Transcript Berlin Conference 1884-1885

Social Darwinism On Steroids
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People are Safe;
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Increasing Economic Prosperity;
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Control of Future.
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Of the 25 poorest countries in the world, 24
are located in ___________.
Answer: Africa
The 10 poorest countries in the world are:
Sierra Leone; Guinea; Liberia; Central African
Republic; Somalia; Burundi; Burkina Faso;
Mali; Ethiopia; and the poorest country is
Niger.
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The information on the previous two slides is
from a study by Oxford University on poverty.
With support from the UN, they have developed
a new measure for poverty. It is a
multidimensional view of poverty. It looks at
such factors as whether a household has a
functioning toilet, whether there is clean
drinking water within a 30 minute walk, access
to electricity, the number of school aged
children in school, and whether any member of
the household is malnourished.
The 10 Poorest Countries In The World: Oxford
University-U.N. (PHOTOS)
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In looking at other measures of the poorest
countries, the results are similar. When
examining the poorest countries in the world,
the only non-African countries that routinely
show up are Afghanistan and Haiti.
http://www.ophi.org.uk//wpcontent/uploads/Worldmap/Web/StatPlanet.ht
m
http://www.gfmag.com/tools/globaldatabase/economic-data/10502-the-poorestcountries-in-the-world.html#axzz28GO44aZC
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Why do you think that Africa has 24 of the
25 poorest countries in the world?
Thesis: The concept of Social Darwinism led
to the domination of western powers (Europe
and the United States) over the rest of the
world. This domination has caused
significant problems that still are prevalent
today.
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The policy of extending a nation's authority
by territorial acquisition or by the
establishment of economic and political
hegemony (prominent influence) over other
nations.
www.answers.com/topic/imperialism
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The policy of extending the rule or authority
of an empire or nation over countries, or of
acquiring and holding colonies and
dependencies.
Dictionary.reference.com/browse/imperialism
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The process whereby the dominant politicoeconomic interests of one nation expropriate
for their own enrichment the land, labor, raw
materials and markets of another people.
www.michaelparenti.org/Imperialism101
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Examine the political cartoon on the next
slide
Why is this imperialism?
What are examples being given in the
cartoon?
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European history has been one of
expansion. 1500s and 1600s-colonialism:
settlement and trade.
Industrialization in 1700’s and 1800’s
created the “need” for new imperialism.
Europeans struggled for raw materials,
markets for their manufactured goods,
and places to invest their capital for
higher rates of return.
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Nationalism is a common bond shared by a
group of people who feel strongly attached
to a particular land and who possess a
common language, culture, and history,
marked by shared glories and sufferings.
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Nationalists contend that one’s highest
loyalty should be given to the nation.
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Pride in history and tradition
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Specially chosen by God or history
Governments use nationalism to gain
acceptance from their people.
Nationalism leads to competition between
countries.
This leads Europe to controlling territories in
Africa and Asia. Control could be for strategic
reasons or just to keep it from someone else.
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Governments use nationalism to gain acceptance
from their people.
Nationalism leads to competition between
countries.
This leads Europe to controlling territories in Africa
and Asia. Control could be for strategic reasons or
just to keep it from someone else.
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The most extreme ideological expression of
nationalism and imperialism was Social
Darwinism.
The theory of evolution justified the
exploitation of “lesser breeds” by “superior
races.”
Europeans (and Americans) would repeatedly
suggest that they had evolved more than
Africans and Asians, and that hence nature
itself gave them the right to rule others.
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On what basis would they (Europeans and
Americans) justify their conclusions?
Who were the most powerful countries in the
world? What was their power based on?
Economic and military power
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Social Darwinists were blatantly racist.
◦ They applied evolution to the social order.
◦ Ideas of racial superiority associated with Social
Darwinism gave Europeans the conviction that
natural laws destined them to lead “the civilizing
mission.”
 Missionaries sought to convert “heathen” unbelievers
 Introducing civilization to the “colored” races of the
world.
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In their view, war was nature’s way of
eliminating the unfit.
◦ Using terms such as “survival of the fittest” Social
Darwinists insisted that nations and races were
engaged in a struggle for survival in which only
the fittest survive and deserve to win.
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The White Man's Burden was the idea that as
superior or supreme beings, it was the job of the
white people to spread their ways of living to the
inferior people of other places.
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The concept was to spread your way of life, from
agriculture, to commerce to religion.
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This is the marketing of Imperialism. The concept
was “sold” to the rest of the world.
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"I contend that we Britons are the first race
in the world, and the more of the world we
inhabit, the better it is for the human race. I
believe it is my duty to God, my Queen, and
my country..."
Take up the White Man's burdenSend forth the best ye breed-Go bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives' need;
To wait in heavy harness,
On fluttered folk and wild-Your new-caught, sullen
peoples,
Half-devil and half-child.
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“… although Americans in the eighteenth
century believed in natural rights as a matter
of principle, many entertained doubts that
other peoples, who did not enjoy the cultural
and political blessings of the Englishmen,
could ever really make good use of the rights
with which they were endowed.”
Dangerous Nation, Robert Kagan, page 45
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Social Darwinism had long-lasting
implications. In future units we will tie the
concept of Social Darwinism to:
-the military build-up that led to World War
I.
-the Holocaust
-other genocides of the 20th century
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Create a thesis regarding Imperialism and
Social Darwinism. You will be revising this
thesis throughout the unit and it will be
handed in to me at the end of the unit.
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Ethnic groups: hundreds of ethnic & linguistic groups. Most
followed traditional beliefs, some Islam and Christianity.
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Languages: more than 1,000 different languages
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Travel barriers: Europeans unable to navigate interior of
Africa until the invention of the steam engine due to rivers
with rapids and changing flows, African armies, and
rainforests!
Trade: large networks of Africans conducted trade keeping
the control away from the Europeans. Trade networks were
specialized.
As late as 1880, European nations ruled only a tenth
of the continent.
By 1914, Europeans claimed everything except Liberia
(a small territory for freed slaves from the U.S.) and
Ethiopia (who defeated the Italians).
Of the major world powers, only Russia, AustriaHungary, and the U.S. did not scramble for African
soil.
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Nationalism: Measure success by land you control
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Competition: Need more workers and markets
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Led to Alliances: To insure your success and the
lack of success by others
My country the best: Racism/Social Darwinism
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What were your actions during the
simulation that would support the
ideas on the previous slide?
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Nationalism + Competition + Racism + Social
Darwinism
Leads to
 Imperialism
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Technological Superiority in Military: Europeans
have Maxim (automatic gun) while Africans had
outdated weapons.
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Steam Engine: allowed for easy travel and faster
communication
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Quinine: Protection from Malaria
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Rivalries: African tribes fought with each other
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Opening of the Conference:
“The aim of the conference was to promote the
civilisation of the African natives by opening up the
interior of the continent to commerce. He
{Bismark} then defined three limited goals: free
trade for the Congo, free navigation of the Niger
and agreement on formalities for future
annexations of territories…”
The Scramble for Africa; Thomas Pakenham, page
310
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“Germany and Britain had given away to Leopold
most of the Congo basin, meaning most of Central
Africa, a million square miles of jungle and bush.
The main object was to keep this enormous prize
out of the hands of the French. But with the land
went the responsibility of acting in the spirit of
Livingstone. In effect the self-styled philanthropic
King had been chosen to act in Africa as a trustee
for the whole of Europe.”
The Scramble for Africa, Thomas Pakenham, page
327
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No where illustrates the concept of Imperialism
better than what happened in the Congo.
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King Leopold- humanitarian
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King Leopold-butcher
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I personally believe that it is no accident that the
Congo is among the poorest nations in the world.
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Leopold had invested a fortune in the Congo.
At first he made a little money from oil and
ivory. But what rally made him rich was
rubber.
“By 1902, rubber sales had risen fifteen times
in eight years, and constituted 80 per cent of
exports, worth over forty-one million
francs…”
The Scramble for Africa, Thomas Pakenham,
page 759
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King Leopold (not Belgium) controlled the Congo
river area.
http://www.yale.edu/gsp/colonial/belgian_congo/
the Congo's population dropped by some 50
percent during this period
Reading from The Scramble for Africa, pages 772774
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How do you think the world responded to the
atrocities from the Congo when they were
discovered in the early 1900’s?
Reading page 776
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From Conrad’s Congo in a letter to Roger Casement:
“It is an extraordinary thing that the conscience of Europe
which seventy years ago has put down the slave trade on
humanitarian grounds tolerates the Congo state today. …
And the fact remains that in 1903, seventy five years or so
after the abolition of slave trade (because it was cruel) there
exists in Africa a Congo state, created by the act of European
Powers where ruthless, systematic cruelty towards the blacks
is the basis of administration, and bad faiths towards all the
other states the basis of commercial policy.”
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East Africa – 1905 uprising against German
rule. Germany wanted to center on cash
crops therefore no food crops for Africans.
People believed in Maji Maji (magic water) to
stop bullets. Over 26,000 resisters died and
twice as many died after due to famine.
Ethiopia
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Menelik II: Emperor of Ethiopia(1889).
Played Italian French, and British against each
other.
Built large arsenal of modern weapons from France
and Russia.
Almost signed treaty with Italy but learned it was
different from original treaty seen
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Consequences of European control
were devastating, as the newly
drawn borders failed to
correspond to older demarcations
of ethnicity, language, culture, and
commerce.
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Positives
◦ Reduced local warfare
◦ Sanitation
◦ Hospitals and schools
◦ African products on International market
Negatives
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Lost control of land
New diseases brought
Increased death rate – disease and resisting
Change to cash crops
Breakdown of culture/tradition: identity problems
Lost homes
Work for Europeans
Interactive Map of African Colonization
http://www.brown.edu/Research/AAAH/map.
htm
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Problems continue to plague Africa today
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European control lasted until well after WWII
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Governments after Europe left were often
dictatorships supported by either the US or
Russia (Cold War)
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pw12KGSj
53k
Excerpt from Uganda Rising-Approximately
10 minutes
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Based on the additional information you have
gained from the last three classes, please
revise your thesis statement. Please make
sure to keep the revisions on the page that
your original thesis and my comments was
written on.
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The growing Indian discontent with British rule erupted on May
10, 1857. The sepoys, who were Indians trained by the British as
soldiers, heard rumors that the cartridges for their new Enfield
rifles were greased with lard and beef fat. Since the cow is
sacred to Hindus, and the pig is abhorrent to Muslims, all the
sepoys were outraged, and they mutinied. Although initially the
mutiny was spontaneous, it quickly became more organized and
the sepoys even took over the cities of Delhi and Kanpur. This
mutiny was harshly crushed by the British. On September 20,
1857, The British victories were accompanied by widespread
recrimination, and in many cases, unarmed sepoys were
bayoneted, sown up in the carcasses of pigs or cows, or fired
from cannons.
Forms of Imperialism
Colony
Protectorate
Characteristics
Historical Example
A country or region
governed internally by a
foreign power
The colony of South
Africa
A country or territory with Cuba – After the
its own internal
Spanish-American War
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
China under the Open
Door Policy
Economic
Imperialism
Independent nations
controlled by private
business interests or
other nation’s business
interests
The Dole Fruit
Company controlled
pineapple trade in
Hawaii