Transcript The Age of Imperialism 1850-1914

The Age of Imperialism
1850-1914
Chapter 11
• Industrialization stirred ambitions in
many European nations. They wanted
more resources to fuel their industrial
production. They competed for new
markets for their goods. Many nations
looked to Africa as a source of raw
materials and as a market for industrial
products. As a result, colonial powers
seized vast areas of Africa during the 19th
and early 20th centuries.
• Between the 1870s and 1900, Africa faced European imperialist
aggression, diplomatic pressures, military invasions, and
eventual conquest and colonization. At the same time, African
societies put up various forms of resistance against the attempt
to colonize their countries and impose foreign domination. By
the early twentieth century, however, much of Africa, except
Ethiopia and Liberia, had been colonized by European powers.
• The European imperialist push into Africa was motivated by
three main factors, economic, political, and social. It developed
in the nineteenth century following the collapse of the
profitability of the slave trade, its abolition and suppression, as
well as the expansion of the European capitalist Industrial
Revolution. The imperatives of capitalist industrialization—
including the demand for assured sources of raw materials, the
search for guaranteed markets and profitable investment
outlets—spurred the European scramble and the partition and
eventual conquest of Africa. Thus the primary motivation for
European intrusion was economic.
IMPERIALISM
• A policy in which a strong nation
seeks to dominate other countries
politically, economically, or socially.
• In the mid-1800’s, on the eve of the European
domination of Africa, African peoples were divided
into hundreds of ethnic and linguistic groups. Most
continued to follow traditional beliefs, while other
converted to Islam or Christianity. These groups
spoke more than 1,000 different languages.
Politically they ranged from large empires that
united many ethnic groups to independent villages.
• Europeans had established contacts with subSaharan Africans as early as the 1450’s. However,
powerful African armies were able to keep the
Europeans out of most of Africa for 400 years. In
fact, as late as 1880, Europeans controlled only 10%
of the continent’s land, mainly on the coast.
• Furthermore, European travel into the interior on a
large-scale basis was virtually impossible. Europeans
could not navigate African rivers. The introduction of
steam-powered riverboats in the early 1800’s allowed
Europeans to conduct major expeditions into the
interior of Africa. Disease also discouraged European
exploration.
• Finally, Africans controlled their own trade networks
and provided the trade items.
• Those Europeans who did penetrate the interior of
Africa were explorers, missionaries, or humanitarians
who opposed the European and American slave trade.
Europeans and Americans learned about Africa through
travel books and newspapers. These publications
competed for readers by hiring reporters to search the
glove for stories of adventure, mystery, or excitement.
More Info of Livingstone
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David Livingstone
(1813-1873)
More Info on Livingstone
David Livingstone was a Scottish
missionary, abolitionist and physician
known for his explorations of Africa,
having crossed the continent during the
mid-19th century.
In the official role of a "medical
missionary," he set forth to Africa, arriving
in Cape Town, South Africa in March of
1841. A few years later, he married Mary
Moffat; the couple would have several
children.
Livingstone eventually made his way
north and set out to trek across the
Kalahari Desert. In 1849, he came upon
Lake Ngami and, in 1851, the Zambezi
River. Over the years, Livingstone
continued his explorations, reaching the
western coastal region of Luanda in 1853.
In 1855, he came across another famous
body of water, the Zambezi Falls, called by
native populations "Smoke That
Thunders" and which Livingstone dubbed
Victoria Falls, after Queen Victoria.
By 1856, Livingstone had gone across the
continent from west to east, arriving at
the coastal region of Quelimane in what is
present-day Mozambique.
Dr. David Livingstone
Henry Stanley
(1841-1904)
• Stanley was a Welsh-born American
journalist and explorer, famous for his
search for David Livingstone and his
part in the European colonization of
Africa.
• In 1867, Stanley became special
correspondent for the New York Herald.
Two years later he was commissioned
by the paper to go to Africa and search
for Scottish missionary and explorer
David Livingstone, of whom little had
been heard since 1866 when he had set
off to search for the source of the Nile.
Stanley reached Zanzibar in January
1871 and proceeded to Lake
Tanganyika, Livingstone's last known
location.
• In November 1871 he found the sick
explorer, greeting him with the famous
words: “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”
Stanley's reports on his expedition
made his name.
Henry Stanley
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Henry Stanley
(1841-1904)
More Info on Henry Stanley
When Livingstone died in 1873, Stanley
resolved to continue his exploration of the
region, funded by the Herald and a British
newspaper. He explored vast areas of central
Africa, and travelled down the length of the
Lualaba and Congo Rivers, reaching the Atlantic
in August 1877, after an epic journey that he
later described in 'Through the Dark Continent'
(1878).
Failing to gain British support for his plans to
develop the Congo region, Stanley found more
success with King Leopold II of Belgium, who
was eager to tap Africa's wealth.
In 1879, with Leopold's support, Stanley
returned to Africa where he worked to open the
lower Congo to commerce by the construction
of roads. He used brutal means that included
the widespread use of forced labour.
Competition with French interests in the region
helped bring about the Berlin Conference
(1884-1885) in which European powers sorted
out their competing colonial claims in Africa.
Stanley's efforts paved the way for the creation
of the Congo Free State, privately owned by
Leopold.
In 1890, now back in Europe, Stanley married
and then began a worldwide lecture tour. He
became member of parliament for Lambeth in
south London, serving from 1895 to 1900. He
was knighted in 1899. He died in London on 10
May 1904.
Henry Stanley
• Stanley set out explore Africa himself and trace the course of
the Congo River. His explorations sparked the interest of King
Leopold II of Belgium, who commissioned Stanley to help him
obtain land in the Congo. Between 1879 and 1882, Stanley
signed treaties with local chief on the Congo River valley. The
treaties gave King Leopold II of Belgium control of these
lands.
• Leopold II claimed that his primary motive in establishing the
colony was to abolish the slave trade and promote
Christianity. However, he licensed companies that brutally
exploited Africans by forcing them to collect sap from rubber
plants. As a result, humanitarians around the world
demanded changes. In 1908, the Belgian government’s
seizure of the Congo alarmed France. Earlier, in 1882, the
French had approved a treaty that gave France the north bank
of the Congo River. Soon Britain, Germany, Italy, Portugal,
and Spain were also claiming parts of Africa.
REASONS FOR IMPERIALISM OF AFRICA
1.
Industrialization of Europe
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2.
As European nations industrialized, they searched for new markets and raw materials to improve their
economies.
Belief in European Superiority & Nationalism
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3.
Europeans viewed an empire as a measure of national greatness. As the competition for colonies intensified,
each country was determined to plant its flag on as much of the world as possible.
Social Darwinism
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4.
Europeans believed that the white race was the best or “fittest” race of people. They believed it was the
responsibility of white men to spread their culture and civilization to the African continent. Sometimes this
resulted in Europeans introducing new technology, medicine, farming techniques, and other ideas to the African
people. However, it also meant that the Europeans felt they had the right to take land from the Africans,
including valuable natural resources. Europeans believed they had the “right” to rule over the African people.
Natural Resources
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Because of the Industrial Revolution, many natural resources in Europe were in short supply. As the Europeans
explored Africa, they realized this continent contained valuable supplies of natural resources, including diamonds
and gold. The search for riches inspired the Europeans to conquer more and more land in Africa.
5. Technology
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Improvements were made in communication, transportation, and weapons. These improvements enabled
countries in Europe to take over countries in Africa. Being able to communicate with the Morse code radio gave
explorers the ability to explore new places with confidence. If the explorers needed help or supplies, they could
easily communicate with others and get the help they needed. Improvements in transportation included the
steam engine, locomotive, automobile, and airplane. The use of steam boats allowed explorers to travel faster
and travel farther into the center of the African continent. With the invention of the Maxim gun inn 1884,
explorers could conquer people as well as protect themselves from wild animals.
• The scramble for Africa territory
between European nations begun in
earnest about 1880. At that time, the
French began to expand from the
West African coast toward western
Sudan. The discoveries of diamonds
in 1867 and gold in 1886 in South
Africa increased European interest in
colonizing the continent. No
European power wanted to be left
out of the race.
BERLIN CONFERENCE
November 15, 1884-February 26, 1885
• Meeting at which representatives of European
nations agreed upon rules for the European
colonization of Africa.
Actual text of Berlin Congress
BERLIN CONFERENCE
November 15, 1884--February 26, 1885
• The Congress of Berlin was not the start of the
"Scramble for Africa," but it laid down the rules that
governed the European conquest of Africa for the
next fifteen years. It was unusual because
international conferences were usually held to sort
out the aftermath of a war, but almost never to
settle problems before they led to war. But all of the
major powers had reasons to attend, especially
France, Britain and the new powerhouse, Germany.
Although there were many issues at stake, the most
important one was the future of the Congo River
More Info on Berlin Conference
basin.
• From the late 1700’s to the late
1800’s, a series of local wars shook
southern Africa. Around 1816, a
Zulu chief, Shaka, used highly
disciplined warriors and good
military organization to crate a
large centralized state.
• Shaka’s successors were unable to
keep the kingdom together against
the superior arms of the
Europeans.
• In 1879, after Zulu king Cetshwayo
refused to dismiss his army and
accept British rule, the British
invaded the Zulu nation. In July
1879, however, the Zulus lost the
Battle of Ulundi and their
kingdom. The Zulu nation fell to
British control in 1887.
Shaka
Cetshwayo
BOERS
• Dutch word for “farmers.”
• Member of the Dutch and Huguenot population that settled
in southern Africa in the late 17th century.
• Also known as Africaners.
• The first Europeans to settle in South Africa had been the
Dutch. The Dutch came to the Cape of Good Hope in 1652 to
establish a trade station for their ships sailing between the
Dutch East Indies and the Netherlands.
• When the British took over the Cape Colony permanently in
the early 1800’s, they and the Boers clashed over British
policy regarding land and slaves.
• In the 1830’s to escape the British, several thousand Boers
began to move north in a movement called the Great Trek.
The Boers soon found themselves fighting fiercely with Zulu
and other African groups whose land they were taking.
BOER WAR (South African War)
More Info of Boer War
1899-1902
More Info of Boer War
• War in which the Boers and British fought for
control of territory in South Africa.
• Diamonds and gold were discovered in southern
Africa in the 1860’s and 1880’s. Suddenly,
adventurers from all parts of the world rushed in to
make their fortunes. The Boers tried to keep these
“outsiders” from gaining political rights. The Boers
blamed the British and in 1899, took up arms
against them.
• Britain finally won the war. In 1910, the Boer
republics were joined into a self-governing Union of
South Africa, which was controlled by the British.
BOER WAR (South African War)
1899-1902
IMPERIAL MANAGEMENT METHODS
1. Indirect Control
– Countries relied on existing political elites and
institutions to govern its colonies. It interfered much
less with the indigenous peoples traditions and
customs. However, most decisions came from the
parent country, and local rulers rubber-stamped and
enforced these decisions, maintaining their power.
2. Direct Control
– Countries would appoint leaders and set up their own
colonial bureaucracy and did not train local leaders.
FORMS OF IMPERIALISM
1. Colony
–
A country or territory governed internally by a foreign power.
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Example: Somaliland in East Africa was a French colony
2. Protectorate
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A country or a territory with its own internal government but
under the control of an outside power.
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Example: Britain established a protectorate over the Niger River delta
3. Sphere of Influence
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An area in which an outside power claims exclusive investment
or trading privileges.
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Example: Liberia was under the sphere of influence of the United States
4. Economic Imperialism
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An independent but less-developed country controlled by
private business interest rather than other governments.
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Example: The Dole Fruit company controlled pineapple trade in Hawaii
PATERNALISM
• Policy of treating subject people
as if they were children, providing
for their needs but not giving
them rights.
ASSIMILATION
• Policy in which a nation
forces or encourages a
subject people to adopt its
institutions and customs.
Unsuccessful African Resistance
1. West Africa against the French was led
by Samori Touré.
2. Algeria’s almost 50 year resistance to the
French.
3. Maji Maji Rebellion in German East
Africa against the Germans.
Successful African Resistance
1. Ethiopia was the only African nation
that successfully resisted the
Europeans.
Menelik II
• He became emperor
of Ethiopia in 1889.
• He successfully played
Italians, French, and
British against each
other, all of whom
were striving to bring
Ethiopia into their
spheres of influence.
Menelik II
Battle of Adowa
More Info on Battle of Adowa
(March 1-2, 1896)
• In 1889, shortly after Menelik II had signed a treaty
with Italy, he discovered differences between the
wording of the treaty in the Ethiopian language and in
Italian.
• Menelik II believed he was giving up a tiny portion of
Ethiopia. However, the Italians claimed all of Ethiopia
as a protectorate.
• Meanwhile, Italian forces were advancing into northern
Ethiopia Menelik II declared war.
• Ethiopian forces successfully defeated the Italians and
kept their nation independent.
• After the Battle of Adowa, Menelik II continued to
stockpile rifles and other modern weapons in case
another foreign power challenged Ethiopia’s liberty.
Positive Effects of Colonial Rule in Africa
1. Colonialism reduced local warfare.
2. Humanitarian efforts improved
sanitation and provided hospitals and
schools.
3. Economic expansion of African
products.
4. Infrastructure was built including roads,
railroads, dams, and telephone and
telegraph lines.
Negative Effects of Colonial Rule in Africa
1.Africans lost control of their
land and their independence.
2.African traditional culture
suffered a breakdown.
3.Division of the African
continent into political
boundaries.
• The European powers who carved up
Africa also looked elsewhere for other
lands to control. The Muslim lands that
rimmed the Mediterranean Sea had
largely been claimed as a result of Arab
and Ottoman conquests.
• The Ottoman Empire at its peak
stretched from Hungary in the north,
around the Black Sea, and across Egypt
all the way west to the borders of
Morocco.
GEOPOLITICS
• Foreign policy based on a consideration of the strategic
locations or products of other lands.
• The study of geographic influences on power
relationships in international politics. Geopolitical
theorists have sought to demonstrate the importance
in the determination of foreign policies of
considerations such as the acquisition of natural
boundaries, access to important sea routes, and the
control of strategically important land areas. The term
was first employed in the early 20th century by the
Swedish political scientist Rudolph Kjellén (1864–1922).
Geopolitical factors have become less significant in the
foreign policies of states because of improvements in
communications and transportation.
• World powers were attracted to the Ottoman
Empire due to its strategic location. The Ottomans
controlled access to the Mediterranean and the
Atlantic sea trade.
• The Russians, for example, desperately wanted
passage for its grain exports across the Black Sea
and into the Mediterranean. This desire strongly
influenced Russia’s relations with Ottoman
Empire. Russia attempted to win Ottoman favor,
formed alliances with Ottoman enemies, and
finally waged war against the Ottomans.
Discovery of oil in Persia around 1900 and in the
Arabian peninsula after World War I focused even
more attention on the sea.
CRIMEAN WAR
(1853-1856)
More Info on Crimean
War
• Each generation of Russian czars launched a war on the
Ottomans to try and gain land on the Black Sea. The purpose
was to gain a warm-weather port.
• In 1853, war broke out between the Russians and the
Ottomans.
• Britain and France wanted to prevent the Russians from gaining
control of additional Ottoman lands. So they entered the war
on the side of the Ottoman Empire.
• The combined forces of the Ottoman Empire, Britain, and
France defeated Russia.
• The Crimean War was the first war in which women, led by
Florence Nightingale, established their position as army nurses.
• It was also the first war to be covered by newspaper
correspondents.
CRIMEAN WAR
(Continued)
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More Info on Crimean
War
The Crimean War (1853-1856) stemmed from Russia’s threat to multiple European interests with its pressure of
Turkey. After demanding Russian evacuation of the Danubian Principalities, British and French forces laid siege
to the city of Sevastopol in 1854. The campaign lasted for a full year, with the Battle of Balaclava and its “Charge
of the Light Brigade” among its famous skirmishes. Facing mounting losses and increased resistance from
Austria, Russia agreed to the terms of the 1856 Treaty of Paris. Remembered in part for Florence Nightingale’s
work for the wounded, the Crimean War reshaped Europe’s power structure.
The Crimean War was a result of Russian pressure on Turkey; this threatened British commercial and strategic
interests in the Middle East and India. France, having provoked the crisis for prestige purposes, used the war to
cement an alliance with Britain and to reassert its military power.
Anglo-French forces secured Istanbul before attacking Russia in the Black Sea, the Baltic, the Arctic, and the
Pacific, supported by a maritime blockade. In September 1854 the allies landed in the Crimea, planning to
destroy Sevastopol and the Russian Fleet in six weeks before withdrawing to Turkey. After victory on the River
Alma, they hesitated; the Russians then reinforced the city and attacked the allied flank at the battles of
Balaklava and the Inkerman. After a terrible winter, the allies cut Russian logistics by occupying the Sea of Azov;
then, using superior sea-based logistics, they forced the Russians out of Sevastopol, which fell on September 8–
9, 1855.
In the Baltic, also a major theater, the allies captured the Åland fortress of Bomarsund in 1854, and destroyed
Sveaborg, the Helsinki dockyard, in 1855. These operations detained 200,000 Russian troops in the theater. The
British prepared to destroy Cronstadt and St. Petersburg in 1856, using armored warships, steam gunboats, and
mortar vessels.
Forced to accept defeat, Russia sought peace in January 1856. It had lost 500,000 troops, mostly to disease,
malnutrition, and exposure; its economy was ruined, and its primitive industries were incapable of producing
modern weapons. Allied war aims were limited to securing Turkey, although for reasons of prestige Napoleon III
wanted a European conference to secure his dynasty.
The Peace of Paris, signed on March 30, 1856, preserved Ottoman rule in Turkey until 1914, crippled Russia,
facilitated the unification of Germany, and revealed the power of Britain and the importance of sea power in
global conflict. It had a major influence on the conduct of the American Civil War. The use of the term Crimean
and a fascination with striking events such as “the Charge of the Light Brigade,” have obscured the scale and
significance of the conflict.
• The Crimean War revealed the Ottoman Empire’s
military weakness. Despite the help of Britain and
France, the Ottoman Empire continued to lose
lands.
• The Russians came to the aid of the Slavic people
in the Balkans who rebelled against the Ottomans.
The Ottomans lost control of Romania,
Montenegro, Cyprus, Bosnia, Herzegovina, and an
area that became Bulgaria.
• The Ottomans lost land in Africa too.
• By the beginning of World War I, the Ottoman
Empire was reduced in size and in deep decline.
“GREAT GAME”
Great Article on
the "Great Game"
• Geopolitical struggle between Great Britain
and Russia over Muslim lands in Central
Asia.
• Russia sought to extend its empire and gain
access to India's riches. Britain defended
its colony and also attempted to spread tis
empire beyond India's borders.
• Afghanistan, which lay between the Russian
and British empires, became the center of
their struggle.
AFGHANISTAN
• In the 1800’s, Afghanistan was an independent Muslim
kingdom.
• Afghanistan’s dry, mountainous terrain and determined
people continually frustrated the invading imperial
powers.
• After decades of fighting, Great Britain finally withdrew
from Afghanistan in 1881.
• In 1921, Britain formally agreed that its empire would
not extend beyond the Khyber Pass, which borders
eastern Afghanistan.
• The newly formed Soviet Union, meanwhile, signed a
nonaggression pact with Afghanistan in 1921. This
agreement was honored until the Soviet Union invaded
Afghanistan in 1979.
Muhammad Ali
(1769—1849)
• He was an officer of the
Ottoman army who in 1805
seized power and established a
separate Egyptian state.
• Through the combined efforts
of European powers,
Muhammad Ali and his heirs
were recognized as the
hereditary rulers of Egypt.
• Muhammad Ali introduced a
series of reforms to modernize
Egypt. He modernized the
army, set up a public school
system, and helped create small
industries.
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali
(1769—1849)
• In 1831, Ali fought a series of battles in
which he gained control of Syria and Arabia.
• Muhammad Ali also directed a shift in the
Egyptian agricultural landscape by shifting to
a plantation cash crop—cotton. This brought
Egypt into the international marketplace but
at a cost to the peasants. They lost the use
of lands they traditionally farmed and were
forced to grow cash crops in place of food
crops.
Isma’il
(1830-1895)
• Grandson of Muhammad Ali.
• Viceroy of Egypt
under Ottoman suzerainty,
1863–1879, whose
administrative policies,
notably the accumulation of
an enormous foreign debt,
were instrumental in leading
to British occupation of Egypt
in 1882.
• Supported construction of
the Suez Canal.
Isma’il
SUEZ CANAL
• The growing economic importance of
the Nile Valley along with the
development of steamships gave
Europeans a desire to build a canal east
of Cairo to connect the Mediterranean
and Red Seas.
• In 1854 Ferdinand de Lesseps, a
Frenchman, signed a contract to build
the Suez Canal.
• The Suez Canal was completed in 1869.
SUEZ CANAL
(Continued)
• It was built
mainly with
French money
from private
interest
groups, using
Egyptian labor.
More Info on Suez Canal
• British economic interests began in India in the
1600’s, when the British East India Company set
up trading posts at Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta.
At first, India’s ruling Mughal Dynasty kept
European traders under control. By 1707,
however, the Mughal Empire was collapsing.
Dozens of small states, each headed by a ruler or
maharajah, broke away from Mughal control. In
1757, Robert Clive led East India Company troops
in a decisive victory over Indian forces allied with
the French at the Battle of Plassey. From that time
until 1858, the East India Company was the
leading power in India.
EAST INDIA COMPANY
• During the 18th century British
power in India increased as the
power of the Mogul rulers declined.
• To rule India, the British East India
Company had its own soldiers and
forts. It also hired Indian soldiers,
called sepoys, to protect the
company’s interests.
SEPOYS
• An Indian
soldier serving
under British
command.
“Jewel in the Crown”
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India was considered the “Jewel in the Crown” for the British
Empire due to India's resources and location.
Britain exploited India's natural assets. In the picture to the
left, the British are metaphorically "milking" the raw
materials out of India.
They traded Indian pepper, cotton, Chinese silk, porcelain,
fine spices, tea, and coffee. During the Industrial Revolution,
Britain needed raw materials and new markets, which India
had.
India’s value of raw cotton exports increased from 10
million rupees to 60 million rupees in 1849 to 1869 and to
410 million rupees in 1913. India also imported more
because of their growing exports: The value of finished
cotton products imported into India rose from 50,000 in
1814 to 5.2 million in 1829 and 30 million rupees in 1890.
These statistics meant that Britain took millions of rupees of
raw materials and then sold the transformed materials back
to India.
Being considered the “Jewel in the Crown” also meant that
India was strategically placed. India is in between England
and China so it was perfect for the silk trade. England
wanted to trade with China, and India is on the way to China
POSITIVE IMPACTS OF COLONIALISM IN INDIA
Building the 3rd largest railroad network in the
world in India.
1.
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2.
Building and improving infrastructure in India.
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3.
Infrastructure included: modern road networks,
telephone and telegraph lines, dams, bridges,
irrigation canals, and sanitation.
Literacy increased in India.
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4.
Railroads enabled India to develop a modern
economy and brought unity to the connected
regions.
The British founded schools, colleges, and
universities.
British troops cleared India of bandits and put an
end to local warfare.
NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF COLONIALISM IN INDIA
1. British held much of the political
and economic power in India.
2. British restriction of Indianowned industries.
3. British emphasis on cash crops.
4. Increased presence of
missionaries and the attitude of
most British officials threatened
traditional Indian life.
Mangal Pandey
(1827-1857)
• Indian soldier,
whose attack on
British officers on
March 29, 1857, was
the first major
incident of what
came to be known
as the Sepoy, Mutiny
Mangal Pandey
SEPOY MUTINY
• The widespread but unsuccessful
rebellion against British rule in India in
1857–1858.
• Begun in Meerut by Indian troops
(sepoys) in the service of the
British East India Company, it spread
to Delhi, Agra, Kanpur, and Lucknow.
• In India it is often called the First War
of Independence and other similar
names.
SEPOY MUTINY
(Continued)
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To regard the rebellion merely as a sepoy mutiny is to underestimate the root causes leading to it. British
paramountcy—i.e., the belief in British dominance in Indian political, economic, and cultural life—had been
introduced in India about 1820. The British increasingly used a variety of tactics to usurp control of the Hindu
princely states that were under what were called subsidiary alliances with the British. Everywhere the old
Indian aristocracy was being replaced by British officials. One notable British technique was called the doctrine
of lapse, first perpetrated byLord Dalhousie in the late 1840s. It involved the British prohibiting a Hindu ruler
without a natural heir from adopting a successor and, after the ruler died or abdicated, annexing his land. To
those problems may be added the growing discontent of the Brahmans, many of whom had been dispossessed
of their revenues or had lost lucrative positions.
Another serious concern was the increasing pace of Westernization, by which Hindu society was being affected
by the introduction of Western ideas. Missionaries were challenging the religious beliefs of the Hindus. The
humanitarian movement led to reforms that went deeper than the political superstructure. During his tenure
as governor-general of India (1848–56), Lord Dalhousie made efforts toward emancipating women and had
introduced a bill to remove all legal obstacles to the remarriage of Hindu widows. Converts to Christianity were
to share with their Hindu relatives in the property of the family estate. There was a widespread belief that the
British aimed at breaking down the caste system. The introduction of Western methods of education was a
direct challenge to orthodoxy, both Hindu and Muslim.
The mutiny broke out in the Bengal army because it was only in the military sphere that Indians were
organized. The pretext for revolt was the introduction of the new Enfield rifle. To load it, the sepoys had to bite
off the ends of lubricated cartridges. A rumour spread among the sepoys that the grease used to lubricate the
cartridges was a mixture of pigs’ and cows’ lard; thus, to have oral contact with it was an insult to both Muslims
and Hindus. There is no conclusive evidence that either of these materials was actually used on any of the
cartridges in question. However, the perception that the cartridges were tainted added to the larger suspicion
that the British were trying to undermine Indian traditional society. For their part, the British did not pay
enough attention to the growing level of sepoy discontent.
SEPOY MUTINY
(Continued)
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In late March 1857 a sepoy named Mangal Pandey attacked British officers at the military garrison
in Barrackpore. He was arrested and then executed by the British in early April. Later in April sepoy
troopers at Meerut refused the Enfield cartridges, and, as punishment, they were given long prison
terms, fettered, and put in jail. This punishment incensed their comrades, who rose on May 10, shot
their British officers, and marched to Delhi, where there were no European troops. There the local sepoy
garrison joined the Meerut men, and by nightfall the aged pensionary Mughal emperor Bahādur Shah
II had been nominally restored to power by a tumultuous soldiery. The seizure of Delhi provided a focus
and set the pattern for the whole mutiny, which then spread throughout northern India. With the
exception of the Mughal emperor and his sons and Nana Sahib, the adopted son of the
deposed Maratha peshwa, none of the important Indian princes joined the mutineers.
From the time of the mutineers’ seizure of Delhi, the British operations to suppress the mutiny were
divided into three parts. First came the desperate struggles at Delhi, Kanpur, and Lucknow during the
summer; then the operations around Lucknow in the winter of 1857–58, directed by Sir Colin Campbell;
and finally the “mopping up” campaigns of Sir Hugh Rose in early 1858. Peace was officially declared on
July 8, 1858.
A grim feature of the mutiny was the ferocity that accompanied it. The mutineers commonly shot their
British officers on rising and were responsible for massacres at Delhi, Kanpur, and elsewhere. The
murder of women and children enraged the British, but in fact some British officers began to take severe
measures before they knew that any such murders had occurred. In the end the reprisals far outweighed
the original excesses. Hundreds of sepoys were bayoneted or fired from cannons in a frenzy of British
vengeance (though some British officers did protest the bloodshed).
SEPOY MUTINY
(Continued)
Video on Sepoy Mutiny
• As a result of the Sepoy uprising, the
British Parliament transferred the powers
of the British East India Company to the
British government.
• In 1876 Queen Victoria acquired the title
of Empress of India.
RAJ
•British rule after India
came under the British
crown during the reign
of Queen Victoria.
• In the early 1800’s, some Indians began
demanding more modernization and a greater
role in governing themselves. Ram Mohn Roy
began a campaign to modernize and westernize
India. Nationalism also began to surface in India.
• The slow pace of reform convinced most Indian
nationalists they had to do more. In 1885 a small
group of Indians formed the Indian National
Congress (INC). At first it called only for a share
in the governing process, not full independence.
A split between Hindus and Muslims plagued the
INC. Muslims began to call for a separate league
to better represent the interests of India’s
millions of Muslims. The Muslim League was
formed in 1906.
Ram Mohun Roy
(1772-1833)
• Indian religious
and educational
reformer.
• Sometimes
called the
“father of
modern India.”
Ram Mohun Roy
Ram Mohun Roy
(Continued)
• Roy was born to a wealthy and devout Brahman family in Bengal. He early
mastered several languages and subsequently employed them in a study of
the religions of the world. After a successful administrative career in the
British East India Company, he retired (1815) and devoted himself to
rejuvenating Hindu culture. He sought to preserve essential Hinduism,
which he recognized as a strong unifying force in India, while removing from
it the elements of idolatry, discrimination against women, and the caste
system. Thus, he founded in Calcutta (now Kolkata) the Atmiya Sabha
[friendly association], an organization that served as a platform for his
liberal ideas. Roy formulated, notably in The Precepts of Jesus (1820), an
adaptation of Christianity that accepted its ethical and humanitarian
teachings while rejecting its theology. To spread his teachings, Roy founded
newspapers in English, Persian, and Bengali and established several
secondary schools that used English educational methods. He felt that India
would have to absorb Western ideas to become a modern state. In 1828 he
replaced the Amityo Sabha with the Brahmo Samaj [society of god], an
organization that exerted a deep and continuing influence on Indian
intellectual, social, and religious life. In 1830, Roy became one of the first
Indians to travel to Britain; he died there, and is buried in Bristol.
• Just as the European powers rushed to
divide Africa, they also competed to carve up
the lands of Southeast Asia. Western
nations desired the Pacific Rim lands for
their strategic location along the sea route to
China. Westerners also recognized the value
of the Pacific colonies as sources of tropical
agriculture, minerals, and oil. As the
European powers began to appreciate the
value of the area, they challenged each
other for their own parts of the prize.
Pacific Rim
•The lands
surrounding
the pacific
Ocean—
especially
those in
Asia.
Map of Pacific Rim
• A Demand for Asian products drove Western imperialists to seek possession
of Southeast Asian lands. European nations also grabbed land in Southeast
Asia and the islands on the edge of the Pacific Ocean. They wanted the area
for its resources and because it was close to China. The United States joined
this quest for colonies. European powers found that these lands were good
for growing such cash crops as sugar, coffee, cocoa, rubber, and fruit. As
trade in these items grew, Europeans moved to take more land. The Dutch
ran Indonesia, where their settlers remained at the top of society. The
British took the port of Singapore plus Malaysia and Burma (modern
Myanmar). Needing workers, the British brought many Chinese to
Malaysia. France grabbed Indochina (modern Laos, Cambodia, and
Vietnam). They made farmers grow rice for export. Because most of the
rice was shipped away, the farmers had less to eat even though they were
growing more rice than before. One land—Siam (modern Thailand)—
stayed independent. King Mongkut and his son modernized Siam without
giving up power. Colonialism brought some features of modern life to these
regions. However, economic changes benefited European-run businesses,
not local people. The native peoples did benefit from better schooling,
health, and cleanliness. Plantation farming brought millions of people from
other areas to Southeast Asia. The mix of cultures and religions did not
always go smoothly. Even today, some conflict between groups results from
this period.
• In the late 1800s, the United States also began to seek
colonies. In 1898, as a result of the Spanish-American
War, the United States won possession of Puerto Rico,
Guam, and the Philippine Islands.
• Filipino nationalists fought Americans for their
freedom, just as they had fought the Spaniards before.
The United States defeated the rebels and promised to
give the Philippines self-rule later. In the meantime,
American businesses took advantage of Filipino
workers.
• Some American businessmen grew wealthy from sugar
plantations in Hawaii. In the 1890s, when Queen
Liliuokalani tried to regain control of her country, they
overthrew her. They declared a republic and asked the
United States to annex—take possession of—Hawaii. In
1898, it became a territory of the United States.
Queen Liliuokalani
(1838-1917)
• She was the last reigning
monarch of the Hawaiian
islands.
• She felt her mission was
to preserve the islands
for their native residents.
• In 1898, Hawaii was
annexed to the United
States and Queen
Liliuokalani was forced to
give up her throne.
More Information on Queen Liliuokalani
Queen Liliuokalani
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