SCRAMBLING FOR

RESOURCES, MARKETS, AND

POWERThe Age of Imperialism

One of the most astounding political facts of the nineteenth century, is that, whereas in 1815 the nations of the west – Europe and America – controlled 35 percent of the world’s habitable territory, they controlled 85 percent by 1914

The nineteenth century was truly an age of empire, in which Western Europe came to achieve greater dominance over a larger portion of the globe than any civilization every had before

IMPERIALISM Western imperialism was nothing

new European powers had been

influencing or conquering other parts of the world since the 1400s

From the 1700s onward, the United States grew “from sea to shining sea” by means of warfare and subjugation of the native population (Manifest Destiny – a policy of imperialist expansion viewed as necessary – expansion as part of the nation’s destiny)

But what happened during the 1800s was that imperialism took on a more aggressive and systematic character

THE “NEW” IMPERIALISM Many historians have come to

refer to the imperial activity of the mid-1800s through the early 1900s as the “new” imperialism

A variety of interrelated factors enabled and motivated the nations of the West to engage in imperial conquest during the 1800s, especially during the second half of the century, when the “new” imperialism became prevalent

All of these trends apply mainly to the nations of Europe and to a degree, the United States

One set of factors was economic Industrialization gave the West not just the

ability to conquer other parts of the world, but also more reasons to do so

Large-scale industrial production made western economies hungry for raw materials, many of which could be seized from less powerful nations by force

Conversely, Western nations needed markets for the goods that their industrial economies produced

Colonies were believed to serve well as potential markets (in retrospect, economic historians determined this was a mistaken belief and that colonies were less suitable as markets than other industrialized countries)

Military issues were obviously important Industrialization had bestowed new

weaponry of all types upon the armies and navies of the West: ocean-going fleets powered by steam (and later, by petroleum), modern rifles, machine guns, rapid-fire and long-range artillery, and more

Only on rare occasions could native populations resist Western military forces, thanks to overwhelming numbers, miscalculation on the part of the invaders, or simple good fortune

Another military factor was the growing need of Western nations to maintain bases and coal (or oil) stations around the world, both for their navies and civilian fleets

Steam- and petroleum- driven ships required elaborate repair and fueling facilities

For strategic purposes, Western nations seized islands and ports around the world

A social factor – Europe’s rapid population growth during the 1800s, partly due to new crops from the Americas – played a role in prompting imperial activity

One outlet for excess population growth during the 1800s was emigration to the Americas as millions of Europeans made that choice

Another outlet was to leave the homeland and go to the colonies

Ambitious or sometimes desperate families or individuals decided to make their fortunes abroad in this way

Scientific knowledge and technological aptitude were instrumental in allowing the West to conquer and colonize

The advances in transportation, communications, and warfare brought about by the Industrial Revolution enabled Western nations to build empires

A new wave of exploration during the 1700s and early 1800s had added considerably to Western nations’ knowledge of Africa, Asia, the Arctic, Antarctica, and, in South America, the Amazon basin

Better maps and greater familiarity with local environments made it easier for Westerners to conquer them

In addition, medical advances made it possible for Europeans and Americans to penetrate the tropical regions more deeply

Previously, diseases such as sleeping sickness, yellow fever, and especially malaria had prevented Westerners from gaining control over the interior of places like Africa and Southeast Asia

In other words, these illnesses worked as a natural guard against invaders

The development of effective treatments for these illnesses (especially quinine, which relieved the symptoms of malaria) changed this

Finally, a complex set of cultural factors motivated Americans and Europeans to build empires and spheres of influence

A sense of racial superiority was widespread among white Europeans and Americans at the time, and created a sense that Western nations were entitled to conquer and colonize the areas that seemed “backward” or “primitive”

Cecil Rhodes, who did much to colonize Africa for Britain, said famously of his Anglo-Saxon homeland, “I contend that we are the finest race in the world, and the more of it we inhabit, the better it is”

SOCIAL DARWINISM In some cases, this belief was “justified” in

crude and prejudiced terms In others, the doctrine of social Darwinism

was used to argue in favor of imperialism This was a misguided application of

Darwin’s theories of natural selection, postulating that the biological principle of “survival of the fittest” should apply to humanity – meaning that peoples who were technologically and culturally advanced were permitted to conquer those who were less so (it should be noted that Darwin himself denounced this idea as a perversion of his scientific work)

Yet another cultural impulse behind imperialism was a genuine conviction that it was the duty of white Westerners to teach and modernize the darker-skinned, supposedly “primitive” peoples of Africa and Asia

The English poet Rudyard Kipling gave this sentiment its most famous label: the “White Man’s Burden”

The French spoke of their civilizing mission (la mission civilisatrice)

This attitude was well meaning and heartfelt, but also condescending

As a practical undertaking and as a military enterprise, the West’s domination of the world was impressive, and it made Europe and America immensely powerful and rich

On the other hand, imperialism was inseparable from bloodshed, racial prejudice, slavery, and violence

As English-Polish author Joseph Conrad wrote in the novel Heart of Darkness – one of the classic literary depictions of European imperialism – “The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, it not a pretty thing when you look into it too much”

Moreover, Europe’s and America’s massive campaigns of colonization and efforts to influence other parts of the world left deep political scars around the globe, many of which have not yet healed even in the new twenty-first century

Both abroad and at home, European foreign policy in general became increasingly aggressive as the century wore on

During the first half of the 1800s, the balance of power achieved by the Congress of Vienna (restored old regimes after the French Revolution and established a balance of power in Europe) had largely kept the peace

During and after the 1850s, war broke out among the European powers several times: the Crimean War (1853-1856), in which Russia fought France and Britain; the wars of Italian unification, which entangled France, Austria, and several Italian states; and the three wars Prussia fought to unify the German states, especially the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871)

Almost the entire non-Western world was either colonized during the nineteenth century or fell under the influence of Western nations

By far the largest and most widespread set of colonial possessions was Britain’s

As a famous adage put it, “The sun never sets on the British Empire”

France had a sizable empire, as did Belgium and Netherlands

Although Austria is not commonly thought of as a colonizing power, its empire was in eastern and southeastern Europe

Russia conquered all of Siberia, much of the territory to its south, and, for a time, parts of North America

After 1870, new countries such as Germany and Italy also began to build overseas empires, in an attempt to catch up with older imperial powers like Britain and France

Different powers treated their empires differently

The British are considered to have taken the most enlightened approach to colonization

Although they took their colonies by force and exploited them economically – they were prone to the same sense of racial superiority as other Westerners – they interfered as little as possible with local customs

In keeping with their sense of the “white man’s burden,” they also introduced positive social reforms and useful scientific and technological knowledge

Likewise, the French subscribed to the notion of la mission civilisatrice, but were less consistent about it

The Portuguese and the Belgians were known to be especially harsh, even cruel, masters, particularly in Africa

Germany and Italy were also brutal The latter used poison gas in conquering

parts of North Africa

THE AMERICAS North America fell mainly under the sway of

the United States, which conquered the entire western frontier during the nineteenth century

Motivated by the doctrine of “manifest destiny” – the belief that it was entitled to the entire center of the continent between Atlantic and Pacific – the United States fought Mexico, negotiated borders with British Canada, and warred on Native Americans, driving them to defeat and onto reservations

The Spanish lost their empire in North America when Mexico launched a revolution in the 1810s and 1820s

The Russians gave up Alaska to the U.S. in 1867

INDIA The heart of the British Empire was

India Britain and France had quarreled with

each other over hegemony in India during the 1700s

At the Battle of Plassey, in 1757, the British won a major victory over the Mughal Empire

This victory enabled the British to consolidate their military presence in India, leading to a rapid decline of French influence

Over the next few decades, as French power in India dwindled, the British went on to conquer most of the subcontinent

Until the late 1850s, India was not administered directly by the British government, but by the semiprivate British East India Company, one of the richest and most powerful business ventures in world history

In 1857, the Indian Mutiny (also known as the Sepoy Rebellion) – which failed, but shocked the British badly – convinced the government to assume full control over the colony

India was exceptionally important to Britain, in terms of national pride, strategic position, and economic benefit

During the late 1800s, one-quarter of the wealth generated by the entire British Empire came from India

THE SEPOY MUTINY The Sepoy Rebellion began in the spring of

1857 in Bengal among the sepoys - a Sepoy is an Indian soldier

The reasons for the rebellion were long standing and included: attempts by British missionaries to convert all India to Christianity; ineffectual command of the army in Bengal; insensitive recruiting policy and "Europeanization" of the sepoy regiments and sepoy objections to serving outside their homeland and traditional areas

The spark that started the rebellion was the relatively new objection by sepoys to cartridges coated with animal grease

This offended both Hindus and Muslims

THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA The part of the world that experienced the

most intense burst of European imperialism near the end of the century was Africa

Until the 1880s, only Africa’s coastlines had been directly colonized or exploited, although the exploitation had been heavy

Gold, ivory, foodstuffs, and especially slaves had been wrested from Africa, either by military force or economic pressure

But from 1880 until 1910, European nations raced madly to take over territory in Africa

With better maps, industrial-era weapons, and effective medicines against tropical diseases like malaria, European armies and colonizers were able to penetrate every part of what the West thought of prejudicially as the “Dark Continent”

The “Scramble for Africa” grew so intense that it almost sparked war in Europe several times

THE BERLIN CONFERENCE The Berlin Conference of 1884 to 1885,

presided over by Otto von Bismarck, laid down guidelines for African expansion and played a certain role in keeping the peace

Still, competition over African territory caused a number of diplomatic crises among the European powers during the early 1900s, especially the Boer War (1899-1902)

By 1914, only two nations in Africa remained free: Liberia, whose independence was guaranteed by the United States, because it had been founded by freed American slaves, and Abyssinia (Ethiopia) which had armed itself with modern weapons and driven off Italian efforts

THE BOER WAR 1899-1902 It took the vast force of the British Army

three years of fighting, three huge sieges and many battles with considerable loss of life, to overwhelm the Boers (Afrikaners) and achieve victory

At least 25,000 Afrikaners died in the war, most of them in concentration camps. The war also claimed 22,000 British and 12,000 African lives

The Afrikaners were the descendants of Dutch and French settlers

In the end, the Afrikaners were subjected to British rule

CHINA AND SOUTHEAST ASIA Despite its vast size and immense

population, China fell victim to almost every European nation, as well as the United States

Though it was not technically colonized, it was compelled after the Opium Wars to open its borders and trade with other countries at highly disadvantageous terms

However, Southeast Asia was colonized and influenced by a variety of powers

It had been longest under European control

THE BALKANS Even parts of Europe were, in a way,

vulnerable to imperial tendencies Southeastern Europe – especially the

Balkans – lay at the crossroads of several empires

Although this area was the most economically and culturally backward of Europe, the imperial ambitions of Russia, Austria, the newly formed Italy, and the rapidly deteriorating Ottoman Empire were all centered on it

Complicating the situation was the intense wave of nationalism in the region

Imperialism and nationalism would lead to deadly consequences in the future