Chapter 27         Age of Imperialism

Troutman's home   expectations   world history   American history  

Section 1

Imperialism divides Africa

Africa before imperialism

Before imperialism, Africa was land of a 1000 languages.  The largest empire had 10 million people. By 1880, only 10% of Africa was controlled by European countries. This was due to the dense jungle and the wild rivers. With the introduction of the steam engine, paddleboats were able to travel far into the interior of Africa. Networks of trade controlled by the Africans kept the Europeans from controlling the trade in the African countries

Nations compete for overseas empire

                Travel inside the Congo by Livingston and Stanley result in treaties between Belgium and the Congo. The area of the Belgian Congo was 80 times bigger than Belgium. The French claimed the north bank of the Congo and soon Germany Britain, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Spain were also claiming parts of Africa.

                What is imperialism, the take over and control of smaller country by a larger country, with the stronger country controlling the political, economic, culture, and military of the weaker nation?  The industrial revolution gave Europe the need to add countries under their control. European countries needed a source of raw materials as well as source of consumers. Another reason for the spread of imperialism is the idea of nationalism; pride in ones country led them to focus on putting their nation’s flag on as much of the world as possible. 

                Advanced technology was one reason that the Europeans believed themselves to be better than the rest of the people of the world. This idea of racism meaning that one race is better than or superior to the others. Social Darwinism those who were fittest for survival had wealth ad success and Europeans were superior. Europeans felt they had the right and duty to spread this progress to the rest of the world. Missionaries pushed for expansion in to the areas of Asia, Africa, and the pacific islands.

                European countries used their technological advances to over power the natives. Machine guns, steamboats and railroads helped Europe to overrun African countries. The drug quinine helped over come disease of the insects. The Africans fought amongst themselves all the time and not always against Europeans.

African Lands Become European Colonies

The Berlin Conference in 1884 –1885 divided up Africa for the European countries. If a country t laid claim to an area and could show they could control it they could claim it as colony.  By 1914, only Ethiopia and Liberia were free from Europe control.

As the countries needed raw materials, Europeans began looking to get the good, but the colonies didn’t buy from the Europeans countries, yet they produced a great deal of cash crops. These were peanuts, palm oil, cocoa, and rubber. The huge mineral deposits of copper and tin in the Congo were like the gold and diamonds in South Africa.

Three Groups Clash over South Africa

Africans, Dutch, and British fight over South Africa. The Zulu tribe controlled South Africa from about 1816 until 1887. The leader of this tribe was Shaka. The Dutch had settled in Cape of Good Hope in 1652. These settlers were known as Boers a Dutch word for farmers. As the British moved into the area the Boer moved north and ended up fighting the Africans and the British at the same time. When gold and diamonds were discovered in South Africa, the Boers and the British fought the Boer War. The first total war fought and the British won, and with their winning the British made efforts to change the social, political, and economic lives of the conquered peoples.

Troutman's home   expectations   world history   American history top of page

Section 2

Imperialism Case Study Nigeria

Forms of colonial control used by the Europeans.

The Europeans used two different methods of controlling the colonies.

The direct control method used by European countries much like the father of a family giving them their needs but not giving them rights, this is know n as paternalism. The French used the assimilation method, which supported that over time, the local natives would become immersed in French culture.

In Nigeria, the British used indirect rule of the land. It worked there due to the fact that the British appointed chiefs to people that had not been chiefs before ad to keep their posts they were given they obeyed all the British orders.

Rebellions were often in African colonies.

Algeria had a 50 year fight with the French another uprising Maji Maji uprising and almost 75,000 were killed by the Germans.

One rebellion in Africa was in Ethiopia. The ruler Menlik II played the Italians French and British against each other.

Impact of the colonial rule had positive and negative aspects. Positive effects reduced local warfare. Humanitarian efforts improved sanitation and brought hospitals and schools. Economic pluses included increase awareness of good s of Africa and more jobs and technology brought to the interior of Africa.  Negative results of colonial rule brought disease and death to the natives. Traditional cultures were lost

Troutman's home   expectations   world history   American history top of page

Section 3

Muslim lands fall to imperialist demands

The Ottoman Empire stretched from Hungary in the north, through Greece, around the Black Sea, south through Syria, across to Egypt to Morocco. This vast empire knew it was in trouble and tried to rebuild its military and accept modern weaponry. As the great leaders of the Ottoman Empire died the following leaders weren’t as strong. Nationalist ideas grew in the various areas controlled by the Ottoman Empire.

Strong European countries take over Ottoman lands. Geopolitics interest in or taking of land for its strategic location or products lead to the break up of the Ottoman Empire. The thought of this empire controlling the trade in the Mediterranean by control the strait of Gibraltar led the European countries to wanting to control the area. The Russians fought for lands around the Black Sea, this was called the Crimean War. This war was the first for nurses to be involved Florence Nightingale showed the importance of the nurses.  The weaknesses of the Ottoman military were shown during this war. The Muslim countries under the Ottomans tried to change a few things so as not to lose their lands. Persia and Egypt sought to reform the government and the military.

In Egypt, Muhammad Ali was chosen as leader of the area by the Ottoman leadership. Muhammad Ali soon broke away from the Ottoman Empire and reformed the military and the economy. Muhammad Ali pushed for the construction of the Suez Canal. The French helped build the canal but the Egyptians could not pay the interest on the loan so the British took financial control of the canal. This canal opened dtarde rout e from India to Europe in a very short trip.

Persia became a hotbed of control issues especially after oil was discovered in the Middle East. England wanted to use Afghanistan as a buffer between Russia and India. Persia didn’t have money so it needed European money to develop its resources. Russia and England took over the area and developed spheres of influence.

Section 4

British Imperialism in India

The British expand to India in 1757. From that time on, the East India Company controlled the trade in India. To protect its assets, the company had its own army commanded by English officers and manned by sepoys Indian soldiers. India was considered the most valuable colony of the British colonies being called the Jewel in 78 the Crown. Indians were required to provide raw materials for English factories and to buy English. Indian companies could not produce the same goods as the British companies. Railroads in India moved raw materials from the interior to the harbors making it cheaper to produce goods. Cash crops included tea, indigo, coffee, cotton, and jute. Opium was traded with china.

Colonization of India had both positive and negative effects. The railroads created a positive aspect of economy in India, as well as the sanitation, medicine, telephones, telegraphs, schools and colleges.  The British armies captured and killed a great deal of the bandits that had roamed India for years. Negative effects of the English being in India included the squashing of Indian self-rule. Farmers were forced to grow cash crops and that reduced the amount of food crops being grown.

Rebellion in India was the result of the people thinking that the English were trying to convert the Indians to Christianity. Indians also resented the racism of the British. The Sepoys rebelled when a rumor started that the rifles were packed in beef and pork fat. This upset the Hindus and the Muslims. The fighting started and quickly spread across India and the rebellion took over a year to control. This was known as the Sepoy Mutiny. Indians would not unite against the English due to the amount of division between the Hindu and Muslims. The Sikhs who were hostile to the Muslims remained loyal to the British.

The sepoy mutiny caused the British to take complete control of the Indian government; this portion of India under English control was called the Raj. The father of modern India was Ram Mohun Roy.  He wanted to bring India up to modern standards. Began changing some of the old traditional culture of the Indians. Discrimination against Indians was throughout the nation. British engineers would receive 20 times what an Indian engineer would receive.

The Indian National Congress of 1885 and the Muslim League of 1906 wanted to correct wrongs against Indians, but these groups started focusing on self-government for the people of Indian. One important aspect of government that upset the Indians was the division of Bengal. The English divided the country up to provide place for the Muslims and the Hindus.

Troutman's home   expectations   world history   American history top of page

Section 5

Western Powers Rule Southeast Asia

Major crops of Southeast Asia are sugar cane, coffee, cocoa, rubber, coconuts, bananas, and pineapple.  European countries were trying to control the area as rapidly as they could.  The Dutch controlled the following areas, Melaka, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Celebes, the Moluccas and Bali. The Dutch created a great social class in these areas. The Dutch on top, wealthy and educated Indonesians next, then plantation works on the bottom. Dutch forced the farmers to plant 1/5 of their lands in export crops.

The British wanted a port and trading country in the area of Southeast Asia.  Singapore became the main English port and center of trade in the region. Raw materials flourished in the area and needing workers to work the mines the Chinese were encouraged to move to Malaysia.

The French control Indochina. Using the policy of direct control over the local government, the French filled all the important offices with Frenchmen. They didn’t encourage local industry but did push the importance of rice being a huge export crop.

European countries in the area brought modernization to the region. Railroads, roads and harbors were built. Schools, medicine and sanitation improved. The region became a melting pot of cultures, which caused religious and racial conflicts that continue through to today.

Not all countries in the region came under European rule. Siam or Thailand did not come under the outside rule. Under King Mongkut, Siam reorganized the government, built schools, reformed the legal system, built telegraphs and railroads, and outlawed slavery.  This prevented the citizens of Siam from falling under the religious and racial conflicts of other countries of the region.

In 1898, the United States showed its aggressiveness toward imperialism. After the Spanish-American war of 1898, the United States acquired Philippines and Cuba. The Filipinos didn’t like getting rid of Spain and then having another nation controlling them. A bitter revolution was fought until the rebels were defeated in 1902. The U.S. built railroads, hospitals, and set up school systems, but also took advantage of the economy of the Philippine islands.

Hawaii was to become a problem area for Americans. U. S. businesses had a great deal of monies invested in the sugar cane industry. The owners of the plantation wanted the Hawaiian Islands to be part of America in order to get price higher from the U.S. government. Queen Liliuokalani came to power toward the end of the 1800s. The plantation owners didn’t want her to gain more power so they created a plot to over throw her. With the new republic being led by Dole of Dole pineapples. The new president of the Hawaiian Islands requested to be annexed by the United States. President Cleveland refused to allow it.

Troutman's home   expectations   world history   American history top of page