imperialism and nation-state formation

Imperialism and Nation-State Formation

The Age of Imperialism was a time period beginning around 1870 when modern, relatively

developed nations were taking over less developed areas, colonizing them, or influencing

them in order to expand their own power.

Imperialism

• The creation and/or maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationship, usually between states and often in the form of an empire based on domination and subordination

Nationalism• Motivated European nations to compete for

colonial possessions• European economic, military, and political power

forced colonized countries to trade on European terms

• Industrially produced goods flooded colonial markets and displaced traditional industries

• Colonized peoples resisted European domination and responded in diverse ways to Western influence

The Excuses of Imperialism

Forms of Imperialism

• Colonies• Protectorates• Spheres of influence

Forces Enabling Imperialism

• How was a relatively small portion of the earth’s surface (that today has 14% of Africa/Asia’s population) able to conquer Earth’s largest continents?

IndustrialRevolution

Source forRawMaterials

Markets forFinishedGoods

EuropeanNationalism

MissionaryActivity

Military& NavalBases

EuropeanMotives

For Colonization

Places toDumpUnwanted/Excess Popul.

Soc. & Eco.Opportunities

HumanitarianReasons

EuropeanRacism

“WhiteMan’sBurden”

SocialDarwinism

Berlin Conference of 1884-1885

Another point of view?

Who is missing from this picture???

Europeans: Carving up a Continent

“We have been engaged in drawing lines upon maps where no white man’s foot

has ever trod.

We have been giving away mountains and rivers and lakes to each other, only

hindered by the small impediment that we never

knew exactly where the mountains and rivers

were.”

-British Official

Social Darwinism

The “White Man’s Burden”

Rudyard Kipling

The “White Man’s Burden”?

Remember “The White Man’s Burden”???

Which one do you think is more accurate?

Where Is Dr. Livingstone?

Dr. David Livingstone

DoctorLivingston

e,I Presume?

Sir Henry Morton Stanley

David Livingstone• Went to Africa as a

missionary but was a combination of missionary, doctor, explorer, scientist and anti-slavery activist.

• Reached and named Victoria Falls in 1855.

• In 1871 journalist Henry Stanley found him at Lake Tanganyika, greeting him with the famous words "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"

European Explorations in mid-19c:

“The Scramble for Africa”

What is the Source of the Nile?

John Speke Sir Richard Burton

The Congo Free State or

The Belgian Congo

King Leopold II:(r. 1865 – 1909)

Africa: the Congo• In the 1870s King Leopold II

of Belgium employed Henry Stanley to help develop commercial ventures and establish a colony called Congo Free State in the basin of the Congo River

• Leopold said the Congo Free State would be a free-trade zone open to all European merchants in order to forestall competition from his more powerful European neighbors Leopold II

Africa: the Congo• In reality, Leopold ran the

Congo Free State as a personal colony and filled it with lucrative rubber plantations run under brutal conditions– Humanitarians

protested Leopold’s colonial regime

• In 1908 the Belgium government took control of the colony and it became known as Belgian Congo

Clearing tropical forests ate away at Leopold’s profit margins so Congolese farming villages such as this one were leveled to make way for rubber tree plantations

Harvesting Rubber

Punishing “Lazy” Workers

5-8 Million Victims! (50% of Popul.)

It is blood-curdling to see them (the soldiers) returning with the hands of

the slain, and to find the hands of young children amongst the bigger ones evidencing their bravery...The rubber from this district has cost

hundreds of lives, and the scenes I have witnessed, while unable to help

the oppressed, have been almost enough to make me wish I were

dead... This rubber traffic is steeped in blood, and if the natives were to

rise and sweep every white person on the Upper Congo into eternity, there would still be left a fearful balance to

their credit. -- Belgian Official

Belgium’s Stranglehold on the Congo

Leopold’s Conscience??

Leopold Defends Himself in Paris, 1903

King Leopold (to Loubert) :

How about that!  John Bull claims that I

tortured, robbed and murdered more than

he did. . .

Loubert : No, your Majesty,

that's impossible .

Dutch Landing in 1652

Shaka Zulu (1785 – 1828)

Boers Clash With the Xhosa Tribes

Boer Farmer

The Great Trek, 1836-38

Afrikaners

Diamond Mines

Raw Diamonds

The Struggle for South Africa

Cecil Rhodes (1853-1902) De Beer

“The Colossus of Rhodes”

Cecil Rhodes• Went to south Africa in 1871

and by 1889 he controlled 90% of the world’s diamond production

• Also gained a healthy stake in the gold market

• Served as prime minister of the British Cape Colony from 1890-1896 and saw the Cape Colony as a base of operations for the extension of British control to all of Africa

South Africa and the Boer War (1899-1902)

Principal sponsor of the Cape-to-Cairo dream where Britain would dominate the continent.

Diamonds and gold were discovered in the Transvaal and Rhodes wanted to extend his influence there but region controlled by Boers (descendents of Dutch settlers)

Boer-British Tensions Increase

1877 – Britain annexed the Transvaal. 1883 – Boers fought British in the Transvaal and regained its independence. - Paul Kruger becomes President. 1880s – Gold discovered in the Transvaal

Paul Kruger (1825-1904)

Kruger Telegram (1902): Kaiser Wilhelm II, dispatched telegram to Boers congratulating them on defeating British invaders without need of German assistance

Anger swept through Britain aimed at Germany.

The Boer War: 1899 - 1900

The BoersThe British

South Africa and the Boer War (1899-1902)

Massive British force eventually defeated Boers and in 1910 the Transvaal, Orange Free State, Cape Colony, & Natal combined to form the Union of South Africa.

A Future British Prime Minister

British Boer War Correspondent, Winston Churchill

The Struggle for South Africa

Many Africans fought back:

“I have listened to your words but can find no reason why I should obey you – I would rather die first… If you

desire friendship, then I am ready for it, today and always. But I cannot be your subject. If you desire war, then I am ready.” -Chief Machemba (1890)

What do you think happened?

• As states industrialized during this period, they also expanded their existing overseas colonies and established new types of colonies and transoceanic empires.

• Regional warfare and diplomacy both resulted in and were affected by this process of modern empire building.

• The process was led mostly by Europe, although not all states were affected equally, which led to an increase of European influence around the world.

• The United States and Japan also participated in this process.

• The growth of new empires challenged the power of existing land-based empires of Eurasia.

• New ideas about nationalism, race, gender, class, and culture also developed that facilitated the spread of transoceanic empires, as well as justified anti-imperial resistance and the formation of new national identities.

Industrializing powers established transoceanic

empires

Transoceanic Empires• States with existing colonies strengthened

their control over those colonies– British in India– Dutch in Indonesia

• British, Dutch, French, German, Russian, as well as the Americans and the Japanese, established empires throughout Asia and the Pacific

• Spanish and Portuguese influence declined.

Methods of Colonization

• Many European states used both warfare and diplomacy to establish empires in Africa– Berlin Conference– Britain in West Africa– Belgians in the Congo– Open Door Policy in China

Settler Colonies

• In some parts of their empires Europeans established settler colonies – The British in Southern Africa, Australia, Canada,

and New Zealand– The French in Algeria

Economic Imperialism

• In other parts of the world, industrialized states practiced economic imperialism – British and French expanding their influence in

China through the Opium War– The British and the United States investing

heavily in Latin America

Imperialism in Africa and Asia

• European domination• European conflicts carried to the colonies• Christian missionary efforts• Spheres of influence in China• Suez Canal• East India Company’s domination of Indian

states• American opening of Japan to trade

Imperialism influenced state formation and contraction

around the world

• The United States and Russia emulated European transoceanic imperialism by expanding their land borders and conquering neighboring territories

• The expansion of U.S. and European influence over Tokugawa Japan led to the emergence of Meiji Japan

Arrival of Matthew Perry and his kurofune or "Black Ships" in Japan in 1854

Rise of Nationalism

• First Indian nationalist party founded in the mid-1800s - Indian National Congress

Anti-imperial Resistance

• Led to the contraction of the Ottoman Empire• Establishment of Independent states in the

Balkans• Semi-independence in Egypt, French and

Italian Colonies in North Africa– Later British Influence in Egypt

EUROPEANS IN EGYPT• 1870s – with the Egyptian government

bankrupt, the British and French took over financial control of the country– Egyptian monarchs (technically Ottoman

viceroys) ruled as puppet leaders• 1882 – Egyptian nationalist rebellion

– France withdrew its troops– Great Britain left in control of Egypt

• Lord Cromer introduced reforms– De facto British protectorate

• Made official in 1914• Independence came in 1922

Egypt Seeks to Modernize– Muhammad Ali – Governor of Egypt

(1805)• Known as the “Father of Modern Egypt”• Improved tax collection, reorganized the

landholding system, and backed large irrigation projects

• Also brought in western military experts to modernize Egypt’s army

• Dies in 1849– Successors build the Suez Canal

• Britain took control of Egypt in 1883– Pushed southward and took

control of Sudan

• Battle of Omdurman (1898): General Horatio H. Kitchener defeated Sudanese tribesman and killed 11,000 (use of machine gun) while only 28 Britons died

SUDAN

BRITISH IN NORTHERN AFRICA• Sudan

– Area south of Egypt– Under Anglo-Egyptian control– Cotton needed for British textile mills– Entente Cordiale (1904)

• Great Britain controlled Sudan• France controlled Morocco

• Cape-to-Cairo Railroad– Idea of Cecil Rhodes– Would secure Great Britain’s dominance in Africa– Never completed – sections missing through modern

Sudan and Uganda

Cape-to-Cairo Railway: Crossing over Victoria Falls

Fashoda Incident (1898): France & Britain nearly went to war over Sudan; France backed down in

the face of the Dreyfus Affair

AFRICANS IN AFRICA• By the time of the First World War (1914)– Only 2 independent African countries

• Abyssinia (Ethiopia)–Ruled by dynasty stretching back to at least

the 13th century–Last emperor was Haile Selassie, deposed in

1974–Home to Ethiopian Orthodox Christian

Church (strongly tied to Egyptian Coptic Church)

• Liberia–Formed by freed slaves under auspices of

the United States government

Remember?“Whatever happens, we have gotthe Maxim gun, and they have not.”When Africans rebelled, Europeans killed thousands of Yao, Zulu, Asante, Shona, Herero, and Maji-Maji people.

Ethiopia was the only exception…

Many Africans gave up traditional agriculture to work for European companies. Some worked on rubber plantations or in copper mines. Others built railroads to bring these natural resources to ports, where they could be shipped to Europe and used in factories.

New States developed on the edges of existing empires

• Cherokee Nation• Siam• Hawaii• Zulu Kingdom

Spread of Nationalism

• An ideology fostered new communal identities– German Nation– Filipino nationalism– Liberian nationalism

AFRICANS IN AFRICA• By the time of the First World War (1914)

– Only 2 independent African countries• Abyssinia (Ethiopia)

–Ruled by dynasty stretching back to at least the 13th century

–Last emperor was Haile Selassie, deposed in 1974

–Home to Ethiopian Orthodox Christian Church (strongly tied to Egyptian Coptic Church)

• Liberia–Formed by freed slaves under auspices of the

United States government

Emperor Haile Selassie I

“Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah,

King of Kings of Ethiopia and Elect of

God”

“Ras Tafari”

When Italy invaded again in 1935, Haile Selassie I made a famous speech to the League of Nations.

Bob Marley used his speech as lyrics to a song, “War”

“That until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned:

That until there are no longer first-class and second class citizens of any nation;

That until the color of a man's skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes;

That until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race;

That until that day, the dream of lasting peace and world citizenship and the rule of international morality will remain but a fleeting illusion, to be pursued but never attained…”

“And until the ignoble and unhappy regimes that hold our brothers in Angola, in Mozambique and in South Africa in subhuman bondage have been toppled and destroyed…

Until that day, the African continent will not know peace.

We Africans will fight, if necessary, and we know that we shall win, as we are confident in the victory of good over evil.”

Impact of Imperialism in Africa• POSITIVE

– Local warfare reduced– Improved sanitation– Hospitals led to

increased lifespan– Schools led to

increased literacy– Economic growth

• NEGATIVE– Loss of land and

independence– Men forced to work in

European owned mines and on European owned farms

– Contempt for traditional culture and admiration of European culture = identity problems

– Dividing up of Africa = artificial boundaries divided kinship groups and united rivals

New racial ideologies, especially Social Darwinism,

facilitated and justified imperialism

Identify major developments of African history in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

• Africa’s interaction with imperialism• Agricultural changes and new patterns of

employment• The origins of African nationalism

Use your notes, and the lyrics to Bob Marley’s “War” to explain how European imperialism affected Africans and their desire for Nationalism.