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IMPERIAL RIVALRY 1870-1914

Intro: During last yrs. of 19th c., Euro powers, as well as US,

sought new empires overseas, carving up most of Africa and much of the Pacific.

Reasons: economic, military, religious, and racist reasons.

The raw materials flowing in from around the globe would fuel the 2nd Industrial Revolution.

But : resultant competition for colonies breeds conflict bet. nations that had no other reason to fight, contributing in long run to WWI.

Imperialism wd. also change forever the societies and cultures of both the conquerors & the conquered, colonizers and colonized peoples.

Imperialism – 1820-1870 Unfashionable … or low priority. Why?

1. Liberalism: Argued against it. A. Smith & American independence: can profit from

overseas market or source of raw materials w/out trouble & expense of governing/defending it.

French Rev & Reform movements in Britain, etc: >>> Difficult to justify it.

2. By 1830: Spain & Portugal lost overseas empires to independence movements.

3. France: lost most of colonial empire via 7 Yrs. War & Congress of Vienna, 1815.

4. Russia – vast empire in Eurasia, but sold off Alaska. 5. ONLY Dutch & British retained large overseas

empires. 6. Only the US (Manifest Destiny) continued to

expand.

The Scramble for Africa

< 1880: mostly Fr. control of Algiers, Brit & Dutch settlers in S. Africa, & Portuguese coastal enclaves in W. Africa

By 1900 – Euros ruled all of Africa except Ethiopia & Liberia.

South African War (1898-1902) >>> Brit. Creation & control of Union of South Africa.

CONGRESS of BERLIN (1884-85): establishes Euro. claims on African territory must be establ’d by “effective occupation” >>> rush into the interior.

REVIVAL of Imperialism > 1870— The “NEW IMPERIALISM”:

5 Causes:

1. ECONOMIC

2. MILITARY

3. RACISM, often backed by religion.

4. POPULARITY at home

5. BECAUSE THEY COULD – significant power differential between industrialized & non-industrialized.

1.Economic.

By late 19th c., already a “lopsided world”

Industrialized nations AND non-industrialized nations (“Third World”)

Non-Industrialized: stagnant growth vs. spectacular growth of industrial countries

1.Economic.

Was primary motivation.

Although old mercantilist ideas of Colbert exploded by A. Smith, didn’t stop individual Euros from trying luck abroad.

In fact, Smithian/laissez-faire doctrine of free trade encouraged it.

BUT these men rarely understood fully the cultures they encountered and seem to have assumed Western attitudes & Smith’s natural economic laws prevailed everywhere.

1. Economic

2 Examples of this arrogance and insensitivity:

1. Opium Wars in China

2. Sepoy Mutiny/Revolt in India.

1. Economic

Additional Examples of economic imperialism:

The United States and Japan.

Western involvement in Egypt.

1. Economic – Opium Wars

Late 17th c. forward: Brits import tons of Chinese tea …. But … have nothing of comparable value to sell to the Chinese >>>>> huge trade imbalance.

Exception: Opium. Opium used on small scale in China for centuries. Brits begin to sell large quantities of cheaply grown

Indian opium in China. Chinese authorities recognize dangers & try to stop

trade. Resulting smuggling trade reverses imbalance of trade for Britain, but increased addiction for China.

March 1839: Chinese officials confiscated Brit. Opium at docks >>> 1st Opium War.

1. Economic – Opium Wars

FIRST OPIUM WAR (1839-1842)

Forced Chinese to accept free trade & “proper” relations among countries.

Treaty of Nanjing (1842).

SECOND OPIUM WAR (1856-58)

Europeans vandalized the imperial Summer Palace

More “treaty ports” were opened to foreigners

China opened to foreign missionaries

Western powers given right to patrol some of China’s interior waterways.

1. Economic – Opium Wars

China also defeated by French (1885) & Japanese (1895)

Qing dynasty deeply weakened at time when China needed strong gov. to deal with modernization.

“UNEQUAL TREATIES” inhibited China’s industrialization.

1. Economic - India

In India, Brit. East India Company had taken advantage of Indian disunity at end of Mughal period to make favorable treaties with local rulers.

By 1850: the Company had conquered or dominated most of the subcontinent & retained the largest army in India.

1. Economic - India

Beginning in 1853, the British failed to address a rumor in Indian Army that tips of cartridges that had to be bitten off in order to fire rifles were greased with pig or cow fat.

Would be offensive to Hindu & Muslim soldiers.

May 1857, SEPOY REVOLT - Indian Army rebelled: Hundred of British soldiers & civilians were massacred.

British army moves to quash rebellion – dissolve the Mughal Empire & assume control.

2. Military

Colony or Trade Route? -- need to protect:

Cape Colony (South Africa) & series of islands in Atlantic & Indian Ocean to protect route to India

Suez Canal – 1869 – expand into Egypt for same reason.

>> interests in Middle East & Persian Gulf

Somalia

South Arabia 1884

Palestine & Iraq 1920s

once Germans into East Africa 1880s: – 1886: Kenya & Sudan 1898

South Africa expansion once diamonds discovered.

French – most of West Africa to protect Algeria.

Suez Canal

Religious mission.

Medieval/early modern: Christians believed only ones w/ true knowledge of God & path to salvation, implying a duty to spread the message.

16th c: Spain & Portugal – C. & S. America

17th c. – French missionaries – Canada, Upper Midwest. Also: Catholic missionaries w/ traders to China, Japan, India, Africa.

18th c. – Protestant churches in Britain, Netherlands, Germany – missionaries to Africa.

3. Religious mission .

All missions: churches, hospitals, schools & introduce Western religion, medicine, tech, commerce.

But… often behaved arrogantly toward indigenous cultures & traditions:

Forced conversions

Destruction of native shrines

Undermine native beliefs

3. Racism… often backed by religion.

19th Century – big shift. Science widely thought to be another feature of W. life that showed superiority of Euro culture

Darwin’s theory of natural selection & its corollary: the survival of the fittest.

Used by SOCIAL DARWINISTS to justify Euro. class system and exploitation of Africans, Asians & others.

New science of ANTHROPOLOGY also used to justify Euro superiority by asserting physical characteristics of Euros. Associated w/ refined blood & civilized behavior.

4. Popularity.

Europeans of all ranks liked the idea of having an empire

Though it denied nationalism of others, it fit the notion of one’s own country’s superiority

5. Because they could.

By the 1880s, the great powers of Europe were acquiring colonies because:

They Could

National prestige was measured by extent of a nation’s overseas empire

They did not want to be left out.

EXTENT of Empire: BRITAIN.

S. Africa … Indian Ocean … n. & e. Africa … Egypt .. Sudan … Kenya … Uganda.

By 1900: 25% of land mass / 20% of pop. All places supplied raw materials for Brit. Industry All provide bases for & guarded by Royal Navy. -- Pax

Britannica. Also invested heavily in Japan, China, Turkey, US, C. &

S. America Wealthy Britons made world their playground –

explorers, scientists, tourists, expatriates. Gave world new words (raj, Cook’s tour, posh) , sports

(lawn tennis, rugby, football squash & cricket), the English language.

EXTENT of Empire: France

Resurrects empire in the 1830s:

Much of Northern & Western Africa

In strange example of French ambition: Napoleon III attempts & fails to establish puppet French regime in Mexico under Archduke Max. of Austria.

Also acquire Asian & Pacific holdings.

But Britain’s colonies were far more lucrative.

EXTENT of Empire: Germany & Italy

GERMANY: “only” East Africa, after unification 1871

ITALY: also late starter – concentrated almost totally in poorest parts of Africa.

EXTENT of Empire: BELGUIM

King Leopold II (1865-1909)

Given control of Belgian Congo & lucrative rubber trade at Congress of Berlin.

Perhaps the most brutal of imperialistic regimes.

Native pop. exploited ruthlessly 5-10 million lives.

EFFECTS of Imperialism

Set aside – for moment – whether any right to be there. -- What were results?

???OPTIMIST: brought science & medicine, tech, economic development, rule of law, W. philosophy

PESSIMIST: legacy of bigotry & cultural insensitivity, economic exploitation, pollution, destruction of natural environments.

Ensured that these civs/societies missed out on 200 yrs. of own growth & interaction

Reactions: Western Critiques

Conrad, Heart of Darkness

Hobson, Imperialism:

Rush for colonies result of economic needs of unregulated capitalism – rich to find outlets for surplus capital