The Age of Imperialism

1850 - 1914

Imperialism

• What: the domination of one nation by another politically, socially, economically and culturally

• Who: Belgium, England, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal & Spain

• Where: Africa, Asia & India

Imperialism

• Why: resources, guaranteed markets, nationalism, military concerns, racism (Social Darwinism) & the missionary impulse

• How: advanced European technology like the Maxim gun, the telegraph, the railroad, the steamship, medicines like quinine, African tribalism and a lack of African unity

Imperialism

• When: 1850 until 1914

Why Did They Do It?

Resources

• Britain is an island with necessarily limited resources

• Europe has limited resources

• What happens if factories run out of coal or iron or if they need more cotton and can’t grow it themselves?

Resources

• European factories will need cheap raw materials to keep the revolution going

• If they don’t get them or if the price is too high what could happen?

Guaranteed Markets

• How many shirts or pants can you own?

• How big is England’s or Europe’s population?

• Who can trade with a colony?

• Why do colonies exist?

• Why is no competition good for the seller but bad for the buyer?

Nationalism

• European nations wanted to demonstrate their superiority.

• The more weaker countries taken over the more powerful the nation appeared.

• Colonies give nations prestige or “bragging rights”.

Social Darwinism

• The belief that all human groups compete for survival, and that the stronger groups will replace the weaker groups.

• Darwin’s theory of evolution = “survival of the fittest”.

• It is only natural that strong nations should dominate weaker nations.

• This is applied to society as a justification of imperialism.

Military

• Need for naval bases and places to refuel merchant ships.

• More colonies = More power and security

• More bases allow nations to use force in more different places and protect merchant ships.

• Balance of Power!

Economic

• Industrial Revolution creates need for large amounts of raw materials.

• New markets for finished goods.

• New places to invest profits

• What happens if factories produce but no one buys?

Missionary Impulse

• People of color seen as inherently inferior or as “God-less savages”

• It was the duty of the Europeans to “save the souls” of the people in Africa, Asia & India

• Sent missionaries out to bring them to the Christian God

• They were doing God’s work so imperialism was OK

How Did They Do It?

Divide and Conquer

• Hundreds of different ethnic groups in Africa

• Dozens of languages

• Traditional African beliefs mixed with Islam and Christianity

• Large, unmanageable empires

• Low levels of technology

Scramble for Africa

• The impact of the Industrial Revolution allowed Europeans to penetrate Africa’s interior

• Explorers began to map out Africa in the early 19th century & to learn more about the “Dark Continent” (why is it Dark?)

• Christian missionaries followed the explorers into Africa to win souls for Christianity

Scramble for Africa

• By early 1870s it was clear that Africa would prove to be very valuable to industrialized nations

• King Leopold of Belgium sent Henry Stanley to Africa to explore the Congo River & to set up trade contacts with the Africans

Scramble for Africa

• Leopold publicly: “Belgium will carry the light that, for millions of men still plunged in barbarism, will be the dawn of a better era.”

• Leopold privately: “I want resources, markets & profits for Belgium!”

• Leopold’s actions touched off the Scramble for Africa

Berlin Conference – 1884-85

• To avoid conflict with one another in Africa, European leaders met in Berlin, Germany

• With little regard or representation for Africans, the European powers set about carving up Africa.

Berlin Conference – 1884-85

• Why did the Europeans absolutely not want Africans present at Berlin?

Berlin Conference – 1884-85

• The following guidelines were set at the conference

–Any sovereign power which wanted to claim any territory should inform the other powers “in order to ... make good any claim of their own.”

Berlin Conference – 1884-85

–Treaties with African rulers were to be considered a valid title to sovereignty.

–Any such annexation should be validated by effective occupation

By 1900, the only areas of Africa

remaining independent were Liberia and

Ethiopia

Zulu Resistance

The Boers

• In the 1830s descendents of the original Dutch settlers, now called Boers, migrated into the interior of South Africa and began to engage in conflicts with the Zulu

The Zulu

• The Zulu were a south African tribe that placed an emphasis on military organization and skill, as established by their  legendary leader Shaka Zulu. Under Shaka’s rule, the Zulu broadened their land claims throughout southern Africa.

Zulus vs. Europe

• Battles with the Boer settlers continued well into the late 1800s, but never truly threatened Zulu sovereignty.

• Eventually, the Zulu came into the conflict with the British army as they expanded their control over southern Africa and invaded the homeland of the Zulu

Zulus vs. Europe

• Despite early victories, the Zulu were eventually defeated by the technology and vast resources at the command of the British troops. Soon, all of southern Africa would come under British control.

Cecil Rhodes• Instrumental in assuring British dominance

of southern Africa. • Founded the De Beers Mining Company,

eventually controlling 90% of the world’s diamond production.

• After becoming prime minister of the Cape Colony (now South Africa) in 1890, he used his influence to strengthen British control over the region.

Cape to Cairo Railroad

• Cecil Rhodes’s master plan.• A railroad line that would link

British colonial interests in Africa between Egypt and the Cape Colony in southern Africa.

Boer Reaction• The Boers provided heavy and

eventually armed resistance to this proposal.

• After authorizing an aggressive invasion of the Boer Republic of Transvaal which ended poorly, Rhodes was removed from office.

• Sets the stage for the Boer War.

The Boer War • 1899-1902 War between Great

Britain and the Boers in South Africa

• The fighting was vicious, with the Boers employing guerilla tactics and the British eventually using 450,000 troops to achieve victory.

The Boer War• In 1910, the various British

colonies in southern Africa were united as the Union of South Africa

Effects of Imperialism• European nations carved Africa

up with no regard for traditional tribal boundaries.

• Africa still suffers from tribalism

Effects of Imperialism• Modern African nations often

contain several different tribes that harbor ill feelings towards one another.

• inter-tribal conflict is a common in Africa often leading to civil wars and power struggles within national governments.

Effects of Imperialism

• Colonization: the Europeans control land, resources and people in Africa, Asia & India

• Colonial economics: Europeans control trade & set up dependent cash-crop economies

• Christianization: spread of Christianity to Asia, Africa & India

Colonies for Dummies• There 4 different forms of colonial control

– Colony– Protectorate– Sphere of influence– Economic imperialism

• There are 2 different types of management styles– Direct control– Indirect control

Colony

• A country or a region governed internally by a foreign power

• French Indochina (Vietnam)

Protectorate

• A country or a territory with its own internal government but under the control of an outside power

• The British in Nigeria

Sphere of Influence

• An area or a region in which an outside power claims exclusive trading and investing rights but does not actually control the government

• Liberia under the influence of the US

Economic Imperialism

• Independent, but less developed, nations controlled by private business rather than by another country’s government

• The control of Hawaii by the Dole Fruit Company

Direct Control

• Officials brought in from mother country to rule

• No self-rule

• Laws based on European laws

• Official language was the European language

• Goal: assimilation

Indirect Control

• Locals used to run most government functions

• Limited self-rule

• Laws based on European laws as well as local laws

• Benefit: use fewer Europeans and give the locals a sense of ownership

Positive For Europeans

Positive for Africans

Negative for Europeans

Negative for Africans

Muslim Lands Fall Prey to Europe

• Where is the Ottoman Empire located?– Anatolia– Asia Minor– Modern Turkey

Muslim Lands

• Why would other nations want to control this area?– It is the “crossroads of the world”– After 1869, the Suez Canal becomes critical

• Who wants these lands?– Britain– France– Russia

Muslim Lands

• Why are these Ottoman lands “available”?– Modernization has failed in the Ottoman

Empire (Suleiman III tried to reform & was overthrown in 1789)

– Ottoman Empire is the ‘Sick Man of Europe”– Nationalism within the Ottoman Empire

• Egypt & Greece declared independence, Serbia received self-rule

Muslim Lands

• Why do the Europeans want these lands?

• Geopolitics– The policy of taking land for its strategic

location, available resources and/or products

Crimean War

• 1853-56

• Russia fights Ottomans who are supported by the British and French

• Russia wants access to Mediterranean Sea via Bosporus & Dardanelles

• Ottomans win, but continue their slow decline

Muslim Lands

• Ottomans need to modernize more than ever

• Muhammed Ali (NOT the boxer!!) sent to Egypt to modernize but turned against the Ottomans

• He moved Egypt into a monoculture and had them plant only cotton– why is that bad?

Muslim Lands

• Muhammed Ali’s grandson son Isma’il was behind construction of Suez Canal

• French money & Egyptian labor used to connect Med to Red

• Project too expensive and Britain occupied Egypt in 1882 to protect the “life-line of the British Empire”

The British in India

The British in India

The British in India

MusketCartridge

The British in India

The British in India

The British in India

The British in India

The British in India