Download Europe`s “New” Imperialism

Europe’s
“New”
Imperialism
(1815-1914)
What
is
Imperialism?
The policy of extending a nation’s
authority by territorial acquisition
or by establishing an economic and
political hegemony (domination)
over other nations
Background (1815-1870)
• European expansion goes back to the 15th century
• The Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, French, and
British colonial empires followed one another for
the next 400 years
– They are all western, maritime powers
• By the 1820s several countries lost their colonial
connections without suffering economically
– By 1815: France lost most of her possessions in
America and the east & Spain her South American
lands, and Britain had lost her 13 American colonies
– By 1822: Portugal lost Brazil
• However, it is not necessary to
cross sea, rather than land, to
become an imperial power
– Russia, the only European power to
continue its expansionist policy
throughout the 19th century, made rapid
advances into southern and central Asia
• They continued to move against the
declining Ottoman Empire
• Moved into Central Asia and the Sea of
Japan
The 1870s
• During the 1870s, the European powers
developed a new interest in overseas
expansion, especially in Africa and Asia
• European states soon spread their control
over 10 million square acres and 150 million
people
– ~1/5 of the world’s land area
– 1/10 of the world’s population
• European expansion moved quickly, and it
was soon regarded as a necessary action to
become a great power
What makes it
“new”?
• The number of contestants for empires
increased
• Many people believed that this was their
nation’s last opportunity to build or
enlarge an empire
• Advocates and opponents of colonial
expansion felt the need to sway public
opinion
What were the
reasons for
Imperialism?
1.
2.
3.
4.
Economic Reasons
Cultural/Religious/Social Reasons
Strategy and Political Reasons
Irrational Reasons
Reason #1:
Economics
• Nations sought ways of finding markets
beyond Europe, where tariffs caused
economic barriers between nations
• There were demands for new
sources of raw materials
• Manufacturers needed new markets for
their goods
– British explorer Henry Stanley advised a group of
Manchester manufacturers to target Africa, which
contained 30 million people who all needed clothes
Economic Analysts
• J.A. Hobson (1858-1940)
– In Imperialism: A Study (1902), he attributed the colonial
expansions to great financiers of western and central
Europe who wanted to increase their wealth through
overseas investment
– Usually taken to mean that the real impulse was always one
of capitalistic greed for cheap raw materials, advantageous
markets, good investments, and new areas of exploration
– Said “excessive capital in search of investment” was only
possible due to the unequal distribution of wealth. He
called for social reform and equal distribution
– “If the consuming public in this country raised its standard
of consumption to keep pace with every rise of productive
powers, there could be no excess of goods or capital
clamorous to use imperialism in order to find markets.”
• V. I. Lenin (1870-1924)
– Elaborated Hobson’s argument in
Imperialism: the Last Stage of Capitalism
– Emphasized the finance capital rather than
industrial. Financiers were the powers behind
imperialistic policies
– Said “Imperialism is the monopoly stage of
capitalism,” or the last stage of a dying system
– Saw imperialism as “a direct continuation of the
fundamental properties of capitalism in general,”
and that “the war of 1914 was on both sides
imperialist.”
– This was a convenient and persuasive case for
explaining WWI in economic terms
Reason #2:
Cultural/Religious/Social
• Social Darwinism
– Saw life as a constant struggle
for survival, with the stronger
peoples surviving at the expense of the weaker.
Countries that failed to expand were seen as
losing. Believed that the advanced white race
had an obligation to civilize the less
developed, “backward” peoples of the world.
• “Your new-caught sullen peoples, half-devil
and half-child.” – Rudyard Kipling, “The
White Man’s Burden” (1899)
• Missionary Activity
– An upsurge in Christian missionary
activity by Catholics and Protestants.
They sought to make disciples of all nations
and to bring the advantages of European
civilization to those they regarded as heathens
tragically ignorant of the teachings of God
– They demanded that Western governments give
them political and even military support
– David Livingstone (Scottish) – Originally an
African medical missionary, he later returned under
government auspices as an explore “to open a path
for commerce and Christianity.” Died in Africa in
1873, his body sent under navel escort to be buried
in Westminster Abbey as a national hero
• Colonies as Source of Profit & Econ. Security
– Argued that the empire’s profit would finance a
program of domestic reform and welfare
• New Land
– The colonies would attract a European
country’s surplus population
• However, most European emigrants went to
areas NOT controlled by their countries
–North America
–South America
–Australia
Reason #3:
Strategy and Politics
• Strategic and political considerations
were important in bringing on the New
Imperialism. An example was the rush for
African colonies in the 1880s.
– Britain sought control of the Suez Canal in order to
protect her trade route to India; as a result, she gained an
interest in Egypt and the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
– Germany’s acquisition of the Cameroons and East
Africa improved her diplomatic position
– France acquired Algeria in order to compete w/G.B and
Tunisia to keep it from Italy. Also annexed much of West
Africa, the Congo, and the island of Madagascar
• Perhaps the greatest pressure to build colonies
resulted from the tension between the great
European powers
• Germany under Bismarck’s guidance encouraged
the French to build colonies in Africa, thinking
that this might take their minds off their loss of
Alsace-Lorraine. Soon afterwards, afraid they
were being left out, they started to colonize.
• Rather than leading to European stability, it
threatened to cause war. In 1905 and 1911,
France and Germany almost went to war over a
dispute concerning Morocco.
Imperial Expansion in Africa to 1880
Imperial Expansion in Africa to 1880
Partition of Africa, 1880 –1914
Partition of Africa, 1880 –1914
Reason #4:
The Irrational Element
• The 1880s “Scramble for Africa”
– Germany’s annexations started a wild scramble
to acquire the rest of Africa. In 1875, less than
1/10th of Africa had been turned into European
colonies; by 1895, only 1/10th remained
unclaimed, even the areas that were neither
profitable nor strategic. Soon, Spheres of
Influence were set up all over Africa.
– “Empire in the modern period was the product
of European power: its reward was power or
the sense of power.” – D.K. Fieldhouse
Criticism of Economic
Motives
• Economic factors played a huge role in imperial
development—but they were not the ONLY nor
MOST important factors
• Some colonies had abundant raw materials, while
others had few or none
• The poor people of African and Asia did not provide
a sizeable market for European goods
• Some colonies had many opportunities for
investment, while others did not
• In the race for colonies, the imperial powers
appeared more interested in acquisition than in
economic advantages
Imperialism in
China
• China became a center of imperialist activity in
the 1890s as the Manchu dynasty became
incapable of controlling the country
• Great Britain, already in control of Hong Kong,
developed a sphere of influence in the Yangtze
River valley
• The French focused on the Kwangsi
and Kweichow provinces in the
south, near Indochina
Japanese Intervention
• 1894 – Japan went to war with China, opening a new
phase of imperialism
• Japan’s emergence as a major power was shocking, as
they had isolated themselves from the outside world
until 1854, when American Commodore Matthew Perry
was able to get Japan to establish commercial relations
• In the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95, Japan easily won
• Fearing an advance of Japanese power in China, Russia,
Germany, and France intervened
• The Germans and Russians took advantage of Japan’s
setback, while France and Great Britain also expanded
their interests in China
Asia, 1880–1914
Asia, 1880–1914
The New American Empire
• The United States joins the ranks of imperialist powers
• Alaska is purchased from Russia in 1867
• 1878 – the USA requires rights to a naval base in Pago Pago in
the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific
• Growing American interests in Hawaii led to its annexation by
the USA in 1898
• 1898 – The Spanish-American War resulted in the acquisition of
Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippine Islands.
• Cuba becomes, in effect, an American protectorate
• American focus their attention on the Pacific, as well as the
Caribbean and Central America, still reluctant to get involved in
European affairs (The Monroe Doctrine)
What made it all Possible?
• Improved Technology!
– Steam boats allow river navigation
– Electric telegraph aids communication
– Quinine water prevents Malaria (“The White Man’s Grave”)
• 1825 death rate in West Africa = 77%
• 1888 death rate in West Africa = 7%
– Advanced fire arms defeat natives
•
•
•
•
Enfield Rifle (1853)
Smith & Wesson (1855) – repeating rifle
Winchester (1867)
Maxim gun (1884)
Important not to
Forget…
• The Brutality of Colonialism
– Huge numbers of Africans and Asians lost their
lives in the European pursuit for empires
– Ex:
• In the Congo, which the King of Belgium initially
held as personal property, Belgian soldiers used to
brag about being able to line up five Africans in
such a way as that only one bullet was used to kill
them. They cut off natives’ limbs for the slightest
infraction of rules to terrorize the others into
obeying.
Students: Analyze patterns of global change in the era of New
Imperialism in at least two of the following regions or countries:
Africa, Southeast Asia, China, India, Latin America, and the
Philippines.
1. Describe the rise of industrial economies and their link to
imperialism and colonialism (e.g., the role played by national
security and strategic advantage; moral issues raised by the search
for national hegemony, Social Darwinism, and the missionary
impulse; material issues such as land, resources, and technology).
2. Discuss the locations of the colonial rule of such nations as
England, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Russia,
Spain, Portugal, and the United States.
3. Explain imperialism from the perspective of the colonizers and the
colonized and the varied immediate and long-term responses by
the people under colonial rule.
4. Describe the independence struggles of the colonized regions of the
world, including the roles of leaders, such as Sun Yat-sen in
China, and the roles of ideology and religion.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
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Discuss the development of the inequality in the global economy that resulted
from the industrialization of Europe.
Describe the development and growth of worldwide trade and the development of
the world market.
Discuss the opening of China and Japan to outside contact and trade with the
European world.
Describe the penetration of European civilization into Egypt and the resulting
effects.
Discuss the causes and consequences of the growth of the population of Europe
in the pre-World War I era.
Describe the type of people who emigrated from Europe, the major sources of
emigration, and the causes for their emigration.
Describe the type of people who emigrated from Asia, the major sources of
emigration, the causes for their emigration, the resistance to Asian immigration.
Discuss the growth and impact of the "new imperialism" upon the continent of
Africa and its people.
Describe the career of Cecil Rhodes and what his attitudes suggest about the
causes of imperialism.
Describe the growth of the "new imperialism" in Asia.
Discuss the causes of the new age of imperialism in the late nineteenth century.
Describe and discuss the criticism of the motives and effects of the new
imperialism.
Describe the general responses to the new imperialism by the governments and
peoples of Africa and Asia.
Describe the growth of the British domination of India and its effects.
Describe the opening of Japan to Western civilization and the effects of that
opening upon Japan and its people