Transcript The Age of Imperialism - Brunswick City Schools

World Chapter 12
Western Countries
colonized large areas of
Africa & Asia, leading to
political and cultural
changes
 IMPERIALISM: The take over of a country by a
stronger country
 Economic Interest – industrial revolution. Gain
natural resources, sell manufactured goods.
Discoveries of gold, diamonds
 Political and Military – Nationalism, naval bases
 Humanitarian, religious – Felt obligation to
spread their “superior” culture and religion
 Social Darwinism – survival of the fittest.
European, “western” felt superior
Other nations weaker militarily, economically
Western advantages – strong central govts,
strong militaries, technology, weapons
#1 most foreign control to #4 with least control
1. Colony: a country or a territory governed internally by
a foreign power
2. Protectorate: a country or territory with its own
internal government but under the control of an
outside power
3. Sphere of influence: an area in which an outside
power claims exclusive investment or trading
privileges
4. Economic imperialism: an independent but lessdeveloped country controlled by private business
interests rather than other governments
List a pro and a con of each form of imperial
control.
Take the point of view of an African citizen.
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Indirect Control
Local government officials
used
Limited self-rule
Goal: to develop future
leaders
Government institutions are
based on European styles
but may have local rules
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Direct Control
Foreign officials brought in
to rule
No self-rule
Goal: assimilation
Government institutions are
based only on European
styles
Paternalism: Provide for
peoples’ needs, but give
them no rights
Assimilation: a policy in
which a nation forces or
encourages a subject
people to adopt its
institutions and customs
Ignoring the claims of
African ethnic groups,
kingdoms, and citystates, Europeans
established colonies
 NO new markets in Africa,
but Europeans needed
raw materials
 Mineral resources like
copper, tin, diamonds &
gold
 Developed cash crop
plantations: peanuts, palm
oil, cocoa, rubber

Caused starvation since
families weren’t allowed to
plant food crops
Blood Diamonds
Leopold II
 David Livingstone-missionary to
promote Christianity-explored
& mapped interior of Africa
 Henry Stanley-Newspaper
reporter who found Livingstone
“Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”
 Mapped Congo River & claimed
land for King Leopold of Belgium
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Brutally exploited Africans through
forced labor
At least 10 million died
 Belgian conquest of the Congo
lead to Britain, Germany,
France, Spain, Italy & Portugal
in a race to claim parts of Africa
Livingstone
Stanley
 Berlin Conference
 To prevent conflict/war
between each other, 14
European nations laid
down rules for the division
of Africa
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Any European country could
claim land by notifying other
nations of claim and showing
control of area
PROBLEM: no African
leaders included at
Conference
PROBLEM: no thought given
to ethnic or language groups
 By 1914, only Liberia &
Ethiopia remained free
 Menelik II, emperor of
Ethiopia
 Played the Italians,
French & British
against one another ,
building up his modern
weaponry in the
meantime
 Declared war on Italy &
beat them, keeping
Ethiopia independent
Africans lost control of land &
independence
Died due to new diseases, war
resisting the Europeans, &
famines from producing cash
crops
Loss of traditional cultures
Political division of African
continent still create problems
today
Reduced local warfare
Improvement in sanitation & hospitals and
schools
 Increasing lifespans and literacy rates
Economic expansion
 African products valued on international market
 Railroads, dams, & telephone/telegraph lines built
Focus question: How did Europeans nations
expanded their empires into Muslim regions?
 Ottoman Empire=very
strategic location
 Access to
Mediterranean and
Atlantic sea trade
 Controlled Black Sea

Russia wanted warm
water port
 Oil in Persia (Iran) and
the Arabian Peninsula
drew major attention
to region
 Russians vs Ottomans for
access to Black Sea
 Needed warm water port
for year around trade
 Britain & France helped
Ottomans
 Didn’t want Russia to gain
too much land
 Ottomans won
 But revealed military
weaknesses
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Lost land in Balkan Region &
Africa
 Struggle between Britain & Russia over
India
 Britain’s most profitable colony
 Russia wanted land and profits
 Afghanistan = location of struggle
 Afghanistan was independent Muslim
nation
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Harsh terrain and nationalistic people
proved to be overwhelming for imperial
powers (SOUND FAMILIAR?!)
 Britain withdrew after decades of
fighting
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British empire would not extend beyond
Khyber Pass (Indian/Afghan border)
 Russia signed non-aggression pact with
Afghanistan; broke when re-invaded in
1979 (Cold War-US, bin Laden, 9/11)
 A human-made
waterway that cut
through the Isthmus of
Suez
 Connected Red Sea to
Mediterranean
 Built with French
money by Egyptian
labor
 Irrigation projects &
communication
networks put Egypt into
debt
 Egypt could not pay its
foreign debts, so British
took financial control of
canal
 Eventually leading to
British occupation of
Egypt
 Russia:
 Wanted access to
Persian Gulf & Indian
Ocean (WARM WATER
PORT)
 Britain
 Buffer state between
Russia & India
 Oil
 Divided Persia into
spheres of influence
 Persia didn’t have
capital (money) to
develop own resources
 Concessions to Western
businesses:
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Allowed businesses to
buy right to operate in a
certain area or develop a
certain product

British Petroleum (BP)
http://www.rethinkingschools.org/just_fun/ga
mes/mapgame.html
As the Mughal Empire declined, Britain
seized Indian territory and soon controlled
almost the whole subcontinent
India home to many different people,
languages and cultures
Unable to unite to resist the British
 British East India Company
 Controlled huge amounts of land
 Had own army
 Led by British officers
 Staffed by Sepoys: Indian soldiers
 Most valuable British colony
 Negatives
 Main supplier of raw
 Wealth out of India to Britain
materials
 Large population=market
 Industry died out due to
 Benefits of British rule:
 Railroads = 3rd largest in
world

Economy became more
modern
 Telephone and telegraph
lines
 Dams, bridges, canals
 Sanitation & public health
 education
British trade laws
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Raw materials only
Buy only British manufactured
goods
 Growth of cash crops=famine
 Racism by British
 Conversion to Christianity
 Major cash crop=Opium
 Later will impact China
To gain a better understanding how educated
Indians attempted to blend Western and
Indian culture, read the short biographical
sketch of Rabindranath Tagore and answer
the questions.
 Caused because rumor of British using beef & pork fat to grease cartidges
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Cow sacred to Hindus; pig sacred to Muslims
 Failed due to divided Indians
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Muslims vs Hindus
 Left legacy of mistrust, Britain tightened its
rule
CAUSED BY FAMINE, RELIGION AND RACISM
British RAJ
(viceroy)
British ruled
India directly
from 1757 to
1947
(Ghandi)
 Pakistan - Muslim
 India - Hindo
Definition: As a verb; “make full use of and
derive benefit from”
Explain how the British exploited Indian
diversity
Cause
British
colonial
rule in India
Effect
With a group, create a talk show with the
following roles:
 1. Interviewer
 2. British Business person
 3. Indian Government official
 4. Indian Citizen
 5. British Missionary
Ch 12 Sec 5
Demand for Asian products drove Western
imperialists to seek possession of
Southeast Asian lands
 France: Indochina=
Laos, Cambodia,
Vietnam
 Direct rule and forced to
adopt French culture
 No industry
 Vietnam
 Rice was major cash crop
 Rice was sold eslewhere,
famine for peasants
 Set stage for Vietnamese
resistance (Vietnam War)
Like Ethiopia in Africa
 Siamese kings played
the French and British
to remain free from
both nations
 King Mongkut
modernized
 Schools
 Legal system
 Government
 Railroads, telegraph
lines
 Ended slavery