Nativist Responses to Imperialism

1. Nativist Responses to Imperialism India, China, the Congo, the Sudan, and Ethiopia

2. The Sepoy Rebellion (or the First War of Indian Independence) • Starting in the late 1600’s and going for over 150 years, the British East India Company (BEIC) was the driving force behind the colonization of India. • By the late 1840’s-early 1850’s, the BEIC had major financial problems. The British government stepped in and began to forcibly take over independent Indian Raj’s (kingdoms). By 1857, the last of the independent Indian kingdoms was gone.

3. The Sepoy Rebellion (or the First War of Indian Independence) • In order to consolidate and control these holdings, 200,000 Indian soldiers (the Sepoys) were led by 40,000 British officers/soldiers. The Sepoy were Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs.

4. The Sepoy Rebellion(or the First War of Indian Independence) • In India, soldiers used a new Lee-Enfield rifle that had to be manually loaded. A soldier had to bite off the end of the bullet cartridge, which was greased in either pig fat or beef fat.

5. The Sepoy Rebellion (or the First War of Indian Independence) • Pig fat is haraam (a forbidden substance) to Muslims and beef fat was a similar problem for Hindus. Soldiers refused to put the cartridges in their mouths. • This has often been seen as the “last straw” for Indians who had been the victims of British cultural and class based oppression and antagonism.

6. The Sepoy Rebellion • The growing intrusion of Western culture became the impetus for rebellious soldiers, fearful that their culture was being annihilated. (Christianity, suttee, infanticide, etc) • At the Cavalry headquarters in Meerut, many of the Sepoy refused to use the bullets they had been issued.

7. The Sepoy Rebellion(or the First War of Indian Independence) • As a result, the British put these soldiers in chains, imprisoned them, sentenced them to ten years hard labor, and stripped them of their uniforms in public. • The Rebellion began as comrades of the jailed Sepoy, who thought the punishment excessively harsh, came to their rescue and killed several British soldiers in the process.

8. The Sepoy Rebellion • Many Sepoy went on a rampage, killing any European they could find (including women and children) and burnt down their houses. • Sepoy hanged at Meerut.

9. The Sepoy Rebellion (or the First War of Indian Independence) • Muslims called for jihad, and wanted the Mughal emperor of Delhi (Bahadur Shah) reinstated as the ruler of all India. • Bahadur Shah had little authority, but since he was descended from the great Mughals, he was respected.

10. The Sepoy Rebellion • The Rebellion spread beyond the army but it was disorganized. The Sepoy had no central command. • The Sepoy storm Delhi.

11. The Sepoy Rebellion • The Sikhs sided with the British because they hated the Muslims and didn’t want Mughal rule. • As the British recaptured areas taken by the Sepoy, they were extremely harsh, murdering many Indian civilians in retaliation for the losses of British soldiers/civilians.

12. The Sepoy Rebellion (or the First War of Indian Independence) • The British captured and arrested Bahadur Shah, executed his three sons (two grandsons are shown here), and presented their heads to their father the next day. • British “justice” was swift and extremely brutal.

13. The Sepoy Rebellion • This was soon followed by the Siege of Cawnpore, where Sepoy soldiers rebelled and attacked British soldiers/families. • The British were able to hold out for three weeks with little food or water. They waited for help that never arrived.

14. The Sepoy Rebellion • The British surrendered when they were told by the Sepoy leader they would be given safe passage out. • While boarding riverboats, the Sepoy opened fire on the British soldiers, killing all but four (who escaped). • The surviving women and children were led back to Cawnpore, to the Bibi-Ghar (the House of the Ladies).

15. The Sepoy Rebellion The siege at Cawnpore (from a British print).

16. The Siege of Cawnpour • Believing that the advancing British forces would stop if there were no hostages, the Sepoy hired four butchers from the local market to go into the house where they hacked apart the women and children with cleavers and hatchets. • The victims, some still living, were then thrown down a well. • British reinforcements finally arrived, but it was too late.

17. The Siege of Cawnpour • The Bibi-Ghar (House of the Ladies) where the massacre took place.

18. The Siege of Cawnpour • When the British retook the city, they took their Sepoy captives into the Bibi-Ghar and forced them to lick the bloodstains off of the walls and floor (each Sepoy had to lick at least 1 square foot). • The British then hanged the Sepoys at Cawnpore. • Other rebellions broke out throughout the country but were eventually put down by the British. • The Rebellion ended in July 1858.

19. The Sepoy Rebellion (or the First War of Indian Independence) • For those that were not hanged, the British used an old Mughal form of execution for mutineers. These Sepoy were strapped to the mouths of cannons and blown to bits.

20. The Sepoy Rebellion • The end of the rebellion was followed by the executions of nearly every Indian combatant and several thousand civilians believed to be supporters of the Sepoy. • Whole villages were wiped out for having pro-rebel sympathies. The Indians called this retaliation “The Devil’s Wind.”

21. The Sepoy Rebellion • The rebellion caused the British government to remove the BEIC from control of India (known as the India Act) and power was transferred to the British Crown. • The British government directly controlled India until after WWII (1947).

22. China and Imperialism • In Asia, the powers of the world nibble away at China’s edges. • From the late 1850’s through WWI, French power was concentrated on Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos (collectively known as French Indochina).

23. China and Imperialism • Britain took Burma (to protect its interests in India). • Russia moved on northern China (Manchuria). • Japan emerged as the only non-European power as it took the Korean peninsula away from China (1894-95) and later Manchuria.

24. China and Imperialism • China remained politically and socially independent as it was not directly ruled by Europeans. • But China, like so many others, lost its economic independence as it was drawn into the European dominated world economy.

25. China and Imperialism • Further away and stronger than Africa or India, China was able to keep the West at bay until the late 1830’s. • By the 1830’s, Europe’s desire to get into China was unstoppable…especially the British who were too strong to be kept out…they wanted new markets and more Chinese products.

26. China and Imperialism • The British wanted Chinese tea, silk, and porcelains. They tried to use raw Indian cotton as payment but the Chinese refuse…they want cash (silver).

27. China and Imperialism • As the demand for Chinese tea skyrocketed in Britain, more and more British sterling (silver) headed to China. • The British were extremely unhappy with this unbalanced trade situation so they looked to reverse it.

28. China and Imperialism • The Qing (Ching) maintained the Ming policy of restricting foreign trade. • In 1792, the British sent a diplomatic delegation led by Lord Macartney to establish better trade relations with the Chinese.

29. China and Imperialism • Lord Macartney left Britain in September 1792 with an entourage of scientists, servants, artists, guards, and translators on a heavily armed man-o-war accompanied by two support ships. • The support ships were loaded with 600 boxes of gifts for the 82 year old emperor and high Chinese officials, designed to impress and show the sophistication and quality of British manufacturing.

30. China and Imperialism • The British arrived in June 1793. • The Chinese thought these goods were crude products and merely gifts of tribute to the emperor. • Macartney insisted on an audience with the emperor and was told he would have to perform the traditional kowtow (touching his head to the ground to show respect for the emperor).

31. China and Imperialism • Macartney refused, and further insulted the Chinese by speaking of the “natural” superiority of the British. • The negotiations went nowhere and Lord Macartney returned to Britain without a deal. • Emperor Qianlong wrote a letter to King George III denying Britain’s request for more trading rights and permanent ambassadors. How does his language express his view that China is superior to Britain?

32. China and Imperialism • “As to what you have requested in your message, O King…this does not conform to the Celestial Empire’s ceremonial system, and definitely cannot be done…How can we go so far to change the regulations of the Celestial Empire…because of the request of one man—of you, O King? We have never valued clever articles, nor do we have the slightest need of your country’s manufactures…You, O King should simply act in conformity with our wishes by strengthening your loyalty and swearing perpetual obedience so as to ensure that your country may share the blessings of peace.”

33. China and Imperialism • Macartney’s mission failed and Sino-British relations continued to deteriorate until the Opium War of 1839-42. • The “Opium War” will be the first clash between China and the West.

34. The Opium Wars Opium, a drug with a long history as a pain killer, became popular for another reason. The British found in opium something the Chinese wanted-- more like craved –and it was grown in their colony of India.

35. The Opium Wars • The British began selling opium to the Chinese in exchange for silver and goods in the late 1700’s (about 1000 chests a year). • By 1838, Britain shipped over 40,000 chests of opium to China a year (over 2 million pounds!).

36. The Opium Wars • Levels of addiction grew so large, China created laws banning the importation, sale, and use of the drug. Chinese drug dealers were executed. Addiction was so rampant that it began to affect the ability of the military and government to conduct daily business. • As China became addicted to opium, the Chinese bought more and more until they practically ran out of the silver to pay for it (the flow of silver went back to Britain).

37. The Opium Wars • The Chinese government wanted to stop the opium trade but the British refused. The British insisted on the right of “free trade.”

38. The Opium Wars • In 1839, the Chinese government blockaded the port of Canton hoping to force the British opium traders to hand over their opium. • The leading English opium trader was arrested and 20,000 chests of opium were confiscated.

39. The Opium Wars • A group of Chinese men were able to board a British ship and toss its opium into the harbor (sound familiar?) • Confiscated opium was mixed with salt, lime, and water and flushed into the sea. • What do you think the British response was?

40. The Opium Wars • The British responded with force by declaring war on the Chinese (to protect British “interests”). China was no match for British firepower as Britain flexed its new industrial might. • Outdated Chinese weapons were quickly rendered useless. • British troops landed in southern China and quickly captured five key port cities and destroyed several Chinese forts.

41. The Opium Wars • In 1842 the British make the Chinese accept the Treaty of Nanjing which forced China to open its markets to European commerce. Christian missionaries were now also permitted to preach in China. • The treaty also gave the British five coastal ports (the most famous was Hong Kong). • The flow of opium to China continued. The Chinese even had to pay the British a huge indemnity (payment for losses in the war). • Europeans lived in their own separate sections of these five port cities and were not subject to Chinese law (extraterritoriality).

42. China under the Manchu • After their crushing defeat to the British in the Opium War, the Manchu’s (or Qing) tried to westernize by trying to modernize their army and by trying to develop an industrial base (railroads, armaments, shipbuilding, etc).

43. China under the Manchu • The Manchu were weak and getting weaker. • European traders and missionaries made inroads for the West. • This interaction with the West, creating both major economic and cultural pressure on China, helped create a mass movement called the Taiping Rebellion (“Heavenly Kingdom of Peace”) 1850-1864.

44. China under the Manchu • This pressure was compounded by widespread poverty, an extravagant royal court, widespread official corruption, and tax evasion of the rich.

45. China under the Manchu • The leaders of the rebellion promoted “radical” ideas like community property and the equality of women. • They also wanted to end the Manchu dynasty.

46. By the mid-1850’s the Taiping controlled half of China. The Manchu asked the British and French militaries for aid in exchange for greater influence. Hong Xiuquan, leader of the Taiping. China under the Manchu

47. China under the Manchu • The Taiping Rebellion (actually it was a civil war) became the most devastating peasant revolt in history. • It has been estimated that between 20-30 million died (compared to 600,000 in the American Civil War). • When the rebellion was finally crushed, the Manchu were still weak and Western powers had virtually unlimited access to China.

48. China under the Manchu • Several nations developed spheres of influence (exclusive trading or mineral rights to a region) in China. • Britain, France, Russia, Germany, and Japan all had spheres of influence in China, where they paid a regional warlord for the rights to his province.

49. China under the Manchu • China was even forced to lease these powers land to build naval bases to protect their “spheres.” • In 1894, the Chinese were crushed by the Japanese in the Sino-Japanese War. Japan now controlled the Korean Peninsula and the Island of Taiwan.

50. China under the Manchu • This war, and the European spheres of influence, has often been referred to “carving up the Chinese melon.”