Transcript Imperialism in Africa File

Africa in the Age of Imperialism
Imperialism is the domination by one country of the
political, economic, or cultural life of another country or
region.
• Until the 1870s CE, Europeans had little interest in
Africa.
• In the 1600s & 1700s CE, the Portuguese and Dutch had
established forts & trading posts along the African coast.
• Between 1870 & 1914CE, nearly all of Africa came under
European rule. [Scramble for Africa]
• Berlin Conference (1884-1885CE): to avoid war
European nations divided up Africa among themselves
• Economic Causes
> need for natural resources
> desire to expand markets
> desire to invest profits
> outlet needed for growing populations
> economies strengthened by industrial
revolution
• Social Causes
> desire to spread Christianity
> desire to share Western civilization
“White Man’s Burden”
> belief in Social Darwinism
> increased European self-confidence
• Technological Causes
> medical knowledge (quinine for malaria)
> advances in weaponry (Maxim gun)
> advances in overseas travel
• Political and Military Causes
> bases needed for merchant and naval
vessels
> national security
> nationalism
> prestige of global empire
> strong, centrally-governed nation-states
• Forms of Imperialism
> Colony: a country or a region governed
internally by a foreign power
> Protectorate: a country or territory with
its own internal government but under
the control of an outside power
> Sphere of Influence: an area in which an
outside power claims exclusive
investment or trading privileges
North Africa
• Egypt
> In the 1500s CE, the
Ottoman Turks conquered
North Africa.
> In 1798, Napoleon
Bonaparte invaded Egypt,
& Egyptians broke free of
Ottomans
> Muhammad Ali (1769 –
1849) took control in 1805.
> Ali’s reforms:
- introduced modern farming methods
- built dykes & irrigation canals
- built schools
- sent Egyptians to study in Europe
- brought European experts to Egypt to
establish textile mills, iron works, &
shipyards
- invited French military officers to train army
-ordered cash crops grown to pay for reforms
(cotton, sugar, & tobacco)
> The Suez Canal
- Ali borrowed money from European banks
to help finance his reforms.
- His successors borrowed even more.
- Between 1859-1869, a French company
built the canal; Mediterranean to Red Sea
(Ferdinand de Lesseps)
- Britain used it to trade with India.
“Lifeline of the British Empire”
- Egyptian ruler, Ismail, sold stock in the
canal to Britain to help repay loans.
- Britain invaded Egypt in 1882 to
“protect European loans & investments”
- Egypt became a protectorate.
• Sudan
> The Fashoda Incident
> Britain felt that it had to control the entire Nile
river to protect Egypt.
> In 1898, British & Egyptian soldiers conquered
the Sudan.
> French troops had reached the town of
Fashoda on the upper Nile in S. Sudan.
> War seemed imminent.
> France withdrew its troops.
(Dreyfus Affair)
French Captain Jean-Baptiste Marchand at Fashoda
• Algeria
> In 1830, King Charles X of France
ordered an invasion of Algeria.
> He hoped that a victory would divert the
French people’s attention.
> It didn’t. (Revolution of 1830)
> For forty years, the Algerians resisted.
> One million Europeans settled in Algeria
during the 1800s.
• Tunisia
> After Britain moved into Egypt, France
rapidly occupied Tunisia. (1882)
• Morocco
> In 1904, France recognized British
control over Egypt, and Britain allowed
France to establish a sphere of influence
in Morocco.
> German Emperor Wilhelm II supported
an independent Morocco.
• Ethiopia
> Menelik II (ruled 1889-1909)
> His dynasty had ruled Ethiopia
since the 1200s CE.
> He centralized power and built a
new capital, Addis Ababa.
> He hired Europeans to help
improve Ethiopian schools.
> Ethiopians developed a stronger
sense of national unity & pride.
> He played off Italy against
France & was able to obtain
weapons from both.
> When Italy invaded Ethiopia, Menelik II
called for negotiations.
> Inaccurate maps & misleading
information “leaked” to Italians.
> He defeated the Italians at the Battle of
Adowa in I896.
> Ethiopia is one of only two African
nations to retain their independence.
• Somaliland & Eritrea
> Italy established protectorates here
• Libya
> Italy set up a colony here.
West and Central Africa
• West Africa
> By the 1600s, Portugal & other
European nations had set up trading posts
here.
> These became the center of the slave
trade with the Americas.
> By 1870, 9.5 million Africans had been
sent to the Americas.
> The “Slave-Gun” cycle
- African rulers & merchants brought
slaves to trading posts on the coasts.
- Africans traded slaves for guns,
ammunition, and manufactured goods.
- They used the guns to raid villages
and capture more slaves.
- Dahomey & Ashanti kingdoms
conquered large areas this way.
West African Slave Posts
> Abolition of the Slave Trade
- During the Enlightenment, some
Europeans called for an end to
slavery.
- William Wilberforce succeeded in
getting the English government to
outlaw it in 1807.
(Amazing Grace)
- England used its navy to force other
countries to stop importing slaves.
- Portugal, Spain, & France = 1820
- In 1822, Liberia was founded as a refuge
for former American slaves.
- With U.S. help it maintained its
independence.
- West Africans began growing “cash
crops” (cotton, cacao beans, etc.) to sell to
Europeans.
• Hausa-Fulani Empire (Nigeria)
> Arab traders had introduced Islam into
West Africa in the 800s.
> Most people there mixed Muslim beliefs
with their own faiths.
> Early 1800s, devout Muslim leaders
called for a jihad to restore the purity of
Islam.
> The result was the formation of several
large Islamic empires.
• The Congo
> King Leopold II of Belgium
(1865-1909) sent explorer
Henry Stanley to negotiate
treaties with rulers along the
Congo river.
> Exploit copper, ivory, rubber,
& minerals
> Became known as the
Congo Free State (free trade)
> Leopold II decreed that the government
could take all “vacant” lands not
“effectively occupied” by Africans.
> Many Congolese resisted giving up their
hunting and farming lands.
> In 1888, Force Publique was organized.
(Belgian officers & African soldiers)
- Crush resistance & end slave trade
> Congolese must pay taxes for protection
(collect rubber & ivory)
> In 1889, Leopold II convened an antislavery conference in Belgium.
- Said that he must charge taxes on
trade to support Force Publique
- Propaganda: slavery & cannibalism
> Leopold granted monopolies to Belgian
companies to exploit resources.
> Company managers forced Africans to
work long hours & punished “slow
workers.”
- Cut off ears and hands
- Imprisoned African women to make
their husbands work harder.
> Between 1885-1908, population of the
Congo fell from 20 to 10 million.
Children whose hands have been hacked off for failing to meet rubber quotas
• Reports of Atrocities
> Most Europeans & Americans saw the Congo
Free State as a positive symbol of their “civilizing
mission” in Africa.
> British African subjects were recruited into the
Force Publique and told British officials about
their experiences upon returning home.
> In 1890, American George Washington
Williams traveled to the Congo.
- Shocked by abuse, murders, etc.
- Wrote letters to Leopold II, U.S. President
Harrison, and major newspapers
George Washington Williams
> Christian missionaries from Europe and
the U.S. began to report atrocities.
> Reaction in Great Britain
- E. D. Morel, a Liverpool shipping
clerk, noticed that 80% of goods sent
into the Congo were weapons.
- He noted taxes; lack of free trade
- In 1902, he gave his first speech
criticizing Leopold’s policies = slavery
- Began organizing meetings/protests
E. D. Morel
- He highlighted violation of the Berlin
Agreement.
- He encouraged those who had been
to the Congo to speak out.
- He lobbied members of the British
Parliament to intervene.
- All this was covered by the press.
- May, 1903, Parliament debated the
issue of the Congo
- Sent Sir Roger Casement to the
Congo to investigate
Sir Roger Casement
- Leopold accused Britain of wanting to
take over the Congo and treating
Africans just as brutally.
- The Casement Report corroborated
the stories of abuse and murder.
- The report convinced Parliament that
atrocities were being committed on a
mass scale.
- On June 9, 1904, Parliament met to
decide how to handle the situation.
> Results
- Parliament came to no clear decision.
- The British government “suggested” that
the Congo Free State appoint an
independent commission to investigate.
- Leopold did, and, surprisingly, it mostly
supported the Casement Report.
- This unleashed a barrage of criticism of
Leopold in Belgium and abroad.
- The U.S. offered full support for any British
action against Leopold.
- In 1908, the Belgian government reluctantly
took over the Congo Free State.
African Resistance
• Mandinka Kingdom (Guinea)
> Samori Toure (1830-1900)
- Unified his kingdom in
1874.
- Fought French from 1882 1898, using British guns.
- Captured & exiled to
Gabon
• Dahomey (Benin)
> King Behanzin (1844-1906)
- Assumed the throne 1889
- Fought the French from
1892 – 1894
- Exiled to Algeria
South Africa
• Boer War 1899-1902
- Britain recognized independence of Boer
republics in 1852.
- In 1880s, gold & diamonds discovered.
(world’s largest gold producer)
- Thousands of British sought fortune there
- Boers worried that “Utilanders” would
take over gov. – 14 year residency to vote
- Paul Kruger was president of Transvaal.
- Cecil John Rhodes was governor of Cape
Colony.
- Joseph Chamberlain was Colonial Secretary of
Great Britain.
Jameson Raid
- Rhodes & Chamberlain planned an
uprising of Utilanders in Johannesburg.
- Leander Jameson was supposed to
invade Transvaal in support.
- Dec. 29, 1895, Jameson invaded, but no
uprising occurred.
- Jan. 2, 1896, Jameson surrendered.
- Rhodes forced to resign.
- To avoid a full British invasion, Kruger
lowered citizenship residency to five years.
- Britain sent more troops to South Africa
in September of 1899.
- Kruger issued an ultimatum: remove all
British troops from border within 48 hours.
- October 11, 1899, SAR declared war.
- It was the longest, bloodiest, & most
expensive war Britain fought 1815-1915.
- Britain lost 22,000 men.
- Boers lost 34,000 people.
- Native Africans lost 15,000 people.
Scorched Earth Policy
- Lord Kitchener, British commander,
ordered food supplies cut off to Boers.
- 30,000 Boer farmhouses destroyed,
crops burned, & livestock killed
- Forty towns destroyed
- Boer women and children were put into
concentration camps.
- poor sanitation & food shortages
- Over 26,000 Boer women & children died
- Over 15,000 native Africans died.
- Boer soldiers were starved into
surrendering.
- In 1910, Britain combined Cape Colony,
the Transvaal, & the Orange Free State
into the Union of South Africa.