European Imperialism, 1800-1885

1. European Imperialism, 1800-1885 Josh Dixon HIST 308 1 November 2007

2. Section One An Introduction to Imperialism

3. What was imperialism? • As an action, it was the indirect or direct exploitation of an alien land or people by a state • As an idea, it claimed that an empire based on such actions is desirable and good for a state

4. Why did states create empires? • Empires expanded the natural resources available for state use • Empires created new markets for industrial exports • Empires provided opportunities to restless people to serve as soldiers, civil servants, colonists, explorers, and missionaries • Successful empires demonstrated strength and vigor to rival states

5. Important concepts of imperialism • The metropole and its periphery • The civilizing mission • Informal and formal imperialism • The Great Game

6. Diplomats, missionaries, and trading companies • They provided valuable geographical and social information on alien lands to the metropole • Their presence or actions frequently created situations that metropoles could exploit for greater interference • Their presence or actions could also shape domestic and international politics

7. Section Two Three Examples of Imperialism

8. The Dutch Colonial Empire • The Dutch led the second wave of Europeans to sail east around Africa to trade with Asian civilizations • They developed the joint-stock company, which spread risk among investors for safer returns • Dutch Protestantism encouraged entrepreneurialism

9. The Dutch East India Company • Founded in 1602, the Dutch East India Company, a joint-stock company, held a monopoly on Dutch trade in Asia • Within seventy years, it was arguably the largest and most successful trading company in Europe at the time • Financial and political troubles led to its dissolution in 1800 with its assets passing to the Dutch monarchy

10. Dutch South Africa • Colonization began with the founding of Cape Town by the Company in 1652 and progressed as Dutch burghers called Boers immigrated to become farmers and ranchers • The British seizure of Cape Town in 1815 and their immigration campaign displaced the Boers north and east into Zulu-held territory • Increasing tension over land led to the Anglo-Boer Wars (1880-1881, 1899-1902) and the creation of nominally independent Boer republics

11. The Dutch East Indies • The Company established trading posts on Java in 1603 and used a combination of intricate alliances and callous force to secure and expand its revenues • Once the Dutch monarchy assumed control, it instituted a bitterly lucrative plantation system and annexed Bali, Borneo, and Sumatra in a series of bloody wars • Public criticism of colonial rule during the 1860s and 1870s initiated reforms that led to limited economic and institutional reforms

20. The Second French Empire • Before the Napoleonic Wars, France had a large colonial empire with holdings in the Americas, the Caribbean, and trade in Asia • It came late to the Great Game because of political instability and a lack of desire given the decline of most empires at the time • That said, France and the United Kingdom were the greatest of imperial rivals during the nineteenth century

21. French Algeria • Charles X conquered Algiers in 1830 to improve his extremely poor public image and to eliminate the Barbary corsairs, who plagued southern European shipping • Louis Philippe and Napoleon III continued the conquest of Algeria and declared it as a French territory in 1857 • Approximately 400,000 colonists, called colons or pied-noirs, came to Algeria by 1880, displacing many Algerians and creating long-standing resentment

22. The French Foreign Legion • Founded in 1831 during the Algerian Campaign, the French Foreign Legion was instrumental to the success of French imperialism • It was perhaps the most highly skilled military unit of the nineteenth century • The officer corps was exclusively French while enlisted men were volunteers from Europe and beyond • Legionnaires swore loyalty to the Legion, not France, hence its motto: Legion Patria Nostra (The Legion is Our Country)

23. French Indochina • French missionaries arrived in southern Vietnam during the late 1700s and were tolerated by local rulers until the 1820s • Napoleon III sent military forces in 1857 that captured Saigon in 1862 and forced a treaty ceding territory and enduring Christian toleration • Imperial expansion continued, incorporating Laos and Cambodia into the French protectorate of Indochina of 1884 • Colonial plantations grew rice, rubber, tea, and exotic woods for export

27. The British Empire • By the beginning of the twentieth century, approximately one-fourth of the world was under some form of British imperial rule • It underwrote much of the British economy, providing and consuming products, and frequently figured in domestic advertisements • It spread the English language, parliamentary government, and entrepreneurial capitalism • It also left a legacy of exploitation, racism, and death on nearly every continent

28. British India • The British East India Company, which had traded in India since its beginnings, ousted its French counterpart in the 1740s and insinuated itself into Indian politics • The Company acquired the right to collect taxes for many local rulers, eventually placing them and their land under its control • The Great Indian Uprising of 1857 convinced the metropole to end Company administration and install a civil service ruled by London, the Raj • Positions in the Raj became highly competitive and went to the best of British university graduates and the nobility and, eventually, some Western-educated Indians, but remained segregated from its subjects

29. The China Trade • The British came to China in the late eighteenth century to trade for porcelain, silk, and tea • The Chinese, however, were either reluctant to trade or traded for silver and gold rather than goods • To open China to Western trade, the British introduced opium or used military force to extract better trade concessions • The Opium Wars (1839-1842, 1856-1860) opened China to trade and gained for the British the islands of Hong Kong on a limited lease

30. British Africa • Aside from India, Africa was the most active area of British imperialism • Africa was valuable to the British and other imperial powers for its natural resources, arable land, and many strategically valuable locations • Perhaps no man did more to affect the future of Africa and the Empire than Cecil Rhodes and his dream to unite Africa under British rule • Perhaps no imperial war for Africa was more ominous in its implications for European affairs than the Anglo-Boer Wars