Transcript Imperialism in Action: India

Imperialism in Action:
India & China
Bell Work 3/5
 What were the 3 forms of rule that Europeans used to claim
land in other countries?
 Direct Rule – France & Belgium
 Indirect Rule – Britain
 Protectorates & Spheres of Influence – Germany & China
 What explorer left Britain to explore Africa in 1849 & died 20
years later in central Africa?
 David Livingstone
 What happened in the Congo & who was the man responsible?
 Brutal treatment of indigenous peoples & King Leopold
The British in
India
Indirect Rule
• In the 1700s Queen Elizabeth chartered a company
called the British East India Company
• Their Job = Exploiting Natural Resources of India
• How they did it – Divide and conquer by fanning the
flames of religious divisions between Hindus &
Muslims
The British East India Company
 By the early 1800s the British
had installed western
education, a road & railroad
system
 Missionaries were working to
convert the natives to the
‘superior’ religion of
Christianity in place of
Hinduism, Buddhism & Islam
 Worked to end slavery, the
caste system & the practice of
Sati (when Indian women
would throw themselves on
their husbands funeral fires)
The British East
India Company
 a rebellion the company was able to take
over the government by installing its own
Indian born employees.
 How did they do it?
 They exploited regional differences
 They pitted rival princes against each other &
created false wars to gain power
The British East India Company
& the Sepoy Rebellion
 Indian soldiers employed to the
British army were known as Sepoys
 The British used these soldiers to
fight their wars, which raised 3
problems
 1. for Hindus, oversea travel was
against their religion
 2. The East India company passed a
law allowing Hindu widows to
remarry
 3. The new rifles they were given
required the solider to bite off the tip
of the bullet cartridge. The cartridges
were greased with animal fat…
British Imperialism in
India
 In 1871, Indian nationalist Dadabhai Naoroji criticized
British Rule in India”
 “Indians call the British system ‘Sakar ki Churi’, the knife of
sugar. That is to say there is no oppression, it is all smooth and
sweet, but it is still a knife.”
What does the speaker mean?
How does he feel about British
Rule in India?
Imperialism in India
Reading
Imperialism in China – Spheres of Influence
For centuries Chinese
regulations ensured that China
had a favorable balance of trade
with other nations
China enjoyed a trade surplus –
meaning they got more back
then they traded
While Europeans had a trade
deficit – meaning they were
buying more than they were
trading
This occurred because the only
thing Europe had that China
did not was silver until…..
Opium War
 The British began trading
Indian grown Opium for
Chinese Tea
 Many Chinese people became
addicted to the drug & the
nation suffered
 Chinese officials tried to
outlaw the drug but when
they did, Britain attacked with
modern gunboats –
steamships with machine
guns – and were able to
destroy many of China’s port
cities, which crippled them.
Unequal Treaties
 The British won
and required
China to sign a
number of
unequal treatieswhich required
them to pay
fines- and
another that
gave Britain the
Island of Hong
Kong
 Another way
resulted and the
U.S, Russia &
France also got
trade deals
U.S.A & the Open
Door Policy
 Since the
United States
was far away,
and fearful of
European
domination
they came up
with an idea
 the Open Door
Policy, which
allowed free
trade in all
Chinese ports –
no one however
talked to the
Chinese
government
about it.