CHAPTER 26: The Age of Imperialism

 

Roots of Western Imperialism

A) Modern Imperialism

            1. one country controls another

            2. settlement and dependent colonies

            3. protectorates and spheres of influence

            4. nationalism spurred growth of navies and armies

 

B) Economic Motives

            1. Industrialization was catalyst for imperialism

                        a. new markets for goods being produced

                        b. goods were forced on people in new markets

                        c. population doubled during 19th century

 

C) “The White Man’s Burden”

            1. Rudyard Kipling poem justified exploitation

                        a. helping and improving natives

                        b. social services and religion spread to colonies

 

European Claims in North Africa

A. North Africa West of Egypt

            1. French penetrated North Africa

                        a. Dey of Algiers and French had conflicts over fishing rights, piracy, debts

                        b. Charles X invaded Algiers, sent army to occupy, 1830

                        c. Algiers became base for further expansion to Tunis, Morocco

 

B. The Scrambling of Africa

            1. French hoped to link Algeria, West Africa, Congo basin in east-west empire

            2. British concerned with protecting Suez Canal, headwaters of Nile River

            3. British, French barely averted conflict at Fashoda, 1898

            4. Muhammad Ahmad (Mahdi) led jihad in Sudan against Anglo-Egyptian rule at Khartoum, 1885

 

C. The North African Crises

            1. France, Germany, spheres of influence clashed over Morocco

            2. 1911, crisis caused when France sent army into disputed Moroccan area to keep order

                        a. Diplomatic bargain: France got Morocco, Germany got small piece of equatorial Africa

 

D. The Suez Canal

            1. Ferdinand de Lesseps received concession to build Suez Canal

            2. Egypt bankrupt by 1870s due to foreign loans, uncontrolled spending of its rulers

                        a. Britain, France took over its debts, economy

            3. Linked Mediterranean and Red Seas, eliminated costly travel around Africa

 

European Claims in Sub-Saharan Africa

A. Staking Claims in Africa

            1. European countries controlled only 10% of Africa in 1870

                                    a. French administered Algeria in north; British, Boers controlled parts of south

            2. King Leopold II of Belgium organized International African Association (IAA), 1876

                                    a. Explorer Henry Stanley acquired over 900,000 square miles of land along Congo River

 

B. The Scrambling of Africa

            1. By 1914, Liberia, Ethiopia, only independent African states

            2. King Leopold II of Belgium set up Congo Free State

                                    a. Granted concessions to private companies

                                    b. Administered rubber-producing areas through system of forced labor

                                    c. Horrible examples of exploitation, brutality exposed

                                    d. Leopold forced to turn over colony to Belgian government, 1908

            3. Cecil Rhodes envisioned British control of land between Cape of Good Hope and Cairo

                                    a. used personal fortune to found British South Africa Company to claim area reputedly rich in minerals

 

C. Some African states resisted

            1. Samori Touré created Islamic kingdom among Mandinke people (Sierra Leone to Ivory Coast), resisted French, British, 1865-1898

 

D. The Dominions

            1. South Africa

                                    a. Rivalry, distrust between Boers, English settlers

                                    b. Boer War ended in defeat of Boers, magnanimous peace

                                    c. Union of South Africa (1909) brought self-government, dominion status

 

Expansion in Asia

A. India

            1. Mughul decline in 17th century drew in French, British

            2. British East India Company ruled after 1818

            3. Sepoy Rebellion broke out, 1857, British took full control

            4. British government assumed responsibility in India

                        a. British improved health, education, water systems, railroads, political stability

 

B. Japan: Modernity and Imperialism

            1. Japan responded to Western advance in alert, united manner; adapted technologies and structures to strengthen Japanese core

            2. By 19th c., Tokugawa Shogunate had lost much of its force, authority

                        a. Flow of Western information began to undermine traditional system

            3. The Meiji Restoration (1868-1912)

                        a. The post-1867 Japanese leaders successfully learned how to compete with West

                        b. Foreigners built railways, telegraphs, lighthouses, dockyards, warships

            4. Sino-Japanese War, 1894-1895

                        a. Railway, mining rights in southern Manchuria

                        b. Unchallenged position in Korea and trade in China

 

C. The Era of European Dominance in Southeast Asia

            1. European investors developed areas in Indochina, islands of Indian, Pacific Oceans

                        a. Set up plantation economy to produce coffee, tea, spices for world market

            2. Great Britain claimed several areas

                        a. Sri Lanka (Ceylon), Malaya, Burma

            3. France returned to Indochina in 1860s

                        a. Held Annam (central Vietnam), Tonkin, Cambodia, Laos as protectorates

            4. Siam alone remained independent

            5. Dutch took East Indies from Portuguese, late 16th c.

                        a. Exploited resources of Moluccas (Indonesia)

            6. U.S. expanded into Pacific area

                        a. Bought Alaska - 1867, Ousted Hawaiian Queen – 1893, Gained Philippine/Guam after defeating Spain – 1898, Occupied Wake Island - 1899

 

Imperialism in Latin America

A. Spanish-American War

            1. U.S. vs. Spain over Cuba, The Maine sent to protect and exploded

            2. Spain accused, would not withdraw, U.S. declare war

            3. Spanish fleet defeated in Philippines, army defeated in Cuba

            4. U.S. acquires land in both areas

            5. Cuba gained independence under U.S. tutelage, articulated in Platt Amendment

 

B. Panama Canal

            1. French failed but U.S. wanted to finish the job, cut cost and time going around South America

            2. revolt against Columbia aided by U.S. soldiers

            3. U.S. gained right to build in 1903, completed in 1914

 

C. Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine

            1. Any country in western hemisphere in danger would be aided by U.S.

            2. Latin American countries was repay loans

 

D. Mexico

            1. Antonio López de Santa Anna debased political life in Mexico

                        b. Fought war with U.S., resulting in defeat of Mexico, overthrown in 1855

            2. French intervened, claiming Mexico had not paid debts to foreigners

            3. Porfirio Diaz stabilized politics, brought in European capital

            4. Francisco Madero briefly led revolutionary movement

                        a. Murdered, Revolutionary movement continued

                        b. Victoriano Huerta, Venustiano Carranza, Emiliano Zapata, Francisco “Pancho” Villa,