Imperialism is when a strong nation takes over a weaker nation or region and dominates its economic, political, or cultural life.A nation would experience industrialization

prior to practicing imperialism on a foreign nation or region.

This was due to the nearly insatiable demand for cheap raw materials and the need for markets to buy manufactured goods.

Economic Motives The Industrial Revolution created an insatiable

demand for raw materials and new markets. Nationalism

European nations wanted to demonstrate their power and prestige to the world.

Balance of Power European nations were forced to acquire new

colonies to achieve a balance with their neighbors and competitors.

White Man's Burden The Europeans’ sense of superiority made them

feel obligated to “civilize the heathen savages” they encountered.

Rise of Industrialization = Need of Raw Materials Asia, Africa, and Latin America were seen as

a source of raw materials for industrial production and as a market for Europe’s manufactured goods.

“new imperialism,”: was not content to have trading posts and agreements, as the old imperialism was, but wanted direct control over territories. Old Imperialism trade of slaves and goods to

trading posts and agreements

pride in one’s country Citizens were proud of their country’s

accomplishments, which sometimes included taking over foreign areas.

As European nations became competitive with one another, there was an increased pressure to practice imperialism in order to maintain a balance of power in Europe.

As Europeans took over foreign lands, they viewed the culture of the native population to be inferior to their own. 

 the duty of imperializing nations to bring western culture and sensibility to the savage native populations that were encountered in far off lands.

Social Darwinism: the belief that all human groups compete for survival, and that the stronger groups will replace the weaker groups.

imperialism was a very profitable foreign policy which came at the expense of the foreign regions where it was being practiced. 

 Cultural diffusion also occurred, leading to an exchange of ideas between the West and the East.European methods of education were

adopted, leading foreigners to study ideas of liberty and democracy embraced during the Enlightenment and various political revolutions.

The Dutch and the Spanish controlled much of Southeast Asia during the early 1800s

The Dutch East Indies was renowned for its rich soil which allowed the harvesting of crops such as: coffee, pepper, cinnamon, sugar, indigo, and tea.

Mines were formed to exploit the rich deposits of tin and copper.

Forests yielded valuable timber including teak, ebony, and other hardwoods.

The Dutch became notorious for the use of forced slave labor, known as the culture system, to gather these raw materials, while purposely discouraging westernization, or the spreading of European culture

The Spanish used similar methods to reap the rewards from their tobacco and sugar plantations located in the Philippine Islands. However in 1898, the Philippines were given to the United States as part of the settlement for their loss of the Spanish-American War.

Spanish American War: (1898) A war between the United States and Spain over the control of Cuba. The United States won this war and gained independence for Cuba, and control of the Philippines. 

Great Britain led the way in nineteenth-century imperial colonialism The British took

control of Burma from their colonial stronghold in India in the early 1800s

 the French imperialized modern-day Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam forming French Indochina in the 1880s. 

Siam was fought for by G.B and France eventually guaranteed its independence by a treaty negotiated between France and Great Britain.

After the Meiji Restoration led to massive industrialization in Japan, the nation found itself in great need of natural resources. 

Industrialization makes a nation dependent upon iron, coal, and oil, none of which were found in great quantity on the Japanese archipelago. This need led them

to invade mainland Korea in order to exploit the natural resources there

Japan took over much of the coast of China and the rest of Southeast Asiaforming the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere  Provided more natural resources

East Asian raw materials such as oil from the Dutch East Indies and rubber from French Indochina kept Japan’s manufacturing industry and military in China well supplied.

The Japanese war machine was eventually aimed at the United States in WWII with their attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

The French left French Indochina in the 1950s after years of warfare with nationalist groups.

 Communism seemed destined to spread into the region from China.

The U.S. foreign policy of containment of communism would lead to their involvement in the area in the unpopular Vietnam Conflict. Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos all eventually became

communist in the 1970s. In Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge orchestrated

mass killing of intellectuals and so-called reactionaries which became known as the Killing Fields.

During the 1700s, a joint-stock company called the British East India Company was chartered by Queen Elizabeth I of England. The company’s main objective was to make

a profit for shareholders by exploiting the abundant natural resources and gaining access to the markets in India.

the British East India Company successfully used “divide and conquer” tactics to increase their control over entire regions of the Indian subcontinent. 

This strategy entailed fanning the lames of religious division between native Muslim and Hindu groups, and taking advantage of the political rivalries that existed between local native rulers.

By the 1830s, the British government had taken over control of the East India Company. Under British rule, native customs such assati, the ritual suicide of a wife after her husband’s death, were banned. The British built schools and railroads, and missionaries spread Christianity.

The British government ruled India directly through a British official known as a viceroy—a governor who rules as a representative of a monarch. The viceroy was assisted by a British civil

service staff of about 3,500 people, who ruled 300 million

British rule had both benefits and costs for India.

One benefit was Britain brought order to a society wracked by civil war.

It also led to a fairly honest government. Lord Thomas Macaulay set up a new school system. The goal of the new system was to train Indian

children to work in the colonial administrative system and the army.

The new system served only upper-class Indians; 90 percent of the country remained illiterate.

Britain also introduced infrastructure like the telegraph and railroads.

The greatest cost to the Indians of British rule was economic.

British rule brought severe hardships to most of the population. British manufactured goods destroyed local

industries, for example. In rural areas the zamindars collected

taxes from the peasants. Many zamindars took advantage of their

authority, increasing taxes and forcing many peasants to become tenants or lose their land entirely.

The British also persuaded many farmers to switch from growing food to growing cotton. Food supplies could not keep up with the population, therefore. Between 1800 and 1900 thirty million Indians

starved to death. British rule was degrading to the educated,

upper-class Indians as well. Top jobs were reserved for the British, and the

rulers believed they were superior to the Indians, as the views of Lord Kitchener show.

The British showed disrespect for Indian culture. For example, they used the Taj Mahal as a place of weddings and parties, even chipping off pieces of it to take as souvenirs.

British racial attitudes led to the Indian nationalist movement.

The Taj Mahal was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The Taj Mahal is widely recognized as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage."

The first Indian nationalists were upper-class, English-educated people who preferred reform over revolution. Many came from urban areas such as

Mumbai (then called Bombay) and Calcutta.

The slow pace of reform convinced most Indian nationalists they had to do more. In 1885 a small group of Indians formed

the Indian National Congress (INC).At first it called only for a share in the

governing process, not full independence.

A split between Hindus and Muslims plagued the INC. Muslims began to call for a separate league

to better represent the interests of India’s millions of Muslims.

In 1915 the return of a young lawyer gave new life to the independence movement. Mohandas Gandhi was born in Gujarat and

educated in England. While working at a law firm in South Africa

serving the interests of Indian workers there, Gandhi became aware of racial exploitation.

Using his experiences in South Africa, Gandhi turned the Indian independence movement into one of nonviolent resistance. The aim was to win

aid for the poor and independence. Gandhi’s movement would indeed lead to independence.Mohandas Gandhi at his

law office in 1895

India experienced a cultural revival in the early 1800s. A British college opened in Calcutta and a local

publishing house issued textbooks on subjects including Sanskrit.

The work of writers such as the illustrious Indian author Rabindranath Tagore tried to promote pride in a national Indian consciousness in the face of British domination. Tagore’s life work was to promote human

dignity and world peace.

His interest was ideas, and he set up a school that became a national university

In the early 1800s,  the British treasury was being depleted due to its dependence upon imported tea from China. The Chinese still considered their nation to be

the Middle Kingdom, and therefore viewed the goods the Europeans brought to trade with as nearly worthless trinkets.

To solve this trade imbalance Britain imported opium, processed from poppy plants grown in the Crown Colony of India, into China.

Chinese officials attempted to ban the importation of the highly addictive opium, but ultimately failed. The British declared war on China in a series of conflicts

called the Opium Wars. Superior British military technology allowed them to

claim victory and subject the Chinese to a series of unequal treaties.

According to the 1842 Treaty of Nanjing, the Chinese were to:

Reimburse Britain for costs incurred fighting the Chinese

Open several ports to British trade Provide Britain with complete control of

Hong Kong Grant extraterritoriality to British

citizens living in China

Eventually several European nations followed suit, forcing China to sign a series of unequal treaties.  Extraterritoriality guaranteed that European

citizens in China were only subject to the laws of their own nation and could only be tried by their own courts.

Eventually western nations weary of governing foreign lands, established spheres of influence within China which guaranteed specific trading privileges to each nation within its respective sphere.

Eventually the United States demanded equal trading status within China, and rather than carve out its own sphere of influence, simply announced the Open Door Policy in 1899.

Disgusted with the failed efforts of the Manchu Dynasty in ridding China of opium or foreign influence after the Opium Wars, Chinese citizens staged the Taiping Rebellion between 1850-1864.  Taiping Rebellion: (1850-1864) A revolt by the people

of China against the ruling Manchu Dynasty because of their failure to deal effectively with the opium problem and the interference of foreigners. 

After the further insult of the Open Door Policy, Chinese nationalist staged the Boxer Boxer RebellionRebellion in 1900. (caused by anti-foreign sentiment) Viewed as a threat to the profits they enjoyed in their

imperialist spheres of influence, foreign nations formed an international coalition that ended the uprising. With this victory, additional concessions were granted to foreign nations within China.

Finally, 5,000 years of dynastic rule in China came to an end in 1911. China tumbled into civil war as local warlords

sought to control their locals, while nationalist leaders such as Sun Yixian sought to unify China.

Civil war took hold of China after Sun’s death as Mao Zedong and his communist forces battled Sun's successor Jiang Jieshi for control of the country.

In 1949, Mao established a communist government in mainland China while Jiang Jieshi fled to Taiwan and established a democratic government there.

The United States naval forces under Commodore George Dewey defeated the Spanish in Manila Bay in the PhilippinesPresident William McKinley believed it was

his moral duty to civilize other parts of the world.

Colonizing the Philippines would also prevent it from coming under Japanese rule and would serve the United States’s interest in securing a jumping-off point for trade with China.

Many Filipinos objected to the colonization—for example Emilio Aguinaldo, the leader of an independence movement. His guerrilla forces

fought against the Spanish and the United States, who defeated the guerrillas.

Europeans did not hesitate to deceive Africans in order to get their land and natural resources.

Driven by of rivalries among themselves, Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, and Portugal placed almost all of Africa under European rule between 1880 and 1890.

West Africa was particularly affected by the slave trade, but trafficking in slaves had declined after it was declared illegal by both Great Britain and the United States by 1808.By the 1890s slavery

was abolished in all the major countries of the world.

As slavery declined, Europe’s interest in other forms of trade increased—for example, trading manufactured goods for peanuts, timber, hides, and palm oil. In the early

nineteenth century, the British established settlements along the Gold Coast and in Sierra Leone.

The growing European presence in West Africa caused increasing tensions with local African governments, who feared for their independence.

In 1874 Great Britain annexed (incorporated a country within a state) the west coastal states as the first British colony of Gold Coast. Simultaneously, it established a protectorate over warring Nigerian groups.

France controlled the largest part of West Africa, and Germany controlled Togo, Cameroon, and German Southwest Africa (now Namibia).

In 1805, an officer of the Ottoman army named Muhammad Ali seized power and established a separate Egyptian state.Ali introduced a series of reforms to

modernize Egypt. He modernized the army, set up a public school system, and helped create small industries.

The growing economic importance of the Nile Valley along with the development of steamships gave Europeans a desire to build a canal east of Cairo to connect the Mediterranean and Red Seas. In 1854 Ferdinand de Lesseps, a Frenchman,

signed a contract to build the Suez Canal. The canal was completed in 1869.

Great Britain bought Egypt’s share in the Suez Canal. Britain suppressed an 1881 revolt against

foreign influence, and Egypt became a British protectorate in 1915.

also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. 

allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation around Africa. 

The British believed they should control the Sudan, south of Egypt.

In 1881 the Muslim cleric Muhammad Ahmad seized control of the Sudan and defeated the British military force under General Charles Gordon.

The British army was wiped out at Khartoum; Gordon died in the battle. The British seized the Sudan again in 1898.

In 1879, 150,000 French had settled in the region of Algeria. The French government established control there, along with making protectorates of Tunisia and Morocco.

Italy joined the competition for North African colonies by trying to take over Ethiopia.Ethiopian forces defeated the Italians in

1896. Italy was humiliated and tried again in 1911 to conquer Ethiopia. Italy seized Turkish Tripoli, which it renamed Libya.

King Leopold II was the real driving force behind the colonization of Central Africa. In 1876 he hired Henry Stanley to set up

Belgian settlements in the Congo. Belgium’s claim to the vast territories of the Congo worried other European states.

France especially rushed to gain territories in Central Africa.

Belgium ended up with the territories south of the Congo River, and France received the territories north of the Congo River.

By 1875 Britain and Germany had become the chief rivals in East Africa

At first Bismarck had downplayed the importance of colonies. He became a convert to

colonialism, however, after more and more Germans called for a German empire.

Germany was one of many European nations interested in East African coloniesAt the 1884 Berlin Conference, the major

European powers divided up East Africa, giving recognition to German, British, and Portuguese claims.

No African delegates were present at the conference.

By 1865 close to two hundred thousand white people had moved to the southern part of Africa.

The Boers, also called Afrikaners, were the descendants of the original Dutch settlers who occupied Cape Town in South Africa in the seventeenth century. In the 1830s the Boers fled British rule, going

northward and establishing the independent republics of Transvaal—later the South African Republic—and the Orange Free State.

The Boers believed white supremacy was ordained by God; therefore, they put a lot of the indigenous (native) peoples on reservations.

The Boers frequently battled the Zulu, an indigenous people. The Zulu had risen to prominence under their great ruler, Shaka. Later the British defeated the Zulu.

In the 1880s British policy in South Africa was directed by Cecil Rhodes, who had set up diamond and gold companies that had made him fabulously wealthy.

He named the territory north of the Transvaal Rhodesia, after himself.

Rhodes’s ambitions led to his downfall in 1896. The British

government forced him to resign as prime minister of Cape Colony after finding out he planned to overthrow the Boer government of the South African Republic without British approval.

Conflict broke out between the British and the Boers, leading to war.

The Boer War went from 1899 to 1902. Fierce guerrilla resistance by the Boers angered

the British, who burned crops and herded more than 150,000 Boer women and children into detention camps, causing 26,000 to die.

In 1910 the British created the independent Union of South Africa, combining the Cape Colony and the Boer republics. This was a self-governing nation within the

British Empire. To appease the Boers, the policy was that only

whites could vote.

By 1914 only Liberia, which had been created by freed United States slaves, and Ethiopia were African nations free of European domination.

Britain especially relied on existing political elites and institutions to govern its colonies.

An advantage of indirect rule for the indigenous peoples is that it interfered much less with their traditions and customs. However, most decisions came from the parent

country, and local rulers rubber-stamped and enforced these decisions, maintaining their power. This system sowed the seeds of later class and tribal tensions among native peoples.

Most other European governments used direct rule in AfricaThe French, for example, appointed a

governor-general and set up their own colonial bureaucracy.

The French ideal was to assimilate the African peoples. They did not want to preserve African traditions.

Latin America area rich in resourcescountries with newly gained

independencearea that needs money to modernize

and industrialize

Borrow money from other countries

Or

Becomes “enslaved” by debt to these countries

The natural resources of the Latin American republics made them targets for a form of economic dependence called free-trade imperialism

British and the United States’ entrepreneurs financed and constructed railroads in order to exploit the agricultural and mineral wealth of Latin America.

European influence in Latin America was very different than in Africa and Asia.Europe penetrated South America with

investment and trade and immigration. Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and other

countries took in the Irish, Germans, Italians, eastern Europeans, and Spaniards.

Direct imperialism would only come from the United States.U.S. declared war on Spain in 1898 and

captured the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Cuba.

What influenced revolt?By the end of the eighteenth century, the

political ideals of the revolution in North America were threatening European control of Latin America.

Social classes based on privilege divided colonial Latin America. The top level, the peninsulares, held the important positions. Creoles (descendants of Europeans born in Latin America who lived there permanently) controlled land and businesses. Mestizos, the largest segment, worked as servants or laborers.

The creole elites were especially influenced by revolutionary ideals. They found the ideas of a free press,

free trade, and equality before the law very attractive.

They resented colonial control of trade, as well. They especially resented the peninsulares—Spanish and Portuguese officials who resided temporarily in Latin America for political and economic gain and then returned to their mother countries.

The creole elites denounced the rule of Spain and of Portugal. There was a series of revolts between

1807 and 1825, due to the weakened condition of Spain and Portugal from defeats at the hand of Napoleon.

The unusual revolution led by François-Dominique Toussaint-Louverture on the island of Hispaniola took place before the main independence movements began.

More than one hundred thousand slaves rose up and seized control of the entire island.

In 1804 the area now called Haiti became the first independent state in Latin America.

Mexico experienced a revolt beginning in 1810.

Miguel Hidalgo was the first hero of the Mexican movement for independence. Inspired by the French Revolution, he

urged the mestizos (people of European and Indian descent) to free themselves from the Spanish

In 1810 Hidalgo led an unsuccessful armed attack on the Spaniards. They were defeated

and Hidalgo was executed, but his memory lives on.

September 16, the first day of the uprising, is Mexico’s Independence Day.

Father Hidalgo leads Mexicans in revolt against the Spaniards

Simon Bolivar Don Jose de San Martin

Two members of the creole elite—José de San Martín of Argentina and Simón Bolívar of Venezuela—are considered the liberators of South America.

San Martín believed the Spanish had to be removed from all of South America if any South American nation was to be free. He freed Argentina by 1810. In 1817 he led forces against the

Spanish in Chile. He crossed the Andes in an amazing march

during which many soldiers died. The arrival of his army in Chile surprised the Spanish, and their forces were defeated.

San Martín wanted to move on to Lima, the center of Spanish authority. He knew he would need the help of the man

who had freed Venezuela from the Spanish—Simón Bolívar. They allied.

a Venezuelan military and political leader. Together with José de San Martín, he played a key role in Hispanic-Spanish America‘s successful struggle for independence from the Spanish Empire

Bolívar participated in the foundation of the first union of independent nations in Hispanic-America, a republic, which was named Gran Colombia, and of which he was president from 1819 to 1830. 

During his lifetime, he led Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Bolivia to independence, and helped lay the foundations for democratic ideology in much of Latin America.

By the end of the 1820s, South and Central America were free of the Spanish.

The one threat left was that the Concert of Europe favored using troops to restore Spanish rule in Latin America.

Britain disagreed because it wished to trade with Latin America.

The United States president, James Monroe, issued the Monroe Doctrine, which warned against European involvement in Latin America and guaranteed the independence of the new Latin American nations.

The new Latin American nations faced many serious problems between 1830 and 1870, such as border wars, a huge loss of property and people, and no modern infrastructure.

Over the nineteenth century these new countries would become economically dependent on Europe and the United States once again.

The new nations began as republics, but soon strong leaders known as caudillos came to power. They ruled by force, and the landed elite

supported them. Some of them were destructive, such

as Mexican ruler Antonio López de Santa Anna. He misused state funds, halted reforms, and

created chaos. In 1835 American settlers in the Mexican state of Texas revolted against him.

Texas gained its independence in 1836; war between Mexico and the United States soon followed (1846 to 1848).

Mexico lost almost one-half of its territory to the United States after losing the Mexican War.

Santa Anna’s disastrous rule was followed by a period of reform (1855 to 1876), dominated by Benito Juárez, a reformer, national hero, and child of Native American peasants.

The United States’s intervention in Latin America led to the building of the Panama Canal (opened in 1914). The United States controlled it for most of the

twentieth century. Political independence did not translate

into economic independence. Britain and other Western nations dominated

the Latin American economy. Latin America continued to be a source of raw

materials and food for the industrial West. Finished consumer goods, especially textiles, were imported.

The continuation of this old pattern assured that Latin America would depend on Europe and the United States.

A basic problem for all Latin American nations was the domination of society by the landed elite.

Large estates remain a way of life in Latin America.

Land remained the basis of wealth, prestige, and power in Latin America throughout the nineteenth century.

The landed elite ran governments and made huge profits, while the masses lived in dire poverty.

After 1870 Latin American governments wrote constitutions similar to those in the United States and Europe. Ruling elites kept their power, however, often by restricting voting rights.

After the Spanish-American War, Cuba became a United States protectorate and Puerto Rico was annexed to the United States.

In 1903, the United States supported a rebellion that allowed Panama to become an independent nation. In return the United States received the land on which it built the Panama Canal.

American investments in Latin American soon followed. Since 1898, military forces have been sent into Latin America to protect American interests. The United States Marines were in Haiti from

1915 to 1934, and Nicaragua was occupied from 1909 to 1933. Resentment built against the big power from the north.

In Mexico, among other Latin American countries, large landowners supported dictators who looked out for the interests of the ruling elite. The dictator Porfirio Díaz ruled Mexico between

1877 and 1911 with the support of the army, the Catholic Church, the aristocrats, and foreign capitalists.

Wages declined under this dictator, and 95 percent of the rural population did not own land. A liberal landowner forced Díaz out, and a wider revolution started. Emiliano Zapata demanded agrarian

reform. He aroused the peasants against the wealthy.

A new constitution enacted in 1917 set up a government led by a president, created land reform, established limits on foreign investment, and set out to help workers

Latin America had a period of economic prosperity after 1870 due to the exportation of a few major items, including wheat and beef from Argentina, coffee from Brazil, and bananas from Central America.

After 1900 Latin America began doing more of its own manufacturing

Due to the prosperity, the middle sectors of Latin American society grew, even though they were too small to make up a genuine middle class. The middle sectors were only 5 to 10 percent of

the population. Members of the Latin American middle

sectors had shared characteristics: they lived in cities, sought education and decent incomes, and saw the United States as a model, especially for industrialization. They sought reform, not revolution, and usually

voted with the landed elites.