Imperialism
Benefits
Transplant culture
Extract natural resources
Create markets to sell their goods
Paternalism
Ideology that European nations treat their colonies as a father would a child
Social Darwinism
Racist belief that human races evolved differently from one another
Caused racist/ethnicity based stereotypes
Not scientifically true
Pushed by major scientists
Sigmund Freud
Countries seeking colonies
Imperialism began during the Age of Discovery, but a second wave began in the 1800s
Leads to competition and eventually war
North Africa
Controlled by Ottoman Empire
Along with Middle East and Southeastern Europe
Greeks have already achieved independence, other groups begin to rebel
Ottomans respond brutally, especially to slavic people
Largest ethnic group in Europe
Eastern European
Many subgroups
Bosnians, Croats, Serbs, Bulgarians, etc.
Russia is compelled to step in
Crimean War
1853- Ottoman Empire goes to war with Russia
Like watching two overweight out of shape boxers slug it out
Ugly war
Russians begin to get the upper hand
Causes alarm for Britain and France
Due to Russia possibly giving Russia access to the Mediterranean sea
To prevent this, enter the war on the behalf of the Ottomans
French and British armies are small but better trained and equipped
Russian armies outnumber them
War comes to a complete stalemate
Charge of the Light Brigade
Florence Nightingale
Nurse that aids British soldiers in combat
1856- Russia, France, and Britain come to the peace table to negotiate
Everyone can agree that the Ottoman Empire is on its last legs
Create plan to maintain stability
Balkan countries become independent over time
Everyone benefits (except Ottomans obv)
British and French step into Ottoman territory, controlling areas on behalf of them
Egypt is given over to England
Important trade stop between Britain and India
“What if we create a waterway so we don’t have to unload all this cargo”
Suez Canal
Algeria and Morocco given to France
Libya up for grabs
Ottoman Empire has been greatly reduced, lost European land, losing African land
Central and South Africa (Sub-Saharan)
Cape colony
Portuguese > Spanish > Dutch
1600s, Seven Years war gives control to Britain
Dutch farmers not happy living under British rule
Several different kingdoms almost in a constant state of war to the south
War was very personal
Leader emerges
Shaka Zulu
1816- unites native South Africans in Zulu empire
Revolutionizes warfare in Africa
Fight in cohesive units
Yields remarkable results
Fighting in formation of the buffalo
Three units in front, one behind
“Head” moves forward and keeps enemy’s attention
“Horns” move to the enemies flanks
“Body” moves in alongside the “head”
Attack on all three sides
Zulu land begins to intersect with British territory
Comes to a head in the 1870s with war
Leader is Cetshwayo
British war with the Zulu 1879
British are confident in their technology, so they only send in one brigade of 1,600 foot
30,000 zulu are prepared to attack
British awaken to Zulu army, not aware that it’s only the “head”
British successfully hold them off
Mid-morning, one of biggest British tragedies
British struggled to transport ammunition in Africa
Lids would fly out due to bumpy terrain
Had put screws into the nails
Realize mid-battle that they don’t have a screwdriver to unscrew the screws
Horns of buffalo begin moving in, British try to bash in ammunition stores
Once the Zulu “horns” attack, the Zulu are at the point of hand-to-hand combat
All 1,600 men defeated
Surpassing British military technology, including rudimentary machine guns
Zulu never planned to invade British territory, allowing British to regroup and invade British territory
Land incorporated into the empire
Boer War 1898- Descendents of Dutch settlers rebel against British War
British victory
British discover source of Nile River, and claims the territory
Explorer Livingston goes missing, one rescue trip led by an American journalist, Stanley, is successful
Livingston had grown ill, and been taken in by the natives
France
Controls almost all of West Africa
Madagascar
Belgium
Newly independent
King Leopold, staunch abolitionist, sends army to end slavery in central africa
Congo
Defeat local kingdoms and declare end to slavery
Learn that there are many natural resources
Ivory
Belgian leaders remain and become just as cruel as old Kingdoms
Germany
Southeast and southwest Africa
Italy
Takes over Libya
Formerly ottoman territory
Colonize Somaliland
Ethiopia
Seek to create a link to territories
Move in overconfident
Menelik II defeats Italians
Italians take this personally
Ethiopia remains the only independent country in Africa
Asia and Pacific
India
Following seven years war, Britain became the only European power in India
The East India Trading Company kept the Mughals in power in order to maintain a trade monopoly
EIC had a private army
Sepoys
an Indian soldier serving under British or other European orders.
India is Britain’s “Jewel in the Crown”
Sepoy Rebellion
1857- Sepoys mutiny across EIC
Britons all over India attacked
British government forced to send in troops
British Colonial Government rules India
The Raj
China
Ming and Qing Dynasty allowed Europeans to settle on a small island off the coast of China
Formosa (Taiwan)
Opium War- 1839
Qings go to war against Britain
Britain gains control of Hong Kong
China declared open to all for colonization
Qings become powerless
Boxer Rebellion- 1900
Chinese Nationalists rebel against foreign rule
First and only time the Europeans will be united towards one goal
Other colonies
Britain
Burma
Australia
New Zealand
France
Indochina
Polynesia
Spain
The Philippines
Germany
Samoa
Non-European Imperial Powers
Japan
Shogun system and island location allow resistance to foreign influence
Europeans don’t understand Shogun system
Treaty of Kanagawa
1853
Enemy enters Japanese port with a gunboat forcing compliance with their demands
Shogun has to comply to Japanese delay in military technology
Japan forced to open to foreigners
Great shame to many
Felt the Shogun is responsible
Two rebellions
Satsuma and Shimonoseki
Rebels are outnumbered, so they seek foreign weapons
Mostly from France
Peasants were armed in resistance
Series of war designed to restore Emperor to power over Shogun end in 1864
Shogun commits seppuku
Meiji Restoration
Emperor is young, bright, and capable Mutsuhitu
If Japan is going to beat the west, they must become like the west
Sends advisors to study westerners
Create a new society based on these
British style navy
Germany style army and government
American business and industry
Japan is modernized in less than 20 years
But, Japan needs colonies
China has been opened up due to Opium War
Sino-Japanese War- 1894
Ching dynasty loses to modernized Japan
Japan gains colonies in China
Kick the party up a notch
If we can beat one of the Europeans, it’ll send a message
One of the ones they can beat: Russia
Already competing from territory
Russo-Japanese War- 1905
Rescue fleet destroyed off Japanese coast
Japan colonizes part of Manchuria
Major loss for Russians
Gives itself ability to patrol Manchurian railways
Korea- 1910
Japanese were also social darwinists
Brutal occupation of Korea
Any sign of resistance leads to mass executions
Korea is still trying to rebuild
The United States
“Manifest destiny” = westward expansion = imperialism
Expanding into indigenous territories
Begin butting heads with North American neighbors
Mexico
Sought to convert northern territory into agricultural zone
Invited English-speaking Americans to move into Mexico to convert the land to farm cash crops
Begin cotton industry
1835- New Mexican President, Santa Ana
Declares Mexico a Federal Republic
Cause for rebellion for Mexicans all over the country
Also among English-Americans
Texan Rebellion
The Alamo (never forget)
Sam Houston and his army retreat almost to Louisiana state line
Turns and defeats Santa Ana
Captured and conditions state that Texas should be an independent country
Constantly tries to apply for state-hood
Worried that balance of power would change if Texas was admitted as a slave states
Mexican War- 1846
US wins and gives itself California, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah
Gold discovered in California
Flood of English speakers into this area
Gold Rush
Texas admitted as a state
Alaska Purchase- 1868
Thought to be a fool's errand, until gold and oil are discovered
Expansion continues outside continent
Technology has emerged
Preservation of exotic fruits
“Ooh! Lead cans bad for food!”
You could grow tropical fruits and transport across world
Common among Pacific islands
Dole workers rebellion
Workers unhappy with conditions rebel against Hawaiian Monarchy in 1893
Independent for a time, but eventually annexed by US in 1898
Spanish American War
Last major empire in the Caribbean
Cuban independence movement fostered by the United States
Saw benefit in Cuban independence or statehood
Spanish are scraping the barrel to maintain these colonies
Mass executions of revolutionaries
US send the USS Maine to the coast of Cuba
Ship explodes, Spain is blamed
Yellow Journalism
The Maine probably exploded bc someone smoked next to the ammo
US declares war in 1898
America prevails due to proximity
Teddy Roosevelt buys his own commission with his own money of cavalry men (Rough Riders)
Famously charges up San Juan Hill
America gets Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines
Caribbean and Pacific
Puerto Rico and Guam are still US territories
Cuba becomes “independent”
While Cuba functions independently, it is deep in the pockets of American business
Fruit companies have bought politicians in Cuba until 1959
Two Cuba’s emerge
Those that benefit from American business
Cities
Becomes places of vice
New American organized crime system
Mafia
Before, would be Irish until Italians move in
Those caught up in labor aspect
Rural farmers
Shows America the necessity of trans-atlantic/pacific travel as fast as possible
Problem: if you were to build some kind of waterway, the thinnest point in Central America belonged to Colombia
Panamanian Rebellion- 1905
US encourages Panama to rebel against Colombia
Panama allows the US to build the Panama Canal