Definitions and IDs

1. Definitions and IDs • Imperialism (definition) • Apartheid (definition) • King Leopold II (Belgium)

2. Questions and Imperatives • Compare the “old” imperialism of European nations with the “new” late 19th-century imperialism. In what ways did the “new” imperialism seem more extreme? • Explain the dividing up of Africa by European nations in the late nineteenth century. • How does the projection of power reflect wider cultural values? (Class discussion)

3. Imperialism: • the policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries, or acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies

4. Early Imperialism • “peaceful” early development in North America, Canada, Australia • CHINA • traditional Chinese civilization was self-sufficient • For centuries China had sent more goods and inventions to Europe than it had received • Trade with Europe was carefully regulated by Chinese Imperial Government” • Imperial government refused to establish diplomatic relations with the “inferior” European states and set requirements on foreign merchants - where (Canton) and what (not opium) they sell and trade

5. Britain and China • British wanted tea, porcelain, luxury goods, mostly silver, and exchanged opium for these goods • by 1820s, dominant British merchants bribed officials and smuggled in opium • Chinese emperor tried to stop this trade, even appealing to Queen • British resented the attempts of the Chinese government to stop this trade • by 1836, the goal of the British merchants in Canton was an independent British colony in China • Chinese (Manchu) government decided that the trade had to be stopped • Chinese government began to prosecute Chinese drug dealers • the British merchants refused and were expelled • China attempted to ban the trade for opium gave way to war (Opium War 1839-1842) • China could not oppose the British (and Indian troops they used) • Treaty of Nanking - Chinese had to ceded the island Hong Kong to G.B. forever, open 4 large cities for trade, & pay large indemnity) • foreigners were now in, opium trade flourished and by 1856-1860

6. Japan • Japan tried to seal off its country from European influence, allowing only a few Dutch traders whom they strictly controlled • Japan wanted to maintain their traditions...but eventually in the 1800s... • Japan, like China, came under Western influence...but took to it like a duck to water • Japan became an imperialist power as well • went after Korea, Taiwan (Formosa), and part of China • Japan did not undergo great revolutions

7. India • British had strong trade ties to India for over a century and India was the “Jewel” of the British Empire • The British East India Company more or less dominated India, though India was still governed by her own people • rebellion in 1857-58 by India caused Britain to take over direct rule • Queen Victoria was crowned empress of India • India was now ruled by the British Parliament in London and administered by an all white civil service in India • schools were run life those in Britain and English became the language of the educated • caste system was challenged • Christianity was pushed and Hindus who became Christians were eligible for government jobs

8. NEW Imperialism • distinguished from earlier colonization (15th-18th centuries) • latter part of the 19th century, Western European nations attempt to move in on most of Africa and Asia • frantic rush to plant flag over as many people and as much territory as possible • industrialized worlds overtaking non-industrialized • attempts to create political empires • use their supply of raw materials, cheap labor, and semi-finished products to benefit the “mother country” • colonizing countries moved in and set up administration • created tension between competing European states • aimed primarily at Africa and Asia (putting black, brown, and yellow skin under rule of white skins - make them in the image of the mother country)

9. WHY & WHY then? • economic, looking for new ways to expand and invest • more land means more prestige and power around the globe • Nationalism • spread Christianity (the “true” religion) • improve physical conditions of colonized nations • civilize the world by sharing our wonderful culture (“westernizing”) • white man’s burden to bestow their unique benefits on “less advanced” people • transportation and communication methods had grown • warfare methods had improved • European prosperity increased demand for specialty and luxury products (coffee, sugar, cocoa, copper, ivory, animal skins) • WHO??

11. Colonizing became conquest! • initially trade • Western European powers dominated technologically and militarily • hundreds could defeat thousands • moral justification: to civilize and Christianize • national interests • for France, it would compensate for her losses at home • helped Britain to remain dominant in Europe • even smaller countries (like Belgium and Portugal) wanted a piece of the action • European nations even got together to figure out rules to this Imperialism game • by the early 20th century, India and almost all of Africa was under European rule

12. Northern Africa • French vs. British • France worked with Egypt on Suez Canal (1859-1869) • France wanted to use that connection from the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea in order to expand trade in the East • Egypt fell into debt with Britain due to the Canal project and Britain jumped at the chance to buy into the project • 1875 G.B. buys shares from Egypt • Britain and France fought over control of Egypt, with the Egyptian Army trying to throw out the foreigners • British troops ultimately took control of Egypt when France backed off to deal with domestics issues • w/o Egypt, France then looked for other N. African areas to conquer • French had begun conquering Algeria (North-West Africa) in 1830, and within 50 years, French, Italian, & Spanish colonists settled among overwhelming Muslim Arab majority • 1881, France took Tunisia and after 1900 Morocco

13. South Africa • Dutch had come here centuries earlier and many had settled as farmers • 1652, Dutch East India Company founded settlement to be used as supply base for ships and base to search the interior of the continent for slaves and precious metals • Dutch colonists called themselves Boers (meaning farmer in Dutch) • moved east & took land from indigenous people (kill, enslave, exile them) • warfare between Europeans and natives (i.e. Bantu War of 1770s) • Apartheid: the Dutch saw the two cultures (Boers and indigenous people) as separate and irreconcilable • British annexed Cape of Good Hope in 1815 • British and Boers did not get along, Boers did not like British influence • Boer farmers moved north to look for land (the Great Trek), founding the “Orange Free State” and “Transvaal”...killing Zulus who opposed them • Transvaal had diamonds (1867) and gold (1886) and the Boers use the conquered people as cheap labor

14. the Boers needed more capital to continue to exploit the people and land of the Transvaal -- G.B. gladly helped British Prime Minister of the Cape, Cecil Rhodes saw in this an opportunity to unite this region of Africa under British rule and he instigated a raid on Boers of Transvaal Leader of the raid was Leander Jameson and this became known as the Jameson Raid intended to force Boers into war...raid failed when Boers found hidden British weapons P.M. Rhodes was removed from office ended in Boer War 1899 (a white man’s war) and it was the indigenous people who suffered Boers fought with German support but British prevailed and in 1910 territories incorporated into South Africa

15. “The legacy of resentment continued to influence relations between the British and the Afrikaaners for decades, while the true losers in the ‘white man’s war’ were the native populations. At the same time, the spectacle of two European ‘civilized’ people fighting over land and natural resources to which neither had any right underlined the true nature of imperialism, and the lengths to which Europeans were prepared to go to achieve conquest.”

16. CONGO • Leopold II of Belgium reigned 1865-1909, strong-willed monarch with a lust for territory • He said, “Steam and electricity have annihilated distance, and all the non-appropriated lands on the surface of the globe can become the field of our operations and of our success.” • Leopold formed a financial syndicate under his personal control and sent Henry Stanley (a sensation-seeking journalist and part-time explorer) to the Congo • Stanley was there to plant the flag of Belgium • he established trading stations and signed “treaties” with African chiefs • this scared the French into sending there own people into the interior of Africa • read from “King Leopold’s Ghost”