Imperialism

What Is Imperialism?

• Definition:• A policy in which a strong nation seeks to dominate other countries politically, economically or socially

Motives For

Imperialism

Motives For Imperialism

a)Loss of New World Empires:• France, Great Britain,

Spain, & Portugal all lost colonies in the 18th – 19th centuries

b)Economic:• The IR created a

higher demand for new sources of raw materials & new markets for products

Motives For Imperialism

Motives For Imperialism

c)Nationalism:• Prestige, strategic

locations, greed, ethnocentrism

d)“Civilizing” Missions:• The desire to spread

Western culture• Spread the Christian

message• Belief in European

superiority• Social Darwinism

Motives For Imperialism

Factors Promoting Imperialism• Europeans had an overwhelming

advantage- Technology!– Military: Maxim machine gun.– Transportation: RR + Steamships.– Communication: Telegraph (Telephone)

• New protection against disease: Quinine• African Problems Existed –

– Lack of unity between tribes– Wars between ethnic groups.

Justification???• “I contend that we [Britons] are the first race

in the world, and the more of the world we inhabit, the better it is for the human race…It is our duty to seize every opportunity of acquiring more territory and we should keep this one idea steadily before our eyes that more territory simply means more of the Anglo-Saxon race, more of the best, the most human, most honourable race the world possesses.”

• --Cecil Rhodes, 1877 (De Beers Consolidated Mines)

                                                                            

• COLONY: • A foreign region that is under the direct control of a mother country

• Governed by a foreign power.

Forms of Imperialism

Forms of Imperialism

• PROTECTORATE: • A foreign region in which the mother country allows native rulers to maintain their position of power, but controls them

• SPHERE OF INFLUENCE:

• An area in which an outside power claims exclusive investment or trading privileges

Forms of Imperialism

Forms of Imperialism

• Economic Imperialism: • An independent but less-developed country controlled by private business interests rather than other governments

Treatment of Native People

• Enslavement: • Forced labor• Segregation: • Separation of races

Treatment of Native People

Treatment of Native People• Assimilation:• The forced adoption of a “mainstream” culture

Problems for Natives??• Loss of traditional culture• Loss of traditional leadership• Division of tribal groups • Population decline• Depletion of natural resources; loss of good farmland