imperialism + modern thought, nation states pre-world war i

new imperialism

the extension in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries of western political and economic dominance to asia, the middle east, and africa. between 1870 and 1914 other western powers undertook colonial ventures with remarkable results. western states spread their control over some ten million square miles and 150 million people; expansion went forward with great speed during this era

imperialism

the extension of a nation's authority over other nations or areas through conquest or political or economic hegemony

the legacy of (nineteenth century) imperialism

the emergence of independent states in asia and africa from former colonies, the vietnam war, the establishment of communism in china, the rise and fall of apartheid in south africa, and the turbulence in the middle east all flow directly from the encounters of this era. much of present-day economic structure and agricultural production, the tensions between christian churches of the southern and northern hemispheres, and the existence of canada, australia, and new zealand are also results of this

the dominant imperial power

britain was the only power that could exert its influence virtually around the world

imperialism of free trade

the advance of european economic and political interests in the nineteenth century by demanding that non-european nations allow european nations, most particularly great britain, to introduce their manufactured goods freely into all nations or to introduce other goods, such as opium into china, that allowed those nations to establish economic influence and to determine the terms of trade.

mercantilism

this policy asserts that a nation measured its wealth in terms of the amount of gold and silver it amassed and that the amount of trade was finite: if one nation's trade increased, another nation's trade had to decrease.

adam smith

scottish economist who wrote the wealth of nations a precursor to modern capitalism. argued that empires would best prosper by abandoning closed imperial systems in favor of free trade, that is, by fostering the exchange of goods across borders and oceans with minimal government regulation and tariff barriers. free traders argued that this would allow trade to grow upon itself—that the amount of trade was potentially infinite—and would assure consumers the lowest prices.

"the workshop of the world"

the name for britain that came as a result of the productive energies that came from the industrial revolution. it produced more manufactured goods than its population could absorb on its own, and it did so more cheaply than anyone else. free trade alone allowed britain to dominate the world economically without the need to establish colonial administration.

opium wars

between 1839-1842 and 1856-1860, britain went to war to impose a free trade over opium in china against china's will, as it was the only western product they could find chinese interest in buying. as a result of winning the conflict, britain gained control of hong kong and forced china to allow christian missionaries to operate there, to open various ports to british merchants who were not subject to chinese law, and to pay substantial reparations. later, britain, in alliance with france, forced the chinese to allow foreign envoys to establish embassies in beijing, to open more ports and areas to foreign trade, and to permit christian missionaries to operate even more freely in china.

india

from the late eighteenth century until its independence in 1947, this was the most important part of the british empire and provided the base for british military and economic power throughout asia.

mughal empire

the muslim empire that had governed the indian subcontinent from the 1500s to 1857, though by that point it had become a shadow of its former self

maharajahs

local princes, also called nawabs, paid little attention to the mughal emperor and ruled mostly independently.

east india company

a private company of merchants chartered by the british parliament in 1600. allowed the british to achieve their initial domination of india. in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, it expanded its authority across india by warfare and negotiation.

sepoy rebellion (mutiny)

in 1857, india witnessed the most extensive resistance against any european power during the nineteenth century. this rebellion was especially frightening to britain, as it occurred within the indian army

cause of the sepoy rebellion

the east india company introduced new cartridges for its soldiers' muskets that the sepoys falsely believed were covered with pork or beef fat. some troops feared that the british wanted to use the religious pollution that biting pork- and beef-coated cartridges would have caused to convert them to christianity; they were also angry with the way the company treated native rulers and their policy of paying british troops more than indian troops.

government of india act (1858)

this act was britain's immediate political response to the sepoy mutiny. it transferred political authority from the east india company to the british crown. the British also restrained their efforts to change India or to move it "toward civilization." instead, they aimed to refrain from interfering with indian religion and culture and began to work more closely with Indian rulers.

indian national congress

in 1885, hindus founded their own congress with the goals of modernizing indian life and liberalizing british policy

muslim league (1887)

in 1887, indian muslims organized their own league, which eventually sought an independent muslim state.

differences of new imperialism

- more intentionally imperial and involved with direct political control of non-westerners by the western powers

- free-trade imperialism and informal empires were mostly abandoned; instead, imperial control arose through protectorates and spheres of influence arose

- occurred over a brief period and involved many nations

- very few european settlers; rather, westerners came to govern over vast numbers of non-european peoples

- europeans exhibited a strong, new racial arrogance they hadn't had previously

- focused to an unprecedented degree on africa

protectorates

non-western territories over which western nations exercised oversight without formal conquest or annexation; usually de facto colonies. in this, a western nation places officials in a foreign state to oversee its government without formally assuming responsibility for administration

spheres of influence

an arrangement whereby a european state, the united states, or japan received special commercial and legal privileges in part of an asian or african state without direct political involvement.

imperialism: a study

published by english economist and journalist j. a. hobson in 1902; the original economic explanation for imperialism. hobson claimed that capitalist economies overproduced, which caused manufacturers, bankers, and financiers to press governments into imperial ventures to provide new markets for their excess goods and capital. hobson had opposed britain's conquest of the afrikaner republics in south africa during the boer war, which he blamed on the influence of capitalists and bankers.

imperialism: the highest stage of capitalism

a pamphlet written by lenin where he gives his view on the overlap and intersection between imperialism and capitalism. he maintains that imperialism is the monopoly stage of capitalism," and the last stage of a dying system, argues that competition inevitably eliminates inefficient capitalists and therefore leads to monopoly, and claims revolution is needed because capitalism cannot be reformed

civilizing mission

the concept that western nations could bring advanced science and economic development to non-western parts of the world that justified imperial administration. some advocates for imperialism justified it by arguing that european nations had a duty to bring the benefits of their "higher culture and superior civilization" to "backward" peoples.

eastern question

the "question" posed by the great powers about the future of the ottoman territories and who will benefit from the decay of the empire

strategic interest

a quality a country feels is important or vital for its defense or economic well-being; something that a nation is interested in and focused on because they believe that in the long-run it will give them an advantage over others.

scramble for africa

occurred between the 1870s and about 1912; a period where the european powers sought to maximize their strategic control of african territory, markets, and raw materials. motivated by intense competition, the imperial powers eventually divided the majority of the continent among themselves. the goal of all european nations was to gain control, or at least dominance, through diplomacy or force and then either to place europeans directly in charge of administering the territories or to compel local rulers to accept european "advisers" who would exercise real authority.

algeria

a nation in north africa and the most important colony of france; french governments saw the fertile coastal regions as perfect locations for settler colonies, and hundreds of thousands of french settlers moved there. gave france the ability to push beyond the coast into the sahara desert where its forces established their authority over various nomadic muslim peoples

khedives

the title of the egyptian rulers. they had attempted to modernize egypt by building new harbors, roads, and a modern army, as well as expand into the Sudan. these rulers borrowed money from european creditors to pay for these projects, and they forced farmers to plant cash crops to repay the loans, eventually making the egyptian economy completely dependent on european creditors.

suez canal

a ship canal in northeastern egypt linking the red sea with the mediterranean sea opened in 1869; this meant that ships from europe no longer had to sail around africa to reach asia. it reduced the shipping distance from india to britain from about 12,000 miles to 7,000 miles. it increased the speed of international contacts and, by reducing shipping costs, made many goods on the world market more affordable.

muslim brotherhood

egyptian religious and nationalist movement founded by hasan al-banna in 1928; became an example for later fundamentalist movements in the islamic world.

muhammad ahmad

a radical muslim leader who claimed to be the mahdi, a muslim messiah. in 1883, he annihilated an egyptian expeditionary force led by british officers. his followers established a strict islamic state after his death.

charles gordon

in response to muhammad ahmad's attack, britain sent a british general to the sudan. though he was considered a hero in britain, he was killed in 1885 when the mahdi's forces captured the sudan's capital.

lord kitchener

also known as general sir herbert; conquered the sudan with an anglo-egyptian army in a remarkably violent campaign at the battle of omdurman

battle of omdurman

ended with a strong british victory over the mahdi in the sudan in 1898. general kitchener led a mixed force of british and egyptian troops armed with rapid-firing rifles and machine guns. 11,000 sudanese troops were killed and 16,000 were wounded by modern weaponry, while the british lost only 48 men in the battle. it opened the door for british colonial rule in sudan

fashoda affair

while british forces invaded egypt, france retained large investments there. in 1898, a small french military force from west africa reached the upper nile. kitchener's forces moved south, causing him to confront the french. war seemed possible, but paris ordered the french to withdraw, and france and britain eventually settled their imperial rivalries without war. the peaceful resolution of this incident was essential to the formation of the loose alliance called the anglo-french entente in 1904 and to the two countries fighting as allies in world war i.

french west africa

a key area for french imperialism; in 1895, it included twelve million inhabitants and was eight times larger than france itself.

british west african colonies

sierra leone, which was originally a home for freed slaves; gambia, the gold coast (now called ghana); and nigeria, the largest and most populous black african colony that any european power possessed.

royal niger company

the most important of the mercantile companies chartered by britain, founded in 1886

indirect rule

colonial government in which local rulers are allowed to maintain their positions of authority and status and colonizers run the nation through the local rulers; done by british officials in african colonies

king leopold ii of belgium

the belgian king who committed a series of horrible atrocities during his acquisition of the belgian congo. in the 1880s, the lands drained by the vast congo river and its tributaries became his personal property. he used his own wealth and political guile to realize his colonial ambitions.

international african association

established by leopold ii in 1876 to establish trading stations and get valuable ivory in africa with the money from investors. he gathered explorers, geographers, and antislavery reformers in brussels to form this organization

henry morton stanley

english-born journalist and explorer recruited by leopold ii to undertake an expedition into the congo. from 1879 to 1884, he explored the congo and on leopold's behalf made "treaties" with african rulers who had no idea what they were signing, allowing leopold to win diplomatic recognition.

congo free state

a large area in central africa that was privately controlled by leopold ii of belgium. although he cultivated the image of a humanitarian ruler by sponsoring antislavery conferences and manipulating public relations, leopold's goal in congo was economic exploitation. his administrators used slave labor, intimidation, torture, mutilation, and mass murder to extract rubber and ivory from this colony. estimates suggest that leopold's exploitation halved the population in about thirty years; millions were murdered or died from overwork, starvation, and disease.

heart of darkness

a novel written by joseph conrad in 1902 based off of leopold's cruelties in the congo

otto von bismarck

chancellor of prussia who managed to unite germany through three deliberate wars; he pursued an imperial policy from cold political motives and with only modest enthusiasm. none of the colonies he acquired were particularly valuable or strategically important; they were acquired chiefly to improve germany's diplomatic position in europe and to divert france into colonial expansion and away from hostility. he also used german colonial activities in africa to pressure the british to be reasonable about european affairs.

berlin conference of 1884

a negotiation where the major european powers decided on a process of power-sharing in africa that would eventually lead to the formal partition of nearly the entire continent. representatives believed they were setting guidelines that would bring civilization, christianity, and commerce to africa without formal partitions, but they were heavily mistaken.

boers of afrikaners

the descendants of the dutch settlers in south africa; they undertook the great trek because of their resentment of british control.

great trek

the migration by boer farmers during the 1830s and 1840s from regions around cape town into the eastern and northeastern regions of south africa that ultimately resulted in the founding of the orange free state and transvaal. this migration became the key moment in the forging of afrikaner national consciousness.

natal, transvaal, and orange free state

states founded by the boers outside of british control (though one was annexed by britain); when gold was discovered, 50,000 miners rushed to johannesburg. there were now more non-boer white settlers than boers, but the government refused to allow non-boers the right to vote.

cecil rhodes

the prime minister of the cape colony; in 1895, he supported a conspiracy to install a british government in the transvaal. the conspiracy failed and he was forced to resign, but tensions mounted between the british and the boers.

concentration camps

when the boers resorted to guerilla tactics, the british gathered boer women and children into areas where many died from disease and exposure; centers created during the boer war to incarcerate noncombatant civilians

hobson-lenin model

imperialism in twentieth century was caused by capitalism and the need to export capital because of an overproduction of goods and a lack of buyers

apartheid

an official policy of segregation, assignment of people to distinct regions, and other forms of social, political, and economic discrimination based on race associated primarily with south africa. in 1910, the british combined the colonies in south africa into a confederation who's the european minority ruled over the majority Black and nonwhite populations. africans and people of mixed race were denied the right to vote, forbidden to own land, and excluded from positions of power. this enforced policy completely segregated the country until the 1990s and resulted in decades of oppression, racial tensions, and economic exploitations.

inorodtsy

the term for "foreigners" the nomadic communities who lived in the mountainous regions to the south and east of russia created by the tsarist government. the government began to draw upon the four-stage theory of development to distinguish sedentary peoples as superior to those who lived as hunters, gatherers, fishermen, or nomads. russian governors would henceforth rarely consider conquered peoples to be their equals.

kazakhs

nomadic people that inhabit a large expanse of territory in northern central asia and southern siberia

anglo-russian convention of 1907

a conference that ended the central asia rivalry between russian and britain and gave each country power spheres of influence in persia. the end of this imperial contest also opened the way for britain and russia to become allies during wwi.

commodore matthew perry

a navy commander who, in 1853, became the first foreigner to break through the barriers that had kept japan isolated from the rest of the world for 250 years, opening their markets to american goods

spanish-american war (1898)

cuba's revolt against spain in the 1890s ended america's passivity in foreign affairs and provided the impetus for the creation of an american empire. america was driven into war against spain, and the american victory in the brief war brought the u.s. an informal protectorate over cuba, and the annexation of puerto rico ended four hundred years of spanish rule in the western hemisphere.

open-door policy

the u.s. feared that the european powers and japan would soon carve up china and close its markets and investment opportunities to american interests. to prevent this, they proposed a policy designed to prevent formal foreign annexations of chinese territory and to allow people from all nations to trade in china on equal terms. the policies of these terms were eventually accepted by most european powers, but these european nations still carved out spheres of influence in china as well as established naval bases on the chinese coast.

boxer rebellion

the boxers, a secret chinese organization created to resist foreigners, hated missionaries whom they saw as agents of the imperial powers and killed thousands of their chinese converts. from 1899-1900, they attacked the foreign diplomatic missions in beijing, which lasted on and off for three months until western troops seized beijing once again.

tools of empire

western domination was based on distinct and temporary technological advantages; these tools gave westerners the capacity to conquer and dominate vast areas of the world

gunboat diplomacy

by the 1830s, steam power enabled warships to penetrate the inland rivers and shallow coastal waters of asia and africa; this gave rise to a projection of western power. it was almost impossible for local rulers and officials of africa and asia to defend themselves against iron warships.

malaria

a disease caused by mosquitoes implanting parasites in the blood; it had prevented europeans from penetrating deep into the forests of sub-saharan africa. large portions of european traders and soldiers stationed in trading bases on the west african coast would die from disease each year.

quinine

the solution to the problem of disease in africa and asia; these pills allowed europeans traveling to these foreign countries to protect themselves from disease and made possible the rapid exploration and eventual partition of africa.

machine guns

an automatic gun that fires bullets in rapid succession for as long as the trigger is pressed; by 1900, this weapon had become arguably the single most important weapon in colonial warfare and accounted for the deaths of tens of thousands of non-european peoples.

evangelicalism

a denomination of christianity that emphasizes the authority of the bible, the importance of a personal conversion experience, and the duty to spread the gospel. these christians were concerned about preparing the world for the second coming of jesus by carrying the message of christian redemption to peoples who had not heard it.

missionaries

people sent on a religious mission, especially one sent to promote christianity in a foreign country. an important aspect of new imperialism, which resulted in the establishment of large christian communities in africa and asia.

spread of christianity

the founding of new african and asian christian churches occurred as a result of the rejection of the racial and cultural assumptions of western missionaries and as a means of reconciling christianity with long-standing cultural practices, such as polygamy.

captain james cook

english navigator who claimed the east coast of australia for britain and discovered several pacific islands. he undertook famous voyages to the south pacific under the patronage of the royal society of london to observe the transit of the planet venus.

zoology, botany, medicine, anthropology

the four main areas of scientific research from the period of new imperialism

louis pasteur

the french scientist and chemist who discovered a cure for rabies and other diseases; some of the most influential colonial medical institutions were named after him.

medical advances

allowed for western penetration of the tropics and then underpinned western cultural and political domination

mandatory primary education

education to a certain age specified by law; passed in austria (1775), hungary (1868), britain (1870), switzerland (1874), italy (1877), france (1878 - 1881), and germany (1871)

mass literacy

in all european countries, the proportion of the literate population was growing steadily thanks to primary education and large amounts of reading materials; this caused the school-teaching profession to grow rapidly and became a major area for the employment of women.

scientist

a term created by william whewell in the early 1830s, commonly used by the end of the century; describes a person who is studying or has expert knowledge of one or more of the natural or physical sciences

auguste comte

the french philosopher that developed the idea of positivism; considered the father of sociology and believed that positive laws of social behavior could be discovered just as the laws of physical nature

positivism

the philosophy of auguste comte that science is the final, or positive, stage of human intellectual development because it involves exact descriptions of phenomena, without recourse to unobservable operative principles, such as gods or spirits

the positive philosophy

in this work written by comte, he argued that human thought had developed in three stages

comte's three stages (of development)

in the first, or theological, stage, physical nature is explained in terms of the action of divinities or spirits. in the second, or metaphysical, stage, abstract principles are regarded as the operative agencies of nature. in the final, or positive, stage, explanations of nature are based on exact descriptions of phenomena.

jean-baptiste lamarck

the first modern european thinker to develop a comprehensive theory of evolutionary change; best remembered today for his idea that acquired characteristics could be inherited. though this is incorrect, his broader ideas about evolutionary change have proved very influential

charles lyell

a major contributor to the new theories of evolution as a geologist. in his work principles of geology, he develops the older theory of "uniformitarianism." this theory holds the same natural laws that govern the universe in the present have always governed the universe, and they are consistent across time and space. it also holds that change is gradual and uniform. these theories were profoundly influential to darwin

charles darwin

the english natural scientist who formulated a theory of evolution by natural selection

on the origin of species

published by darwin; this book carried the mechanical interpretation of physical nature into the world of living things

alfred russel wallace

the english scientist that came to many of the same conclusions as darwin independently and based on his own field research.

natural selection

the theory originating with darwin that organisms evolve through a struggle for existence in which those that have a marginal advantage live long enough to reproduce and pass their advantageous traits to their offspring.

gregor mendel

an austrian monk whose work and experiments with pea plants and heredity began to unravel the mystery of variations in species; considered the father of genetics

the descent of man

in this book, darwin applied the principle of evolution by natural selection to human beings. he contended that humankind's moral nature, religious sentiments, and its physical frame had developed naturalistically largely in response to the requirements of survival. neither the origin nor the character of humankind required the existence of a god for their explanation

herbert spencer

the most famous advocate of evolutionary ethics; an english philosopher and a strong individualist that believed human society progressed through competition. he thought that the struggle against one's fellow human beings became a kind of ethical imperative. this concept could be (and was) applied to justify not aiding the poor and the working class or to justify the domination of colonial peoples.

social darwinism

the application of darwin's concept of "the survival of the fittest" to explain evolution in nature to human social relationships

david friedrich strauss

a german theologian and writer; in his work the life of jesus, in which he questioned whether the bible provides any genuine historical evidence about jesus. he contended the story of jesus is a myth that arose from the particular social and intellectual conditions of first-century palestine. the questioning of the historical validity of the bible caused more literate men and women to lose faith in christianity than any other single cause.

friedrich nietzsche

a german philosopher that portrayed christianity as a religion that glorified weakness rather than the strength that life required; he attacked christianity, democracy, nationalism, rationality, science, and progress and to probe their sources in the human character.

secular

attitudes, activities, or other things that have no religious or spiritual basis

church-state conflict

the primary area of disagreement between governments and churches. previously, most education in europe had taken place in church schools, and the churches feared that the future generations would emerge from the new state-financed school without any religious teaching. the most extreme and violent of these conflicts occurred in germany during the 1870s.

education act of 1870

in great britain, this act provided for state-supported schools run by elected school boards, whereas earlier the government had given small grants to religious schools. these schools were to be built in areas where the religious denominations did not provide satisfactory education.

education act of 1902

in this act, the british government provided state support for both religious and nonreligious schools but imposed the same educational standards on each; the church did not want to improve education because it costed money

falloux law of 1850

under this law, local priests in france provided religious education in public schools.

ferry laws

between 1878 and 1886, a series of educational laws replaced religious instruction in the public schools with civic training. the number of public schools was expanded, and members of religious orders could no longer teach in them.

kulturkampf

means the "battle for culture"; the conflict between the catholic church and the government of the german empire in the 1870s. from the start, the conflict was more political than religious, and it allowed bismarck to gain state control of education and civil laws governing marriage

catholic center party

a political party dedicated to protecting the liberty of the catholic church within unified germany; liberals feared the power of this party