AICE International History Chapter 1: Empire and the Emergence of World Powers, c.1870-1919

New Imperialism

The period of intensive colonization by the European powers, Japan and the US roughly in the period 1890-1914

Maxim gun

The world’s first machine gun, invented in 1883

Quinine

An anti-malaria drug that allowed imperialists to enter the heart of Africa

What percent of Africa was under European control in 1870?

10%

Which two African nations were the only independent ones left by 1900?

Liberia and Ethiopia

Who was Dr David Livingstone? (1813-1873)

A Scottish missionary and explorer of Africa

What did Dr David Livingstone advocate for?

The establishment of British colonies in the Zambian highlands

Who was King Leopold? (1835-1909)

King of Belgium, 1865-1909, and founder of the Congo Free State

What was the International African Association?

Its declared aim was to suppress the slave trade and open up central African to international commerce, but it was really a scheme by King Leopold to open up Africa to colonization

Who built the Suez Canal?

France

Why did Britain and France take over the majority of Egypt’s finances in 1876?

Egypt went bankrupt and could no longer pay the interest on the money lent by European investors

What was the result of Egypt’s 1881 nationalist uprising against Britain and France?

The French parliament vetoed the dispatchment of troops and the British were left to defeat the uprising. The British stopped the Egyptian people and took over total control of Egypt. They repeatedly said they were going to leave but had not ended up doing so.

What was the Congo Treaty of 1884?

Alarmed by the prospect of a French advance into the Congo, Britain signed this treat with Portugal which acknowledged Portugal’s claims to the lower Congo, while allowing Britain to trade freely there and the have a monopoly of navigation rights on the Congo River.

What was the result of French protest against the Congo Treaty?

France appealed to Otto von Bismarck to force Portugal to renounce the Congo Treaty. In November, despite British objections, Bismarck summoned a conference in Berlin attended by fifteen other countries, which decided that the Congo was to be administered by Leopold’s International African Association and to allow the other colonial powers to trade freely there.

Who was Otto von Bismarck? (1815-1898)

German chancellor from 1871-1890

El Dorado

Spanish for a fabulously wealthy city or state

What territories did Germany annex in 1884 and 1885?

South West Africa, the Cameroon, and east Africa

What were von Bismarck’s main reasons to create a colonial empire?

-Co-operating with the French against Britain in order to distract the French from their intention of revenging their 1870 defeat by Germany when France lost the provinces of Alsace-Lorraine

-Cries for help from the north German colonial traders to recognize acquisition of a small trading post on the south-west African coast at Angra Pequena

-German public opinion was convinced that Africa was an ‘El Dorado’ of enormous wealth

Who was Benjamin Disraeli? (1804-81)

Conservative Prime Minister, 1868 and 1874-1890. He was an ardent imperialist who believed that patriotism and nationalism could overcome class division

What rules did the Berlin Conference set for the claiming of African land?

Imperial nations could legitimately claim areas ‘on the coasts’ of the continent and exclude their rivals. This could only happen if the powers already ‘effectively’ controlled the area they wished to legally annex.

Who was Cecil Rhodes? (1853-1902)

British business man and Prime Minister of Cape Colony, 1890-1896, and founder of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe and Zambia).

What was the Boer War? (1899-1902)

Fought between the two Boer states of Transvaal and the Orange Free State and the British Empire

What was the Fashoda crisis?

France and Britain nearly went to war over part of South Sudan but solved it diplomatically.

Which groups disagreed with the colonization of Africa?

Christian missionaries, anthropologists, and leftists.

Concentration Camp Scandal

In the final stages of the Boer War, in order to defeat the guerilla tactics of the Boers, the British relocated the civilian population in concentration camps where a large proportion died of disease.

What was the key reason for French imperial expansion?

Overcoming the legacy of humiliation left by defeats at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 and at Sedan in 1870.

What are two examples of German nationalist organizations that supported the expansion of a German colonial empire?

The Pan-German League and the Navy League.

Who was General Georg von Caprivi? (1839-99)

German general and Reich Chancellor 1890-94, von Bismarck’s successor.

What is imperial overstretch?

Term describing the point when an empire has been overextended

What was the impact of British imperial overstretch in the late 1890’s?

Britain’s huge empire and worldwide interests made it vulnerable to German, French and Russian pressure and its potential weakness was shown by the fact that it took Britain three years to win the Boer War.

What was the Schlieffen Plan?

It envisaged a two-front war against France and Russia. France was to be defeated within a month by a flanking movement through Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg and then the mass of the German army would move eastwards to deal with Russia. The plan was later revised to omit Holland.

What was the Moroccan crisis of 1905?

The First Moroccan Crisis, also known as the Tangier Crisis, was an international crisis that took place from March 31, 1905 to April 7, 1906. The crisis was caused by Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany's visit to Morocco, where he declared his support for the Sultan of Morocco's independence from France. This angered France, who viewed Morocco as part of their sphere of influence in North Africa.

How was the Moroccan crisis of 1905 resolved?

The crisis was resolved at the Algeciras Conference in 1906, where France's control over Morocco was affirmed. The conference also established a new state bank for Morocco, and gave Europeans the right to own land. The French and Spanish were also given the responsibility of policing Morocco.

What was the Moroccan Crisis of 1911?

A major international tension sparked by France sending troops into Morocco to quell a rebellion, prompting Germany to send a gunboat to the Moroccan port of Agadir as a show of force, essentially demanding territorial concessions in exchange for allowing France to control Morocco; this incident brought Europe close to war and was ultimately resolved through negotiations, with France gaining control over Morocco and Germany receiving territory in the French Congo.

What is an entente?

A friendly understanding between states rather than a formal alliance.

What is a protectorate?

A territory that is controlled and protected by another state.

What was the effect on Russian land claims in Africa due to their loss in against Japan in 1905?

Russia had little option but to improve relations with London if it was to maintain its alliance with France, who now enjoyed increasingly good relations with Britain.

What was agreed to in the Anglo-Russian agreement of 1907?

Russian gave up all claims to Afghanistan and recognized British interests in Tibet. Persia was divided into zones of influence: the North went to Russia, the south the Britain, with a neutral zone in between. Both empires recognized Chinese sovereignty over Tibet.

Which countries were a part of the Triple Entente?

Russia, France, and England.

How did the Triple Entente affect German strategy?

The Germans could no longer assume that an Anglo-Russian war would break out that would enable them to force Britain- or Russia- into becoming a subordinate ally. Russia’s defeat in east Asia by Japan also refocused its attention back to the Balkans and the European continent.

What caused the Great War?

In early 1914, with the collapse of the Ottoman Empire within Europe, Serbia backed by Russia emerged as a major threat to Austria as its intention was to liberate the South Slavs from Austrian control. The assassination of Franz Ferdinand at Sarajevo on June 18 1914 by Serb terrorists gave Austria the chance to counter this threat by declaring war on Serbia. The issue, exacerbated by already tense European relations, triggered the alliance system, starting the war.

What was the Treaty of Nanking? (1842)

The British forced the Chinese not only to import opium from India, but also to cede the island of Hong Kong and to open up five coastal cities to foreign traders.

What was the Treaty of Shimonoseki? (1895)

Japan and China crushed the 1894 Korean revolution. Japan refused to leave, and China declared war on Japan. China was quickly defeated and forced to accept the Treaty which set up Japanese protectorates in Korea, Taiwan, the Pesdadores and the Liaodong peninsula.