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Western Civilization II
HIS-102
Unit 9 – Politics, Imperialism, and Colonialism 1870-1914
Second Industrial Revolution
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By the late 1890s, there were a variety of cheaper ways
to make steel
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Led to the rapid expansion of the steel industry
Britain embraced the use of steel for its ships
Steel industry was dominated by Germany and the U.S.
Electricity
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Alessandro Volta invented the chemical battery in 1800
Michael Faraday discovered electromagnetic induction which
led to the first electromagnetic generator in 1866
By the 1880s, alternators and transformers produce highvoltage alternating current
Edison invented the incandescent-filament lamp in 1879
Second Industrial Revolution
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Chemicals
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Efficient production of alkali and sulfuric acid
Transformed manufacture of paper, soaps, textiles, and fertilizer
British led the way in soaps and cleaners and in mass marketing
German production focused on industrial uses (e.g., synthetic
dyes and refining petroleum)
Petroleum
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Development of liquid-fuel internal combustion engine
Mainly pushed by the rise of the automotive and aviation
industries
By 1914, most navies had converted from coal to oil
Discovery of oil fields in Russia, Borneo, Persia, and Texas
Second Industrial Revolution
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Other technological developments included:
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Started in Britain and Belgium
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First of the great tunnels: Mount Cenis (1873) and the Simplon
(1906) in the Alps
Large canals: Suez (1869), Kiel (1895), and Panama (1914)
Telephone (1875)
Transatlantic wireless communications (1902)
Spread to the rest of Europe and the United States
Major European manufacturers were Britain, Germany,
and France
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Accounted for 7/10’s manufacturing in 1914
Produced 4/5 of Europe’s steel, coal, and machinery
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Paris Bon Marché Department Store
Effects of Technology on Industry
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New technology brought changes in scope and scale to
industry
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Part of the race toward a bigger, faster, cheaper, and more
efficient world
Rise of heavy industry and mass marketing
Creation of national mass cultures
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Followed the news and how Europe spread its influence
throughout the world
Feats of engineering mastery including canals, railroads, and
dams
Generated enormous income for builders, investors, and
entrepreneurs
Effects of Technology on Industry
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Impact of these changes on Europe
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Population grew constantly, especially in central and eastern
Europe
Food shortages declined due to improvements in crop yields
and shipping
Improvements in medicine and hygiene led to the decline of
many diseases including cholera and typhus
Led to longer life spans and reduced infant mortality rates
Creation of consumption culture
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Consumption as a center of economic activity and theory
Appearance of the department store
Development of modern advertising
Introduction of credit payments to help the working class
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Advertisement for
Motocycles Comiot
(1899)
Rise of the Corporation
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Prior to this period, most businesses were financed either
by individual investors or joint-stock operations
This began to change in the late 19th century
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Due to economic growth and demands of mass consumption
Needed to mobilize funds to help grow large-scale enterprises
Rise of the modern corporation
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Limited-liability laws gave protection to stockholders
Would only lose their share value in the event of bankruptcy
Middle classes now considered corporate investment
promising
Rise of the Corporation
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Larger corporations became necessary for survival
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Focused mainly on the desire for increased profits
Shifted control from the family to distant bankers and
financiers
Demand for technical expertise which led to the rise of
technical degrees
Creation of the white collar class: middle-level salaried
managers, neither owners nor laborers
Consolidation of smaller businesses would protect industries
from cyclical fluctuations and unbridled competition
Rise of the Corporation
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Vertical integration
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Horizontal integration
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Industries controlled every step of production
From acquisition of raw materials to distribution of finished
goods
Organized into cartels
Companies in the same industry would band together
Fixing prices and controlling competition
Coal, oil, and steel were particularly well-adapted
Dominant trend was increased cooperation between
government and industry
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Appearance of businessmen and financiers as officers of state
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Carville Power Station Newcastle upon Tyne (c. 1904)
International Economics
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Rapid industrialization led to stronger competition
amongst nations
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Trade barriers arose to protect home markets
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Search for markets, goods, and influence fueled imperial
expansion
Creation of an interlocking, worldwide system of
manufacturing, trade, and finance
All nations except Britain raised tariffs
Needs of nation-states trumped laissez-faire economics
Near-universal adoption of the gold standard
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Allowed for the exchange of currency
Also allowed the use of a third country to mediate trade
imbalances
European “Balance of Payments”
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Development of free trade
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Most European countries imported more goods than they
exported
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Initiated by Britain after the repeal of Corn Laws in 1846
France adopted free trade in 1860
By 1914, most European countries adopted free trade
Britain and other industrial countries (Europe’s “inner zone”)
imported mainly raw materials for its manufacturing and food
This led to an unfavorable balance of trade
Big question: how to pay for all the goods imported?
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How to develop a favorable “balance of payments”?
European “Balance of Payments”
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Invisible Exports
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Export of European capital
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Included shipping and insurance and interested on money lent
Example: British ship owners would be paid to bring goods to
across the Atlantic
Development of insurance: Lloyds of London
Helped bridge the gap in trade
European financiers would invest in foreign companies
Included areas such as U.S., South America, and Asia
Europe also exported people to colonies
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Mainly poorer classes would be used to help jump-start
economies in the colonies
The Gold Standard
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International economy was dependent on an international
money system
Development of the gold standard
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First adopted by England in 1821
£1 Sterling = 113g of fine gold
Value of most European currencies remained stable through
1914
Problems
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Gold production lagged behind expanding industries
Led to a fall of prices between 1870-1900
Farming class was hit hardest as they were constantly
borrowing money
The Gold Standard
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Some did benefit from falling prices
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Included wage earners and wealthy
Financiers did well as the money they received in payments
was worth more than the original loan
London was center of global economy
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Benefitted from large indemnities post-Napoleon
Banks gave out loans for countries fighting in wars
Because they began the gold standard, many people outside of
Britain kept their funds in British sterling
Also became the main center for currency exchange
Center of world’s shipping and international corporations
Labor Politics
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Changes in the European working class
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Labor unions had been frowned upon by European
leaders
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Workers resented corporate power
In the 18th century, extensive legislation was passed making
them illegal
Even revolutionaries were against them
Changed with the rise of “bourgeois” liberalism
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Unions started to become accepted and formally legalized in
the second half of the 19th century
Bolstered by the prosperity of the 1850s
Labor Politics
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“New Model” Unionism
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Took the unions out of politics
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Began in the 1850s in Britain
Restricted to a particular trade (e.g., coal miners) instead of all
workers
Focused on the advancement of that specific trade
Gave labor power to negotiate wages and conditions of work
Leaders started working with employers to avoid strikes
Provided the framework for the socialist mass party
Industrial unionism
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Brought unskilled workers into the ranks
Labor Politics
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Britain led the pack in unions
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Taff-Vale Decision (1901)
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Partially due to its advanced industrialism
Made it less socialist than its continental counterparts
Court decision that stated a union was responsible for
business losses during a strike
Opposition to this decision helped to bolster the Labour Party
Changes in national political structure
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Opened the political process to new participants
New constituencies of working-class men
Labor’s struggle with capital cast on a national scale
Socialist organizations turned to reform
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Membership form for
the International
Working Men’s
Association
Advance of Democracy
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Characteristics of 1871-1914 Europe
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Expansive material and industrial growth
Domestic stability
International peace
New wave of imperialism
Expansion of global economy
Period after 1871 was marked by stability
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Period of constitutional and representative governments
Extension of voting rights to working class
Extension of self-government (democracy)
Growth of the welfare state to counteract growth of socialism
Third French Republic
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France had troubles establishing a democratic republic
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The Second Empire fell after its surrender to Prussia in January
1871
New government was to be established with universal male
suffrage
Conservative provisional government moved to Versailles
Elections of 1871
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Monarchists won the majority in the National Assembly
Divided mainly between two groups: Legitimists and Orléanists
Legitimists wanted Bourbon dynasty (Charles X) reinstated
Orléanists wanted the Orléans dynasty (Louis-Philippe)
Only 150 republicans were elected as many French distrusted
them as too radical
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Makeup of the 1871 National Assembly
Third French Republic
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Parisian working class refused to accept the new
government
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Were the ones who sacrificed the most during the war and the
subsequent siege of Paris
Paris refused to surrender to the Germans
Paris Commune (March 18 – May 28, 1871)
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Paris proclaimed itself to be the true government of France
Set up a government called the Paris Commune
Pitted the nation against the radical city of Paris
Policies were similar to the Jacobins
Very anti-bourgeoisie and upper class
Contained some socialists but mainly republicans
Third French Republic
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Government sends troops to Paris in March 1871
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Barricades and street fighting
Troops were able to take the city in May
In total, over 25,000 died, most of them executed
Over 30,000 were arrested and 7,500 deported to New
Caledonia
What form should the new government take?
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Monarchists had the majority but could not agree
Legitimists and Orléanists ended up cancelling each other out
Third Republic continued to exist
Worked different constitutional plans
Third French Republic
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French Constitutional Laws of 1875
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Formally established a republic headed by a president
Senate elected by an indirect system
Chamber of Deputies elected by universal male suffrage
Included a Council of Ministers headed by a Premier
Passed by one vote
Over the next few years the political roles would become
more defined
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President essentially became a ceremonial figure
True power rested in the hands of the Premier
Third French Republic
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Stable government?
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Became difficult to form majority in the parliament due to
dozens of political parties
Control formed through alliances or blocs
Neither President nor Premier could dissolve the Chamber to
hold new elections
Kept the government stable for the rest of 19th century
Troubles of the Third Republic
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Many were fearful of the concept of a republic
Rise in anti-Semitism
Numerous political scandals in the 1880s and 1890s
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Édouard Drumont
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(1844-1917)
Rise of Anti-Semitism
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French Anti-Semitism
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Rose out of the defeat in 1870
Right-wing movement that was nationalist, anti-liberal, and
antiparliamentary
Nationalism was no longer associated with the left and was
now linked to xenophobia
Édouard Drumont (1844–1917)
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Successful anti-Semitic journalist
Attributed all of France’s problems to a Jewish conspiracy
Merged three strands of anti-Semitism
Christian – “Jews as Christ killers”
Economic – Rothschild as representative of all Jews
Racial thinking - Jews as an inferior race
Rise of Anti-Semitism
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Drumont helped to spread an ideology of hatred
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La France Juive (Jewish France, 1886)
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Claimed that Jews in the army subverted national purpose
Mass culture corrupted French culture
“Greedy Jewish socialists and trade unionists” preyed on the
peasants and small shopkeepers
Called for the exclusion of Jews from French society
Sold 100,000 copies in the first two months
La Libre Parole (Free Speech)
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Very popular newspaper
Founded through his Anti-Semitic League
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Alfred Dreyfus
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(1859-1935)
Dreyfus Affair
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Alfred Dreyfus (1859-1935)
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Jewish captain in the French army
Officers accused him of selling secrets to the Germans
Was convicted in November 1894
Sentenced to life imprisonment in the Devil’s Island penal
colony in French Guiana
The Affair
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In 1896, evidence was found that identified another officer as
the true spy
Documents used against Dreyfus were found to be forgaries
However, Dreyfus was not exonerated
Dreyfus Affair
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Émile Zola (1840–1902) backed Dreyfus
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Dreyfus eventually pardoned by the president in 1899
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Wrote an open letter in 1898 accusing the government of
being anti-Semitic and unjust
Described the lack of evidence in the letter
Was published on the front page of L'Aurore
Zola was found guilty of libel and was forced to leave France
Cleared of all guilt in 1906 by the supreme court
Reinstated into the army
Republican reaction against the church
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Saw both the church and army as hostile to the state
Passed laws (1901-1905) separating church and state
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Dreyfus’ hut on
Guiana
Strengths and Weaknesses
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Strengths of the Third French Republic
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Garnered the loyalty of most of the French population
Showed that democratic republicanism can work
Most classes lived in economic comfort
Weaknesses
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Still lagged behind in industry compared to Britain and
Germany
Excessive fragmentation of political parties
More than 50 ministries from 1871-1914
Working class was still unhappy
Continued rise of socialism
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Victoria
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(1837-1901)
British Constitutional Monarchy
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Characteristics of Britain under Victoria (1837-1901)
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Era of expanding industry and material progress
Numerous literary accomplishments
Political stability
Two major political parties: Liberals and Conservatives
Victoria in seclusion
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In 1861, Prince Consort Albert died of typhoid fever
Victoria went into a period of seclusion
This seclusion helped to bolster the republican movement
inside of England
British Constitutional Monarchy
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Parties alternated control during this period
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Conservatives had the support of the landed aristocracy
Liberals had the support of industrial and commercial interests
Both sought the support of the working class
Increasing suffrage
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Second Reform Bill (1867) extended suffrage to 1/3 male
population
In 1884, another law extended it to ¾ of the male population
Universal male suffrage and limited women’s suffrage were
enacted in 1918
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William E. Gladstone
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Prime Minister of
Britain
(1868-1885)
British Constitutional Monarchy
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William E. Gladstone (1809-1898)
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Liberal Prime Minister four times during the Victorian Era
Gladstone’s First ministry (1868-1874)
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Cardwell Reforms (1869) terminated the sale and purchase of
army commissions
Forster's Education Act (1870) set framework for public
schools for children 5-12
University Test Act (1871) abolished religious tests for
Cambridge and Oxford
Ballot Act (1872) introduced the use of secret ballot
Formally legalized labor unions
British Constitutional Monarchy
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Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1888)
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Second Disraeli Ministry (1874-1880)
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Conservative who held position of Prime Minister twice
Supported laissez-faire policies
Public Health Act (1875) regulated public sanitation to stop the
spread of diseases such as cholera and typhus
Regulated workplace safety in the mines
Allowed for peaceful picketing
Gladstone’s Second Ministry (1880-1885)
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Granted a form of workman’s compensation
Included calls for shorter work days
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Benjamin Disraeli
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Prime Minister
(1874-1880)
British Politics after 1900
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Independent Labour Party (1901)
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Changes to the Liberal Party
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Labor emerged as a third political party
Called for more protective measures for the working class
Changed from laissez-faire policies to more government
regulation
Focused more on social legislation to help the working poor
Liberal welfare reforms (1906-1914)
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Done during the ministry of Herbert Asquith (1906-1916)
Illustrated the shift to more progressive liberalism
British Politics after 1900
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Reforms included:
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New forms of insurance (e.g., unemployment, sickness,
accident)
Minimum wage laws
Removing restrictions on strikes and picketing
People’s Budget of 1909
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Pushed through by Chancellor of the Exchequer Lloyd George
Designed to help pay new social reforms
Called for progressive income and inheritance taxes
Aimed primarily at the landed aristocracy
Met tough resistance in both houses
British Politics after 1900
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Parliament Act of 1911
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Liberals also worked on getting salaries for House of
Commons
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Hoped it would get working class to run for seats
However, Liberals were showing signs of collapse
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Removed the right of the House of Lords to veto any
economic matters
Put in a two-year delaying veto for other legislation
Wages were starting to fall after 1900
Major coal and railway strikes occurred in 1911-1912
Labour Party continued to grow in popularity
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Liverpool Transit Strike (1911)
Irish Question
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Act of Union (1800)
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Irish had numerous grievances
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Ireland had been incorporated into the United Kingdom
Part had to do with the Irish Rebellion of 1798
Other part was due to French sympathies generated during
the French Revolution
Tenant farmers had no recourse against their landlords
Were subjugated to the Church of Ireland (Anglican) while
most of the population was Catholic
Gladstone attempted to address these issues
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Church of Ireland was no longer the official state church after
the Irish Church Disestablishment Act 1869
Irish Question
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Home Rule Bills
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First initiated by Gladstone in 1886 but it did not pass the
Commons
Started a split amongst the Liberals
Were attempted again in 1893 and 1914
Passed in 1914 but suspended due to World War I
Ulstermen
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Irish Protestants who strongly opposed the Home Rule Bill
Were afraid of being outnumbered by the Catholics
Gained the support of the Conservatives
Began arming themselves to fight if the bill passed
Signed Ulster Covenant in 1912 to support armed opposition
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Signing the Ulster Covenant (September 28, 1912)
German Empire (1871-1890)
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After 1871, Bismarck worked not with the Conservatives
but with the National Liberals
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Conservatives were still against the concept of a united
Germany
Liberals were more eager to help centralize the state
Setting up the new administration
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Sought to create the centralizing institutions of a modern state
Created a bicameral parliament
Bundesrat – Upper house with appointed delegates
Reichstag - Lower house elected through universal male
suffrage
Executive power rested solely with Wilhelm who was both
king and kaiser (emperor)
German Empire (1871-1890)
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Three problems facing Bismarck:
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Divide between Catholics and Protestants
Growing Social Democratic party
Divisive economic interests of agriculture and industry
Addressing the Catholic Church
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Bismarck wanted to subordinate the Church to the state
First Vatican Council reaffirmed papal infallibility in 1870 which
would cause issues for Catholics in Germany
Catholics created a strong Center party that upheld church
pronouncements
German Empire (1871-1890)
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Kulturkampf (cultural struggle)
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Bismarck unleashed an anti-Catholic campaign
Appealed to sectarian tensions over public education and civil
marriages
Popular with Liberals who were strongly anticlerical
Passed laws that imprisoned priests for political sermons
Banned Jesuits from Prussia
The campaign backfired
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Catholic Center party won seats in the Reichstag in 1874
Bismarck negotiated an alliance with the Catholic Center
German Empire (1871-1890)
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Economic downturn of the late 1870s forced Bismarck to
create a new coalition
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Social Democrats became the new enemies
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Combined agricultural and industrial interests as well as
socially conservative Catholics
Passed protectionist legislation that upset laissez-faire
supporters and the working class
German Social Democratic party (SPD) was formed in 1875
Blend of Marxian socialists and moderate reformers
of the Paris Commune
Attempted assissinations
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In 1878, there were two failed assassination attempts against
Wilhelm
German Empire (1871-1890)
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Anti-SPD legislation
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Bismarck associated socialism with the anarchy
Passed numerous antisocialist laws between 1878 and 1880
Expelled socialists from major cities
The party still managed to win elections even though it was
technically illegal
Bismarck did pass some social welfare
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Workers guaranteed sickness and accident insurance
Rigorous factory inspection
Limited working hours for women and children
Old-age pensions
Still failed to win over the working class
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Wilhelm II
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(1888-1918)
Wilhelm II (1888-1918)
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By 1890, support for the SPD continued to grow
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William II (1888–1918)
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Votes for SPD quadrupled between 1881 and 1890
Wanted Germany to go on a “new course” in 1890
He wanted to rule Germany, not Bismarck
Called for the resignation of Bismarck
Suspended antisocialist legislation and legalized the SPD
SPD continued to gain in popularity
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Received 1/3 total votes in election of 1912
Received 110 members into the Reichstag
However, they were still excluded from the highest
government positions
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Political cartoon
depicting Wilhelm I
“dropping the pilot”
(Bismarck)
Russia: Road to Revolution
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Russia was plagued with problems after 1871
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The autocratic political system was unable to handle the
conflict and pressures from modern society
Threatened by Western industrialization and political doctrines
Russia responded with some reform but repression as well
Russian industrialization (1880s–1890s)
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State-directed industrial development
Serfs emancipated in 1861
No independent middle class capable of raising capital
Rapid industrialization heightened social tensions
Workers left their villages temporarily to work in factories, and
then returned for planting and harvest
Russia: Road to Revolution
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The legal system had not been modernized
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No recognition of trade unions or employers’ associations
Still distinguished between nobles and peasants rather than
modern society
Contained outdated banking and finance laws
Alexander III (1881–1894)
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Steered the country toward the right
Believed Russia had nothing in common with the west
Focused on repression, especially of liberal ideas
Curtailed power of the zemstvos
Increased authority of the secret police
Russia: Road to Revolution
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Nicholas II (1894–1917)
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Continued these “counter-reforms”
Advocated Russification over non-Russian subjects
Targeted the Jews with pogroms and open anti-Semitism
Rise of the Populists
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Believed that Russia should modernize on its own terms, not
those of the West
Wanted egalitarianism based on the village commune (mir)
Formed secret bands with the hope of overthrowing the tsar
through anarchy and insurrection
Read Marx’s Das Capital and emphasized peasant socialism
Played a role in the creation of the Social Revolutionary Party
in 1901
Russia: Road to Revolution
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Russian Social-Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP)
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Main form of Russian Marxism
Grew in response to growing Populism
Concentrated on urban workers rather than peasantry
Believed that Russian autocracy would give way to capitalism
Capitalism would eventually give way to a classless society
Blended radicalism with a scientific approach to history
In 1903, the Social Democratic party split
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Occurred at the Second Congress which met in London
Was over the major points of the Party’s program
Russia: Road to Revolution
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Bolsheviks (“majority” )
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Called for a central party organization of active revolutionaries
Rapid industrialization meant they did not have to follow Marx
Could “skip a stage” straight into revolution
Eventually would become the foundation of the Communist
Party
Mensheviks (“minority”)
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Believed in a “gradualist” approach of slow changes
Reluctant to depart from Marxist orthodoxy
Able to regain control of the Social Democratic Party
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Vladimir Lenin
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(1870-1924)
Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924)
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Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924)
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Older brother was executed for his involvement in the
assassination of Alexander II
Was under suspicion for a plot against Alexander III in 1896
In exile in Siberia from 1897-1900
Remained in political exile from 1900 to 1917 in western
Europe
Becomes the leader of the Bolsheviks
Believed in the need for a coordinated socialist movement
What Is to Be Done? (1902)
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Denounced gradualists and called for revolution
Wanted to form a smaller organization of vanguards to lead
the working class
First Russian Revolution (1905)
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Took most of the revolutionaries by surprise
Number of factors led to it
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The defeat of Russia in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905)
Rapid industrialization had transformed Russia unevenly
Economic downturn of the 1900s lead to high unemployment
Low grain prices eventually led to peasant uprisings
All combined with student radicalism to turn it all into a
politically based movement
Russian government was not able to handle the problems
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Radical workers organized strikes and demonstrations
Trust in the tsar declined dramatically
First Russian Revolution (1905)
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“Bloody Sunday” (January 22, 1905)
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Led to mass strikes throughout the country
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Group of 200,000 workers demonstrated at the Winter Palace
Guard troops killed 130 and wounded several hundred
Stores and factories were shut down
The autocracy had lost control
Nicholas II issued October Manifesto (October 14, 1905)
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Guaranteed individual liberties
Established the Duma as the legislative body based on
moderate suffrage
Effectively ended the strikes and protests
Designed to set up a constitutional monarchy
Russia After 1905 Revolution
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Not everyone was happy with the October Manifesto
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Nicholas failed to see that fundamental change was
needed
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Radicals wanted greater changes included universal male
suffrage
Wanted to hold on to autocratic power
Revoked most of the promises made in October
Deprived the Duma of its principal powers
Pyotr Stolypin (1862–1911)
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Was the Prime Minister under Nicholas II
Wanted to repress revolutionary movement in Russia
At the same time wanted to bring in agrarian reforms
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Demonstration of October 17 - Ilya Repin
Russia After 1905 Revolution
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Stolypin Reforms (1906–1911)
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Included the sale of five million acres of royal land to peasants
Granted peasants permission to withdraw from the mir to
form independent farms
Canceled peasant property debts
Legalized trade unions
Established sickness and accident insurance
Problems for Russia
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Liberals and radicals wanted more changes
Nicholas II refused to budge
Russian agriculture suspended between emerging capitalism
and the peasant commune
Imperialism
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Definitions
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The process of extending one state’s control over another
Formal imperialism
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Colonialism or direct control
Colonizing countries annexed territories outright
Established new governments
Informal imperialism
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Conquering nations reached agreements with indigenous leaders and
governed through them
Allowed weaker state to maintain its independence while reducing its
sovereignty
Carving out zones of European sovereignty and privilege
Imperialism
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Eighteenth-century losses
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The British lost their North American colonies
French lost the Atlantic trade
Spanish and Portuguese lost their colonies in South America
Imperialist endeavors
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Between 1875–1902, Europeans took up 90 percent of Africa
Between1870–1900, a small group of European states
colonized one-quarter of the world’s lands
Imperialism
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Nineteenth-century imperialism
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Appeared against the backdrop of industrialization, liberal
revolutions, and the rise of nation-states
The need for raw materials
Bringing progress to the world
Imperialists sought to distance themselves from earlier
histories of conquest
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Colonial resistance and rebellion forced Europeans to develop
new strategies of rule
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Guided more by “settlement and discipline” than independent
entrepreneurial activity
British granted self-government to Canada, Australia, and New
Zealand
19th empires established carefully codified racial hierarchies
Imperialism
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The new imperialism and its causes
Economic arguments
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J. A. Hobson (1858–1940), Imperialism (1902)
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Imperialism was driven by a small group of financiers
International capitalists
Investors sought out secure investment opportunities in colonies
The manufacturing, military, and armaments interest
Lenin (1870–1924)
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Imperialism:The Highest Stage of Capitalism (1917)
Imperialism as an essential stage in the development of capitalism
Demand for raw materials made colonization a necessary investment
The internal contradictions of capitalism produced imperialism
The overthrow of capitalism would check imperialism
Imperialism
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Strategic and nationalist motives
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International rivalries fueled the belief that national interests
were at stake
The French supported imperialism as a means of restoring
national honor
The British worried about German and French industrialization
and losing world markets
The link between imperialism and nation-building
Imperial policy
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Less a matter of long-range planning
More a matter of quick responses to improvised situations
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European Colonies (c. 1900)
India and the British Empire
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The “Jewel of the British Crown”
The British East India Company
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Had its own military divided into European and Indian divisions
Held the right to collect taxes on land from Indian peasants
Held legal monopolies over trade in all goods (the most
lucrative was opium)
Constituted a military and repressive government
Offered economic privileges to those who allied themselves
with the British against others
British policy divided
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One group wanted to westernize India
Another thought it safer and more practical to defer to local
culture
India and the British Empire
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The Sepoy Rebellion (1857–1858)
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Uprising began near Delhi
Social, economic, and political grievances
Indian peasants attacked law courts and burned tax rolls
A protest against debt and corruption
Hindu and Muslim leaders denounced Christian missionaries
The British response
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Systematic campaign of repression
Rebel-supported towns and villages were destroyed
Defeat of the rebellion fired the imagination of the British
public
India and the British Empire
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Reorganizing the Indian empire
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New strategies of British rule
East India Company was abolished
British raj governed directly
Military reorganization
Queen Victoria as empress of India
Reform of the civil service
Missionary activity subdued
India and the British Empire
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India and Britain
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India as Britain’s largest export market
India provided Britain with highly trained engineers and
bureaucrats
1.2 million Indian troops fought with the British in World War I
British indirect rule sought to create an Indian elite to serve
British interests
Large social group of British-educated Indian civil servants and
businessmen
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Provided the leadership for an Indian nationalist movement
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Rani Lakshmibai of
Jhansi
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One of the key
leaders of the
rebellion
Europe and China
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Europe and China
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Forcing trade agreements
Set up treaty ports
Established outposts of missionary activity
British aimed to improving terms of the China trade
The opium trade
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A direct link between Britain, British India, and China
Opium one of the few products Europeans could sell in China
Northeast India as richest opium-growing area
A “narco-military empire”
Opium production was labor-intensive
Europe and China
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A triangular trade
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East India Company sold opium to British, Dutch, and Chinese
shippers
Opium sent to southeast Asia and China
Silver paid for opium was used to buy Chinese goods for the
European market
China banned opium imports (1830s)
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Will lead to a collision course with British opium traders
Opium Wars (1830–1842)
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The first Opium War
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Treaty of Nanking (1843)
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Drugs not the main focus
The issue was sovereignty and economic status
European rights to trade
British trading privileges
Hong Kong
The second Opium War
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Britain granted further rights
Opium Wars (1830–1842)
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Other countries demand similar rights and economic
opportunities
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Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895)
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French, German, and Russian mining rights
Begin manufacturing with Chinese labor
The United States and the “open door”
Forced China to concede trading privileges
The independence of Korea
The Taiping Rebellion (1850–1864)
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Radical Christian rebels challenged the authority of the
emperor
China’s agricultural heartland was devastated
Boxer Rebellion (1900)
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The Boxers
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The European response
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Secret society of men trained in martial arts
Anti-foreign and anti-missionary
Attacked foreign engineers, destroyed railway lines, and
marched on Beijing
Great powers drew together
Repression of the Boxers
The rebellion highlighted the vulnerability of European
imperial power
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Boxer rebel
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(1900)
Imperialism in China
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The new imperialism in 1900
Asia is partitioned
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Japan alone retains its independence
British: India, Burma, Malaya, Australia, and New Zealand
Dutch: Indonesia
French: Indochina
Problems
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Struggle between great powers exacerbated nationalist feelings
The destabilizing effects of the new imperialism
Russian Imperialism
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Policy of annexation
Southern colonization
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Georgia (1801)
Bessarabia, Turkestan, and Armenia
Brought Russia and Britain close to war, especially over
Afghanistan
The “Great Game”
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Represented the jockeying taking place between Britain and Russia
over the region
The Russo-Japanese War (1905)
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Russian naval forces were humiliated
United States brokered the peace treaty
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French Colonies in 1914
The French Empire
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The French in Algeria
Algeria as a settler state
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Utopian socialist communities
Exiled revolutionaries of 1848
Winegrowers
Not all settlers were French
Under the Third Republic (1870), Algeria was made a
department of France
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Gave French settlers full rights of republican citizenship
Consolidated privileges
Disenfranchised indigenous populations
Differentiated “good” Berbers and “bad” Arabs
The French Empire
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After 1870: the “civilizing mission”
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French acquisitions
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Reinforcing the purpose of the French republic and French
prestige
Jules Ferry (1832–1893), argued for expansion into Indochina
Tunisia (1881)
Northern and central Vietnam (1883)
Laos and Cambodia (1893)
Federation of French West Africa (1893)
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Rationalizing the economic exploitation of the area
“Enhancing the value” of the region
Public programs served French interests only
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Africa in 1870
Scramble for Africa
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The Congo Free State in the 1870s
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A new drive into central Africa
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Specifically into the fertile valleys of the Congo River
European colonizers under the Belgian king, Leopold II (18651909)
Herbert M. Stanley and his “scientific journals”
International Association for the Exploration and Civilization of
the Congo (1876)
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Signed treaties with local elites
Opened the Congo to commercial exploitation (palm oil, rubber,
diamonds)
Scramble for Africa
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Other colonizers reacted (especially Portugal)
The Treaty of Berlin (1884)
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Chaired by Otto von Bismarck
Established ground rules for a new phase of European
expansion
Britain, France, and Germany joined forces to settle the issue
The Congo would be open to free trade and commerce
The Congo Free State
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Actually run by Leopold’s private company
Slave trade to be suppressed in favor of free labor
The Congo becomes a Belgian colony in 1908
Scramble for Africa
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The partition of Africa
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Germany
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Colonial powers increase their holdings in Africa in the 1880s
Bismarck was a reluctant colonizer
Seized strategic locations (Cameroon and Tanzania)
France
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Aimed to move eastward across the continent
Scramble for Africa
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Britain
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Southern and eastern Africa
Cecil Rhodes (1853–1902)
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Made a fortune from South African diamond mines (DeBeers)
Prime minister of Cape Colony (1890)
Personal goal was to build an African empire founded on diamonds
Carved out territories in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Botswana
The “Cape-to-Cairo” railway
Making Britain self-sufficient
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Africa in 1910
Crisis of Empire (1900-1914)
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Europe in 1900
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Fashoda (1898)
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Crisis
Sharp tensions between Western nations
The expansion of European economic and military
commitments to territories overseas
Britain and France faced one another for dominance of Africa
Ethiopia
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Italy developed a small empire along the shores of the Red Sea
(1880s–1890s)
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Annexed Eritrea and parts of Somalia
An expedition sent to conquer Ethiopia (1896)
The Ethiopians killed six thousand Italians at Adowa
Crisis of Empire (1900-1914)
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South Africa: the Boer War
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Afrikaners (Boers)—Dutch and Swiss settlers who had arrived in the
early nineteenth century
Troubled relationship with the British in South Africa
Afrikaners set up two free states: Transvaal and the Orange Free
State
Afrikaners and British went to war (1899)
British army was completely unprepared for war
British government refused to compromise
The British eventually seized Pretoria
A guerilla war dragged on for three years
British used concentration camps where Afrikaner citizens were
rounded up
The Union of South Africa—British and Boers shared power
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Boers in a British concentration camp