1 of 42

The Building of Global Empires

*

2 of 42

Imperialism in Asia, ca. 1914

*

3 of 42

The Idea of Imperialism

  • Term dates from mid-19th century
  • In popular discourse by 1880s
  • Military imperialism
    • Later, economic and cultural varieties
    • US imperialism

*

4 of 42

Motivation for Imperialism

  • Military
  • Political
  • Economic
    • European capitalism
  • Religious
  • Demographic
    • Criminal populations
    • Dissident populations

​

*

5 of 42

Manifest Destiny

  • Discovery of natural resources
  • Exploitation of cheap labor
  • Expansion of markets
    • limited

*

6 of 42

The “White Man’s Burden”

  • Rudyard Kipling (1864-1936)
    • Raised in India, native Hindi speaker
    • Boarding school in England, then return to India (1882)
  • French: mission civilisatrice

*

7 of 42

Rudyard Kipling

1895

Aged 60, 1926

8 of 42

The “White Man’s Burden”?

9 of 42

“White Man’s Burden”�by Rudyard Kipling

“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.”

10 of 42

11 of 42

12 of 42

Geopolitical considerations

  • Strategic footholds
    • Waterways
    • Supply stations
    • Imperial rivalries

​

*

13 of 42

Domestic Political Considerations

  • Crises of industrialism
  • Pressure from nascent Socialism
  • Imperial policies distract proletariat from domestic politics
    • Cecil Rhodes: imperialism alternative to civil war

*

14 of 42

Cecil John Rhodes - July 5, 1853 – March 26, 1902

  • British-born South African businessman, mining magnate, and politician.
  • Founder of the diamond company De Beers, which today controls 60% of the world's diamonds and at one time controlled 90% of the world's diamonds.
  • He was also the colonizer of the state of Rhodesia, which was named after him..

15 of 42

Technology and Imperialism

  • Transportation
    • Steamships
    • Railroads
  • Infrastructure
    • Suez Canal (1859-1869)
    • Panama Canal (1904-1914)

​

*

16 of 42

17 of 42

*

18 of 42

Weaponry

  • Muzzle-loading muskets
  • Mid-century: breech-loading rifles
    • Reduce reloading time
  • 1880s: Maxim gun, 11 rounds per second

*

19 of 42

The Military Advantage

  • Battle of Omdurman (near Khartom on Nile), 1898
    • Five hours of fighting
  • British: six gunboats, twenty machine guns, 368 killed
  • Sudanese: 11,000 killed

*

20 of 42

Communications

  • Correspondence
    • 1830 Britain-India: 2 years
    • After Suez Canal, 2 weeks
  • Telegraph
    • 1870s, development of submarine cables
    • Britain-India: 5 hours

​

*

21 of 42

22 of 42

23 of 42

The Jewel of the British Crown: India

  • East India Company
  • Monopoly on India trade
  • Original permission from Mughal emperors
  • Mughal empire declines after death of Aurangzeb, 1707

*

24 of 42

Mughal Empire

25 of 42

26 of 42

Home of a Wealthy Family in Calcutta

*

27 of 42

British Conquest

  • Protection of economic interests through political conquest
  • British and Indian troops (Sepoys)

​

*

28 of 42

British Colonial Soldiers

*

29 of 42

Sepoy Revolt, 1857

  • Enfield rifles
  • Cartridges in wax paper greased with animal fat
    • Problem for Hindus: beef
    • Problem for Muslims: pork
  • Sepoys capture garrison
    • 60 soldiers, 180 civilian males massacred (after surrender)
  • Two weeks later, 375 women and children murdered
  • British retake fort, hang rebels

​

*

30 of 42

Sepoy Indian troops dividing the spoils after their mutiny against British rule

31 of 42

The hanging of two participants in the Indian Rebellion of 1857

32 of 42

Britain establishes direct rule

  • Pre-empts East India Company
  • Established civil service staffed by English
  • Low-level Indian civil servants

*

33 of 42

British Rule in India

  • Organization of agriculture
    • Crops: tea, coffee, opium
  • Stamp of British culture on Indian environment
  • Veneer on poor Muslim-Hindu relations

​

*

34 of 42

Imperialism in Central Asia

  • British, French, Russians complete for central Asia
    • France drops out after Napoleon
    • Russia active after 1860s in Tashkent, Bokhara, Samarkand, and approached India
  • The “Great Game”: Russian vs. British intrigue in Afghanistan
    • Preparation for imperialist war
    • Russian Revolution of 1917 forestalled war

*

35 of 42

Imperialism in Southeast Asia

  • Spanish: Philippines
  • Dutch: Indonesia (Dutch East Indies)
  • British establish presence from 1820s
    • Conflict with kings of Burma (Myanmar) 1820s, established colonial authority by 1880s
    • Thomas Stamford Raffles founds Singapore for trade in Strait of Melaka
      • Base of British colonization in Malaysia, 1870s-1880s
  • French: Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, 1859-1893
    • Encouraged conversion to Christianity

*

36 of 42

Africa

1890

37 of 42

Imperialism

in Africa, ca.1914

​

*

38 of 42

Industrial

Revolution

Source for

Raw

Materials

Markets for�Finished�Goods

European�Nationalism

Missionary�Activity

Military�& Naval�Bases

European

Motives

For Colonization

Places to�Dump�Unwanted/�Excess Popul.

Soc. & Eco.�Opportunities

Humanitarian�Reasons

European�Racism

“White�Man’s�Burden”

Social�Darwinism

39 of 42

The Scramble for Africa (1875-1900)

  • French, Portuguese, Belgians, and English competing for “the dark continent”
  • Britain establishes strong presence in Egypt, Rhodesia
    • Suez Canal
    • Rhodesian gold. diamonds

*

40 of 42

Where Is Dr. Livingstone?

Dr. David Livingstone

Doctor�Livingstone,�I Presume?

Sir Henry Morton Stanley

41 of 42

“Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”

Henry Stanley

Journalist & Explorer

Dr. David Livingstone

Missionary & Explorer

42 of 42

Victoria Falls