World Politics in a New Era

Imperialism and Its Victims

Origins of Imperialism• Definition of imperialism• Three foundations of European imperialism– The search for trade routes to Asia– Strengthening the European home country– European superiority in technology (Example:

Seafaring)

• Some emphasized territorial conquest, whereas others concentrated on control of trade routes

Spain and Portugal: Dividing the World

• Avoid conflict over their competing expansion• Spain and Portugal established an imaginary

line in 1494• The Treaty of Tordesillas – Spain was granted possession of all lands to the west of

this line– Portugal was granted all the lands to the east– Spain had authority in the New World except Brazil– Portugal gained supremacy over Africa and the Indian

Ocean

Spanish Colonial Administration

• Emphasized the acquisition of territory• Aided by a number of factors– Gunpowder and muskets– Native Americans had less immunity to diseases– Foreign intervention was often welcome by the

people

• Large bureaucracy in the Spanish territories

Portuguese Colonialism

• Based on trade• Content to establish trading ports• In Brazil, the Portuguese turned to growing

sugarcane – Large plantations– African slaves were imported to compensate for

the lack of indigenous labor

Independence from Spain and Portugal

• Spain– The Napoleonic Wars– Proscription on free trade– Independence encouraged by Great Britain– Fight for independence: 1810 through 1825– Simon Bolivar

• Portugal– Brazil gained its independence with relatively little conflict– Colonies in Africa would wait until the 1970s

Dutch Empire• Founding of the Dutch East India Company—

1602• Controlling key strategic trading ports, straits,

and coasts• Spices of the Dutch East Indies• Tea plantations on the island of Ceylon• Impact of the Napoleonic Wars• Lost the Dutch East Indies during World War II

but retained some Caribbean islands

Anglo-French Rivalry

• Principal colonial competition for most of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries

• Different strengths and weaknesses– The British Isles made foreign invasion unlikely– British trade for raw materials and food– France had to devote large resources to its standing army– France was more inward-looking in economic matters– British population pressures encouraged emigration– Britain had consistent advantages over France

France’s Bid for Empire• Areas in North America, the western half of

Hispaniola, and other Caribbean islands • Established trading posts in the Indian Ocean• Never attracted a great number of French

settlers• Early empire collapsed as a result of the

Seven Years’ War• France rebuilt an empire after the Napoleonic

Wars in Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific

France’s Bid for Empire

• Saw role as bringing culture and civilization to backwards people

• Decolonization was a particularly difficult ordeal for the French empire

• Precipitated by the disastrous results for France in World War II

• Only a few Caribbean and Pacific islands remain “overseas departments” today

British Empire• Seventeenth and Eighteenth centuries• Jamestown, Virginia (1607)• Additional colonies in North America and the Caribbean• English hegemony in North America lasted only a few years

• Nineteenth and twentieth centuries– Burma and Malaya; Australia and New Zealand – Self-government in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand– Britain used its superior naval and strategic resources to secure the

proverbial “lion’s share”– The Boer War (1899-1902)– By the eve of World War I, the “sun never set” on the British empire

Twilight of the British Empire

• The world wars– Independence by Ireland, Arab states, India,

Burma, Ceylon, and Israel

• In Africa, most colonies gained independence in the mid-1950s and early 1960s– Followed by most of the Caribbean and South

Pacific island territories over the next decade

• Decolonization was generally peacefully achieved

The Russians• Relentless expansion (Sixteenth and Seventeenth

centuries)– East across Siberia and toward the Baltic Sea– Trade and contact with Europe remained limited

• The reign of Alexander I (1801-1825)• Influence peaked during the Cold War– Massive military spending – Continued inability to compete

• The Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991– Collapse was rapid but mostly peaceful

The United States • Expanded westward through North America in

the nineteenth century• In 1898 entered the ranks of the overseas

imperialist powers – Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Hawaii, Guam, and other

Pacific islands– Major power in the Pacific

• Informal control• “Friendly” governments in Third World countries

often led to disaster

Ottoman Empire

• Major force for more than 500 years• Fourteenth through eighteenth centuries

– Conquered Constantinople, the rest of Turkey, Greece, parts of Albania, and the Balkans (See Map 5.3)

– Neutralized Persia and conquered most of the Middle East– Consolidated the claim to be the protector and benefactor of Islam – Brought economic gains

• Nineteenth and twentieth centuries– Increasingly came under attack from Russia and Austria– The “sick man of Europe” deteriorated– Chaos sparked World War I and the end of the Ottoman Empire

German and Japanese Empires

• Produced numerous bloody wars between 1860 and 1945

• Neither was effective in creating permanent structures

• Consequence of defeat by other countries

Decline of Imperialism• Most empires were unable to survive the two

World Wars– Fragmenting pressure from the peoples subjected

to their rule– Costs of long-distance administration– cCompetition from each other– Nationalism and political sovereignty

• Empire became politically incorrect

Social Impact

• Two forms of colonialism– Settler colonialism• Examples: North America, the Caribbean, Australia

– Elite colonialism• Example: South Asia

• Role of geography and climate• East Asia avoided direct colonial rule – Japan– China

Economic Consequences

• Latin America, Africa, and the Pacific– North America: furs, timber, fish, tobacco, and cotton– South America: gold, silver, corn, and potatoes– Africa: slaves, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, tea, cotton, ivory,

tropical hardwoods, copper, and gold– Australia and New Zealand: sheep and dairy

• In Asia, the purpose was to control overseas trade routes

• Create a degree of political and economic predictability

Cultural and Ideological Impact• Colonialism and culture– Traditions of rule of law, private property, and

individual rights – Divide and conquer in areas of elite colonialism– Creation of countries in Africa and parts of Asia

that made little if any political sense

• Colonialism and ideology– European notions of liberty and democracy – Anticolonialism