Imperialism, Resistance, and Global Transformations

Nonstate to State Control of Colonies

  • The Congo:

    • Initially a private colony of Belgian King Leopold II.

    • His brutal policies led to international pressure.

    • The colony was eventually transferred to the authority of the Belgian state.

  • India:

    • Originally controlled by the British East India Company.

    • Corruption and harsh policies led to the Sepoy Rebellion (Indian Mutiny of 1857 or Indian Rebellion).

    • The British government took direct control of the colony after the rebellion.

New Imperial Powers Replacing Old Ones

  • Decline of Spanish and Portuguese Power:

    • Spain and Portugal lost power in Asia and Southeast Asia.

  • Rise of New Powers:

    • United States: Expanded into the Pacific, notably the Philippines, after the Spanish-American War in 1898.

    • Japan: Expanded into Korea, parts of China, Southeast Asia, and some Pacific Islands.

    • Russia: Expanded into Poland, Eastern Europe, parts of the Middle East, and China.

Scramble for Africa

  • Desirability of Africa: European powers desired Africa for its massive amounts of raw materials.

  • The Berlin Conference:

    • Called by Otto von Bismarck of Germany.

    • European powers peacefully and diplomatically carved up Africa.

    • Africans had no input in the decisions.

Resistance from Colonized Peoples

  • Importance of Telling the Story of the Colonized: It's crucial to consider how colonized peoples responded to imperial intrusion.

  • Methods of Resistance:

    • Direct Resistance:

      • Peru: Túpac Amaru led a rebellion against Spanish authorities, which was violently crushed.

      • India: The Sepoy Mutiny/Indian Rebellion.

    • Creation of New States:

      • Balkan States: Nationalism led to the creation of new sovereign nations like Greece, Serbia, and Bulgaria after a long period of Ottoman control.

    • Religiously Inspired Rebellions:

      • Ghost Dance Movement (United States): Indigenous groups believed performing the Ghost Dance would awaken their ancestors and expel white settlers. The US military crushed the rebellion after a series of wars.

      • Khosa Cattle Killing Movement (South Africa): (Not detailed in the transcript).

Transformation of Global Economy

  • Shift to Cash Crop Farming:

    • Farmers transitioned from subsistence farming (growing food for survival) to cash crop farming (selling crops for export).

    • Examples: Coffee, rubber, sugar.

  • Examples:

    • Uruguay and Argentina: Cattle ranching became a major business for beef export.

    • Peru and Chile: Specialized in guano extraction for fertilizer.

  • Colonial Economies Serving Imperial Needs:

    • Colonial economies were transformed to serve the needs of urban centers in imperial hubs, not the needs of the colonial peoples themselves.

    • Examples: Cotton, rubber, palm oil.

Economic Imperialism

  • Definition: One country wields significant economic power over another.

  • Example: Britain and China

    • Opium Wars:

      • Britain had a trade deficit with China and began smuggling opium into China. This solved the trade deficit but caused widespread addiction.

      • Chinese leaders banned opium and destroyed shipments, leading to British retaliation.

      • Britain won due to superior industrial capacity.

      • As a result, the British forced China to open trading ports and imposed a free trade agreement.

    • Spheres of Influence: China was carved up into spheres of influence among imperial powers like Japan, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States.

      • Each power had exclusive trading rights within their sphere.
        *Imperial powers organized the economies of their holdings to gain an economic advantage.

Migration

  • Reasons for Migration:

    • Work:

      • New Labor Systems:

        • Indentured Servitude: Workers agreed to work for a number of years to pay for passage to a new place.

        • Asian Contract Laborers: Chinese and Indian workers were brought in for extremely low wages after the British abolished the slave trade in 1806.

        • Penal Colonies: The British sent convicts to places like Australia for hard labor.

    • Bad Conditions at Home:

      • India: Poverty led to mass migration, with opportunities for indentured servitude offered by the British and other colonial powers.

      • Ireland: The Irish potato famine (starting in 1845) led to millions immigrating to America.

  • Urbanization and Ethnic Enclaves: Immigrants settled in large cities, creating ethnic enclaves that reflected their own culture and language, leading to cultural diffusion.

  • Reception of Immigrants:

    • Immigrants faced discrimination.

    • Racist Legislation:

      • White Australia Policy (Australia)

      • Chinese Exclusion Act (United States).

Internal and External Factors Leading to Change in Various States After 1900

  • Russia:

    • Lagging economic growth and reluctance to expand civil liberties led to external problems (loss of Crimean War, Russo-Japanese War).

    • The Bolsheviks seized power and established a communist government (Soviet Union).

  • China:

    • Internal threats: Ethnic tension, famine, diminished government revenue.

    • External threats: Encroaching Western industrialization.

    • The last Chinese dynasty was overthrown by Sun Yat-sen.

  • Mexico:

    • Huge wealth gap and long-term cooperation with US investors to the detriment of the landless poor.

    • Revolution led by Francisco Madero sought to correct internal and external problems.

World War I

  • **Causes of World War I (MAIN): **

    • Militarism: Buildup of military weaponry.

    • Alliance System: Defensive groupings of nations stacked against one another.

    • Imperialism: Fierce competition to lay claim to remaining unclaimed lands.

    • Nationalism: Intense feelings of pride in one's own national identity, culture, and language.

    • Trigger: Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria

Governments Used Strategies to Fight World War I:

  • Total War: Each country fighting leveraged all domestic assets to fight, both assets at home and abroad.

  • Propaganda: Governments used propaganda to persuade people to support the war effort.

  • New Technologies:

    • Poison gas, machine guns, submarines, tanks, leading to trench warfare and long-lasting stalemates.

    • High casualties. The deadliest up to this point.

  • Treaty of Versailles (1918): Signed the end of the war.

Governments Taking a More Prominent Role in Their Nation's Economies Following World War I

  • The Great Depression:

    • Began in the United States and spread worldwide.

    • In the US:

      • President Herbert Hoover was initially reluctant to intervene.

      • Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal involved massive government spending to rescue the US from the Depression.

  • Germany:

    • Economically ruined after World War I due to hyperinflation, in part caused by reparations payments required by the Treaty of Versailles.

    • rise of fascism in Germany and the Nazi party enacting strong government intervention. They ceased reparations payments and spent lots of money on building up their military.

  • The Soviet Union:

    • Enacted a series of five-year plans to transform the USSR into an industrial power. Push to collectivize agriculture.

    • Led to widespread famine and death in rural areas, especially in Ukraine.

World War II

  • Causes:

    • Unsustainable peace agreement of World War I (Treaty of Versailles).

      • War Guilt Clause: Making Germany fully responsible for the war.

      • Mandate for Reparations: Destroying the German Economy.

    • Economic crisis.

    • The rise of fascist regimes, most notably Nazi Germany.

      • Capitlizing on extreme nationalism, tapping into a deep grievance of the German people. The Nazi cancelled reparations.

      • Hitler takes land surrounding Germany because he needs his Lebensraum, his living space. The British repsonse is appeasement.

      • With Hitler's invasion of Poland, Germany invades Poland in 1939, starting World War II.

World War II Was Another Total War

  • Same as World War I: Totalitarian and democratic nations deployed all their nation's resources to fight and win.

    • Methods: propaganda, manufacturing sectors repurposed for military output. Colonial powers called up colonial men and women to support the war effort.

    • Civil liberties limited. Japanese internment put Japanese people in internment camps.

    • Overlaps with World War II. Also ended up being even deadlier.

  • New Military Tactics:

    • Firebombing (i.e. Tokyo and Dresden. Incendiary bombs)

    • Atomic Bombs. US dropped theses on civilian populations

The Rise of Extremist Groups Led to the Attempted Destruction of Certain Populations Through Genocide or Ethnic Violence.

  • Naz Holocaust: Nazi Holocaust. T

    • The program operated under the final solution. Removing the jews and other undesirables to concentration camps. Putting stronger ones in labored camps. Weaker ones in mass extermination camps.

  • Ukranian Genocide - Holodomor

    • Farmers resenting Stalin's collectivization of agriculture. Farms confiscated to feed these populations in industrial centers. Led to not food for the farmers themselves.

    • Peasants burnt their crops. Killed their livestocks. Led to seven to ten million peasants dying.