Download 1750-1914: The Age of European Hegemony

1750-1900: The Age of
European
Hegemony
Chapter 23 and 24:
Industrialization and
Imperialism
1750-1914 Introduction
Growing European imperialism dominated
the world
 “The West” came to mean North America
as well as Western Europe

Why 1750?
Beginning of Industrialization in Western
Europe
 Build up to the Seven Years War 17561763 (The “first world war”)

The Expanding World Economy

Western economic domination began
about 1750 and has continued to the
present day.

There are three reasons for this economic
success: (“The Three Shuns”)
1. Industrialization
European expansion was aided by the
Industrial Revolution which began about
1750
 The Industrial Revolution began in Britain
and spread through Western Europe and
North America
 Access to large deposits of coal enabled
the Europeans to industrialize quickly

Metals, Woolens, & Canals
Coalfields & Industrial Areas
Coal Mining in Britain:
1800-1914
1800
1 ton of coal
50, 000 miners
1850
30 tons
200, 000 miners
1880
300 million tons 500, 000 miners
1914
250 million tons 1, 200, 000 miners
Richard Arkwright:
“Pioneer of the Factory System”
The “Water Frame”
The Factory System
 Rigid schedule.
 12-14 hour day.
 Dangerous conditions.
 Mind-numbing monotony.
Textile Factory
Workers in England
John Kay’s “Flying Shuttle”
James Watt’s Steam Engine
Steam Ship
An Early Steam Locomotive
The Impact of the Railroad
Effects of Industrialization
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Massive population growth
Urbanization accelerated in the West
Growth of the bourgeoisie who demanded more
political power
Growth of nationalism in Europe and elsewhere
Lower class women and children found factory
work alongside men
Middle and upper class women withdrew into
the home (“a woman’s place is in the home”)
Effects of Industrialization
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Literacy rates improved
Mass marketing techniques (advertising)
New ideologies (Marxism) and new forms of
religions (fundamentalist Christianity) to deal
with social pressures
“De-Industrialization” occurred in Asia, Africa,
and the Americas
Decline and ending of slave and serf labor
(Agricultural areas fell farther and farther behind
industrial regions)
2. Organization
Western political, social, and economic
organization enabled domination of other areas
 Western nation states had well organized
governments and strong armies and navies
 Most importantly: the West developed
sophisticated financial institutions capable of
raising funds for exploration and colonization

The Stock Exchange
Made it possible to raise large sums of
capital for business and expansion
 Investment opportunities for many people,
not just kings and nobility
 The first stock exchanges developed in
Holland (Amsterdam) and England
(London)

Joint Stock Companies
Also known as corporations
 Formed with support from national
governments
 Allowed investors to share in profits and
earn dividends from industry and
colonization
 Sometimes granted monopoly power over
certain regions or products

The British East India Company
1600-1858
The most powerful and influential joint
stock company
 Formed to organize trade with India
 Became the dominant British /colonial
trading company
 Eventually took control of Mughal India
 Instigator of Boston Tea Party

Sir John Popham 1531-1607
Littlecote House
3. Exploitation
Economic and military power enabled the
West to dominate and exploit other
regions
 India, Africa, Latin America, much of Asia
and Oceania came under Western
exploitation during the 1750-1914 period

Mercantilism
Dominant form of capitalism in early 17501914 period
 Mercantilism assumed that trade and war
were always linked
 Colonies were essential to provide raw
materials and markets for finished goods

Major World Trading Regions in 1750
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North Atlantic: fish and furs, lumber
Fur trade required cooperation between
Europeans and indigenous peoples
South Atlantic: slaves, sugar, silver
Slave trade required cooperation between
Europeans and indigenous peoples
Indian Ocean: silver, textiles, Chinese products.
Most Indian Ocean trade required cooperation
between Europeans and indigenous peoples
Division of the World: 1800
The Core: Western Europe, Northern US.
Industrialized, free labor, strong nations, large
bourgeoisies
 The Semi-Periphery: Russia, Eastern and
Southern Europe. Agriculture, serfdom, weak
nations and small bourgeoisies
 The Periphery: Southern US and Latin America,
India. Agriculture, slavery, colonial or semicolonial states, non-existent bourgeoisie
 During the nineteenth century much of Asia,
Africa, and China would be forced into the
Periphery

The West 1750-1914:
Industrialization and Expansion
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Enlightenment values
encouraged scientific
inquiry, calls for political
reform and individual
liberties, and other social
changes
In 1776 Adam Smith
published “The Wealth of
Nations”, which
advocated laissez-faire
capitalism over
mercantilism
The American Revolution
Many Americans were influenced by
Enlightenment ideas
 John Locke’s arguments for government
by the consent of the governed also had
influence
 British mercantile policies angered
American colonists
 British attempts to directly control the
colonies also stirred up anger

The American “Philosophes”
John Adams
(1745-1826)
Ben Franklin
(1706-1790)
Thomas
Jefferson
(1743-1826)
…...…life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness…………...
The French Monarchy:
1775 - 1793
Marie Antoinette & Louis XVI
Socio-Economic Data, 1789
Storming the Bastille,
July 14, 1789
March of the Women,
October 5-6, 1789
We want the baker, the baker’s wife
and the baker’s boy!
The Declaration of the Rights of Man
and of the Citizen
August
26,
1789
Louis XVI “Accepts” the Constitution
& the National Assembly. 1791
Attitudes
& actions
of
monarchy
& court
Fear of
CounterRevolution
Religious
divisions
The Causes of
Instability in France
1792 - 1795
Economi
c
Crises
War
Political
divisions
The Storming of the Tuilieres:
August 9-10, 1792
Committee for Public Safety
 Revolutionary Tribunals.
 300,000 arrested.
 16,000 – 50,000 executed.
The Levee en Masse:
An Entire Nation at Arms! – 500,000 Soldiers
An army based on merit, not birth!
Louis XVI’s Head (January 21, 1793)
“Bonaparte,” 1798
Jacques Louis David
FIRST CONSUL
“Napoleon on His Imperial
Throne”
1806
By Jean Auguste
Dominique Ingres
Napoleon’s Legacy
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Napoleon’s armies carried the ideals of the
French Revolution across Europe
Most importantly, Napoleon inspired nationalism,
the love of one’s country, throughout Europe
During the nineteenth century, nations that were
able to encourage nationalism grew stronger
Multi-national states like Austria and Russia were
weakened by nationalism
Nationalism eventually spread to Latin America
and other regions
The Congress of Vienna
Held in 1814-1815 to restore Europe to its preRevolutionary and Napoleonic condition
 Led by Count Klemens von Metternich and other
reactionaries and conservatives
 Most European bourgeoisie favored
representative governments and civil liberties.
This was ignored by the Congress of Vienna.
 The Congress of Vienna’s policies dominated
Europe for the next thirty years

The Political Spectrum
TODAY:
1790s:
Montagnards
The Plain
(uncommitted)
Girondists
(“The Mountain”)
Monarchíen
(Royalists)
Jacobins
The Political Spectrum in Nineteenth
Century Europe
“Right Wing”: Conservatives: preserve traditional
order, support Monarchies and Established
Churches ( nobility, peasants)
 “Moderates”: Liberals: civil liberties, religious
toleration, parliaments controlled by bourgeoisie
(middle classes)
 “Left Wing”: Radicals: eliminate or limit private
property, classes. Democratic rule (factory
workers)
 Nationalism a common element of all three
groups (less so with “left wing”)

Abolition of Serfdom and Slavery
Industrialization meant forced labor was
less necessary
 Religious groups and reformers urged an
end to the slave trade
 Britain’s navy patrolled the Atlantic coast
of Africa to stop slave shipments
 Russia ended serfdom 1861, US ended
slavery 1865

Utopian Socialists
Called for better
conditions for factory
workers and poor
 Eliminate or limit
private property
 Voting rights for all
(sometimes even
women!)

Karl Marx and Scientific Socialism
(Marxism, Communism)
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Born 1818, Germany (middle
class background)
Student of history and
philosophy.
Believed utopian socialists
were idealists and fools who
did not go far enough
Author of (among others) The
Communist Manifesto, 1848,
Das Kapital (posthumously
1883)
Died 1883, London
Marxism
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History is always determined
by economic forces
Throughout history there have
been two groups: “haves”
(thesis) and “have
nots”(antithesis)
These groups are locked in
conflict (the (“class struggle”)
Always, the have nots destroy
the haves and become the
new haves, (synthesis) and
the struggle continues (the
“dialectic”)
Marxism
In the industrial age, the
class struggle reaches its
last phase:
 Bourgeoisie vs Proletariat
 The Proletariat will
destroy the Bourgeoisie
 The class struggle will
end in a classless society
of complete freedom and
common ownership of all
property
 Class, government, and
religion will end

Mid Nineteenth Century Europe
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Rapid changes due to industrialization,
urbanization
Better communication and transportation
Growing nationalism
Dissatisfaction with the Congress of Vienna’s
settlements grew
Revolutions in 1848 “The Year of Revolutions”
led to overthrow of absolute monarchies and
establishment of more parliamentary monarchies
Late Nineteenth Century Europe
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Unification movements in Italy, Germany led to
new nation states
Nationalism caused new pressure on Austria,
Russia, Ottoman Empire
Industrialization led to better health care, lower
birth rates, higher standards of living (for middle
classes and to a lesser degree workers, too)
Workers in many areas attracted to socialism,
Marxism
Women demanded more rights and right to vote
Transportation and Communication
Steamships and railroads developed in
early 1800s
 1844: First telegraph message
 Telegraphs developed alongside railroad
lines
 1851: submarine cables linked Britain to
Europe
 1866: transatlantic cables linked North
America and Europe

Artistic Developments
Romanticism: early to mid nineteenth
century. reaction against the
Enlightenment (emotion, revolution, focus
on nature, etc.)
 Impressionism: late nineteenth century.
Attempt to accurately record impressions
of light, color, and reality.

Liberty Leading the People: Eugene
Delacroix
Waterlilies: Claude Monet
Late Nineteenth Century Europe
Scientific Advances:
1.Charles Darwin
2.Albert Einstein
3.Sigmund Freud
 Consumer Society,
advertising, literacy
 Political reform: extension
of franchise
 Colonial and economic
rivalries, militarism, lead
towards conflict
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The Spread of the West
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1.
2.
3.
Growth of the
United States
“American
exceptionalism”
Western settler
societies
Canada
Australia
New Zealand
Imperialism
Reasons for Imperialism in the
Nineteenth Century
Before industrialization, Europeans sought
to conquer new territories to gain new
manufactured goods, precious resources,
and to spread Christianity.
 After industrialization, Europeans sought
to conquer new territories to gain raw
materials for their industries and to gain
new markets. Religious conversion was
not a major concern.
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Reasons for Imperialism in the
Nineteenth Century
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Competition among nation states within the
West (nationalism, militarism)
Technological and industrial advances in the
West led to development of better weapons
Public opinion within the West (popular press,
jingoism)
Pressure to relieve unemployment and
overcrowding in the West
Major imperialist powers: Britain, France,
Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy,
United States
Jingoism in the newspapers
Social Darwinism
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Application of Darwin’s
ideas to human society
Herbert Spencer, Francis
Galton
Eugenics
“Survival of the fittest”
“Masculine vs Feminine”
“White Man’s Burden”
How India Came Under British Rule
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British East India Company
formed to trade with India
1627: Mughal Shah Jahangir
granted the Company
permission to build a factory
By late 1600s the Company
had factories in Calcutta,
Madras, and Bombay and
many interests elsewhere in
India
Silver and gold from foreign
trade flooded India and
weakened the economy
Coins of the
British East India Co.
1719 coin
1804 coin
How India Came Under British Rule
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The Company took over
the Mughal tax system
and established its own
sepoy army
In the 1750s Britain and
France were engaged in
the Seven Years War
The Nawab of Bengal
revolted against
increasing Company
influence and captured a
Company fort in Calcutta
How India Came Under British Rule
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The Black Hole of Calcutta:
146 British prisoners were
placed in a room measuring 18
X 15 feet. Only 23 survived the
night. (possibly exaggerated)
Colonel Robert Clive
commanding a sepoy army
defeated the Nawab at Plassey
June 23, 1757
The Battle of Plassey is
considered the starting point
for British domination of India:
the Raj
The Raj
India under Company control became a
dependent economy
 British policy intentionally bankrupted
Indian industries and forced India into
producing agricultural goods, especially
cotton, for the British market
 British taxation forced many peasant
farmers to sell their land to large owners
and become tenants

Sepoys, 1850s
1857: The Sepoy Rebellion (Indian
Mutiny)
Dissatisfaction with Company rule and
increasing poverty caused many rebellions
 In early 1857 the Sepoy Rebellion began
 70% of the Sepoy soldiers joined the
rebellion, and the British were forced to
send for reinforcements
 By the end of 1857 the rebellion had been
put down, but with heavy British losses

The Sepoy Mutiny:
1857
The Siege of Lucknow
Well of the Kanpur Massacre
Execution of Sepoys:
“The Devil’s Wind”
India After The Rebellion
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British East India Company
decommissioned
India now under direct British
rule
Queen Victoria declared
Empress of India, Viceroys
appointed to govern India
“The Jewel in the Crown” and
“The Pivot of Empire”
Sepoys used to control other
colonies
India a supply center for the
rest of the Empire
British in India lived luxurious
lives
Queen Victoria, Empress of India
Queen Victoria with an
Indian servant
Assorted British
Soldiers, 1890s
The Marchioness of
Curzon, Vicereine of India,
1904
Living Like a Maharajah
Darjeeling Railroad, 1880s
Simla: Little England in the
mountains of India
Victoria Station, Bombay
Chartered Bank of
Calcutta,
1915
1911 Durbar: High Point of the Raj
Weaponry and Imperialism
Until the mid nineteenth century, Europe
had no overwhelming advantages over
other areas in weaponry
 During the 1850s and 1860s, rifles using
percussion caps and cartridges introduced
 Smokeless powder, automatic repeating
rifles (Maxims) introduced in 1880s
 Exploding bullets (dum dums) introduced
by end of the century
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Battle of Omdurman, September 2,
1898
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British side: 8,200 British
troops, 17,600 Egyptian
and Sudanese troops
Mahdi side: 52,000
African troops
British casualties: 48
dead, 434 wounded
Mahdist casualties: 9,700
killed, 13,000 wounded,
5000 captured
The Tasmanians: Another branch of
the human race driven into extinction
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1803: 2,000-20,000
Tasmanians when 49
British settlers arrived
1820: 12,000 British
settlers, 1,000
Tasmanians
Last Tasmanians: William
“King Billy” Lanney (died
1869 aged 34)and his
wife Trucanini (died
1876, skeleton displayed
in Hobart Museum)
Mathinna: A Lost Tasmanian Girl
The Scramble for Africa
European rivalries and the demand for raw
materials and new markets sparked a race
to colonize and dominate Africa between
1870-1900
 Advances in medical care (especially the
development of quinine) meant Africa was
now easier for Europeans to penetrate.
 By 1914 all of Africa except Ethiopia and
Liberia was under European domination

The Belgian Congo
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Rich region in Congo River
basin with 20 million
inhabitants
Made famous in mid
nineteenth century by Dr.
David Livingstone and Henry
Stanley
King Leopold II of Belgium
encouraged exploration of the
Congo region on
“humanitarian” grounds
Actually, Leopold was
interested in exploitation of the
Congo’s rich resources,
especially rubber
Atrocities in the Belgian Congo
Newspaper Reactions to the Belgian
Atrocities
Ota Benga: A Pygmy in the Bronx
Zoo
Pygmy from the
Congo who survived
the Belgian slaughter
of his village
 Part of a display in
the St. Louis World’s
Fair of 1904.
 On display in the
monkey house of the
Bronx Zoo for several
months in 1906

South Africa: Europeans fighting
Europeans in Africa
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South Africa was part of the
British Empire after 1815
The Boers were European
settlers who disliked British
rule
Indigenous Africans were
enslaved and dispossessed by
the Boers and British
In the Great Trek of the 1830s,
the Boers left the Cape region
and established two
independent republics, the
Orange Free State and the
Transvaal, fighting and
dispossessing the indigenous
peoples there
South Africa: Europeans fighting
Europeans in Africa
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In the late 1800s, gold
and diamonds were
discovered in the Boer
republics, and the British
began to reassert control
over them.
This led to the Boer War
of 1899-1902 and the
semi-independence of
South Africa
Opposition to Imperialism Among
Europeans
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Evangelical Christianity
opposed slavery and
imperialism
The philosophical movement of
Utilitarianism opposed
imperialism as wasteful
Some political leaders opposed
imperialism on moral and
economic grounds
Authors like Rudyard Kipling
and Mark Twain criticized
European exploitation of other
peoples
This opposition led to some
reforms, like France granting
citizenship to educated
indigenous peoples in its
colonies
Indigenous Opposition to Imperialism
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New Zealand: Maoris were
able to adapt to British
colonizers and eventually
helped create a multi-racial
society
Siam: King Mongkut IV
encouraged Westernization
and avoided European
domination of his country
In most areas, however,
European contact led to heavy
population losses and
economic and cultural
domination
Types of European Colonies
Tropical Dependencies: Large indigenous
populations, small European population (India,
most of Africa, Southeast Asia)
 White Dominions: Large European populations,
small indigenous groups (Canada, New Zealand,
Australia)
 Contested Settler Colonies: Large indigenous
populations, substantial European populations,
tension and often conflict between groups
(South Africa)
