Chapter 33: The Building of Global Empires

Vocabulary

• Cecil Rhodes: Cecil Rhodes was an Oxford graduate that relocated to South Africa in 1871. He monopolized the diamond mining in South Africa, and by 1889, at only the age of 35, he controlled approximately 90 percent of all South African Diamond Production. He also had a political career, serving as prime minister of the British Cape Colony from 1890-1896. However, his long-term vision was to see Africa completely controlled by the British, and he sought to expand his territory by annexing many territories to his growing colony. 

• “Tools of Empire”: These were vital components, and many of the reasons, why Europeans could colonize other areas in the manner that they did. A few of these were effective technologies of transportation, communication, and war, weapons and strategy, which were at the heart of European imperialism.

• Company Rule: The phrase Company Rule refers to the East India Trading Company in India run by the British. The specifics of this were that as the Mughal Empire in India declined, the EITC increased there power by moving further inward into India. They did so brutally and it often involved crushing Indian rebellion. 

• Sepoy Rebellion: Sepoys were Indian soldiers under British control. In 1857, they revolted when they received orders to tear fat off a rifle (which is how they were packed, to protect them from moisture), which violated religious codes of the indigenous peoples. In response, they revolted, killing hundreds of British peoples – including women and children. However, this rebellion was rapidly quenched in a timely response by European troops, who had more weapons, and better organization. 

• Leopold II: Leopold II was the King of Belgium from 1865 to 1909. He employed Henry Morton Stanley to develop commercial ventures and establish a colony called the Congo Free State. However, this state was far from being free. The principal export of the CFS was rubber, and African labor was forced, with conditions extremely brutal. Humanitarians cried foul when it came to the CFS, and in 1908, the Belgian government took over and it became known as Belgian Congo. 

• Afrikaners: The people originally in South Africa. This is the Dutch word for “African”. The Dutch believed that god had predestined them to claim the people and resources of the Cape. 

• Berlin Conference: This was a conference held between European powers, twelve of them in all, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, to lay the rules for the colonization of Africa. They decided on two ways to colonize a territory, through military conquest, or by getting a territory leader to sign over the land. The Europeans usually faced very little problems from Africans because of their high powered weaponry. 

• Monroe Doctrine: The Monroe Doctrine was a document procured by James Monroe that served primarily as a warning to European powers, proclaiming that the Americas were basically a U.S. protectorate, and that any ideas of colonization would be ill advised. 

• Sino-Japanese War: This was a war between the Japanese and the Chinese over the acquiring of Korea, beginning in 1894. Because Japan had so much business invested in the Koreas, they were not going to give it up easily. The Japanese and the Chinese met on the sea, and a mere five hours later, Japan had easily won. China then ceded the Koreas, Taiwan, the Pescadores Islands, and the Liaodong peninsula. Japan also gained Unequal Treaty rights over China.

• Indentured Labor Migration: As slavery continued to decline, indentured labor increased sharply. The majority of these workers came from India, but large amounts also came from China, Japan, Java, Africa, and the Pacific Islands. They were so vital, because they were needed to replace the diminishing number of slaves on plantations. 

• Social Darwinism: Social Darwinists were those who grasped ` the ideas of Darwinism and used them to explain societal development. English philosopher Herbert Spencer was an example of this. He relied on theories of evolution to explain differences between the strong and the weak, and the successful and unsuccessful races. Namely, black peoples were considered “less evolved”.

• Indian National Congress: A reformed group founded in 1885 in India with British approval. This was a forum for educated Indians to communicate their views on public affairs to colonial (English) officials. In 1916, the INC joined with the All-India Muslim League, which was an organization working to advance the political and social interests of Muslims in India. 

Focus Question #1

            What were the motives for imperialism?

            At the heart of imperialism, was European greed, which was the primary motivation for imperialism. Examples of this are Company Rule in India, the Dutch in South Africa, and the Belgian in Congo.

            Company Rule was control of territories in India by the East India Trading Company. Because the Mughal Empire in India was declining, the East India Trading Company increased there power by moving further inland into India. They met resistance however, such as the Sepoy Rebellion, although all resistance was rapidly and efficiently crushed by the more technologically advanced British. By establishing more control over larger portions of India, the British were able to increase the profits they made from India.

            The Dutch established Cape Town at the southern tip of Africa. They thought it was predestined by god for them to conquer the indigenous peoples there. They enslaved the indigenous Afrikaners and forced them into field labor to turn a profit.

            The Congo was first established by an entrepreneur who was paid by a Belgian royal. The entrepreneur, Henry Morton Stanley, developed the Congo Free State. However, this was far from being free. Africans were enslaved and worked under brutal conditions. Humanitarians cried foul, and eventually the Belgian government overtook the operation, and thus Belgian Congo was born.

Focus Question #2

            Compare European imperialism in India to imperialism in Africa.

            European imperialism in India contrasted to that of imperialism in Africa in that in India, a company was in charge versus colonial governments in Africa. The company in question is the East India Trading Company. Similarities between the two regions’ forms of imperialism include prejudices against indigenous peoples, a decrease in living conditions after European contact, and quite often, many of the indigenous peoples were killed.

            The East India Trading Company was run by the British, although not the British government exactly – the East India Trading Company had the support of the British government. As the Mughal Empire declined, the company gained more influence and more power in India. To assert this newfound power and influence, the company moved further inland, and thus, took control of more territory. They took control of territories by brute force if it was needed – their venture could almost be called an outright conquest of India. Africa, on the other hand, was influenced by imperialism from all over Europe, not just Great Britain. Also, in Africa, colonial governments were established right from the beginning. These governments were subservient to those of their mother countries, of course.

            Similarities between the regions were almost all that was detrimental to the indigenous peoples. Things such as prejudices against them led to others, such as decreases in living conditions, and very often to indigenous people being murdered. An example of this in India is the Sepoy Rebellion. The sepoys were Indian soldiers employed by the British and when British soldiers attempted to order them to remove some animal fat with their teeth, they refused because of religious beliefs. A battle ensued, and the sepoys killed hundreds of British citizens. The rebellion was quickly quenched however, because the British were more organized and had more military power.

Focus Question #3

            Compare and contrast Japanese and US imperialism.

            Both the United States and Japan sought to increase their imperial power in the world in the late 19th and early 20th century, so both states focused on imperial expansion and the results were favorable to both nations. However, the United States did not utilize their military in their expansion quite as often as Japan did.

            In 1823, President James Monroe issued the Monroe Doctrine. The Monroe Doctrine served primarily as a warning to European imperial powers that the Americas were a protectorate of the United States. Basically, the United States told them that the western hemisphere was off limits to any more imperialistic ventures. During this time, the U.S. government also purchased Alaska from Russia. In 1898, under the rule of President William McKinley, the United States annexed Hawai’i because many American entrepreneurs residing there were calling for the annexation of the islands into the United States. In 1898, the U.S. battleship Maine was sunk, and the United States government cried foul to Spanish sabotage. The ensuing war was easily won by the U.S. and they took control of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippines, and Cuba from Spain. Additionally, the U.S. had to intervene into many of the wars in central America, even though they did not control the majority of the colonies there, rather they did it to guarantee the safety of their business ventures in colonies belonging to the United States. The U.S. also constructed the Panama Canal to facilitate communication and transportation between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

            The Japanese resented the unequal treaties that the United States and European powers had forced them to sign in the 1860s, and thus they were determined to begin their own imperial expansion. First, they consolidated their hold on Hokkaido and the Kurile Islands in the north and encouraged Japanese peoples to populate them to help stave off the Russians. By 1879, they had increased their territorial control to include Okinawa and the Ryukyu Islands to the south. Next, two wars occurred in which Japan was victorious in both. The first of these wars was that of the Sino-Japanese War, which was primarily over the control of the Koreas. Japan easily defeated the Chinese, and China ceded to them the Koreas, Taiwan, the Pescadores Islands, and the Liaodong peninsula. Japan also gained unequal treaty rights over China, similar to those held over China by European powers and the United States. The second war was that between Russia and Japan, the Russo-Japanese War. This war resulted in Japan gaining control of the southern half of the Sakhalin Islands.