Colonialism

Colonialism

Colonial Conquests: the new World

• 1492 Columbus’ discovery• 1493 Pope Alexander VI divides New

World between Spain and Portugal—largely ignored

• Conquest, forced labor, and disease—10-100 million dead

• 1550 Debate at Valladolid—do Indians have souls?

Drawing from Bartolome de Las Casas’ work

Latin American Colonial Independence

• Spurred by American example, independence movements sweep much of Latin America from 1810-1820

Colonialism in Asia: India

• Beginning 1490s, colonized by many European powers

• By 1750s, Britain predominant European power, ruling by means of the East India Company

Negligent famine

• In 1750s and then 1870s incompetence by British led to famines killing millions

Attempting to Overthrow the British Raj

• 1857 “Sepoy Rebellion” “first war of Independence” was crushed

Gandhi and the Congress Party

• 1920 Gandhi calls for boycott of British goods, refuse to pay taxes, peaceful protest

• Calls it off when crowd kills police—through fasting

• 1930 Gandhi leads “salt march”

• Growing rift between Congress and Muslim League—advocate a split

War and Independence

• Britain (without consultation) enters India in WWII, as they had WWI

• Some leaders of Congress Party side with Germany and Japan

• 1947 amid continuing protests, Britain agrees to independence—secular India, Muslim Pakistan

Aftermath

• In first 2 years of independence, over 1 million die in communal violence

• Over 10 million flee

India and Pakistan

Kashmir—most dangerous place on earth?

Divergent paths to independence

• Gandhi vs Fanon

Colonialism and China

• From 1600s to 1800s Chinese Emperors limited Western trade and contact to two ports

• Increasingly weak dynasty tried to prohibit importation of opium

• 1830s-1850s China lost two “Opium Wars”• Forced to give up Hong Kong, allow

missionaries, and all trade

19th century humiliation of China

• European powers and Japan carved up China into “spheres of influence” and treaty ports

Reaction: “Boxer Rebellions” of 1900

• Members of a Chinese nationalist society attacked foreigners, missionaries, and Chinese Christians

• Eight nation alliance sends 50,000 troops to put down rebellion

Nationalist Revolution of 1912

• Sun Yat-Sen overthrows discredited Ching dynasty, declares a republic, and attempts to reduce foreign influence

Chinese “Imperialism”: Tibet

• From 17th Century until 1959, Tibet governed by “incarnations” of the Dalai Lama

• PRC invaded in 1949, taking control in 1959—”liberating” a backwards society—”Sinification”

• 14th Dalai Lama has ceded political power to newly democratic government also in exile in India

da

• http://ia300103.us.archive.org/0/items/tibet_gnn/tibet_bb.mov

Also the Uyghers in Xinjiang Province

Race for Africa

• Beginning in 1870s, competitive territorial claims across Africa

• 1884-5 Berlin conference

Example 1: Rwanda

• 1890s Rwanda colonized by Germans• After WWI, goes to Belgians, under League of

Nations mandate• Belgians favor Tutsi minority• 1962 becomes independent—Hutu dominated• 1990s increased fighting between Hutu and Tutsi• 1994 Hutu president killed, genocide begins• http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/hotel_rwanda/trailers.php

Example #2: Democratic Republic of Congo

• 1870s—claimed as the personal property of King Leopold II of Belgium

• 1908 Embarrassed by Leopold’s brutality, Belgian parliament purchases Congo

Evil and Good

Recent history of the Congo• 1960 Patrice Lumumba elected prime

minister, killed with assistance from CIA

• US and Belgium install Mobutu

• 1990s Congo becomes scene of Africa’s “world wars”

• 2006 Internationally sponsored elections• Issue of “conflict diamonds and conflict

gold” http://hrw.org/video/2005/gold/

Example #3—Liberia

• 1820s American association sends free blacks back to Africa, formed Republic

• 1980s military coup overthrew republic--dictator assisted CIA

• 1997s Charles Taylor elected—being tried now for crimes against humanity

• 2005 first woman in Africa elected head of govt

The Presidency of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf

• http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/globalconnections/liberia/essays/uspolicy/index.html

Example #4 Rhodesia/Zimbabwe

• Cecil Rhodes: "I contend that we (the British) are the finest race in the world; and that the more of the world we inhabit, the better it is for the human race".

Rhodesia

• 1890s natives expropriated and white rule established under Rhodes’ BSAC

• 1965 Britain refused to grant independence w/o majority rule—white Rhodesian’s declared themselves independent

• 1980 after 10 years of fighting, Mugabe elected president in internationally supervised elections

Mugabe’s Zimbabwe

• One party rule

• White farmers’ lands redistributed

• Economic free-fall

Colonial World

Post colonial world

• 1945--roughly 50 countries

• now roughly 200