Exploring Imperialism: World History through Dominance and Expansion

1. The Age of Empire Mr. Ermer World History AP Miami Beach Senior High

2. Modern Imperialism • Imperialism: “domination of European powers—and later the United States and Japan as well—over subject lands in the larger world.” (p. 732) • Sometimes by force, other times by trade and investment • Colonialism: sending of colonists; as well as political, social, economic, and cultural structures to facilitate imperialism • Settler Colonies: ones with large population of colonists from colonizing power • Argentina, Chile, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa • Other colonies only have small colonizing force (India, Sub-Saharan Africa, SE Asia) • Many imperialists governments colonize for control of natural resources • Some colonies strategically important for trade, military reasons • Imperialism inspires patriotism, quells social tension • Paternalistic mission to “civilize” the “savage” world • Modern military, transportation, & communication tech makes imperialism possible

3. The Suez Canal

4. British India • British East India Co. maintained mercantile activities since 1600s • 1750s: British expands control over weak Mughal Empire, doctrine of lapse • Company rule enforced by British troops and sepoys • 1856-57: British fight against Indian rebellion, victorious • Mughal Empire and East India Co. abolished, Queen Victoria appoints viceroy • British clear forests, restructure land holdings, build infrastructure • Encourage cultivation of high value trade items (tea, cotton, opium, coffee) • Promote education for bureaucratic class, not Christianity

6. Imperialism in Asia • 1800s: Russia and India also compete for influence in India • Qing and Ottoman decline creates vacuum in Central Asia, Russia fills the void • French efforts at India fade after fall of Napoleon • 1800s: Dutch tighten control over the Spice Islands—“Dutch East Indies” • 1824: Thomas Stamford Raffles establishes port of Singapore • British command trade in Straits of Melaka • 1870s-1880s: Singapore serves as base for British conquest of Malaya • British seek influence in Irrawaddy Delta, colonize Burma by 1880s • 1859-1893: French colonize “French Indochina” • Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos • Siam (Thailand) retains independence as a buffer b/w French & British lands

8. The Scramble for Africa • Between 1875-1900 European presences goes from limited to almost complete • Abundance of African natural resources to exploit, European nationalist rivalries = motivation • Missionaries, explorers, and adventurers begin to report about Africa’s interior • Dr. David Livingstone and Henry Morton Stanley • Improved knowledge of river systems (Congo, Nile, Niger, & Zambezi) • Richard Burton and John Speke find source of Nile River • Belgium’s King Leopold II hires Stanley to establish trade in the Congo • Leopold turns the “Congo Free State” into a personal colony with a brutal plantation economy • 1652: Dutch establish colony at Cape Town on southern tip of Africa • Dutch Boers become “Afrikaners” after encroaching on tribal lands further inland • Khoikhoi and Xhosa tribes decimated and displaced by Afrikaners • British take control during the Napoleonic Wars, pushing Afrikaners further inland • British abolition of slavery hurts Afrikaner livelihood, economy—The Great Trek • Afrikaner’s establish independent republics, British attempt to take wealth—Boer War

13. Colonial Rule • 1884-1885: Berlin West Africa Conference establishes “rules” for African claims • African colonies proved very expensive for European imperialists • Initial colonization accomplished by concessionary companies • Company rule usually brutal and marginally profitable for colonizing nation • After 1900, most European nations imposed rule of law/government • French preferred direct rule, British preferred indirect rule • Direct Rule: administrative districts headed by European personnel, borders cut across ethnic lines to divide and weaken existing power structures, rulers • Indirect Rule: control through indigenous institutions, using existing “tribal” authorities and “customary laws,” sometimes successful, sometimes not for making erroneous assumptions

14. Empire in the Pacific • 1770s: British establish settler colonies in Australia and New Zealand • European population overwhelms indigenous people with superior tech and decease • Late-1800s: Europeans begin to establish outright control on Pacific islands • Contact first in terms of trading and religious missions • Nationalist motivations push European powers to create colonies in the Pacific • 1841: France claims Tahiti, the Society Islands, and the Marquesas • 1853: France claims New Caledonia • 1874: British annex Fiji as a crown colony • 1876-78: Germany colonizes several of the Marshall Islands • Rest of Oceania claimed by Britain, France, Germany, and U.S. at the Berlin Conference

16. American Imperialism • Monroe Doctrine establishes the Americas as a U.S. protectorate • Mostly to protect free trade, discourage European imperialism, exploit resources • 1867: U.S. buys Alaska from Russia as first expansion outside N. A. temperate zone • 1875: U.S. establishes protectorate over Hawai’i and it’s American owned sugar fields, 1893 U.S. planters overthrow Queen Lili’uokalani, U.S. annexes Hawai’i • Spanish-American War • U.S. takes Cuba, Puerto Rico, Philippines, Guam from Spain, gives Cuba independence • U.S. puts down Filipino rebellion of Emilio Aguinaldo, William Taft appointed first governor of Phil. • U.S. assists Panamanian rebels gain independence from Colombia • Takes control of canal zone abandoned by French company, builds Panama Canal • Roosevelt Corollary and Dollar Diplomacy

18. The Panama Canal

20. Imperial Japan • Japan resents unequal treaties of Tokugawa era, seeks equal footing • Japanese expand and migrate to islands north and south of homeland • 1876: Japan buys British warships to bolster navy, force unequal treaty with Korea • Sino-Japanese War • Anti-foreign rebellion erupts in Korea, Qing China sends soldiers to pacify rebellion • Japan declares war on China, Qing forces decimated, Japan gains equal trade rights in China • China cedes Korea, Taiwan, other smaller islands to Japan, Japanese navy controls E. Asian waters • Russian and other Europeans surprised by Japanese strength, nervous • Russo-Japanese War • 1904: Japanese overrun Russian installations in east Asia, Russia sends Baltic fleet to retaliate • Japan destroys Russian Baltic fleet, Russians cede interests in Manchuria and Sakhalin island • Japan considered a major imperialist power

21. Legacies of Colonialism • Colonialism remakes production of traditional products, introduces new ones • Migration of peoples remakes the world’s population and demographics • Scientific Racism • Joseph Arthur de Gorbineau classifies the races in Essays on the Inequality of the Human Races • Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species argues tenant of evolution through natural selection • Others begin to categorize some human races as more evolved than others—Social Darwinism • Colonial tyranny pushes local populations to develop nationalist movements • Indian nationalism comes early on, Ram Mohan Roy and the Indian National Congress