Unit 7 AP Euro

MODERN THOUGHT (c. 1850–1914)

Science, Positivism & the Crisis of Religious Authority

  • Positivism – Auguste Comte
     - Historical context
     - After the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars, Europe experienced political instability and ideological conflict between conservatism, liberalism, and socialism.
     - The Industrial Revolution transformed economies and social structures, creating faith in scientific and technological progress.
     - Enlightenment thinkers had emphasized reason, but Comte wanted to systematize reason into a science of society.
     - Facts
     - Wrote Course of Positive Philosophy (1830–1842).
     - Proposed the “Law of Three Stages”: theological → metaphysical → positive (scientific).
     - Argued society should be studied empirically like physics or chemistry.
     - Founded sociology as a discipline.
     - Believed scientists and industrial leaders should guide society rather than priests or monarchs.
     - Reflected broader 19th-century secularization and confidence in progress.
     - Influenced later technocratic governance and social reform movements.

  • Biblical Criticism – David Friedrich Strauss
     - Historical context
     - Germany was center of Protestant scholarship and historical research in the 19th century.
     - Rise of historicism: belief that all ideas must be understood in historical context.
     - Growing tension between traditional Christianity and scientific discoveries (geology, evolution).
     - Facts
     - Published The Life of Jesus (1835).
     - Argued miracles were myths created by early Christian communities.
     - Applied historical-critical method to scripture.
     - Undermined literal biblical interpretation.
     - Contributed to liberal theology and secular intellectual life.
     - Sparked controversy and resistance from conservative Christians.

  • Darwinism – Charles Darwin
     - Historical context
     - Published On the Origin of Species (1859) during height of British industrial and imperial power.
     - Scientific discoveries were challenging traditional biblical chronology.
     - Facts
     - Proposed natural selection as mechanism of evolution.
     - Emphasized competition and adaptation.
     - Undermined argument from divine design.
     - Influenced not only biology but social and political thought.
     - Later published Descent of Man (1871), applying evolution to humans.

  • Modern Physics – Wilhelm Rontgen & Max Planck
     - Historical context
     - Late 19th-century belief in Newtonian determinism.
     - Industrial technologies revealed unseen forces (electricity, magnetism).
     - Facts
     - Röntgen discovered X-rays (1895), revealing invisible radiation.
     - Planck introduced quantum theory (1900), arguing energy emitted in quanta.
     - These discoveries destabilized classical physics.
     - Contributed to broader intellectual uncertainty that shaped Modernism.

Philosophy, Psychology & the Attack on Enlightenment Rationalism

  • Nietzsche – Friedrich Nietzsche
     - Historical context
     - Writing after German unification (1871) amid mass politics and rising nationalism.
     - Observed decline of religious authority in Europe.
     - Facts
     - Major works: Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883–85), Beyond Good and Evil (1886).
     - Declared “God is dead,” meaning traditional morality had collapsed.
     - Criticized Christianity as slave morality.
     - Advocated creation of new values by the Übermensch.
     - Opposed herd mentality and conformity.
     - Influenced existentialism and later radical ideologies (though often misused).

  • Freud – Sigmund Freud
     - Historical context
     - Vienna was intellectual hub of multi-ethnic Austro-Hungarian Empire.
     - Urbanization and social tensions shaped interest in psychology.
     - Facts
     - Major works: Interpretation of Dreams (1900), Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality (1905).
     - Developed psychoanalysis.
     - Argued unconscious mind shapes behavior.
     - Divided psyche into id, ego, superego.
     - Claimed repression of sexuality central to neurosis.
     - Undermined Enlightenment faith in rational individual.

  • Jung – Carl Jung
     - Historical context
     - Broke with Freud over emphasis on sexuality.
     - Facts
     - Developed theory of collective unconscious.
     - Proposed archetypes shared across humanity.
     - Influenced literature, religion studies, and cultural theory.

  • Weber – Max Weber
     - Historical context
     - Rapid industrial capitalism and bureaucratic state expansion in Germany.
     - Facts
     - The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1905).
     - Linked Calvinist predestination to capitalist work ethic.
     - Argued modern society increasingly rationalized.
     - Warned of “iron cage” of bureaucracy trapping individuals.

Modernism in Art & Literature

  • Realism & Impressionism
     - Historical context
     - Urban industrial society produced visible class divisions.
     - Photography challenged traditional art.
     - Facts
     - Gustave Courbet depicted ordinary laborers.
     - Claude Monet emphasized light and movement.
     - Rejected academic and romantic traditions.
     - Reflected interest in modern life and perception.

  • Post-Impressionism & Cubism
     - Historical context
     - Cultural anxiety paralleled scientific uncertainty.
     - Facts
     - Vincent van Gogh emphasized emotion.
     - Pablo Picasso pioneered Cubism (1907).
     - Fragmented perspective reflected breakdown of stable reality.
     - Modernism rejected traditional representation and harmony.

  • Virginia Woolf – Virginia Woolf
     - Historical context
     - Early 20th-century feminist and literary modernist.
     - Facts
     - A Room of One’s Own (1929).
     - Argued women need financial independence and education.
     - Used stream-of-consciousness style.
     - Reflected modernist experimentation and feminist critique.

NEW IMPERIALISM (c. 1870–1914)

Ideologies, Motives & Intellectual Justifications

  • Social Darwinism & Racial Theory – Count Arthur de Gobineau & Houston Stewart Chamberlain
     - Historical context
     - After the unifications of Germany and Italy (1871), nationalism intensified across Europe.
     - European industrial powers were competing for prestige, markets, and territory.
     - Darwin’s biological theory (1859) was misapplied to human societies.
     - Facts
     - Gobineau’s Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races (1853–55) argued Aryans were superior and that racial mixing led to decline.
     - Chamberlain’s Foundations of the Nineteenth Century (1899) linked Teutonic racial superiority to German destiny and anti-Semitism.
     - Political leaders, colonial administrators, and military officers adopted racial hierarchies as justification for conquest.
     - Indigenous Africans, Asians, and Pacific Islanders were labeled “inferior” and deemed incapable of self-government.
     - These ideas influenced colonial education systems, segregation policies, and labor exploitation.
     - Long-term impact: fed into 20th-century fascism and genocidal ideologies.

  • Economic & Strategic Motives
     - Historical context
     - The Long Depression (1873–1896) caused European elites to seek new markets.
     - The Second Industrial Revolution increased demand for rubber (bicycles, automobiles), oil, copper, tin, palm oil, and cotton.
     - Naval competition, especially between Britain and Germany, intensified.
     - Facts
     - Industrialists, bankers, and investors pushed for overseas expansion to secure raw materials.
     - Governments sought coaling stations and naval bases to support steam-powered fleets.
     - Politicians used imperial expansion to distract from domestic social tensions (e.g., labor unrest).
     - Colonized peoples were often forced into cash-crop economies, undermining subsistence agriculture.
     - Local artisans and traders were displaced by European manufactured goods.
     - Economic dependency created long-term structural inequalities in Africa and Asia.

  • Missionary Activity & Cultural Imperialism
     - Historical context
     - Protestant and Catholic missionary movements expanded in the 19th century.
     - Many Europeans believed they had a moral duty to “civilize” non-European societies.
     - Facts
     - Missionaries like David Livingstone promoted Christianity and abolition of slavery.
     - Indigenous religious leaders resisted conversion and loss of cultural traditions.
     - European education systems trained small local elites in Western languages and values.
     - Traditional authority structures were weakened or co-opted.
     - Cultural imperialism created hybrid identities but also deep social disruption.

Imperial Expansion in Africa

  • Berlin Conference (1884–85) – Berlin Conference
     - Historical context
     - European powers were rapidly claiming African territory during the “Scramble for Africa.”
     - Fear of conflict between European states over colonies.
     - Facts
     - Organized by Otto von Bismarck.
     - Attended by Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Portugal, Italy, and others.
     - Established “effective occupation” principle.
     - No African representatives invited.
     - Arbitrary borders divided ethnic groups (e.g., Somalis split among multiple colonies).
     - African rulers such as Samori Touré and Menelik II resisted European encroachment.
     - Long-term result: political instability and ethnic conflict in post-colonial Africa.

  • Congo Free State – King Leopold II
     - Historical context
     - Rubber demand surged with industrial uses.
     - Leopold presented himself as humanitarian bringing civilization.
     - Facts
     - Controlled Congo personally (1885–1908).
     - Used Force Publique (mercenary army) to enforce rubber quotas.
     - Widespread mutilation, hostage-taking, executions.
     - Missionaries and activists like E.D. Morel exposed atrocities.
     - Congolese population declined dramatically (millions affected).
     - International pressure forced Belgian government takeover in 1908.
     - Demonstrated brutality of economic exploitation.

  • Herero & Nama Genocide – Herero and Nama genocide
     - Historical context
     - German settlers seized land and cattle in Southwest Africa (Namibia).
     - Herero and Nama peoples resisted dispossession.
     - Facts
     - General Lothar von Trotha ordered extermination.
     - Survivors driven into desert; many died of starvation.
     - Concentration camps established.
     - Estimated 65–80% of Herero population killed.
     - Reflected extreme racial ideology in German colonial policy.
     - Influenced later genocidal thinking in Germany.

  • Southern Africa & the Great Trek – Great Trek
     - Historical context
     - Dutch-descended Boers resented British abolition of slavery and rule.
     - Facts
     - Boers established Transvaal and Orange Free State.
     - Indigenous Zulu and other African groups displaced or defeated.
     - Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902) saw British use of concentration camps.
     - Afrikaner nationalism hardened.
     - Racial segregation intensified, culminating in apartheid (formalized 1948).
     - Black South Africans faced land dispossession and political exclusion.

Imperial Expansion in Asia & the Middle East

  • Opium Wars (1839–42, 1856–60) – Opium Wars
     - Historical context
     - Britain had trade deficit with Qing China (tea, silk, porcelain).
     - British merchants smuggled opium from India into China.
     - Facts
     - Qing official Lin Zexu attempted to suppress opium trade.
     - Britain used naval power to defeat China.
     - Treaty of Nanjing (1842): ceded Hong Kong, opened treaty ports.
     - Western powers gained extraterritorial rights.
     - Chinese merchants and workers suffered economic disruption.
     - Contributed to internal rebellions (Taiping, Boxer).
     - Marked beginning of China’s “Century of Humiliation.”

  • Indian Rebellion of 1857 – Indian Rebellion of 1857
     - Historical context
     - British East India Company expanded control over Indian princes.
     - Social and religious tensions grew.
     - Facts
     - Sepoys (Indian soldiers) rebelled over rifle cartridges allegedly greased with cow and pig fat.
     - Rebellion spread across northern India.
     - British brutally suppressed revolt.
     - Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah II deposed.
     - British Crown established direct rule (Raj).
     - Increased racial segregation and distrust.
     - Indian elites later formed Indian National Congress (1885) seeking reform.

  • Suez Canal & Egypt – Suez Canal
     - Historical context
     - Built by French engineer Ferdinand de Lesseps (opened 1869).
     - Egypt heavily indebted.
     - Facts
     - Britain purchased Egyptian shares (1875).
     - Occupied Egypt (1882) after nationalist revolt led by Ahmed Urabi.
     - Ensured secure route to India.
     - Egyptian peasants bore tax burden.
     - Egyptian nationalism grew in response.

  • Boxer Rebellion (1900) – Boxer Rebellion
     - Historical context
     - Anti-foreign resentment in China due to missionary influence and economic control.
     - Facts
     - Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists attacked foreigners and Chinese Christians.
     - Supported by some Qing officials.
     - Eight-nation alliance (Britain, Germany, Russia, Japan, U.S., etc.) intervened.
     - China forced to pay heavy indemnities.
     - Strengthened revolutionary movements leading to 1911 revolution.

  • Open Door Policy
     - Historical context
     - U.S. feared exclusion from Chinese markets by European spheres of influence.
     - Facts
     - Proposed by U.S. Secretary of State John Hay (1899).
     - Advocated equal trading rights.
     - Demonstrated rise of U.S. informal imperialism.
     - Chinese reformers sought modernization in response.

  • Panama Canal (1914)
     - Historical context
     - U.S. sought faster naval and commercial routes.
     - Facts
     - President Theodore Roosevelt supported Panama’s independence from Colombia.
     - U.S. controlled Canal Zone.
     - Panamanian workers and Caribbean laborers faced harsh conditions.
     - Cemented U.S. role as imperial power in Western Hemisphere.

IMPERIALISM: PEOPLE & GROUPS MOST AFFECTED

  • Indigenous Africans dispossessed of land and labor autonomy.

  • Asian peasants forced into cash-crop economies.

  • Missionaries altered local education and religious life.

  • European settlers gained land and political dominance.

  • Mixed-race elites sometimes gained limited opportunities.

  • Women in colonized societies experienced both missionary education and increased patriarchal control under colonial systems.

  • Long-term legacy: economic dependency, ethnic conflict, nationalist movements.