fixing the ratio of British to Indian soldiers British government, not the East India Company, now clearly controlled the country as a colony

Case Study: China From isolation to forced trade

Examples of Imperialism: China Britain traded with China [East India Company], but it was limited because the Chinese did not want a lot of British products and because they did not want to change their culture Britain wanted a product that it could exchange for Chinese silver Began growing opium in India and shipping it to China Trade grew quickly, despite being illegal Opium dens grew and the number of addicts grew

Examples of Imperialism: China—The Opium War By 1830 s, the Chinese government realized it had a BIG problem and destroyed 20, 000 opium chests This action started a war with Britain that lasted from 1839 -1842 Treaty of Nanjing (1842) ended the war Chinese had to give British the island of Hong Kong open several ports to British trade allow British citizens to ignore Chinese laws give British most-favored nation status

Examples of Imperialism: China In addition to the Treaty of Nanjing (1842), other treaties were signed with many European powers and, “By 1900, ninety Chinese ports were under the effective control of foreign powers, foreign merchants controlled much of the Chinese economy, Christian missionaries sought converts throughout China, and foreign gunboats patrolled Chinese waters” (Bentley, 719).

Examples of Imperialism: China Taiping Rebellion (1850 -1864) Leader: Hong Xiuquan Goals: Abolish private property Prohibit footbinding and having concubines Provide free public education Simplify the written language Equality of men and women Threatened the government Result: Foreign forces helped defeat the rebels, the leader committed suicide, famine conditions, and between 20 -30 million people died

Examples of Imperialism: China Boxer Rebellion (1899 -1901) Boxers were upset at all of the foreigners coming into and controlling China They called themselves the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists Started in northern China and they killed foreigners, Christians, and even innocent people They believed that foreigners could hurt them, so 140, 000 Boxers stormed foreign embassies in summer 1900

Examples of Imperialism: China Boxer Rebellion, continued Foreign forces defeated them: coalition of British, French, Russian, U. S. , German, and Japanese The Chinese government had to pay money to these foreign powers and allow troops in Beijing Because Empress Dowager Ci Xi had backed the Boxers, the people who wanted to start a revolution gained power

Examples of Imperialism: China After the Boxer Rebellion, spheres of influence developed in which European countries each controlled trade in their particular region

Examples of Imperialism: Central and Southeast Asia Russia took over Central Asia, the area from Afghanistan south Britain took over Burma, Malaysia, and Singapore France took over Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos Pushed conversion to Catholicism

Examples of Imperialism: Japan 1853—Commodore Matthew Perry took a huge fleet to Japan and demanded that the U. S. be able to trade with Japan and use their ports

Examples of Imperialism: Japan As western nations demanded trade with Japan, the Tokugawa Shogunate ended and the leaders started the Meiji Restoration Emperor was just for show Modernize and industrialize to be competitive Japan developed a sphere of influence that extended to part of China, Manchuria, Taiwan, and Korea By 1910, Japan was an imperial power

Case Study: Africa

Examples of Imperialism: Britain in Africa Cecil Rhodes He went to southern Africa in 1871 By 1889, he controlled 90% of the world’s diamond production He later branched out to search for gold After he was dominating economically, he tried to help Britain gain territory He said, “We are the finest race in the world, and the more of the world we inhabit, the better it is for the human race” (Bentley 731)

Examples of Imperialism: Africa Berlin Conference, 1884 -1885 Meeting in Berlin in which the main powers divided up the map of Africa Competition heightened for Africa in the 1880 s Why? New inventions Quinine to fight off malaria First automatic machine gun Steamship, railroad, telegraph Suez Canal (1859)

Examples of Imperialism: Africa The “scramble for Africa” Between 1875 -1900, Europe colonized most of Africa Europeans wanted raw materials to be more powerful than each other

Examples of Imperialism: Africa Congo Free State King Leopold II of Belgium hired Henry Morton Stanley to explore and start businesses in this region Forced natives to work in the rubber plantations 4 -8 million killed In 1908, it became the Belgian Congo, which was run by the Belgian government

Examples of Imperialism: Africa South Africa First settled in 1652 when the Dutch East India Company established Cape Town Boers (Dutch farmers) later called Afrikaners They believed that God had given the control over the natives More settlers came in the 18 th c. , and this led to more conflict

Examples of Imperialism: Africa South Africa, continued British conquered Cape during Napoleonic Wars and then outlawed slavery Dutch slaveholders had to move to new areas Discoveries: Diamonds in 1867 Gold in 1886 Conflict over these resources led to the Boer War (18991902) British concentration camps in Namibia British beat the Afrikaners and took over their land

Examples of Imperialism: Africa South Africa 1913—the Native Land Act was passed This put the blacks into reservations This system of separation or Apartheid lasted until the 1990 s