Chapter 20: The Apex of Global Empire Building

The Idea of Imperialism

· Term dates from mid-19th century

· In popular discourse by 1880s

· Military imperialism

o Later, economic and cultural varieties

o US imperialism

Motivation for Imperialism

· Military

· Political

· Economic

o European capitalism

· Religious

· Demographic

o Criminal populations

· Dissident populations

Manifest Destiny

· Discover of natural resources

· Exploitation of cheap labor

· Expansion of markets

o Limited

The “White Man’s Burden”

· Rudyard Kipling (1864-1936)

o Raised in India, native Hindi speaker

o Boarding school in England, then return to India (1882)

· French: mission civilsatrice

“White Man’s Burden” by Rudyard Kipling

· “Take up the White Man's burden— Send forth the best ye breed— Go, bind your sons to exile To serve your captives' need; To wait, in heavy harness, On fluttered folk and wild— Your new-caught sullen peoples, Half devil and half child.”

Geopolitical considerations

· Strategic footholds

o Waterways

o Supply stations

o Imperial rivalries

Domestic Political Considerations

· Crises of industrialism

· Pressure from nascent Socialism

· Imperial policies distract proletariat from domestic politics

o Cecil Rhodes: imperialism alternative to civil war

Technology and Imperialism

· Transportation

o Steamships

o Railroads

· Infrastructure

o Suez Canal (1859-1869)

o Panama Canal (1904-1914)

Weaponry

· Muzzle-loading muskets

· Mid-century: breech-loading rifles

o Reduce reloading time

· 1880s: Maxim gun, 11 rounds per second

The Military Advantage

· Battle of Omdurman (near Khartom on Nile), 1898

o Five hours of fighting

· British: six gunboats, twenty machine guns, 368 killed

· Sudanese: 11,000 killed

Communications

· Correspondence

o 1830 Britain-India: 2 years

o After Suez Canal, 2 weeks

· Telegraph

o 1870s, development of submarine cables

o Britain-India: 5 hours

The Jewel of the British Crown: India

· East India Company

· Monopoly on Indian trade

· Original permission from Mughal emperors

· Mughal empire declines after death of Aurangzeb, 1707

British Conquest

· Protection of economic interests through political conquest

· British and Indian troops (Sepoys)

Sepoy Revolt, 1857

· Enfield rifles

· Cartridges in wax paper greased with animal fat

· Problem for Hindus: beef

· Problem for Muslims: pork

· Sepoys capture garrison

·60 soldiers, 180 civilian males massacred (after surrender)

· Two weeks later, 375 women and children murdered

· British retake fort, hang rebels

Britain Imperial Rule

· In response to the rebellion, Britain:

o Abolished Mughal empire

o Exiled emperor to Burma

o Abolished East India Company

o Established direct rule of India by British government

§ Organization of agriculture

· Crops: tea, coffee, opium

§ Stamp of British culture on Indian environment

British Rule in India

· Organization of agriculture

o Crops: tea, coffee, opium

· Stamp of British culture on Indian environment

· Veneer on poor Muslim-Hindu relations

Imperialism in Central Asia

o France drops out after Napoleon

o Russia active after 1860s in Tashkent, Bokhara, Samarkand, and approached India

o Preparation for imperialist war

o Russian Revolution of 1917 forestalled war

Imperialism in Southeast Asia

· Spanish: Philippines

· Dutch: Indonesia (Dutch East Indies)

· British establish presence from 1820s

o Conflict with kings of Burma (Myanmar) 1829s, established colonial authority by 1880s

o Thomas Stamford Raffles founds Singapore for trade in Strait of Melaka

§ Base of British colonization in Malaysia, 1870s-1880s

o Encouraged conversion to Christianity

The Scramble for Africa (1875-1900)

· French, Portuguese, Belgians, and English competing for “the dark continent”

· Britain establishes strong presence in Egypt, Rhodesia

o Suez Canal

o Rhodesian gold. Diamonds

Rewriting African History

· Ancient Africa

· Implications for justification of imperialist rule

· European exploration of rivers (Nile, Niger, Congo, Zambesi)

o Information on interior of Africa

o King Leopold II of Belgium starts Congo Free State, Commercial ventures

o Takes control of colony in 1908, renamed Belgian Congo

South African (Boer) War 1899-1902

· Dutch East India establishes Cape Town (1652)

o Farmers (Boers) follow to settle territory, later called Afrikaners

o Competition and conflict with indigenous Khoikhoi and Xhosa peoples

· British takeover in 1806, slavery a major issue of conflict

o Afrikaners migrate eastward: the Great Trek, overpower Ndebele and Zulu resistance with superior firepower

o Establish independent Republics

South African (Boer) War 1899-1902

· Brtisih tolerate this until gold is discovered

· White-white conflict, black soldiers and laborers

· Afrikaners concede in 1902, 1910 integrated into Union of South Africa

The Berlin West Africa Conference (1884-1885)

· Fourteen European states, United States

o Rules of colonization: any European state can take “unoccupied” territory after informing other European powers

· European firepower dominates Africa

o Exceptions: Ethiopia fights off Italy (1896); Liberia a dependency of the US

Systems of Colonial Rule

· Concessionary companies

· Private companies get large tracts of land to exploit natural resources

· Companies get freedom to tax, recruit labor: horrible abuses

· Profit margin minimal

· Direct Rule: France

· “civilizing mission”

· Chronic shortage of European personnel; language and cultural barriers

· French West Africa: 3600 Europeans rule 9 million

Indirect Rule

· Frederick D. Lugard (Britain, 1858-1945)

o The Dual Magnate in British Tropical Africa (1922)

· Use of indigenous institutions

· Difficulty in establishing tribal categories, imposed arbitrary boundaries

European Imperialism in Australia and New Zealand

· English use Australia as a penal colony from 1788

· Voluntary migrants follow; gold discovered 1851

· Smallpox, measles devastate natives

· Territory called “terra nullus”: land of no one

· New Zealand: natives forced to sign Treaty of Waitangi (1840), placing New Zealand under British “protection”

European Imperialism in the Pacific Islands

o Voluntary migrants followed

o Gold discovered, 1851

o Smallpox, measles devastated natives

· New Zealand: natives forced to sign Treaty of Waitangi (1840), placing New Zealand under British “protection”

Imperialists in Paradise

· Pacific islands: commercial outposts

o Whalers seeking port

o Merchants seeking sandalwood, sea slugs for sale in China

o Missionaries seeking souls

· British, French, German, American powers carved islands up

o Tonga remained independent, but relied on Britain

US Imperialism

· President James Monroe warns Europeans not to engage in imperialism in western hemisphere (1823)

o The Monroe Doctrine: all Americas a U.S. Protectorate

· 1867 purchased Alaska from Russia

· 1875 established protectorate over Hawai’i

o Locals overthrow queen in 1893, persuade US to acquire islands in 1898

· US Marine force at the time of the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, January 1893.

Spanish-Cuban-American War (1898-1899)

· US declares war in Spain after battleship Maine sunk in Havana harbor, 1898

o Takes possession of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, Philippines

o US intervenes in other Caribbean, Central American lands, occupies Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Honduras, Haiti

· Filipinos revolt against Spanish rule, later against US rule

The Panama Canal

· President Theodore Roosevelt (in office 1901-1909) supports insurrection against Colombia (1903)

· Rebels win, establish state of Panama

· U.S. gains territory to build canal, Panama Canal Zone

· Roosevelt Corollary of Monroe Doctrine

o U.S. right to intervene in domestic affairs of other nations if U.S. investments threatened

Early Japanese Expansion

· Resentment over Unequal Treaties of 1860s

· 18070s colonized northern region: Hokkaido, Kurile islands, southern Okinawa and Ryukyu islands as well

· 1876 Japanese purchase warships from Britain, dominate Korea

· Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) over Korea results in Japanese victory

· Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) also ends in Japanese victory

Economic Legacies of Imperialism

· Colonized states encouraged to exploit natural resources rather then build manufacturing centers

· Encouraged dependency on imperial power for manufactured goods made from native raw product

o Indian cotton

· Introduction of new crops

o Tea in Ceylon

Labor Migrations

· Europeans move to temperate lands

o Work as free cultivators, industrial laborers

o 32 million to the US 1800- 1914

· Africans, Asians, and Pacific islanders move to tropical/subtropical lands

o Indentured laborers, manual laborers

o 2.5 million between 1820 and 1914

Colonial Conflict

· Thousands of insurrections against colonial rule

o Tanganyika Maji Maji Rebellion against Germans (1905-1906)

o Rebels sprinkle selves with magic water (maji maji) as protection against modern weapons; 75000 killed

· “Scientific” Racism developed

o Count Joseph Arthurd de Gobineau (1816-1882)

o Combines with theories of Charles Darwin (1809-1882) to form pernicious doctrine of Social Darwinism

Nationalism and Anti-colonial Movements

· Ram Mohan Roy (1772-1883), Bengali called “father of modern India”

o Influence of Enlightenment thought, often obtained in European universities

· Indian National Congress formed 1885

o 1916 joins with All-India Muslim League