The World and the West The World and the West Imperialism (1) During the 19th Century, European expansion into the rest of the.
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The World and the West The World and the West Imperialism (1) During the 19th Century, European expansion into the rest of the world intensified This expansion is often referred to as “imperialism” What is imperialism? The imposition of control over a people by (a) foreign power(s), undermining their sovereignty so that they lose partly or totally the freedom to make their own decisions Ways imperialism can occur Formally, by annexation, colonialism, or military occupation Informally by economic domination, political domination, or by the threat of intervention The World and the West Imperialism (2) So why did Europeans embrace imperialism so enthusiastically in the 19th century? Motives Economics: growing economic competition encouraged European nations to target uncolonized lands for fear competitors would claim their resources and markets Geo-political advantage Certain areas had strategic advantage in terms of transit and the placement of military bases The belief that for a country to be great it had to possess colonies As a distraction to ease domestic social tensions and political conflicts To satisfy domestic interest groups who would benefit from expansion The World and the West The Old China Trade China was never colonized in the 19th century, but it nonetheless came to be a significant focus of imperialism Opening China Chinese view of trade The Chinese displayed no interest in foreign goods, seeing themselves as superior and commerce as an activity not worthy of proper Confucian gentlemen They saw trade as a privilege they generously extended to foreigners, a chance for them to extend the benefits of Chinese civilization Demanded payment in gold and silver, trade limited to Canton Opening China wider to foreign trade required subversion and coercion Growing tired of the restrictions the British subverted China by essentially becoming drug pushers They began smuggling opium from India into China, something many Chinese could not resist The World and the West Opium War The Chinese government opposed the opium trade and tried to suppress it British importers smuggled the product in, bribing corrupt Qing officials to look the other way First Opium War (1839-1842) In 1839, the Qing brought into Canton an incorruptible official, Lin Zexu, to suppress the opium trade He confiscated all opium stocks and forbade further trade in opium by the British upon penalty of death The British response was to mount a large military expedition from India which occupied several coastal cities, forced the Chinese to cede Hong Kong, pay a $100 million indemnity, and open up four more ports to foreign trade The World and the West China Loses Sovereignty The war served to demonstrate how far China had fallen behind the West in terms of technology Nonetheless, it was difficult for some Chinese, the Mandarins especially, to accept this fact Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864) The result of unhappiness with Qing policy both domestically and with foreigners The result was the Second Opium War (1856-1860), which culminated with the occupation of Beijing by 17,000 Anglo-French troops Treaty of Tientsin (1858) This treaty opened up Beijing to foreigners, created eleven further treaty ports, and began the system of extraterritoriality, which was a serious blow to Chinese honor and sovereignty The World and the West Elsewhere in Asia Japan The U.S. forces open Tokugawa Japan in a 1853 naval visit Meiji Restoration: the emperor in 1867 reasserted control, starting Japan on a rapid modernization, such that it was able to join the imperial game by the 1890s Indochina The French moved into Southeast Asia in the 1860s, establishing their colony of Indochina in 1887 The Philippines The U.S. wrested the Philippines from Spain in 1898, then forced to fight to pacify the islands until 1903 Indonesia and Malaysia: split between the Dutch and British The World and the West The Middle East: Egypt At the beginning of the 19th century, Egypt was an autonomous province of the Ottoman Empire Muhammad Ali (1805-1848) Ibrahim (1848-1879) Embarked Egypt on a course of modernization, trying to shift Egypt from self-sufficiency to growing export crops for Europe Muhammad Ali Continued this modernization, borrowing heavily in European financial markets By 1876, his government could no longer make interest payments The British intervened forcing him to give control of Egypt’s finances to Anglo-French commissioners The British sent in troops in 1882 to suppress anti-government rioters against Tawfiq—the troops stayed until 1952 The Egyptian khedives remained formally in power, with the British army the power behind the throne Ibrahim Pasha Tawfiq The World and the West Colonization of India One of the reasons Great Britain was so interested in Egypt was its desire to control the Suez Canal Which was a key short-cut to reaching India However, India only became a British colony gradually and largely due to a vacuum in power following the collapse of the Mughal Empire British East India Company Founded in 1600 Establishing and protecting British trading posts meant employing “sepoys” (native mercenary troops) It also meant overthrowing “nawabs” native rulers who threatened British trade, such that by the late 18th century much of India was under the control of the British East India Co. The Flag of the British East India Company Robert Clive The World and the West The British Raj (1) The British created a formal colonial administration for India in the same reorganization that eventually alienated North America Office of Governor-General established in 1773 Their main task was to solidify and extend British rule By 1848, all of India effectively under British rule Great Rebellion: British rule survived a mass revolt of Hindu and Muslim sepoys in 1857-1858 The Great Rebellion led Parliament to create a small, all-white civil service to administer India At its peak in 1900, 3,500 British bureaucrats ruled over 300 million Indians The World and the West The British Raj (2) So how did a few thousand British bureaucrats rule hundreds of millions of Indians? Ruthlessly deposed and dispossessed regional Indian rulers who opposed them Flattered and rewarded regional Indian rulers who cooperated Educational System The British also established a system of secondary schools in India where English was the language of instruction Higher-caste Indians flooded the schools, seeing them as a ticket to advancement and the good life Graduates often became low-tomiddle-level colonial bureaucrats and useful intermediaries for the British with local populations The educational system though helped plant the seeds for the eventual demise of the British Raj Lord Curzon, British Viceroy, with the Maharajah of Patiala c. 1907 The World and the West Early European Penetration of Africa European penetration of Africa limited before the 19th century Trading posts on the coast Limited colonization Mostly on offshore islands Boers (Afrikaners) Grew out of Dutch settlement established in 1652, to serve Dutch trading ships heading into Asia Dutch and other settlers gradually penetrated the interior, a movement which accelerated after the British seized the Cape Colony in the early 19th century Gold and diamond discoveries drew the British inland, leading to two wars between the Boers and the British Empire (1880-81, 1899-1902) While the British formally victorious, the Boers increasing influential in South African politics Afrikaner “commandos” or guerillas during the Boer Wars The World and the West The Scramble for Africa In the late 19th century, European powers turned their attention to Africa and to claiming pieces of the continent as colonies Only Ethiopia was able to retain its independence Reasons for the “scramble” Growing geo-political competition in Europe in which it was believed the possession of colonies was critical to the attainment and maintenance of Great Power status The desire for access to raw materials and captive markets, especially in an era in which European countries tended to pursue protectionist policies “The White Man’s Burden” The World and the West Anti-Imperialism Not all Europeans or Americans were in favor of imperialism Economic critics: noted that many colonies cost more than they produced in revenue, and that the benefits tended to go to special interest groups Working class proponents feared a loss of jobs to cheap colonial labor Moral argument: colonial countries did not spread civilization, but disruption, exploitation, and the evils of modern civilization Ernest Crosby: “The Real White Man’s Burden” Cultural argument: contact with “inferior” societies would un-civilize Europeans rather than civilizing the natives Anti-imperialists tended to be in the minority and their power as a movement was undermined by the diversity of their arguments How does this cartoon criticize imperialism?