CH 17The age of Western Imperialism

New Imperialism 1870’s-1919 “the policy of extending a nation’s

authority by territorial acquisition or by establishing economic and political hegemony over other nations”

The Age of British Imperial Dominance 1st half of the 19th century-

settlements that became nations of Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and expanded parts of India

Focus on the Imperialism of free trade

Britain becomes the “workshop” of the world

Free trade and the absence of government controls-unlimited growth of wealth

The Opium Wars with China

British desire to import Chinese tea, silk, porcelain-Chinese disdain for British goods

British sell opium to Chinese Manchu Dynasty resists 1839-1842-Opium Wars Unequal treaty systems- British get Hong Kong- Chinese forced to open ports Most favored Nation status

India-The Crown Jewel

British India-Current day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh

Central to the Imperial strategy of the British empire

India-vast non-white population with numerous political allegiances, complex social arrangements, and non-Western religions (Hinduism and Islam)

1st ruled by the British East India Company

The Great Sepoy Mutiny-1857 Sepoys-Indian troops revolt against

British officers Cultural issue of offense over cartridges

used with soldiers muskets Pork or beef fat? 10,000 of Britons and Indians killed

Government of India Act-1858-transferred political authority to the British crown

Crown control of India

Tried to restrain the “civilizing mission” of British

Tried to work more closely with local Indian rulers

1/3 of India under rule of Indian princes that swore allegiance to crown

More British troops stationed in India

Queen Victoria-the Empress of India

Indian nationalism

1885-Founding of the Indian National Congress

1887-Founding of the Muslim League

The New Imperialism

1870-1900-west gained control of 150 million people

1/5th of the world’s area and 1/10 of population

Included United States and Japan New techniques of direct or indirect control

Direct Colonial rule Protectorates-placed officials in foreign state to

oversee its government Spheres of influence-received special

commercial and legal privileges

Motives

Economics??

Imperialism A Study J.A. Hobson Capitalists and bankers behind imperial

ambitions

Imperialism The Highest Stage of Capitalism Lenin “Imperialism is the monopoly stage of

capitalism”

Other motives

1. “civilizing mission”2. Prestige and power of nation-state3. The eastern Question of the decay

of the Ottoman Empire4. Weaknesses in the Qing Dynasty in

China5. Geopolitical strategic interests

The Partition of Africa

“Scramble for Africa” 1900-85% of Africa controlled by

Europeans

France and Italy

Algeria-1st taken in the 1830’s-became the most important colonial possession of France-considered an extension of France

Tunisia-1881-1882-Protectorate Morocco-1901-1912-Protectorate Local rulers retained as French

puppets

Italy-seized Libya from Turkey in 1911-1912

British in North Africa

1869-Suez Canal built by French engineers Connected med Sea to the red Sea India becomes more important market for

British goods British government purchase controlling

interest in canal Egypt in debt to European creditors 1881-Nationalist rebellion British send troops and defeat Egypt never an official colony, British

dominate

British in North Africa

British desired political and military stability

Built naval base at Alexandria Rise of Egyptian Islamic militancy-The

Muslim Brother hood

British determination to secure the Upper Nile and the Sudan

1898-Fashoda Incident-Tense incident between French and British in Sudan

Fashoda Incident

West Africa

1895-French West Africa had 12 million

British had 4 West African Colonies-Sierra Leone, Gambia, The Gold Coast (Ghana), and Nigeria

Nigeria run by indirect control-most successful for British missionaries-largest Christian population of Africa

The Belgian Congo

Personal property of King Leopold 2 of Belgium

1876-Formed the International African Association

Recruited Henry Stanley-journalist who had searched and found Dr David Livingstone

1885-Berlin Conference gave Congo to Leopold

Brutal economic exploitation and slave labor

The Heart of Darkness

The Berlin Conference

1885-The Partition of Africa Process of power sharing in Africa German entry into arena of imperial

competition

South Africa

Dutch settlers in Cape Colony-1600s British dominance in the 1830’s Dutch farmers-Boers-Great Trek north and

east of the cape Afrikaner states Natal, Transvaal, and the

Orange free State

1886-Gold discovered 1899-Boer War British v Boers British Concentration Camps Boers Guerilla tactics

Union of South Africa-1910 Racial system of Apartheid-decades

of oppression, racial tensions, and economic exploitation

Expansion in Asia

Russia-Tsars consolidated control around Balkan Sea

Russians did not regard the nomads of Asia as equals

Transcaucasus regions

Christian Georgians, Armenians, and Azerbaijanis

The Muslim peoples of the Caucasus regions-Chechnya, Dagestan, and Circassia

Imam Shamil of Chechnya and Dagestan surrendering to Russian general Baryatinsky in 1859

Nomads of central Asia

Vast Steppe of central Asia where the Kazakhs lived

Southern Middle Asia-1860’s Present day Uzbekistan, Turkistan,

and the areas bordering Afghanistan-Muslim AreasRussian-British Rivalry over Afghanistan

“the Great Game”-Sometimes brought Russia and GB to the state of war

Caption from a 1911 English satirical magazine reads: "If we hadn't a thorough understanding, I (British lion) might almost be tempted to ask what you (Russian bear) are doing there with our little playfellow (Persian cat)."

French and IndoChina

Indo China-Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia

Roman Catholic Missionaries 1862-French forces controlled Saigon 1880’s-France controlled all of Indo

China Vietnamese Catholic Converts-

minority Large scale plantations-source of tea,

rice, coffee, and rubber

French in Indochina

The United States and Imperialism 1853-Commodore Matt Perry and Japan 1867-US buys Alaska from the Russians 1893-American based coup in Hawaii 1898-Victory in the Spanish American War US has informal protectorate in Cuba, and annexes

Puerto Rico US annexes the Philippines and Hawaii 1903-US secures canal zone in Panama from

Columbia 1904-US starts building the Panama Canal 1907-Sailing of the Great White Fleet and (1914)

completion of the Panama Canal

China and the Boxer rebellion Qing Dynasty in state of near

collapse Western powers had forced China to

give special status 1899-US under SOS John Hay

proposes Open Door Notes US feared that Europe and Japan

would close China off to American interests

Wanted free and equal access to Chinese markets

Boxer rebellion

Chinese Secret Society-the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists

Hatred of foreign missionaries Kill the “foreign devils” 1900-Attack on the foreign legate in Beijing August 1900-Foreign army occupies China 1901-Qing agrees to execute the officials

who had helped the rebellion 1912-Collapse of the Qing Dynasty

French troops behead Boxers

US Marines sent to China

Russian Cannons firing

Japanese Marines

Troops of the Eight nations alliance of 1900. Left to right: Britain, United States, Australian colonial, British India, Germany, France, Russia, Italy, Japan

Tools of Empire

Western domination based on technological domination

Naval superiority

1830’s-rise of steam powered iron warships

“gunboat diplomacy”

Nemesis and the Opium Wars The “devil ship”

Tropical Diseases

Malaria constant problem for Europeans

Quinine pills the solution Enabled the rapid exploration and

partition of Africa Cultivated in Dutch East indies and

British India

Firearms

Fully barreled rifles Mid 1850’s-British Lee-Enfield Rifle 1900’s-Use of maxim Machine guns Use of dum-dum bullets

Missionary Movements

1900-Evangelical Protestant Missionaries-over 10,000 missionaries in India

Providential moment for the evangelization of non-Christian peoples in the Asia and Africa

French Roman Catholics-Society for the Propagation of the faith-Vietnam and China

Over ½ million members

Women and Missionary Activity Women and Cultural practices oversees 1. Ottoman empire-harems for affluent

women 2. India-practice of sati 3. China-Foot binding of young girls

Missionaries had “civilizing” intentions to try to help women, many female missionaries traveled abroad

Sati

Footbinding

Issues with Missionaries

Tensions with imperial administrationsMissionaries established schoolsFear that missionaries might be a

destabilizing forceEngaged local peoples in way that admin

could not-learned languagesIndigenous religious movements

establishedReligious divide between northern and

southern hemispheres

takeaways

1. Missionary goals were dynamic and changed

2. enormous amount of printed materials 3. Skilled at pressuring their own

governments for missionary freedom-opposition to colonial authorities

4. Non-western Christians moving Christianity away from Western dominance

5. Made Christianity a world wide faith for the 1st time