IMPERIALISM - What is it? When did the term come into use?
It came into use after 1850. It was a new kind of European expansion which was not marked by widespread settlement. Its objective was to control territories for political and economic reasons and for national prestige. The late 19th century is often called the Age of Imperialism.
WHAT CAUSED IT?
Imperialism arose out of a complex mixture of political, economic, and social forces, although historians do not agree on which influences were most dominant.
Reasons for imperialism
Desire for Self-sufficiency
Industrial revolution had increased demand for raw materials – iron, coal, manganese, tungsten (steel alloys), copper (electricity), rubber (variety of uses). Rising standard of living in Europe and U.S. increased demand for coffee, tea, spices.
Leaders of countries did not want to become dependent on other nations for raw materials. Fear of being without if a war broke out drove the leaders of these countries to gain control of sources of raw materials - thus making the country self-sufficient.
Need for New Markets
New and more efficient machinery was also more expensive to buy and operate. Machines had to be operated at full capacity to make a profit. Even though the people of Europe and the United States were enjoying a rising standard of living, they could not possibly buy all the goods being manufactured. Therefore, industrialists needed new markets for their goods. They began to look to Asia, Africa, and Latin America as markets for their excess production. They believed if they could just get access to these people they could remold their tastes and thus create even more demand.
Industrialists also argued that their government should control these new markets was just as important as control of raw materials. Therefore, they pressured their governments to enact tariffs on foreign goods or to bar them entirely. They also wanted protective tariffs to assure their markets at home.
NATIONALISM
Nationalism or love of one's country a powerful force throughout the 1800’s became particularly powerful between 1870 and 1914. Many nationalists argued that having colonies added to their nation's strength and prestige. No longer was it the old powers, Britain, France, Netherlands who sought and control colonies. Now, the newly formed nations of Germany and Italy, along with Spain, Portugal, and Russia got into the race.
Colonies were seen as a source of manpower for the armies of these countries. The colonies also provided a base for the navies and merchants marines of these countries to refuel. Navies also increased in size as they were needed to protect and patrol these far away possessions.
Outlets for Population
Nationalist also argued that colonies would provide a home for the growing population of their countries. Rapid population growth had accompanied the Industrial Revolution which had created many jobs. However, many people could not find work and they left to settle in the U.S., Latin American, and Australia where they became naturalized citizens of their new countries. The nationalists believed that it was important to keep the loyalty of all its citizens. They contended that if they had colonies to which this excess population could relocate, they could keep their loyalty to the mother country.
Missionary Motives
As they had in the 1500's and 1600's missionaries continued their efforts to bring Christianity to non-Christians in distant lands. During the period of imperialism, Protestant missionaries entered into these efforts. During this period, medical missionaries brought their knowledge of medicine, hygiene, and sanitation with Christianity. Education also became a regular missionary activity.
"The White Man's Burden"
The idea it was the responsibility of the white man to bring Western ideas and technology to the more backward people. People were considered "backward" if their religion or their culture differed from those of the West.
Rudyard Kipling, a British author, wrote a poem that urged member of his race to "take up the white man's burden.
Take up the white man's burden --
Send 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.
Kipling was referring to the obligation to carry Western civilization to those he considered less fortunate. The French people spoke of the "civilizing mission." The people of each industrial nation considered its civilization and culture to be the highest and therefore, the one most suited for enlightening the "backward" peoples of the earth.
Opponents of imperialism, and they were few, argued that the only burden the white man wanted to take up was the burden of colonial wealth, which he wanted to carry back as fast as possible.
NATURE OF IMPERIALISM
Imperialism created bitter rivalries among the imperial powers and hatred among the colonized peoples. Rivalries led to the building of larger armies and navies and eventually to world conflict.
At the start, European governments did not actively plan imperialism. Usually, it began with the work of individuals, such as merchants, explorers, scientists, or missionaries. Sometimes these individuals met with violence and then Europeans soldiers would be sent in to quell the violence. Government officials would follow to protect the interests of their citizens. Engineers, builders who would build roads, railroads, bridges, and dams would follow. Then the region would be developed for the developers. The local population would be squeezed out of the equation.
Loans to local rulers often started the process. If the local ruler couldn't repay the loan or the interest on the loan, the ruler would often have to grant economic privileges to the Europeans. Through economic pressure, the Europeans would gain political control over the area.
TERMS OF IMPERIALISM
Colony: an area in which a foreign nation gained total control over a given region and its local population. A colony was first gained by settlement or conquest and then annexed, becoming a part of the empire.
Protectorate: the local ruler kept his title, but officials of the foreign power actually controlled the region. The "protecting" power kept out other foreign nations.
Condominium: an area controlled by two nations as partners.
Concession: the grant of economic rights and privileges in a given areas. Concessions were given to foreign merchants or capitalists who wanted to trade, to build railroads, or to develop mineral deposits and other natural resources.
Sphere of influence: a region in which one nation had special, sometimes exclusive, economic and political privileges that were recognized by other nations.
Imperialism in Africa
Prior to the colonization of Africa in the late 1880’s, both the Muslims and the Portuguese has established trade routes and ports in Africa. During the 1880’s colonization in Africa grew rapidly.
Interest had been sparked in the 1860’s as a result of the work of David Livingstone, a minister from Scotland. He had traveled with a group of Africans into central Africa. When years went by and no one heard from Livingston, many feared he had died. A report, Henry Stanley was hired to try and find him. When he did so, it made headlines around the globe. In 1879, he returned as the request of Leopold II of Belgium. Stanley secured treaties that gave Leopold II control of these lands. Leopold II proceeded to exploit the natives of the region who he forced to harvest the sap of the rubber trees. His treatment of the natives alarmed humanitarians who criticized Leopold for his treatment of the natives who he claimed to be helping by ending slavery. In also alarmed the French who had wished to seize control of the region. In 1908 Belgium government took over the colony and it became known as the Belgium Congo.
With the discovery of diamonds (1867) and gold (1886) European interest in Africa rapidly increased. In 1884-1885, the countries of Europe met at the Berlin Conference to decide on a method of claiming African land. They agreed that any European country could claim land in Africa by notifying other nations of their claims and showing they could control the area. The Europeans gave little thought to how native groups might be affected by this division. By 1914, the only two African nations free of European control were Liberia and Ethiopia.
South Africa and the Boer War
The area of South Africa was originally under the control of the Portuguese who then lost control to the Dutch. The Dutch who settled the region were known as the Boers (Dutch for farmers). The natives of this region were the Zulus. Their great chief, Zhaka, had created a highly centralized state; however, the Zulus would be no match for the British who would seize control of the land in 1887.
When the British acquired Capetown as a result of the Napoleonic Wars, this brought them into conflict with the Boers. During the 1820’s, British settlers moved into Cape Colony where friction soon developed between them and the Boers. In the Great Trek of 1835-37, the Boers moved northward into the interior, where they established two independent republics, the Orange Free State and the Transvaal.
In South Africa Cecil Rhodes was the central figure in British imperialist activity. He had made a fortune in diamonds, which had been discovered in the Cape Colony in 1869. His great dream was the creation of a belt of British African possessions reaching from the Cape of Good Hope in the South to Egypt in the north. In 1886, gold was discovered in the Boer republic of Transvaal. As prospectors moved in, tension mounted between the Boers and the British. In 1895, Dr. Leander S. Jameson led an unsuccessful raid into the Transvaal. The Jameson Raid convinced President Paul Kruger of the Transvaal that Rhodes, who now prime minister of Cape Colony, was plotting to take over the Transvaal and its sister Boer republic, the Orange Free State. Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany sent a telegram to Kruger, congratulating him on his success in turning back the Jameson Raid. The British greatly resented this interference.
The Boer War broke out in 899. Although the Transvaal and the Orange Free State put up a determined resistance, the war ended with a British victory in 1902. In 1910, the British united Cape Colony, Natal, the Transvaal, and the Orange Free State to form the Union of South Africa, a self-governing dominion.
Egypt
In 1875, Prime Minister Disraeli brought 44% of the shares in the Suez Canal Company from Egypt’s ruler. The purchase pleased British imperialists who regarded the Suez Canal, which had been built by a French company and opened in 1869, as an essential link between Great Britain and India. Although technically a possession of the Ottoman Empire, Egypt was in effect an independent state. The Egyptian ruler, Muhammad Ali, had accumulated an enormous debt, borrowing heavily from European bankers, who demanded repayment. The sale of his Suez Canal shares provided him with only temporary financial relief, however, and at the end of the decade, the British and French established their joint control over Egypt’s finances. Egyptian resentment of foreign intervention grew. In response, the British established a protectorate over Egypt in 1882, eliminating the French from Egyptian affairs.
Imperialism in India
In the 1600's, Dutch, English, and French trading companies all sought to establish trading posts on the Indian coast. During the 1700's, a series of events led to British domination of India. First the Mogul empire weakened as local princes rebelled against harsh Mogul rule. Second, Britain drove France out of its Indian outposts.
The conflicts between Britain and France over India grew out of power struggles in Europe. The outbreak of the War of Austrian Succession (1740-1748) in Europe sparked fighting between France and Britain in India. For a time after this war, France was the leading power in India. Yet the British fought back, and the start of the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) in Europe set the stage for a British victory. In India the war was fought between the armies of the French and British East India Companies. Led by Robert Clive, a former British East India Company employee, a force of British and Indians defeated the French East India Company and their Indian supporters. Clive put a pro-British ruler on the throne of the state of Bengal, making it the base for East India Company expansion. In the Treaty of Paris of 1763, France accepted British control over India.
Britain used the money gained from this new colony to help pay off its war debt and to fund new industries in India. The government also began to reduce the powers of the East India Company as it increased its own power. A governor-general was sent from London to rule India. These governors felt it was their duty to reshape Indian life according to European standards. "We are all British gentlemen engaged in the magnificent work of governing an inferior race."
Although Indian life was improved in some ways, the real mission of the governors was to gain wealth and power for their homeland. To improve the government of India, East India Company officials were replace with well-trained administrators who were less corrupt and more efficient. Improvements were made in education and trade barriers between Indian states were removed.
On the other hand the East India Company gradually took more and more of India. Some areas were annexed entirely; others were allowed to handle their own affairs, but they did not have full independence. In addition, Indians were barred from the highest civil service jobs, the practice of suttee was outlawed, and last, Indian soldiers in Indian service, called sepoys, could be required to serve overseas. This violated a Hindu custom that taught that Hindus lost status by crossing water.