Chapter 21

THE HIGH TIDE OF IMPERIALISM

The Spread of Colonial Rule

• Q: What were the causes of the new imperialism of the nineteenth century, and how did it differ from European expansion in earlier periods?

Motives for Colonialism

• Economic – Raw materials • Oil, tin, rubber – New markets • Needed to absorb manufactured goods

Imperialism

• Process of western economic expansion in Asia and Africa • efforts of western capitalist states to seize markets, cheap raw materials, and lucrative avenues for investment

Voices of Imperialism

• John A Hobson ,

Imperialism: A Study in 1902

, – modern imperialism was a direct consequence of the modern industrial economy – wealth, national status, and political power went hand in hand with possession of a colonial empire.

Voices of Imperialism

• French politician, Jules Ferry , 1885 – expressed the relationship between colonialism and national survival: •

a policy of containment or abstinence would set France on the broad road to decadence and initiate its decline into a 3 rd or 4 th rate power

. – theory of Social Darwinism • in the struggle between nations only the fit will survive.

Voices of Imperialism

• British professor of Math , Karl Pearson –

“the path of progress is strewn with the wrecks of nation; traces are everywhere to be seen of the [slaughtered remains] of inferior races….yet these dead people are, in very truth, the stepping stones on which mankind has arisen to the higher intellectual and deeper emotional life of today.”

Voices of Imperialism

• Moral Arguments – Promote Christianity – Build a better world. • Cecil Rhodes , – purpose was to extend the British empire on “which the sun never set.”

Colonial Rivalry

• Colonial rivalry – scramble to acquire new territories in Asia and Africa, primary motive, economic – Africa • British engaged in a struggle with rivals to protect their interests in the Suez canal and Red Sea – Southeast Asia • US seized the Philippines from Spain and to keep them from the Japanese – Indochina • The French took over in competition with Germany, Japan or the US would usurp that territory

Scramble Complete

• By 1900 all societies of Africa and Asia were under full colonial rule or on the verge of collapse as was the case with China and the Ottoman empire.

• Exceptions: – Japan, East Asia, Thailand, Afghanistan, Persia, Ethiopia in East Africa.

The Colonial System

• Q: What types of administrative systems d the various colonial powers establish in their colonies, and how did these systems reflect the general philosophy of colonialism?

Indirect Rule

• Cooperating with local elites – Purchased loyalty – Economic rewards for cooperation – Confirming them in positions of authority and status in an new colonial setting. • In parts of Africa and Indian subcontinent, • the Malay peninsula – Countries that were most effective in resisting included those who had along tradition of national cohesion and independence: » Burma, Vietnam, African Muslim states such as Nigeria and Morocco.

Direct Rule

• Directly imposed or replaced indigenous government, institutions – Re-organized social, political, economic and often, gender relationships • Response to resistance efforts • Policies designed to eradicate source of resistance • Destroy sources of tradition

Philosophy of Colonialism

• “Might makes it right” – pseudoscientific validation from the concept of Social Darwinism • “White mans burden” – Moral justification: • bringing the benefits of western democracy, capitalism, and Christianity to the tradition-ridden societies of Africa and Asia, – (civilizing mission)

Association

• The French adopted the terms association & assimilation: • Association: – implied collaboration with the local elites while leaving local traditions alone

Assimilation

• Assimilation – Implies an effort to transform colonial societies in the western image • French approached colonization both ways

India Under the British Raj

• Q: What were some of the major consequences of British rule in India, and how did they affect the Indian peoples?

British India, 1800

• Empire of the Muhgals colonized – British sought to consolidate their control over Indian and expand into the interior – Direct Rule • East India company • Later by the British crown – Indirect Rule • through their local Maharajas and rajas.

The East Indian Co. Resident and His Puppet •company’s resident dominating a procession in Tanjore in 1825, while the Indian ruler, Sarabhoji, follows like an obedient shadow © Art Media, Victoria and Albert Museum, London/HIP/The Image Works

Colonial Reforms Benefits

• British government brought order and stability to a society rent by civil war and • Benefits – Increase in access to education • Girls had some increase access – wifely duties, – Sati outlawed of Sati – widows allowed to remarry legally – new infrastructure of railroads and telegraph, postal service, health and sanitation improved.

Costs of Colonialism

• High price for stability • Economic costs : hardship to the majority of millions of people – Introduction of British textiles put thousands of Bengali women out of work and severely damaged the local textile industry

Costs of Colonialism

• British introduced the Zamindar system: – To facilitate the collection of agricultural taxes and create a new landed gentry who could become the conservative foundation of British rule.

• local gentry increased the tax burden on peasants and forced many to become tenants or lose their land entirely.

– Rebellion led to new legislation protecting farmers from eviction and unreasonable rent increases as a concession

India Under British Rule, 1805 –1931

•This map shows the different forms of rule that the British applied in India under their control.

The Cost of Colonialism

• Economic costs – Limited industrialization, • remiss in bringing the benefits of modern science and technology • Psychological impact: – British arrogance, contempt and discrimination • cut deeply into the pride of many Indians, especially those of high caste

Colonial regimes in SE Asia

• Q: Which western countries were most active in seeking colonial possessions in Southeast Asia, and what were their motives in doing so?

•

Colonial Regimes in Southeast Asia

1800 only two societies were under colonial rule

–

Spanish Philippines

–

Dutch East Indies

•

1900 the entire area colonized by the west

The Effects of Dutch Colonialism in Java

•

Dutch administration buildings in Batavia

© William J. Duiker

Singapore and Malaya

•

“

Opportunity in the Orient” • 1819 Stamford Raffles founded British colony in Singapore • Strategic shipping port in the region

Government Hill in Singapore

•Strait of Malacca, an important commercial seaport in Asia.

© British Library/HIP/Art Resource, NY

Colonial Southeast Asia

•British Burma •Malacca •French Vietnam •Laos •Cambodia •American Philippines

The Nature of Colonial Rule

• Administration and Education – Slow to adopt democratic institutions • Albert Sarraut advised patience in in awaiting the full benefits colonial policy –

I will treat you like my younger brothers, but do not forget that I am the older brother. I will slowly give you the dignity of humanity

– Slow to adopt educational reforms • French officials in Vietnam voiced opposition to expanding education –

Educating the natives meant not “one coolie less but one rebel more

Cultural Influences — East and West

© Archives Charmet/The Bridgeman Art Library

The Nature of Colonial Rule

• Economic Development – Exploitation of raw materials • Burma: Teakwood • Malaya: Rubber and Tin • East Indies: spices, tea, coffee, palm oil • Philippines: sugar, copra (coconut flesh) – Limited industrialization • Industrialization to meet needs of European elite and local elites • Most industrial and commercial establishments, banking, & trade, owned and managed by Europeans

The Nature of Colonial Rule

• Colonialism and the Countryside – Majority of people agrarian •

Subsistence agriculture

• Plantation agriculture – European Rubber & Tea Plantations – Workers “Shanghaied” • English term , practice of recruiting laborers, often from the docks and streets of Shanghai: use of force, drugs or alcohol

The Production of Rubber

• European Cash Crop of Asia •Slave wages.

© William J. Duiker

The Production of Rubber

•.latex sheets © William J. Duiker

Empire Building in Africa

• Q: What factors were behind the “Scramble for Africa” and what impact did it have on the continent?

18thC Africa

• 18 th C interest limited to the coast and the slave trade – Indirect rule or influence through African rulers and merchant intermediaries • Factors that limited expansion – Disease • malaria – Political instability – Lack of transportation

Domestic Slaves, Zanzibar, 1890

•Slave trade in decline: growing outrage among humanitarians in European countries over human trafficking & increase in price coupled with decrease in demand © Bojan Brecelj/CORBIS

Decline of Slave Trade

• • Dutch ceased the trafficking by1795, Danes in 1803, • Britain & America declared it illegal in 1808 – By 1815 only Portugal and Spain were legally active. – By the 1880s the institution was abolished in all major countries in the world. • It was finally abolished in America by 1863 and in Cuba and brazil 17 years later

Empire Building in Africa Informal Empire

• The Growing European Presence in • West Africa – Emergence of European educated elite class of Africans who were then employed by Europeans – Christianizing – African social splits – Tensions with African government – British: Gold Coast, Sierra Leone – America: Liberia – French: Senegal River near Cape Verde • Peanut plantations

Imperialist Shadow over the Nile

• Historical interest in building a canal between the Mediterranean and Red Sea – Turks, 16 th C – King Louis of France, 17 th C – Napolean,1798 toppled the Mamluk regime in Cairo – British restored the Mamluk Muhammad Ali, Ottoman officer seized control for 30 years – Ferdinand de Lesseps,1854, signed a contract to have the canal completed by 1869

The Suez Canal

• French Egypt – Project indebted the government – Dependent on foreign aid – Revolt against foreign influence led Britain to step in and protect its investments (1875 shares) – Established an informal protectorate until WWI

The Opening of the Suez Canal, 1869

•Continues to be Egypt’s greatest revenue producer © Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz/Art Resource, NY

British Control of Egypt & Sudan

• Great Britain’s interest in region strategic – Suez Canal shortened distance between Europe & Asia • Designed by a French engineer & built by an international company • Opened in 1869 • Far flung empire & trading network, Britain had the greatest interest in its control – 1875 Britain acquired control when the ruler of Egypt sold his shares in the company to British government to avoid bankruptcy – 1882 British advisors supervised all important Egyptian government offices & became real rulers of the country • Technically or nominally remained a province of the Ottoman Empire

Suez Canal, 1869

• Canal opened • Europeans directly controlled only a scattering of outposts – African Coast – Algeria – North Africa – Southern Tip of Africa

Sudan

• Egypt claimed authority over Sudan • Sudan controlled the water supply of the Nile River – Sudanese resented Egyptian control – Revolted in 1883 under the Mahdi (Rightly Guided One) the leader of the Nationalist movement – 1896 – 1898 General Sir Herbert Kitchener undertook recon quest of Sudan

French Conquest & Settlement of Northwest Africa

• 1830 – 1869 France conquered Algeria – Used as a base for further advances into the Sahara – 1881 Made Tunisia a protectorate (in spite of Italy’s claim) – Expanded west into Morocco

French Empire

• Encouraged re-settlement, unlike Britain in Egypt – Algeria – French dispossessed people of best land – 1911 population 5.6 million, 752,000 were European – Tunisia 130,000 Europeans • Friction between wealthy white minority & Arab Majority • Muslims treated like a conquered people

White Privilege

• French settlers or

Colons

had representation in the legislature in metropolitan France • Muslims had no representation –

The Arab must accept the fate of the conquered, he must either become assimilated to our civilization or disappear. European civilization can have no sympathy for the life of a savage

1912

• Several European nations had completed partitioning of Africa • Incorporated territories into their Empire • Only two states remained independent post partition – Liberia • Settled by former slaves of America • Remained economically dependent on U.S. companies – Firestone – Ethiopia • Had successfully repelled Italy’s attempt to conquer it in 1896

The Partition – Science & Technological advance

• Science and technology allowed for partition – Quinine (bark of Cinchona tree) defended against malaria – Dutch & British empires began producing it in significant quantities to allow citizens to colonize

Industrial development

• Demand for raw materials from Africa & elsewhere increased • Improvements in shipping reduced transportation costs, • Steamships, telegraphs, railways, superior guns, military equipment facilitated European intervention & control • European mentality, economic system & morality – the desire & justification to conquer other peoples was present

Belgium

• King Leopold II, 1876 – “I want my share of this wonderful African cake” • Organized private commercial organization to exploit resources of Congo basin – Established the Congo Free State – Exploitation of land and people of Congo justified accusations that modern tropical colonization by Europeans was motivated by economic greed • International outcry against repressive policies forced him to appoint a Commission of inquiry in 1904

Commission of Inquiry, 1904

• Found enslavement & brutality of people for extraction of rubber • 1908 Belgium government replaced King’s regime with less exploitative one

The Scramble for Africa

© Snarky/Art Resource, NY

Berlin West African Conference 1884-1885

• European colonial powers agreed on “first come, first served” as basic rule for dividing Africa • Justified it as a civilizing mission • 1884 scramble intensified – Portugal, Spain, Great Britain, France, Italy, Germany – 1871-1900 Britain added 4.3 million miles of territory & 66 million by acquiring its African Empire

Serving the White Ruler

•African workers carry British officers across a mangrove swamp in Central Africa. Two porters in the rear bring the liquor.

© Mary Evans Picture Library/The Image Works

Resistance

• invasion disrupted to traditional life ways, political, socio-economic systems • 25 conflicts with Europeans before WWI – Key resisters • Ethiopia • Ashanti in present day Ghana • Followers of the Mahdi in Sudan • Zulus in Southern Africa – All lost in the end with exception of Ethiopia who skillfully used modern weapons they purchased

South Africa

• 17 th C Dutch Colonists began settling among the San & Khoi (hunt/gath) & the Bantu speaking peoples who engaged in herding & agriculture • Zulu – Forged people into a fighting nation that defeated and subjugated other tribes and fought white colonists in several Zulu wars – Although eventually defeated – Bantu people moved into Southern Africa – Black Majority and white minority = racial caste system

Rise & Fall of Boer Republics

• 19 th C attracted white colonists – Climate, soil, gold & diamonds – Great Britain acquired the Dutch Colony at the Cape of Good Hope in 1815 – Inherited Dutch colonists of the land – The Boers or Farmers • Resented British rule and law ending slavery in 1833 – Forced them to free their slaves

The Sunday Battle

•To escape British control, Boers made a mass migration called the Great Trek into the interior of Africa between 1835 & 1841 © Mary Evans Picture Library/Everett Collection

•. Boer’s established 2 independence republics:

Orange Free State

and

Transvaal

•British established Natal in Cape Province

Struggle over resources (Gold)

• 1899 Anglo-Boer War – Guerilla tactics – Scorched earth policy – Concentration camps – 1902 Boers surrendered – Union of South Africa • Two Boer Colonies federated with British colonies of Natal and Cape in 1909 • Established white supremacy, denied suffrage to black majority

Rhodesia

• Orange Free state – previously had been called Great Zimbabwe, an African State –

Cecil Rhodes

made a fortune in diamond mining in South Africa and carved out two new colonies for Great Britain – To be governed by Rhode’s

South African Company

• Northern Rhodesia • Southern Rhodesia

1890s

• Rhode’s South African Company – Army won Portuguese acquiescence in the British takeover of that area – Defeat of Matabele & Mashona tribes • Resentful of exploitation of land and labor • 1897 fighting ended • Sponsored British immigration – 5% of population European

Impact

• Many suffered • Especially where Europeans re-settled or extracted resources – Tribes were split under different jurisdictions – Previous hostile tribes were grouped under a single administration • Kenya & Rhodesia – 100,000s lost land, forced to live on inferior lands as native reserves or become tenants & laborers on new white owned lands

Indirect Impacts

• Slavery abolished in Britain in 1808 • continued to enslave Africans enslaved for public works and mineral extraction – Imposed through violence

Christian Missionaries

• Missionary teacher and preacher more likely than colonial administrator to be in contact with more remote peoples – “Bush Schools” – Western Education & Religion expanded • Islam remained dominant – Majority of Algerians, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Northern Sudan resisted conversion

Revere the conquering heroes: Establishing British rule in Africa

© Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

New African Leadership Anti-colonial movements

• Educated – Wanted to seize new opportunities created by colonialism – Began to develop anti-colonial movements • Prior to WWI, demanded African Christian Churches be placed under black African leadership • New African independent states be established based on modern democratic principles

Revolts in North Africa

• Nationalist Political movements – Morocco • Rif Rebellion led by Krim Brothers • Brutally crushed by French and Spanish forces – Algeria – Libya • Italians bombed rebellion – Tunisia • French crushed movements in early 1900s

Africa in 1914

•.

Cultural Influences —East and West

© Werner Forman/Art Resource, NY

Royal Palace at Bangkok

© William J. Duiker

Gateway to India

© William J. Duiker