Transcript Imperialism, Alliances, and the Road to War - APEH

Imperialism, Alliances, and the
Road to War
1850-1900
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Europe exercised influence over rest of world:
emigrants streamed out
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almost all of Africa divided b/t European nations,
dominance formed a world economy
Fostered hostility and competition in Europe and a
terrible war that undermined it’s strength
peace settlement disillusioned idealists in the West,
treated Germany harshly
frenzy for imperial expansion destroyed Europe’s
peace, prosperity and dominance
Expansion of European
Power and New Imperialism
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Explosive developments in science, industry
agriculture and military powered Europe
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allowed a few Europeans to impose will on others
Science
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Improved medicine- Anesthesia and
antiseptics, Quinine to control malaria
Improved sanitation = healthier population
Europeans had another weapon:
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they thought their way of life was better to everyone else’s
19th Century Military advantages
Europe
Non-European Areas
FirepowerMinié ball (bullet)
Breech-loading rifle
Machine gun – 1883 Maxim gun
Africa- Spears and Cowhide Shields
India and China- Muskets and Cannons
Japan- Swords, Muskets and Cannons
Ironclad ships
China- Wooden “junks”
Mass production
Hand made production
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Europeans had another weapon:
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they thought their way of life was better to everyone else’s
The New Imperialism
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Colonial expansion seen as bad until 1867
 contradicted capitalism
After 1867
 European states spread control over 1/5 world land area:
Invested capital in less industrialized countries
 transform local economy and culture and would loan
money or intimidate local rulers
Failing that dominant power would establish more direct
political control
 full annexation
 Colony
 Protectorate
 ”spheres of influence”
Motives for the New Imperialism: The
Economic Interpretation
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Lenin: “Imperialism is the monopoly stage
of capitalism”
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European powers didn’t make full monopoly
not many colonies formed
Cultural, Religious, and Social
Interpretations
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Justifications for imperialism
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duty to bring civilization to backward peoples
tool of social policy
Britain
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Joseph Chamberlain argued for empire as
source of profit to finance welfare
some argued colonies would attract a country’s
excess population
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most went to America)
Imperialism and European Society
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Policies in colonial possessions were often used
as test beds for social policy at home; hospitals,
schools, law enforcement, and infrastructure
was often tested in colonies.
Imperialistic ventures were used as nationalistic
propaganda at home and was a way of forming
national unity in the face of class tensions.
Liberals often opposed imperial ventures where
conservatives favored them.
The British Empire
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India
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By the mid 1850’s, most of the local Indian states
were controlled by the East India Company.
In 1857, Indian troops rebelled against British rule in
the Great Mutiny (aka the Sepoy Rebellion).
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Began as a result of BEIC abuses, cultural frictions, and
rumors of pig and cow fat used in powder charges (insult
to Hindus and Muslims)
As a result, the British government took direct rule
of India in 1858 (British Raj)
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Independence movement had to find balance of positive and
negative aspects of British rule – Indian National Congress
Execution of Sepoys:
“The Devil’s Wind”
Indian National Congress
(formed in 1885)
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Educated Indians, predominantly
Hindu, demanded increasing equality &
self-gov't
India became independent in 1946 (just
after WWII)
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China
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The British Empire
The British established a trade system of importing
opium from India to China in return for tea during the
19th century.
When the Chinese government attempted to stop
this, Britain went to war with China in 1842 (the
Opium War).
China was quickly defeated, resuming the import of
opium and Britain annexed Hong Kong in 1842.
As a result of further conflict, namely the Taiping
Rebellion, China gave away more of its sovereignty.
Strategic and Political Interpretations:
the Scramble for Africa
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Great Britain
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Only power w/extensive overseas holdings on
eve of the scramble
Britain purchased major interest in Suez canal
1875
when Egypt troubled, British established
control/advanced into Sudan
North Africa
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Who took over N. Africa
How was the take over of North Africa
unique?
What specific territories were taken over?
Egypt
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Who took over Egypt
How was the take over of Egypt unique?
What issues made Egypt a complicated
territory to control?
What specific territories were taken over?
The Belgian Congo
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Who took over the Congo
How was the take over of the Congo
unique?
What issues made the Congo a
complicated territory to control?
What specific territories were taken over?
France and Smaller Nations
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1830
sent expedition to attack pirates in Algiers
extended their control
took over Algeria, Tunisia, annexed West
Africa, Congo and Madagascar
smaller states acquired new African
colonies
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compelled Britain to expand
political status equated with # of colonies
Germany:
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Bismarck declared protectorates over
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Southwest
East Africa
Togoland
Cameroons
acquired only for diplomatic position
The Irrational Element
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Germany’s annexations started scramble
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areas not profitable/strategic
In Asia, Japan emerged as great power
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Frightened other powers interested in China
Russia, France and Germany forced Japan out of
Liaotung Peninsula
US proposed Open Door Policy 1899
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By turn of century
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became informal protectorate for all of Western Hemisphere
most of world came under industrialized West(except
for Ottoman Empire
fate closely tied w/European developments)
Reactions to Imperialism
Egypt, 1798-1882
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Muhammad Ali (1769-1849) controls Egypt after
French leave and Ottomans are ineffective
Expands Egyptian power to Sudan and Arabia
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Ali a moderate on religion but faces Wahabism
Son Ismail agrees with French to build Suez Canal
Modernization policy had mixed results
Egyptian power underscores Ottoman weakness
China 1800-1914
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Carved into spheres of influence
in late 19th century - Britain,
France, Germany, Russia and
Japan each came to control a
piece of eastern China
Dr. Sun Yat-sen
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Sought to overthrow the Manchu
Sparked the beginning of a Chinese
nationalist movement
Open Door Policy,
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sponsored by the U.S. in 1899, sought
to open commerce to imperial
latecomers
Urged the Europeans to allow free
trade within China while respecting its
territorial integrity.
China, 1800-1914
The Boxer Rebellion, 1898-1900
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Boxers were nationalists seeking to drive Europeans
out of China
Western victory results in more concessions from
China to the West
Promoters of modernization in China opposed by
Empress Cixi who served as regent to emperor
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Sun Yat-sen leads nationalist revolt to end Manchu dynasty
in 1911
The Boxer Rebellion: 1900
The Peaceful Harmonious Fists.
“55 Days at Peking.”
Anti-colonial revolts
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Benefits of empire (jobs, e.g.) accompanied by resentment
at discrimination
Colonials initially sought restoration of idealized,
independent past
Later movements sought freedom within setting of modern
institutions
– Young Turks
– African National Congress (South Africa)
Imperialism Cultural Effects
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Artifacts and ideas from non-European
sources influenced artists like Gauguin
and Picasso - Primitivism
Authors like Kipling and Conrad wrote
from their own experiences both the
pro and con views of Imperialism
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Kipling- White Man’s Burden
Conrad – Heart of Darkness
Emergence of the German Empire and
the Alliance Systems (1873-1890)
German Empire revolutionized
diplomacy
 Britain/Russia retained standings
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Austria severely weakened
 nationalism
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threatened disintegration
France damaged by Franco-Prussian
War
 afraid
of new neighbor
Bismarck’s Leadership (1873-1890)
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After 1871, Bismarck declared
Germany satisfied
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didn’t want territory
afraid of war
cooled French resentment
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prevented alliance of France
w/another nation
War in the Balkans
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Bismarck established Three Emperors’
League:
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Germany/ Austria/Russia(1873)
 Collapsed
from Austro-Russian rivalry from
Turkish War in 1875
 Ottoman weakness caused
Serbia/Montenegro/others to rebel
 Russia joined fray
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Ottoman Empire forced to sue for peace:
 Treaty of San Stefano:(1878)
 Russian victory
 got money/land,
 alarmed other powers, jingoism: superpatriotism
The Congress of Berlin
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Disraeli sent fleet to Constantinople
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Britain/Austria/ Russia met at Berlin
under Bismarck
 Bulgaria
reduced,
 Austria-Hungary given
Bosnia/Herzegovina
 some territories divided up
Balkan states annoyed by settlement
 resented Austrian occupation
 south Slavic question a threat to Europe
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German Alliances with Russia and
Austria
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Bismarck made secret treaty w/Austria
Would aid each other if attacked by Russia
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Frightened Russia into bargaining w/Germany
Aimed to resolve conflicts in Balkans
w/Austria
The Triple Alliance
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Italy joined dual Alliance with Austria and
Germany 1882
Bismarck negotiated the Reinsurance
Treaty
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Russia would stay neutral if attacked
William II gained German throne in 1888
Impetuous
 disagreed strongly w/Bismarck, wanted an empire
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Forging of the Triple Entente (1890-1907)
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Franco-Russian Alliance
after Bismarck’s retirement in 1890
 system of alliances collapsed
 succeeded by General Leo von Caprivi
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 alienated
Russia
 drove Russians toward France
 alliance against Germany signed 1894
Britain and Germany
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Germany became enemy in British eyes
 overtook British production
 William II tried to ally w/Britain, but changed his mind
 Barred British attempts to build railroad from Capetown to
Cairo
 other blocking in Africa: wanted to show Britain that
Germany could make trouble for them
Germany got a navy in 1898 under Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz,
 doomed to failure,
 wasted German resources/began naval race w/Britain, they
abandoned friendship
At first, Britain wasn’t concerned
 embarrassed from Boer war
 tried to make Alliance
 Germans refused, held out for greater concessions
The Entente Cordiale
British ended “splendid isolation”
 Allied w/Japan to defend against
Russia,
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settled differences w/France
 after Russo-Japanese War of 1905
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 British
apprehension toward Russia was
lowered
The First Moroccan Crisis
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1905, William II tried instigating
independence in Morocco
challenge to France
 Germans demanded international
conference to show power
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 met
in 1906 in Spain
Austria sided w/Germans
 Spain sided w/Britain/ France:
 Germany overplayed their hand, pushed
France/Britain together
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British Agreement with Russia
 With French support
British made agreement with Russia like
Entente Cordiale
 settled quarrels in Asia
 Triple Entente formed vs. Triple Alliance
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 Germany
felt encircled
let up on Austria in Dual Alliance
 Bismarck’s alliances shattered
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The Road to War (1908-1914)
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Ottoman empire controlled strip of Balkan
Peninsula,
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mostly nationalist Slavs,
wanted Serbia to unite Slavic provinces(Bosnia
especially);
Young Turks brought revolution in Ottoman
Empire 1908
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threatened to revive it and stop European powers
from pouncing on its corpse
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1908,
The Bosnian Crisis
Austria/Russia made deal:
 Russia would support annexation of
Bosnia/Herzogovina if Austria
supported opening of Dardanelles to
Russian warships
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Austria annexed 1st
Russians were refused Dardanelle demand by
Britain/France;
 Serbs frustrated by annexation,
 Triple Entente strained by Britain/France’s
refusal
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The Second Moroccan Crisis
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Germany sent gunboat Panther to Morocco
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angered Britain
turned Entente Cordiale into a de facto alliance
War in the Balkans
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Italy wanted Libya, attacked Ottoman empire,
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– in 1912, many states attacked empire/won
easily
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forced Turkey to cede Libya;/islands, encouraged Balkan
states to attack
dispute over division of territory,
2nd Balkan War in 1913
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Austria determined to suppress Slavs
Serbs retreat
Austrians got better results from brute force than
diplomacy