European Imperialism

War on Iraq• Our armies do not come into your

cities and lands as conquerors or enemies, but as liberators. ... It is [not] the wish of [our] government to impose upon you alien institutions. ... [It is our wish] that you should prosper even as in the past, when your lands were fertile, when your ancestors gave to the world literature, science, and art, and when Baghdad city was one of the wonders of the world. ... It is [our] hope that the aspirations of your philosophers and writers shall be realized and that once again the people of Baghdad shall flourish, enjoying their wealth and substance under institutions which are in consonance with their sacred laws and their racial ideals.

• -- General F. S. Maude to the people of Mesopotamia, March 19, 1917

• The government of Iraq, and the future of your country, will soon belong to you. ... We will end a brutal regime ... so that Iraqis can live in security. We will respect your great religious traditions, whose principles of equality and compassion are essential to Iraq's future. We will help you build a peaceful and representative government that protects the rights of all citizens. And then our military forces will leave. Iraq will go forward as a unified, independent, and sovereign nation that has regained a respected place in the world. You are a good and gifted people -- the heirs of a great civilization that contributes to all humanity.

• -- President George W. Bush to the people of Iraq, April 4, 2003

Imperialism

• Imperialism: process through which a state attempts to control the economic and/or political and cultural makeup of another state.

• Between 1815-1914 the West (Europe and America) increased their control of the world’s land mass from 35%-85%.

EconomicEconomic

Source forRaw

Materials

Source forRaw

Materials

Markets forFinishedGoods

Markets forFinishedGoods

ExplorationExploration

ReligiousReligiousReasons for European

Imperialism

Reasons for European

Imperialism

PoliticalPoliticalIdeologicalIdeological

“WhiteMan’s

Burden”

“WhiteMan’s

Burden”

SocialDarwinism

SocialDarwinism

Do somethingno one has

done

Do somethingno one has

done

End SlaveryEnd Slavery

Spread Christianity

Spread Christianity

Gain Territory

Gain Territory

NationalismNationalism

GainPowerGain

PowerRacismRacism

Causes of Imperialism• Economic

• Industrialization gave the West the ability to conquer other parts of the world, but more reasons to do so, too.

• Large-scale industrial production made Western factories demand more raw materials, which could be seized from less powerful nations.

• Also, Western nations needed markets for goods produced.

• Colonies would serve as potential markets.

• Immense wealth allowed Western world to conquer far-flung places.

Causes of Imperialism• Political

• Power- What better way to show the world that you are a power than by taking over other countries.

• Nationalism- If my country has a huge empire, we must be powerful.

• Territory- The more territory we have the more powerful we are and the more resources we control

Causes of Imperialism

• Religion• Christians feel it is their duty

to convert others and show them the way to heaven.

• By this time most European countries had outlawed slavery on the belief than men were equal under God.

• Slavery still existed in other parts of the world and in Africa.

• The only way to enforce the ban was to control Africa.

Causes of Imperialism• Ideological

• Social Darwinism- Application of Charles Darwin’s “Theory of Survival of the Fittest” to humans.

• The Lion eats the Gazelle. Lion lives to pass on its fast genes. Gazelle dies, doesn’t pass on genes.

• ONLY THE STRONG SURVIVE.• This was natures way of

improving the species.• Therefore, the stronger humans

(Whites) should take over the weaker ones (Natives).

• This was natures way of improving the species.

Causes of Imperialism• Ideological

• White Man’s Burden• Named after a poem

by Rudyard Kipling.• It was the duty of the

superior race (Whites) to help bring culture and civilization to the lesser races.

• Get rid of your ways and do it like us.

• Well meaning, but racist at the same time.

• A lot of good was done, but at the same time many natives lost their culture and heritage.

Causes of Imperialism

• Ideological• Racism

• Created a sense that Western nations were entitled to conquer & colonize areas that appeared “backwards” or “primitive”.

• White European culture is best and should be spread throughout the world.

• Wear clothes, speak language, act like the Whites.

• Cecil Rhodes, British imperialist, “I contend that we are the finest race in the world, and the more of it we inhabit, the better.”

Causes of Imperialism

• Exploration• Since the beginning of

time humans have wanted to do something that no one else has done before and explore their world.

• Follow in the footsteps of Columbus.

• Dr. Livingstone goes to Africa. No one hears from him

• Newspaperman Henry Stanley finds him and writes about it.

• Creates interest in Africa.

Western advantages

• Strong economies• Well-organized governments• Powerful armed forces• Superior technology and medicine• Maxim gun• Quinine

Africa

• 1880, Europeans controlled 10% of Africa

• 1914 Europeans controlled all except Liberia & Ethiopia

Africa: Berlin Congress 1884-85

• Established the "rules" for conquest of Africa

• sought to prevent conflict over imperialism• Congress coincided with Germany's rise as

an imperial power• Agreed to stop slavery and slave trade in

Africa• Germany took control of Cameroon, Togo,

southwest Africa, & East Africa• France took control Tunisia, Algeria,

French West Africa (including Morocco, Sahara, Sudan, Congo basin)

• Italy: took control of Libya• Belgium: Took control of the Congo

The Congo"I do not want to risk...losing a fine chance to secure for ourselves a slice of this magnificent African cake.”--Leopold II

Belgian Congo

King Leopold II of Belgium• King Leopold II of Belgium was a

figurehead without any actual say in the governement from 1865–1909.

• He had great ambition to make Belgium, a relatively new and small nation, one of the great imperial powers of Europe.

• He thought that colonization was the best way to do this.

• “Since history teaches that colonies are useful, that they play a great part in that which makes up the power and prosperity of states, let us strive to get one in our turn."

Leopold’s Attempts at Acquiring Colonies

• He launched several unsuccesful schemes to buy colonies, but all of his attempts at aquiring territory were blocked by the Belgian government, which viewed colonization as a bad investment.

• Leopold decided that if the Belgian government would not support him, then he would do it himself.

• He set his sights on the Congo, a piece of land in the heart of Africa that had remained uncolonized by “civilized” society.

The African International Association

• In 1876 Leopold, using his own vast wealth, and acting completely independent of the Belgian state, sponsored a humanitarian conference as a front for his ambition to colonize, which resulted in the formation of the African International Association, of which he was the sole shareholder.

• The Association was given internation support in its quest to “civilize” the natives, through promises to end slavery in the Congo, protect the rights of the natives, and guarantee free trade, none of which he actually intended to do.

Stanley’s Takeover of the Congo

• Leopold hired Henry Morton Stanley, a famous explorer who understood the customs and politics of the tribes and peoples of the Congo, to organize the takeover

• Stanley used guns and other modern weapons, cheap European goods to win over 450 local chiefs and their people and take over their land.

Henry Morton Stanley in his “Stanley Cap” which he designed for exploring the tropics

Chiefs of Ngombi & Mafela, in return for "one piece of cloth per month to each of the

undersigned chiefs, besides present of cloth in hand," they promised to "freely of their own accord, for themselves and their heirs and

successors for ever...give up to the said Association the sovereignty and all sovereign

and governing rights to all their territories...and to assist by labour or

otherwise, any works, improvements or expeditions which the said Association shall

cause at any time to be carried out in any part of these territories....All roads and waterways

running through this country, the right of collecting tolls on the same, and all game,

fishing, mining and forest rights, are to be the absolute property of the said Association.”--Treaty handing over land to Leopold II

Cheating the Natives

The Congo Free State

• Through deceit and diplomacy, international conferences, and false promises to various nations, Leopold, who still did not formally own the land, was able to convince the international community in 1885 to allow him absolute control over a 90,000 square mile piece of land at the heart of the Congo, which was named the “Congo Free State”.

• He now officially owned 30 million people, “without constitution, without international supervision, without ever having been to the Congo, and without more than a tiny handful of his citizens having heard of him.” (Wikipedia)

Women kept hostage to force their husbands to go and gather rubber. Rubber was harvested by climbing the rubber tree, tapping into it and letting the sap run all over the slave’s body, where it would congeal. Later he would peel the rubber off his body, taking any body hair with it. Rubber harvesters were given impossible quotas to fill each month.

Two victims (l.) who lost their hands, one because his wrists were tied too tightly, the other because company militia cut it off to claim him as killed and get a reward. Below, a father looks at the severed hand and foot of his daughter.

5-8 Million Victims! (50% of Popul.)

It is blood-curdling to see them (the soldiers) returning with the hands of the slain, and to find the hands of young children amongst the bigger ones evidencing their bravery...The rubber from this district has cost hundreds of lives, and the scenes I have witnessed, while unable to help the oppressed, have been almost enough to make me wish I were dead... This rubber traffic is steeped in blood, and if the natives were to rise and sweep every white person on the Upper Congo into eternity, there would still be left a fearful balance to their credit. -- Belgian Official

Punishing “Lazy” Workers

Hands collected if rubber quotas not met…

• In practice, soldiers sometimes "cheated" by simply cutting off the hand and leaving the victim to live or die. More than a few survivors later said that they had lived through a massacre by acting dead, not moving even when their hand was severed, and waiting till the soldiers left before seeking help.

Leopold Tries to Maintain His Image

• Despite his cruelty as a leader, ironically much of Leopold’s success rested on his international image as a philanthropist, who was dedicated to improving the lives of the African people.

• In order to maintain this image, Leopold bribed many journalists and outlawed his employees from leaving the country

Belgium’s Stranglehold on the Congo

The Reign of Terror Ends

• Leopold was ultimately unsuccessful in dispelling rumors about the awful conditions of life in the Congo Free State. By 1908 criticism of his rule and lobbying by the American Congo Reform Association forced his withdrawal as sovereign and the region was annexed to Belgium. Its name was later changed to Zaire and is now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Europe’s Overseas Empire• Western Approaches

• Britain’s was the largest and most powerful colonial establishment.

• France, Belgium, and the Netherlands also had sizable colonies.

• Various approaches to governing• British considered to have

most “enlightened” approach to colonization.

• Did take their colonies by force & exploited them economically-and were prone to the same sense of racial superiority as the others

Europe’s Overseas Empires• Egypt

• Perhaps most important territory was Egypt.

• Became a British protectorate in 1880’s.

• France & Britain both vied for Egypt, mainly b/c of the financing of the Suez Canal (1869).

• Control over the canal-a vital link between Med. And Red Sea/ Indian Ocean-was crucial

• British used eco. pressure to gain more political control over Egypt.

British Imperialism

European Interest in India

• Europeans need and have a high demand for spices, cotton, and other goods

• Europeans trade by land over what route?

SILK ROAD

Indians must produce raw materials for

Britain

Indians must buy finished goods from

Britain

India was a major supplier of raw

materials

Tea, indigo, coffee, cotton, and jute,

opium

Jewel in the Crown

British in India

• Set up trade in India• Corrupt Mogul Empire in India

• ignores British gains• British soon control India• Export cotton from India to

Britain• Machine cotton spinning in Britain

• starts industrial revolution• British empire expands

• Africa, Asia, Australia

British Rule in India

• The East India Company, a British owned company, established trading post in India.

1. Establish colonies2. Make laws and collect taxes3. Have an army

• They fought with France as well as India over control of the sub-continent. Britain won.

• By 1857 the British were hiring Indian allies to protect British interest.

Problems of British Rule

• 1- Indians bought cheaper cloth from Britain which destroyed Indian textiles.

• 2-The British collected taxes from the Indians to keep the army in India. This caused some farmers to lose their farms.

• 3-Britain convinced many farmer to grow cotton instead of food which led to starvation.

• Educated Indians, predominantly Hindu, demanded increasing equality & self-gov't

• India became independent in 1946 (just after WWII)

Why were the Indians so angry??

• Brits had changed traditional practices• Indians Forced to buy British stuff• Indians were treated as second class• Not allowed to have best jobs• Paid less for the same jobs as British• Even educated people discriminated against• Indian economy became dependent on Brits!• How do you think some Indians feel about this??

I object to I object to violence violence because because when it when it

appears appears to do to do good, good,

the good is the good is only only

temporary; temporary; the evil it the evil it

does is does is permanentpermanent

. .

-Gandhi

An eye for an eye makes the An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.whole world blind.

- Gandhi

British EmpireAt its peak controlled one sixth of humanity

• Other European countries scramble to set up colonies all over world• France• Belgium• Germany• Denmark• Great Britain- Opium

Wars

Positive Results

Spread of Western thought, government, and ideas (end to slavery)

Improved infastructure (Roads, Dams, etc)

Improved Sanitation and public health

Improved Education and Literacy

End to local warfare

-Negative Results

-Became dependent on parent country

-Cash crops led to famine-Racism

-Indians treated like second class citizens

-Loss of traditional languages and cultures

-# of dead??????-Problems with independence when

colonial powers leave (Mid-East, Africa, SE Asia)

Impact of Imperialism

When India achieved independence in 1947, it was separated from East and West Pakistan.