Chapter 11 The Age of Imperialism

1850-1914

1. List 3 things that you know about Imperialism.

2. Fold the paper into an airplane

3. Throw your paper airplane to someone on the other side of the room

4. Add 3 more things that are not on the paper

• Crimean War– Example of geopolitics– RUS attacks Ottomans to gain warm-

water port on the Black Sea & access to Mediterranean Sea

– RUS loses, but Ottomans are shown to be weak; still lose land b/c of rebellions

• Egypt Initiates Reforms– Muhammad Ali breaks away from

Ottoman control and rules Egypt– Begins series of reforms in military and

economy• modernizes to keep out Euro control

– Shifts Egypt agriculture from food crops to cash crops (similar to Euro colonial policies)

Section 3Europeans Claim Muslim Land

Geopolitics: taking land for its strategic location or products

– The Suez Canal• Egypt builds Suez Canal• Modernization creates huge debt

– Brits take over financial control of canal and occupy Egypt

• The exploitation of Persia– Rus wants access to Persian Gulf and

Indian Ocean– Brit wants Persian oil and Afghanistan– 1907, Rus and Brit seize and divide

Persia between them as spheres of influence

Exploit: take advantage of/ to use

Sphere of influence: an area in which an outside power claims exclusive investment or trading privileges

Group WorkCritical Thinking Questions

In groups of 3, use your textbook and work together to answer the following questions:

1. What part did internal corruption play in the decline of Ottoman power?

2. Why did the discovery of oil in Persia increase the value of Ottoman territory?

3. In what way were the RUS, BR, and FR motivations in the Crimean War similar?

4. How was Muhammad Ali’s promotion of cotton production similar to Euro imperialists’ actions in AFR?

5. Why was the completion of the Suez Canal cause for international celebration?

6. What advantages did granting business concessions to Western countries offer Persia?

7. How did Persia’s granting of concessions eventually lead to its takeover by BR & RUS?

Critical Thinking Answers

1. It led to a weakened economy and technological stagnation.

2. The oil had to pass through Ottoman land to Europe.

3. They all wanted to control Ottoman territory

4. Both substituted production of cash crops for food crops

5. It greatly decreased the time needed to travel from Euro to East AFR and Asia

6. Income, development of their resources, and participation in world events

7. Concessions allowed Western countries to establish an economic foothold in Persia, which they exploited when the Persian gov’t lost control of the country.

• East India Company Dominates– Company has its own army led by

Brit officers & staffed by sepoys• Brit’s “Jewel in the Crown”, most

valuable colony• British Expand Control Over

India– Impact of Colonialism

• Brits control political & economic power

• Cash crops result in loss of self-sufficiency, famine

• Indian life disrupted by missionaries and racist attitudes

• Brits modernize India’s economy, improve public health

Section 4British Imperialism in India

Sepoy: Indian soldier

• The Sepoy Mutiny– INs rebel

• Sepoys refuse to use cartridges of new rifles b/c religious reasons

• Many are jailed; others mutiny– Turning point

• Brits put down rebellion, take direct control of IN

• Raj –period of Brit rule after India came under the Brit crown

• Nationalism Surfaces in India– Ram Mohun Roy “father of modern

India”• In order to move towards

independence, IND needed to end traditional practices like arranged marriages

Mutiny: to rebel against authority; soldiers rebel against commanding officer

Cartridge: holds bullets for a rifle

Arranged marriage: families decide which couples will marry while they are still children

Cause1. East Indian troops defeated

Indian forces at the Battle of Plassey after Mughal rule had become weak

2. British establish a railroad network in India

3. British restricted Indian owned industries such as cotton textiles and reduced food production in favor cash crops

4. The Sepoy Mutiny occurs and uprisings spread over much of northern India

5. Calls by reformers for India to modernize, nationalist feelings, resentment over British discriminatory policies

6. British partition Bengal into Hindu and Muslim sections

British Imperialism in IndiaEffect1. East Indian company gains

control of India2. Railroads transported raw materials from

interior to ports & manufactured goods from ports to interior; India becomes more profitable for Britain; India developed a modern economy and was geographically unified

3. Villagers are no longer self-sufficient; food production declines and famine sets in

4. British government assumed direct control of India; racism and mutual distrust were intensified

5. Indians form Indian National Congress and then the Muslim League, which eventually call for self-government

6. Acts of terrorism forced British to divide province in a different way to avoid open rebellion