history quiz - imperialism and nationalism

Unequal power dynamics grounded in the Industrial Revolution

• Industrialized nations had:

  • better weaponry (i.e. gunboats, maxim guns…)

  • better communications (i.e. telegraph…)

  • better medicine (i.e. quinine…)

  • better transport (i.e. steamships and railroads…)

  • cheaper goods = more $ = more pow

British in India

• What motivated the British expansion into India?
  
  

• What strategies did the British employ in their conquest of India?
  
  

• How did Indians resist or retain some degree of agency during British rule?
  
  

• What are the short and long term impacts of colonization/ British imperialism in India?

Motives:  Raw materials, markets, tax base, national prestige 

Rationale: WMB (racism/ ethnocentrism)
Methods:  EIC begin process in 1600s through economic “investments.” -Steady increased encroachment culminating in use of military to put down Sepoy Rebellion in 1857.

-1857 Transition to Royal Colony= British Raj
-Divide and Rule using pre-existing differences in the region (social, religious, regional). IR gives GB economic and military edge.

Impact: India is the “jewel in the crown” of the British Empire by late 1800s. Direct control as colony of GB lasts until middle of 20th century.  -Britain limits economic development of the region.  

-Individual Indians fare differently
-Loss of income/ higher taxes deplete Indian resources

British in China

• What motivates the British to impose themselves on China by force?

• How did the British rationalize/ justify their unequal treatment of the Chinese?

• What enables the British to impose their “rules” on China by force?

• What is the Chinese response to the British incursion?  

• How is this story the same as or different from the British conquest of India?

Motives: Trade Imbalance (goods for silver) Access to markets/ Free trade

Rationale: Ethnocentrism/ Racism?

Means: Dump opium into markets and then fight two wars when Chinese resist this trade. British naval technology and military organization 

Result: “Unequal” treaties/ “Free” trade imposed on China

Spheres of influence and one colony (Honk Kong)

Opium use and addiction spikes in China
Taiping Rebellion: Long term resentment against foreigners and govt

French in Algeria

• What motivates the French to colonize Algeria?

• How did the French rationalize this conquest?

• What methods do the French use to conquer and govern this land and peoples?

• What are the Algerian responses to the French colonization?  

• How is this story the same as or different from the British in China and India?

• Motives: Resources, Land (settler colony), Comparative/ Competitive Power

• Rationale: WMB/ Social Darwinism, Christian Missionizing

• Means: Outright conquest/ war, Divide and Rule (Arab Muslims vs. African Berber population)

Impact/ Result: 

• ~ 825,000 indigenous Algerians killed between 1830-1875

• -Algerian economy grows as a whole but the indigenous population loses land and lives/ disproportionate economic benefit favors French settlers (colons) and collaborators

Scramble for Africa

Context: Trans-Atlantic slave trade 1500-1850s
Ports and outposts in West Africa 1500-1800
Accidental? Aggressive competition 1860s-1912

Algeria (French)  and South Africa (Dutch and English)

examples of early European incursion (1600s-early 1800s)

settlements/ divide and rule/ raw materials

1885 Berlin Conference
-European powers set rules of the game: coastal boundaries extend
-no slavery/ liquor/ limited arms…
-no US…
-no African nations

Congo: Belgians (Direct)

  rubber/ chicottes/ slavery/ controversy

Motives: Raw Materials, land, markets, labor, prestige, power

Rationale: WMB, Scientifically and religiously “backed” racism
Means: Divide and Rule, use or threat of violence

Result: All of Africa is controlled directly or indirectly by European powers by 191 with exception of Liberia and Ethiopia.
-Lasting internal problems that persist today as a result of the divide and rule as well as the economic stifling of local economies.

Japan in China, Taiwan and Korea

Motives: Resources (IR), Land (settler colony), “Reactionary Imperialism” (see prior slide)

Rationale: Yamato Race Theory, Nationalism

Means: Outright conquest/ war
Impact/ Result: 

-Japanese empowerment at the expense of local peoples
-WWII??