The New Imperialism: Beyond Congo

1. The New Imperialism: Beyond Congo

2. Origins and Terms

3. Some Qualifications • “New Imperialism” • Focus on European imperialism • Focus on imperialism in Africa and Asia

4. Two Explanations • Capitalism • Increased productivity  need for natural resources • Increased need for natural resources  increased competition among European countries • Increased productivity  need for new markets • Marxism • History as struggle between haves and have-nots • Wealthy nations will use their strength to exploit weaker nations • Rich get richer at the expense of the poor • Independence movements will eventually challenge these power relationships

5. Terminology • Colony: a country/region governed internally by a foreign power (e.g. the Congo Free State under Leopold) • Protectorate: a country/region with its own government, which is controlled by a foreign power • Sphere of influence: an area where a foreign power claims exclusive trading privileges (e.g. Liberia and the US) • Economic imperialism: private business interests dominate less developed countries Increasing degree of control

6. Imperialism in Africa

7. Belgium • Congo, 1885-1962 • Rwanda-Urundi, 1916-1962 • Conquered from Germany during WWI • Coffee and labor • Tutsi “superiority”

8. France: Algeria • Invades 1830; rules 1962 • Large numbers of French settlers • Administered as a part of France, 1848-1962 • Increasing conflict between settlers (pieds-noirs) and native, indigenous Muslims • Algerian War, 1954-1962

9. France: Cote d’Ivoire • Before colonization, included several kingdoms • 1844: became a French protectorate • 1893: became a French colony • Coffee, cocoa, palm oil; significant French settlement

10. Great Britain • Attempt to establish a “red line from Cape to Cairo” – i.e., a continuous line of control from the northern to the southern end of Africa • Motives • Rivalries – especially with France • Economic development • Social Darwinism/“civilization” • The white man’s burden

12. Great Britain: South Africa • First settled by Dutch (Boers/Afrikaners) in the 1650s • Discovery of diamonds (1860s) and gold (1880s) • Second Boer War (1899-1902) gives Britain control • 1910: Union of South Africa  more local control • 1931: Statute of Westminster  effective independence • 1961: Creation of Republic of South Africa  formal independence

13. Great Britain: Kenya • Protectorate from 1880s-1920; colony from 1920-1963 • White settlers farm coffee and tea • 1952-1959: Mau Mau rebellion – Kikuyu, extremely harsh detention system • 1963: independence and election of Jomo Kenyatta as president

14. Germany • Germany is unified in 1871  begins to develop a navy and look beyond Europe • Late arrivals to the “Scramble for Africa” • German East Africa (Rwanda, Burundi, Tanganyika) – 1885-1919 • German South West Africa (Namibia, parts of Botswana) – 1884-1915 • German West Africa (Cameroon, Togo) – 1884-1914 • Loses most colonial possessions after World War I

15. Germany in Africa

16. Two Exceptions • Ethiopia • Deceptive treaty with Menelik II, 1889 • Wins the First Italo-Ethiopian War, 1895-1896 • Liberia • Established by former American slaves, starting 1820 • Republic of Liberia established 1847 • Borders reduced by colonial competition with UK and France

17. Asia

18. China • Technically, never a colony (mostly) – but Europeans gain increasing power over trade • Opium trade with Britain; emperor forbids trade in 1838 • 1839-1842: First Opium War  Treaty of Nanjing gives Britain rights and privileges in trade with China • France, Germany, and Russia also establish spheres of influence • Two actual colonies • Hong Kong: British colony, 1842-1941 and 1945-1997 • Macau: Portuguese colony, 1887-1999

19. India • Valued for tea, sugar, silk, salt, spices • Weakened by political and religious conflict • France and England fight over India • 1750s: British East India Company conquers Bengal (now Bangladesh) • British gradually expand control over India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan • Sepoy Rebellion (1857) leads Britain to take control from the British East India Company • Remains a British colony until 1947

20. French Indochina • Includes Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos • First French presence: Catholic missionaries • Colony established 1887; Laos added in 1893 • Briefly supervised by Japan during WWII

21. Japan • Actually an imperial power • Isolation broken by Commodore Matthew Perry, 1853  Meiji Restoration, 1868-1912 • 1895: First Sino-Japanese War  Japan colonizes Korea and Taiwan • 1904: Russo-Japanese War  Japan colonizes Manchuria • Remains an imperial power until 1945

22. The Impact of Imperialism

23. Economic • Modernization: infrastructure, technology, education, Western medicine • However, means of production remain in European hands • India: manufactured textiles  raw cotton • Patterns of trade: dependence on Western manufactures and imports • Continued patterns of charity today?

24. Political • Maps are redrawn without regard for prior political or ethnic divisions • Iraq • Gambia • Ethnic rivalries • Site of European conflicts

25. The Gambia

26. Cultural • Spread of European languages • Religious influences • Decimation of African cultures, languages, traditions, systems of government… • European educational influences