A variety of internal and external factors contribute to state formation, expansion, and decline. Governments maintain order through a variety of administrative institutions, policies, and procedures, and governments obtain, retain, and exercise power in different ways and for different purposes
LEARNING OBJECTIVE
Explain the continuities and changes in territorial holdings from 1900 to the present.
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS
KC-6.2.I.B Between the two world wars, Western and Japanese imperial states predominantly maintained control over colonial holdings; in some cases, they gained additional territories through conquest or treaty settlement and in other cases faced anti-imperial resistance.
ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES
Territorial gains:
§ Transfer of former German colonies to Great Britain and France under the system of League of Nations mandates
§ Manchukuo/Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
Anti-imperial resistance:
§ Indian National Congress
§ West African resistance (strikes/congresses) to French rule
The Mandate System after World War I
The mandate was a legal and administrative instrument, not a geographical territory
Article 22 of the [1919 League of Nations] Covenant established the Mandates System, founded on the concept of the development of such territories under the 'tutelage ... of advanced nations' formed 'a sacred trust of civilization'. The degree of tutelage was to depend on the extent of political maturity of the territory concerned. The most developed would be classified as 'A' Mandates, the less developed as 'B', and the least developed as 'C'... All Arab Mandates were class “A.”
Overall, the French and the British occupied much of the former Ottoman Empire (divided into 5 Mandates) and divided Germany's Africa colonies (divided into 7 Mandates) between themselves.
Japan took over most of Germany's Pacific island colonies
Balfour Declaration (1917)
Great Britain promises to assist the Jewish people in establishing a “national home” in Palestine
Britain hoped that the settlement in Palestine of a pro-British Jewish population might help to protect the approaches to the Suez Canal in neighboring Egypt and thus ensure a vital communication route to British colonial possessions in India
the Declaration contradicted the agreements between the British and Husain bin Ali and the map drawn by Sykes and Picot.
Sykes and Picot Agreement (1916)
French diplomat Francois Georges-Picot and his British counterpart, Sir Mark Sykes, drew up a map dividing the Ottoman Empire's Middle Eastern territory between British and French zones of control.
The agreement permitted British and French authorities to divide up their respective territories however they pleased.
This led to the creation of a series of Arab countries — Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, and so on — whose borders and political institutions only dimly reflected the Arab world's ethno-sectarian makeup.
League of Nations
Japan joined the League of Nations as one of the “big five” powers
entered into a series of international agreements that sought to improve relations among countries with conflicting interests in Asia and the Pacific
1922 -- Washington Conference treaties
Japan agreed to limit naval development, pledged to evacuate Shandong province of China, and guaranteed China’s territorial integrity
1928 -- Kellogg-Briand Pact
Japan renounced war as an instrument of national policy
Change in Direction
The Great Depression
the depression undermined support for the internationalist position, and the militarists were able to benefit from Japanese martial traditions and their own unwillingness to be constrained by international cooperation
Chinese Unification
China’s unification, aided by international attempts to reinstate its sovereignty, threatened Japan’s economic interests in Manchuria
political instability, the result of nationalists and communists vying for power, made China an inviting target
Manchuria had historically been Chinese territory, but by the twentieth century it was a sphere of influence where Japan maintained the Manchurian Railroad (built in 1906), retained transit rights, and stationed troops
The Mukden Incident
In 1931 Japan’s military forces in Manchuria acted to assert control over the region
Manufactured incident:
On the night of 18 September 1931, Japanese troops used explosives to blow up a few feet of rail on the Japanese-built South Manchuria Railway north of Mukden
Japan accused the Chinese of attacking their railroad
This “Mukden incident” became the pretext for war between Japanese and Chinese troops
Japan's civilian government tried to halt this military incursion
1932 -- Japanese troops controlled all of Manchuria, thereby ensuring Japan preeminence and protecting its long-term economic and industrial development of the region.
The Japanese established a puppet state called Manchukuo, but in reality Japan had absorbed Manchuria into its empire
International Reaction
Guomindang (Nationalist Party) leader Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai-shek ) appealed to the League of Nations to halt Japanese aggression
League of Nations called for the withdrawal of Japanese forces and for the restoration of Chinese sovereignty
Japanese responded by leaving the league
This reaction set the pattern for future responses to the actions of expansionist nations such as Japan. Embarking on conquests in east Asia, Japanese militarists found a sure means to promoting a new militant Japanese national identity. They also helped provoke a new global conflagration
In 1885 a small group of English-speaking Hindu professionals founded a political organization called the Indian National Congress
For twenty years its members respectfully petitioned the government for access to the higher administrative positions and for a voice in official decisions, but they had little influence outside intellectual circles.
1905 -- Viceroy Lord Curzon divided the province of Bengal in two to improve the efficiency of its administration.
This decision, made without consulting anyone, angered not only educated Indians, who saw it as a way to lessen their influence, but also millions of uneducated Hindu Bengalis, who suddenly found themselves outnumbered by Muslims in East Bengal
Soon Bengal was the scene of demonstrations, boycotts of British goods, and even incidents of violence against the British.
1906 -- All-India Muslim League
while the Hindus of Bengal were protesting the partition of their province, Muslims, fearful of Hindu dominance elsewhere in India
the British Raj government responded by granting Indians a limited franchise based on wealth.
Muslims, however, were on average poorer than Hindus, for many poor and lowcaste Hindus had converted to Islam to escape caste discrimination.
the British instituted separate representation and different voting qualifications for Hindus and Muslims
1911 -- the British transferred the capital of India from Calcutta to Delhi (the former Mughal capital)
These changes disturbed Indians of all classes and religions and raised their political consciousness
two mass movements emerged:
one by Hindus
one by Muslims
Nationalist Industrial Protests
Pramatha Nath Bose -- the only Indian member of the Indian Geological Service wanted to prospect for iron ore
he had to resign because the government wanted no part of an Indian steel industry that could compete with that of Britain
Jamsetji Tata -- a Bombay textile magnate who decided to produce steel in spite of British opposition
With the help of German and American engineers and equipment, Tata’s son Dorabji opened the first steel mill in India in 1911, in a town called Jamshedpur in honor of his father.
World War I
Indians supported Britain enthusiastically
1.2 million men volunteered for the army
millions more voluntarily contributed money to the government.
Many expected the British to reward their loyalty with political concessions.
1917 -- in response to the agitation, the British government announced “the gradual development of self-governing institutions with a view to the progressive realization of responsible government in India as an integral part of the British Empire.”
This sounded like a promise of self-government, but the timetable was so vague that nationalists denounced it as a devious maneuver to postpone India’s independence
Spanish Influenza
late 1918 and early 1919 a violent influenza epidemic broke out among soldiers in the war zone of northern France.
Within a few months it spread to every country on earth and killed over 20 million people (estimates go as high as 50-100 million).
India was especially hard hit; of the millions who died, two out of three was Indian.
Amritsar Massacre (Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre)
April 13, 1919 in the city of Amritsar in Punjab, General Reginald Dyer ordered his troops to fire into a peaceful crowd of some 10,000 demonstrators
killing at least 379 and wounding 1,200.
Waves of angry demonstrations swept over India, but the government waited six months to appoint a committee to investigate the massacre.
In the charged atmosphere of the time, the period of gradual accommodation between the British and the Indians came to a close
Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948), who had returned to India during WWI, became the leader of the Indian National Congress following the Amritsar Massacre.
French West Africa
a growing frustration with the level of rebellion expressed during World War I conscription drives led to a move away from the "civilizing mission," assimilationist policies and direct rule.
a higher priority was placed on "conserving" African society and "tribal" structures.
This was an attempt to contain the protests of Western-educated elites in urban centers, both the British and French attempted to vest more and more power in the hands of "traditional" authorities
urban activists challenged the anti-democratic nature of the colonial system during the interwar years
Following WWI, because of the overwhelming technological forces arrayed that could be deployed by European powers against West African rebels, new forms of resistance were employed
Protesting harsh conditions resulting from forced labor, collective punishments, and unfair legal practices in a particular area (particularly in French colonies)
mass migrations
strikes by urban workers
most notably railway and dockworkers
boycotts
petitions
delegations orchestrated by elite associations:
Aborigines' Rights Protection Society
the Young Senegalese Club
the People's Union
the Anti-Slavery and Aborigines' Protection Society
religious/millenarian forms of protests:
from independent Christian churches
Muslim mahdist movements
sufi brotherhoods
practitioners of Traditional African Religions
Activity: The Zionist Jewish settlement of Palestine vs displacement of Palestinians
1.) Examine the different points of view regarding the British Mandate of Palestine
2.) Develop a claim that can be supported with the evidence regarding who has rights to govern the region
Zionist Jewish
Historical/Religious Claim to the region: Jewish Diaspora following Roman expulsion 66-135 C.E.-Jews were exiled by Romans
Jews form a majority in parts in the mandate of Palestine because of Palestinian emigration out and increasing Jewish immigration from Europe in the 1920’s-’30’s amid rising anti-Semitism.
Holocaust: Need for Jewish homeland as a safe haven and advocate for Jews around the globe.
Palestinians in the mandate of Palestine used terrorism to force the British out
100,000 British troops in 1945; 1 per 18 inhabitants in Palestine) and initially recognized UN plan for a 2-state solution
Palestinian
Historical/Religious Claim to the region: Islamic (Arab (Umayyad, Abbasid, Fatimid)/Turkic (Ayyubid, Mamluk, and Turks) rule of the region since the 7th century
Jews form a majority in parts in the mandate of Palestine because of Palestinian emigration out due to increasing violence brought to them by Jewish immigrants
Holocaust: this is an issue that Palestinians had no part of and should be dealt with where it occurred. Why not carve out a region in Germany…?
1930s, the British began limiting Jewish immigration and Jews in the mandate of Palestine used Jewish militias to fight both the local Arabs and to resist British rule to force the British out
(100,000 British troops in 1945; 1 per 18 inhabitants in Palestine) and refused to accept UN plan
Additional information:
Conflict Between Israel and Palestine -brief history
This Land is Mine-song
Activity
Use the documents below to develop a claim / category of analysis for the following prompt.
Prompt: Evaluate the extent to which Nationalist leaders and parties in Asia and Africa challenged imperial rule.
Document 1
Source: Excerpt from Bal Gangadhar Tilak's address to the Indian National Congress, 1907
“This alien government has ruined the country. In the beginning, all of us were taken by surprise. We were almost dazed. We thought that everything that the rulers did was for our good and that this English government had descended from the clouds to save us from internal and external invasions. Now we have perceived one fact, that the whole of this administration, which is carried on by a handful of Englishmen, is carried on with our assistance. We are all in inferior service.”
Document 2
Source: Excerpt from Mohandas Gandhi’s “Quit India” speech, given in Bombay, 8 August 1942.
“The power, when it comes, will belong to the people of India, and it will be for them to decide to whom it placed in the entrusted. . . . Ever since its inception the Congress has kept itself meticulously free of the communal taint. It has thought always in terms of the whole nation and has acted accordingly. . . . I know how imperfect our Ahimsa* is and how far away we are still from the ideal, but in Ahimsa there is no final failure or defeat. I have faith, therefore, that if, in spite of our shortcomings, the big thing does happen, it will be because God wanted to help us by crowning with success our silent, unremitting Sadhana** for the last twenty-two years.”
* Ahimsa = non-violence
**Sadhana = daily spiritual practice / means of accomplishing something
Key Takeaways
A) Versailles Peace Conference and Woodrow Wilson's principle of self -determination (Wilson’s 14-Points) was a major influence on anti-Imperial resistance as upper class colonial subjects began to demand those same principles apply to peoples outside of Europe.
these efforts were often met with resistance by European colonial authorities
B.) League of Nations -- attempts at providing global stability in the wake of WWI were met with failure when the international organization failed to resolve the crisis in Manchuria
day 1 -- Ho Chi Minh in French Indochina (Vietnam) challenged imperial rule
day 2 -- Indian National Congress and NEGOTIATED INDEPENDENCE of India from the British Empire with Mohandas Gandhi
April 13, 1919 -- an estimated 379 people were killed, and about 1,200 more were wounded
film excerpt -- Salt March (1930)