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EUROPEAN TRANSFORMATION AND DOMINATION
PART ONE: Industrialization and the World Economy
Almost as a byproduct of industrialization and nationalism, Europe entered its third great expansion into the
world in the last half of the nineteenth century. The first great expansion had been the crusades; the second the
expansion of European population, culture, and influence into the Americas and Asia during the Age of
Discovery. The third expansion was the most dramatic and most aggressive; it was based on a stream of
European products, people, and ideas flowing from Europe to other parts of the world.
The third great expansion had economic beginnings. With the industrial revolution, the ability of European
industry to produce had increased exponentially. Those areas of the world that industrialized increased their
wealth and power enormously in comparison to those who did not. As a result, a gap developed between the
developed industrialized nations of the world and the non-industrialized "developing" areas, such as Africa,
Asia, and Latin America. Three important elements must be born in mind:
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In 1750, the standard of living in Europe was no greater than in the rest of the world; however by 1970,
the average person in the wealthiest countries had an income twenty five times greater than that received
by the average person in the poorer countries of Africa and Asia.
Industrialization opened the gap of wealth and well being between developed and undeveloped
countries. Great Britain, which led in the industrial revolution, at first jumped ahead of other countries,
but as they began to industrialize, Britain's lead narrowed.
Income in the Third World (developing countries) stagnated before 1913, whereas in industrialized
nations income increased dramatically. Equal disparities in food, clothing, health, education, life
expectancy, and general well being existed.
World trade grew at a prodigious rate in the late nineteenth century. In 1913, the value of world trade was $38
Billion; twenty five times greater than it had been in 1800. If one considers that the average price of
manufactured goods had actually decreased during that time, the disparity appears even greater. Great Britain
took the lead in using trade to tie the world together economically. Britain had a large empire including India,
Canada, and Australia. The breakthroughs of the Industrial Revolution allowed Britain to manufacture cotton
textiles, iron, and other goods more cheaply and as a result, production soon outstripped demand in domestic
markets. So, European manufacturers sought markets elsewhere in the world. Cotton Textiles are a case in
point. In 1820, Britain exported 50 per cent of its textile production. Europe bought 50 percent, while India
bought only 6 percent. Then, as protective tariffs were erected in the United States and other European countries
against British textiles, manufacturers aggressively sought other markets in non-European areas. In 1850, India
was buying 25 per cent of British textiles and Europe only 16 per cent. Since India was a British colony, it
could not erect tariffs to protect its own textile industry, and as a result, many Indian weavers were put out of
work by cheap British textiles.
At the same time, Britain became a consumer nation, and with the repeal of the Corn Laws, Britain became a
world market. Britain resisted tariffs as it was believed that it must purchase if it were to sell on world markets.
Free access to British markets stimulated growth in mines and plantations in many non-western countries.
British industrial development was aided by the invention of the steam engine and railroads, which made
transportation costs considerably cheaper. Passenger and freight rates plummeted when steam engines cut the
cost of transportation in half. "Tramp Steamers" were used for trans-oceanic transport, which carried cargoes all
over the world. An example is a ship which left England in 1910 carrying rails and general freight to western
Australia. From there it carried Lumber to Melbourne in southeastern Australia, then it took on harvester
combines for Argentina. In Buenos Aires it took on Wheat for Calcutta, India; and from Calcutta it carried
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industrial products to Australia before returning to England with lead, wool, and wheat. The entire voyage took
seventy two months and traversed 72,000 miles, almost three times around the earth at the equator.
The invention of refrigerator railroad cars and ships allowed the shipment of large amounts of beef and mutton
to European consumers, as well as spices, tea, sugar, and coffee. Also, jute, rubber, cotton and coconut oil was
shipped to Europe in large quantities. Trade was enormously facilitated by the opening of the Suez and Panama
canals as well as investment in modern port facilities which made loading and unloading cheaper, faster, and
more dependable. Transoceanic cable lines allowed rapid communication with other parts of the world.
Foreign investment was encouraged by the expanding European economy. European capitalists began investing
large sums of money in foreign enterprises. Before 1914, Great Britain invested seven percent of its annual
national income abroad, slightly more than it invested in its entire domestic economy. The most profitable
investments were in railroads, ports, and utilities necessary to settle vacant lands. Most investments went to the
U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, or other European countries. A third of the investment to develop
American railroads was European money.
The Opening of China and Japan: The Chinese were traditionally a self-sufficient culture. They had sent
more goods and inventions to Europe than they received for centuries. Europeans, particularly the English, had
developed a taste for Chinese tea, but had to pay for it with hard silver; China had no interest in purchasing
European goods. The Manchu Dynasty which ruled China carefully regulated trade with Europe. The Manchu
government was more concerned with isolating and controlling the "sea barbarians" as they called European
traders than in commercial exchange. It considered European states "inferior," and refused to establish
diplomatic relations. All foreign merchants were required to live in the city of Canton, and could buy and sell
only with the local merchant monopoly. The export of silver and import of anything the government considered
harmful, such as opium, was strictly forbidden.
The British grew opium legally in India, and found that the Chinese had a taste for it, even though the trade was
illegal. They often smuggled it in by means of fast ships and local officials who were susceptible to bribes. The
trade grew and merchants grew rich in the illegal trade. As they grew richer, they more and more resented the
efforts of the Chinese government to stop the opium traffic. By 1836, British merchants planned to establish an
independent British colony in China and "safe and unrestricted liberty" in trade. They pressured the British
government to take action on their behalf.
At the same time as the British decided to entrench their position, the Manchu Government decided to eradicate
the country of the Opium trade, which it considered ruinous to the people and was also stripping the empire of
its silver supply, which was going to pay for the stuff. In 1839, the government sent a special envoy, Lin Tseshu, who ordered the foreign merchants to obey Chinese laws "for our great unified Manchu Empire regards
itself as responsible for the habits and morals of its subjects and cannot rest content to see any of them become
victims of deadly poison." Characteristically, the British refused and were expelled from the country. War soon
broke out.
The British used troops from India and soon occupied several coastal cities. China was forced to surrender, and
by the terms of the Treaty of Nanking (1842), China was forced to cede the Island of Hong Kong to Britain
forever, pay an indemnity of $100 million, and open up four large cities to foreign trade with low tariffs.
Although trade flourished, China still considered itself superior to the barbarian Europeans, and refused to
accept foreign diplomats in Peking, the imperial capital. A second war broke out in 1856 and 1860, during
which British and French troops occupied Peking and intentionally burned the Emperor's summer palace. The
treaty ending the hostilities forced the Chinese to accept trade on very unfavorable terms and Europeans were
given greater access to Chinese markets.
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Japan had even less use for Europeans and Americans than the Chinese. Europeans had had some contact with
the Japanese since 1640, but they were not welcomed. The Japanese government had attempted to seal the
country off from all European influence. Japanese Christians were severely persecuted and all but a few Dutch
merchants were expelled. Those who remained were confined to a single port and rigidly controlled. An order
of 1825 commanded Japanese officials to "drive away foreign vessels without second thought."
This practice seemed hostile and barbaric to many Western countries, particularly the United States. Whaling
ships in the area often had to be provisioned, and oftentimes they would wreck on the Japanese coastline.
Americans were also caught up in the idea of Manifest Destiny after having taken land from Mexico in 1848;
most felt they were destined to play a great role in the Pacific as well. Many Americans considered it their duty
to "civilize" the Japanese and force them to share their ports.
Several attempts were made to negotiate with the Japanese, but all failed. In 1853, Commodore Matthew Perry
steamed into Tokyo Bay and demanded diplomatic negotiations with the Emperor. Although many officials
urged resistance, the Japanese knew they did not have the fire power to resist bombardment from navy ships.
Many Japanese buildings were made of wood and paper, and would be easily destroyed if Perry's ships opened
fire. The Japanese were humiliated and shocked, but signed a treaty that opened two ports and allowed trade
with American merchants. New treaties over five years expanded the rights of European and American traders.
Thus, Japan was "opened" for business. The Americans had opened Japan with only the threat of war; the
British had used actual force in China.
Western Penetration in Egypt: Egypt had been ruled by a succession of foreigners since 525 B.C., most
recently the Ottoman Turks. A Turkish General, Muhammad Ali had ruled after the departure of French forces
under Napoleon, who disposed of political rivals and set out to build his on state with a powerful army
organized along European lines. He hired French and Italian army officers to train soldiers and reformed the
government. By the time he died in 1848, Muhammad had established a strong, virtually independent Egyptian
state to be ruled by his family on a hereditary basis within the Turkish empire.
Ali's policies of modernization attracted large numbers of Europeans. Alexandria had over 50, 000 Europeans
by 1864, who served as army officers, engineers, doctors, government officials, and police officers. To pay for
his modern army as well as for European services and manufactured goods, Ali encouraged the development of
commercial agriculture for European markets. Most "modern" agriculture was confined to large estates, largely
to the detriment of Egyptian peasants who had farmed for a subsistence living.
Ali was succeeded by his grandson, Ismail, who wanted to modernize Egypt along Western lines. Under his
leaderships, production of cotton and exportation to Europe skyrocketed, and the Suez canal was completed by
a French company in 1869. Opera houses, Western hotels, etc developed all over Cairo, such that Ismail
proclaimed, "My country is no longer in Africa; we now form part of Europe." However, he had borrowed
heavily to modernize Egypt, and the country could not even pay the interest on its massive foreign debt. Rather
than see the debts repudiated, the governments of France and Germany intervened politically to protect their
bankers. They forced Ismail to appoint British and French commissioners to oversee Egyptian finances, and
thus guarantee that the debt was paid. This implied direct European political control as opposed to the trade and
investment control that Europeans had used in other parts of the world.
Foreign financial control resulted in a violent nationalist reaction among Egyptian religious leaders, army
officers, and young intellectuals. In 1879, the Egyptian Nationalist Party was formed under the leadership
of Col. Ahmed Arabi. They forced Ismail to abdicate in favor of his son, and bloody riots broke out. When
Arabi declared that an "irreconcilable war between the Egyptians and the English" had broken out, British
forces quickly defeated the insurgents, and occupied all of Egypt. The British claimed their occupation of Egypt
was only temporary, but they remained until 1956. The British consul-general, Lord Cromer, ruled the country
EUROPEAN TRANSFORMATION AND DOMINATION
as a paternalistic reformer who believed that "without European interference and initiative, reform is impossible
here." He did work for tax reforms and better conditions for the peasants; while at the same time, foreign
bondholders quietly collected the interest on their investments and Egyptian nationalists were forced to sit back
quietly and watch it all happen. Military force and political domination had been used for purposes of European
expansion.
PART TWO: European Migration and Imperialism
The population of Europe entered its third and decisive stage in the early eighteenth century. Birthrates
declined, but death rates also declined as the standard of living and advances in medical science provided for
longer life spans. The population of Europe including Russia more than doubled from 188 million in 1800 to
432 million in 1900. From 1815 through 1932, sixty million people left Europe, primarily to "areas of European
settlement," in North and South America, Australia, New Zealand and Siberia. These populations also
multiplied rapidly in their new habitat; much more so than the populations of Africa and Asia. As a result, on
the eve of World War One, 38 percent of the world’s total population was of European ancestry.
This growth in population provided further impetus for European expansion, and became the driving force
behind emigration. Rising populations put pressure on land, and land hunger and led to "land hunger." Millions
of people went abroad in search of work or economic opportunity. The Irish, who left for America during the
great Potato famine, were an extreme but not unique example. Ultimately, one third of all European migrants
came from the British Isles between 1840 and 1920. Italians also migrated in large numbers because of poor
economic conditions in their home country. German migration also was steady until industrial conditions in
Germany improved when the wave of migration slowed. Less than one half of all migrants went to the United
States, although it absorbed the largest number of European migrants. Others went to Asiatic Russia, Canada,
Argentina, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand.
Most European migrants were peasants or village craftsmen whose traditional way of life was threatened by too
little land, estate agriculture, and cheap, factory made goods. Their response was often to sell out and move to
the American Midwest where land was plentiful and cheap. Most migrants were not desperately impoverished
landless peasants, but small farmers or skilled artisans who desperately wanted to stay out of poverty. Most
were young and often unmarried. Others moved but remained within Europe, settling in other European
countries. Jews from Eastern Europe and peasants from Ireland migrated to Great Britain; Russians and Poles
moved to Germany, and Latin people from Spain, Portugal, and Italy moved to France.
Many migrants returned home whenever they could. One in two migrants to Argentina and perhaps one in three
in the United States returned home. Seven out of eight people from the Balkans who moved to the United States
also returned. On the other hand, only one in ten from Ireland and one in twenty of European Jews returned.
The possibility of owning land was a prime consideration. In Ireland, land was often tightly held by absentee
landowner, and there was little land available for purchase. In Russia, Jews were the victims of pogroms and
discrimination after the assassination of Alexander II. They were confined to market towns and small cities
called the Pale of Settlement. Most land was held by non-Jews. Therefore, when they migrated to escape both
factory competition and oppression, they typically left the old country once and for all.
Italians who migrated were not typically landless laborers from areas in which most land was owned in large
estates; rather they were small landowning peasants whose standard of living had suffered because of
overpopulation and agricultural depression. Migration provided them with an escape valve and possibly money
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with which to buy more land from working abroad. Most had no intention of staying abroad; rather many
migrated back and forth during the harvest season, hoping to save enough money to buy an estate back home.
They dominated the building trades and architecture in Latin America, giving cities in that area a very Italian
character.
Many young Europeans were spurred to leave Europe by a spirit of revolt and revolution. Many felt frustrated
by the privileged classes and therefore packed their bags and left. Later, when people won political and social
reforms, migration slowed down.
Not all migrants were European. A large number of Asians (although quite a smaller number than Europeans)
migrated to work in mines and plantations in various areas. Most assumed the labor that had previously been
performed by black slaves. European settlers eventually demanded a halt to Asian migration, and discriminatory
laws which kept Asians out were passed everywhere. A prime example is the Chinese Exclusion Act which
restricted immigration of Chinese to America for ten years. This was another illustration of Western dominance
of the world.
Imperialism and the Scramble for Africa: In the years 1880 to 1914, European migration not only reached a
new height; but European nations rushed to create or enlarge political empires abroad. This was in sharp
contrast to the economic domination which had been used to "open" China and Japan which remained
politically independent. There was a frantic rush to "plant the flag" over as many people and as much territory
as possible. As a result, new tensions arose among European states, leading to wars with both European and
non-European countries. This new imperialism was aimed primarily at Asia and Africa, and put millions of
black, brown, and yellow people under the rule of whites.
Early in the nineteenth century, the French had controlled Algeria and the British had taken possession of the
Dutch colony at Cape Town during the wars with Napoleon I. The Dutch settlers, in response to the British
takeover, had made the Great Trek into the interior, where they fought Zulu and Xhosa people for land. The
Boers, or Afrikaners, as the descendants of the Dutch called themselves, proclaimed their independence and
resisted British domination. The Portuguese still maintained Angola and Mozambique, but most of Africa was
not dominated by Europeans. This changed drastically between 1880 and 1900. By 1900, nearly all of Africa
was carved up and placed under European rule. Only Libya and Ethiopia remained independent.
The British under Cecil Rhodes established protectorates over large areas, including Rhodesia, named for
Rhodes (present day Zimbabwe and Zambia). They attempted to undermine the Afrikaners without success in
the Boer War (1899-1902).In 1910, the old Cape Colona and other areas were united into the Union of South
Africa, which was largely self governing.
Belgium, under Leopold II became a player in Africa also. Leopold once commented, "The Sea bathes our
coast, the world lies before us. Steam and electricity have annihilated distance, and the non-appropriated lands
on the surface of the globe can become the field of our operations and of our success." Leopold formed a
financial syndicate to send Henry M. Stanley to explore the Congo River basin. Stanley established trading
stations, signed "treaties" with native chieftains, and planted Leopold’s flag. The French were alarmed and sent
their own expedition and signed a treaty of protection with a chief on the north of the Congo. With Britain’s
control of Egypt, the race for Africa was on.
Jules Ferry of France and Otto von Bismarck of Germany arranged an international conference in Berlin to lay
down some ground rules for occupation of Africa. The Berlin Conference established the principle that
European claims to Africa must rest on "effective occupation" to be recognized by other states. Otherwise,
Europeans might push in from all sides. This would prevent any one European power from claiming the entire
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continent. The conference recognized Leopold’s personal rule over a neutral Congo Free State, and declared the
entire Congo basin a free trade zone. It also agreed to stop slavery and the slave trade in Africa.
The conference coincided with Germany’s emergence as an Imperial power. Bismarck had previously seen little
value in colonies. He once said that the reminded him of a poor but proud nobleman who wore a fur coat when
he could not afford a shirt underneath. He changed his policy in 1884-5, however, and Germany established
protectorates over tribes in Togo, Cameroons, southwest Africa and later East Africa. In the meantime, the
French, Germans, and British pressed onward for further occupation of Africa.
In Egypt, a British expedition under General Horatio H. Kitchener moved up the Nile River, building a railroad
to supply arms and reinforcements as it went. In 1898, they met Muslim forces at Omdurman armed only with
spears. The tribesmen charged time and again, but were repeatedly cut down by British machine gun fire.
Winston Churchill, a young officer at the battle, wrote it was like "a pantomime scene. These extraordinary
foreign figures…march up one by one from the darkness of Barbarism to the footlights of civilization…and
their conquerors, taking their possessions, forget even their names. Nor will history record such trash." In the
end, eleven thousand brave but poorly armed tribesmen were killed to only twenty eight Brits.
Kitchener’s forces eventually met a small French force and the possibility of war between France and Britain
existed; but France, weakened by the Dreyfus affair, backed down and allowed the British to take over. It is
amazing that the European forces thought nothing of ruthlessly cutting down native forces who were ill
prepared to resist them, but stopped short of fighting each other. They were civilized people, after all.
Imperialism in Asia: All major imperialist powers gradually extended their influence over Asia. The Dutch,
who had controlled little move than the island of Java in Indonesia, gradually extended their control over the
entire Archipelago although they had to share some of the spoils with Britain and Germany. France took
Indochina; Russia extended its control over Muslim areas to the south of the Caucasus Mountains and also
nibbled away at China’s outlying provinces. Even the United States got into the act with its acquisition of the
Philippines as a result of the Spanish American War. When it became apparent that the U.S. did not intend to
grant independence to the Philippines, a revolt broke out which was suppressed only after long, bitter fighting.
A timetable for independence was not discussed until 1934.
Causes of the New Imperialism: A number of clear cut reasons are apparent for European Imperialism,
although any number of other reasons are argued often vociferously by various historians:
Economics was a primary motivation, particularly in Britain. By the late 1870’s, France, Germany and the U.S.
were industrializing rapidly and raising tariff barriers against British goods. Britain came to value their old
possessions of India and Canada more highly. When continental powers began to grab any unclaimed territory,
the British followed suit. They feared the French and Germans would seal off their empires with high tariffs and
future economic opportunities would be lost forever.
Actually economic gains were quite limited. The new colonies were too poor to buy much in the way of
European manufactures and offered few profitable investments. Even so, all were guarded jealously, and none
were abandoned. They had become important for political and diplomatic reasons. Each country saw colonies as
important to national security and international prestige. An example is the Suez Canal, which Britain saw as
important to its occupation of Egypt, and led to a bloody conquest of the Sudan. National security was a key
factor in the U.S. keeping the Canal Zone in Panama. Far flung possessions offered safe havens for navies far
from home and coaling stations when needed.
Many people believed that owning colonies was an essential element of greatness. "There has never been a
great power without a great colony," wore a French publicist in 1877. "Every virile people has established
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colonial power, said a German. "All great nations in the fullness of their strength have desired to set their mark
upon barbarian lands and those who fail to participate in this great rivalry will play a pitiable role in time to
come."
Social Darwinism and harsh racial attitudes also were an important factor in European Imperialism. One
English economist wrote that "the strongest nation has always been conquering the weaker, and the strongest
tend to be the best." A professor in 1900 wrote that "the path of progress is strewn with the wreck…of inferior
races. Yet these dead peoples are, in very truth, the stepping stones on which mankind has risen to the higher
intellectual and deeper emotional life of today."
Three aspects of the industrialized world’s technological and industrial superiority were crucial to European
imperialism: The machine gun was the ultimate weapon to make warfare decidedly unequal against those armed
only with spears and arrows. Quinine, which controlled malaria, prevented the disease from decimating white
populations in Africa. Also, the combination of the steamship and international telegraph permitted Western
powers to quickly concentrate firepower in a given area when it was needed there.
Social tensions and domestic political conflicts were also a factor. Critics of imperialism charged that political
leaders were manipulating colonial issues to divert popular attention from problems at home and create a false
sense of national unity. Those favoring colonies stressed that they benefited workers as well as capitalists, as
they provided jobs and raw materials that raised the worker’s standard of living. Government leaders
encouraged the masses to savor foreign triumphs and glory in the increase in national prestige.
Special interest groups were another factor. Shipping companies wanted subsidies; white settlers wanted more
land and greater protection from native populations; missionaries wanted to spread religion and stop the slave
trade. Even so, further arguments were thrown into the stew. A favorite idea was that Europeans should
"civilize" more primitive, nonwhite people. This way, nonwhites would receive all the blessings of civilization,
such as advanced medicine, cities, and an increased standard of living. The French spoke of their "sacred
civilizing mission;" and Rudyard Kipling exhorted Europeans and Americans to:
Take up the White Man’s Burden—
Send forth the best ye breed—
Go bind your sons to exile
So serve your captives’ need,
To wait in heavy harness
On fluttered folk and wild—
Your new-caught sullen peoples
Half-devil and half-child.
Kipling’s challenge was especially embraced by Americans who believed that they civilization had reached
unprecedented heights and they had unique benefits to spread to all the less advanced peoples of the world. This
thinking was a prominent factor in the failure of the U.S. to immediately grant the Philippines independence.
The spread of Christianity, which Europeans considered the "true" religion, cannot be underestimated. Many
Africans had their first contact with whites in mission schools. As late as 1942, 97 percent of Nigeria’s student
population was in mission schools. Although missionary efforts were successful in Africa, they failed
spectacularly in India, China, and areas in which Islam was prominent. These people were unwilling to accept
Christianity, despite the efforts of missionaries.
Critics of Imperialism: Imperialism had its critics throughout Europe. After the Boer War, an English
economist, J. A. Hobson published Imperialism, a book which influenced Lenin and others. He contended that
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the rush to acquire colonies was due to the economic appetite of unregulated capitalism, particularly the needs
of the rich to find outlets for their surplus capital. He further argued that only unscrupulous special interests
profited at the expense of the taxpayer and the natives. He further argued that his quest for empire diverted
attention from domestic reform and the need to close the gap between rich and poor.
Hobson’s arguments fell on deaf ears; however arguments about moral condescension and Social Darwinism
struck home. "O Evolution, what crimes are committed in thy name!" said one foe. Another created a new
beatitude: "Blessed are the strong, for they shall prey on the weak." Henry Labouchère, a Member of Parliament
lampooned Kipling as a racist bully by writing:
Pile on the Brown man’s burden!
And if ye rouse his hate
Meet his old fashioned reasons
With Maxims up to date.
With shells and Dum-Dum bullets
A hundred times plain
The Brown Man’s loss must never
Imply the White Man’s gain.
Joseph Conrad, in Heart of Darkness (the worst book ever written and if an English teacher ever makes you
read it then you should run as fast as you can in the other direction) railed against the selfishness of Europeans
"civilizing" Africans. In the book his main character, once a liberal scholar, turns into a savage brute. Critics
accused Europeans of applying a double standard and not living up to their own ideals. While at home they
were championing representative government and individual liberty, they imposed military dictatorships on
Africans and Asians, forced them to work involuntarily, and discriminated against them shamelessly. Europeans
who denounced imperialism provided colonial people with the Western ideology of liberation.
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PART TWO: Responses to European Imperialism
The people of the Non-Western World experienced a painful crisis of identity at the hands of European
imperialists, primarily due to the power as well as the arrogance of their white intruders. The initial response of
the people of Africa and Asia was to attempt to drive out the intruders. Sadly, violent anti-foreign reaction was
put down savagely by the superior military technology of the Europeans. Unable to defeat the Europeans
militarily, many conquered people worked to preserve their own culture from westernization; while others, such
as Ismail of Egypt, concluded that the West was indeed superior, and that his society should be reformed
accordingly. Over time, those who wished to modernize their culture rather than preserve it won out.
The masses of people in Asia and Africa were accustomed to doing as they were told by their leaders; hence
they often smoothly followed the rule of European taskmasters. Still, European domination was an edifice built
on sand, as there were always some determined personalities who opposed European domination. The sedate
masses followed them to varying degrees. Reasons for opposition were:
An innate desire for human dignity. Opponents of imperialism felt that they were robbed of that
dignity by their foreign rulers.
Liberalism and its claims of civil liberty and political self determination, hallmarks of the
Western world, were fodder for those opposed to foreign rule. Local opponents were willing to
embrace modern nationalism; every people had the right to control its own destiny.
Empire in India: India was the jewel in Britain’s Imperialist crown; indeed Queen Victoria bore the title of
"Empress of India." The British East India Company had conquered the last independent Indian state in 1848,
and although some uprisings occurred from time to time, British rule was complete. By 1858, India was ruled
by the British Parliament in London and administered by a tiny all white civil service in India. In 1900, there
were fewer than 3000 top officials to rule a country of over 300 million. Although well disposed to the Indian
people, strict job discrimination and social segregation was practiced. The British community in India protested
and ultimately defeated a proposal to allow native Indian judges to judge white Europeans. Most British
officials considered the native Indians to be racially inferior. Lord Kitchener once stated,
It is this consciousness of the inherent superiority of the European which has won
for us India. However well educated and clever a native may be, and however
brave he may prove himself, I believe that no rank we can bestow upon him
would cause him to be considered an equal of the British officer
The British introduced a modern secondary education system in India in which all instruction was in English.
High-caste Hindus emerged as skillful intermediaries between the British and the Indian people and soon
formed a new elite, influenced by Western culture. Irrigation projects for agriculture, the world’s third largest
railroad network and large tea and jute plantations were developed. Sadly, the masses saw little improvement,
as such improvement as did occur was eaten up by massive population increases.
The British imposed a unified state system of government on India, thus placing Hindu and Muslim groups
which had long fought each other under unified control. Even with all their reforms, however, European
domination of India led to a rise in Indian nationalism. Everyone knew that no matter how advanced an Indian
became, he would never be equal to the White Man. The best jobs, best hotels and certain railroad
compartments were for whites only. Although the uneducated masses may have accepted this as their fate, the
educated Indians—educated as a result of British educational auspices—saw this as racial injustice, and bitterly
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resented it. They believed, correctly, that it represented a dictatorship, no matter how benevolent, which flew in
the face of the very concepts of human rights and equality their rulers had championed.
In 1885, educated Indians formed the Hindu Indian National Congress at which point there were increasing
demands for equality and self government. Hindus and Muslims, long opposed to each other, joined in a
common call for independence of India from Britain.
Japan: At the time of Commodore Perry’s entry into Japan, the country had a complex feudal system of
government. At the top of the governmental structure was an Emperor with little power. Ultimate control lay
with a hereditary military governor, the Shogun, who ruled with the help of a warrior nobility known
as Samurai. The Samurai were proud and restless, and were humiliated by the sudden intrusion of Americans
and the unequal treaties imposed by western countries.
Radical samurai engaged in anti-foreign terrorism and assassinations between 1858 and 1863; in response to
which an allied fleet of American, British, Dutch and French warships destroyed several key forts and further
weakened the prestige of the shogun’s government. In 1867, a coalition of patriotic samurai seized control of
the government with little bloodshed and restored the power of the Emperor. This was the Meiji Restoration, a
turning point in Japanese development.
The Meiji battle cry was "Enrich the state and strengthen the armed forces." Convinced that western technology
was indeed superior, the Meiji dropped anti-foreign attacks and began reforming Japan along modern lines.
They were convinced that "Japan must be reborn with America its mother and France its father." In 1871, the
old feudal structure was abolished and a unified state instituted. Freedom of movement country was decreed
(previously traveling abroad had been a serious crime), and railroads and modern factories were built.
Japan also instituted a powerful modern navy and army along French and German lines with mandatory three
year military service for all males and a professional officer’s corps. Japan also borrowed western technology in
industry, medicine and education. Many Japanese were encouraged to study abroad and foreign experts were
hired at large salaries; however as soon as possible they were replaced with Japanese. However, by 1890, when
the new state was firmly established, the Japanese adopted only those governmental features that were in
keeping with their tradition. The government became authoritarian; democracy was rejected, the emperor and
his ministers had vast powers and the legislature only limited power.
Having rehabilitated and modernized itself, Japan was now ready to take its place on the world stage. It
"opened" Korea, just as Perry had opened Japan in 1876, and handily defeated China in a war over Korea. Later
it took Formosa and competed aggressively with European powers for influence and territory in China,
particularly Manchuria. In 1904, Japan attacked Russia without warning, and in the ensuing Russo-Japanese
war, Japan gained Port Arthur in China, formerly a Russian protectorate. Despite protests from the United
States, Japan had become a major imperialistic power by 1910.
Japan was the first non-Western country to use nationalism and love of Country to transform itself and meet the
challenge of the West. Japan became an example for the people of Asia for national recovery and liberation.
China: The Manchu dynasty which had ruled China for 200 years appeared on the verge of collapse by 1860;
however it managed to rejuvenate itself when the scholarly groups and members of the ruling class joined
forces to put down rebellion, and when foreign aggression from Europe lessened. Europeans had achieved their
primary goal of commercial and domestic relations, and saw no reason to interfere further, in fact they assisted
the government in recovering. Although the country appeared to be well on the way to recovery, it was defeated
in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95. China’s weakness was revealed in the conflict, and European powers
suddenly appeared ready to carve up China between them as a Christmas turkey. The government launched a
EUROPEAN TRANSFORMATION AND DOMINATION
desperate attempt to save itself, with a program known as the "hundred days of reform." Other, more radical
reformers, such as Dr. Sun-Yat-sen wanted to overthrow the dynasty and establish a republic.
The traditionalists, including the famous "fists of righteous harmony" led the famous Boxer Rebellion in which
several thousand Chinese Christians were killed. The Boxers had a fanatical hatred of "foreign devils" who they
believed undermined reverence for ancestors and threatened Chinese family life, if not the whole society. In
response to the rebellion, Western forces occupied Peking, and a heavy indemnity imposed. Troubled years
followed as the Manchu dynasty’s power declined further. In 1912, a spontaneous rebellion brought down the
dynasty and a republic was proclaimed.