The Age of Imperialism 10th Grade Modern European History Spring 2012 Ms Wynne

The Age of Imperialism

Main Idea: Ignoring the claims of African ethnic groups, kingdoms & city state, Europeans established colonial claims.

Why it matters now: African nations continue to feel the effects of the colonial presence of 100 years ago.

The takeover of a country or territory by a stronger nation with the intent of dominating the political, economic & social life of the people of that nation is called IMPERIALISM

In the mid 1800s, before Europeans dominated Africa, the African peoples were divided into hundreds of ethnic & linguistic groups. They spoke more than 1000 different languages They had different religious beliefs Politically, they ranged from large empires with many ethnic groups to independent villages.

As late as 1880, Europeans controlled only 10% of the African continent and it was mainly on the coast. European travel into the interior on a large-scale basis was virtually impossible. They could not navigate African rivers that had so many rapids & drastically changing flows, until the introduction of the steam-powered riverboat.

Those Europeans who did penetrate the interior of Africa tended to be explorers, missionaries or humanitarians who opposed the slave trade.

In the late 1860s, David Livingstone, a minister from Scotland, traveled with a group of Africans into central Africa. They were searching for the source of the Nile. When several years passed with no word from him or his party, people believed him to be dead. An American newspaper hired reporter Henry Stanley to find Livingstone. In 1871, he found Livingstone on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. Stanleys account of the meeting made headlines around the world. In 1882, Stanley signed treaties with local chiefs of the Congo River valley. The treaties gave King Leopold II of Belgium personal control of these lands. Stanley did so through a combination of promises, threats & trickery. One of his methods when meeting a new chief, was to attach a buzzer to his hand which was linked to a battery. When the chief shook hands with Stanley he got a mild electric shock. This device convinced the chiefs that Stanley had superhuman powers. The agreements allowed the Belgians into the Congo to take its rich natural resources. Leopold claimed that his primary motive in establishing the colony was to abolish the slave trade. However, the Congolese were brutally treated. They were forced to build a railroad & collect ivory & rubber. As many as 10 million Congolese died between 1880 and 1910.

King Leopold II of Belgium

King Leopold II & the Belgian Congo

When news of the atrocities became public in 1908, the Belgian government took control of the colony and renamed it the Belgian Congo. Although the Belgian government improved working conditions slightly, it too was a harsh ruler & continued to extract natural resources. For years, the Congolese struggled to achieve independence.

Belgium

The Belgium Congo was 80 times larger than Belgium itself. The Seizure of the Congo alarmed France. Earlier in 1882, the French had approved a treaty that gave France the north bank of the Congo River. Soon Britain, Germany, Italy, Portugal & Spain were also claiming parts of Africa The Industrial Revolution provided European countries with a need to add lands to their control because they searched for new markets & raw materials to improve their economies.

Europeans believed that the more land you control then the greater your national power is. Therefore, as the competition for colonies intensified, each country was determined to plant its flag on as much of the world as possible.

All great nations in the fullness of their strength have desired to set their mark upon barbarian lands & those who fail to participate in this great rivalry will play a pitiable role in time to come.

Heinrich von Treitschke- German historian

Europeans believed that those who were fittest for survival enjoyed wealth & success & were considered superior to others Social Darwinism A THEORY BY CHARLES DARWIN ABOUT EVOLUTION & SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST According to the theory, non-Europeans were considered to be on a lower scale of cultural & physical development because they did not have the technology that Europeans had. They also believed that they had the right & the duty to bring the results of their progress to other countries.

I contend that we Britons are the finest race in the world, & the more of the world we inhabit, the better it is for the human raceit is our duty to seize every opportunity of acquiring more territory & we should keep this one idea steadily before our eyes that more territory simply means more of the Anglo-Saxon race, more of the best, the most human, most honorable race the world possesses. Cecil Rhodes A British Businessman

Cecil Rhodes

Other Contributing Factors to Imperialism:

Missionaries who wanted to Christianize & Westernize & Civilize peoples Asia, Africa & the Pacific Islands
European technological superiority The Maxim gun, invented in 1889, the worlds first automatic machine gun. The steam engine allowed easier travel upstream to establish bases of control in the African Continent. Railroads, cables, steamers allowed close communications within a colony & its controlling nation. The drug Quinine protected Europeans from the disease malaria, caused by mosquitoes.
Tribalism Many Africans spoke different languages & they had different cultures, which caused them to fight amongst themselves over land, water & trade rights & as a result, they never become unified. Europeans learned to play rival groups against each other.

The Scramble for Africa: Berlin Conference of 1884-1885 to Divide Africa

In November 1884, to prevent war among European countries, the imperial chancellor and architect of the German Empire, Otto von Bismarck, convened a conference of 14 states (including the United States) to settle the political partitioning of Africa. Of these fourteen nations, France, Germany, Great Britain, and Portugal were the major players in the conference, controlling most of colonial Africa at the time. They agreed that any European country could claim land in Africa by notifying other nations of their claims & showing they could control the area. The European nations divided the rest of the continent with little thought to how African peoples felt. No African ruler attended these meetings. By 1914 only Liberia & Ethiopia remained free from European control.

Ethopia Liberia

European businesses eventually developed cash-crop plantations to grow peanuts, palm oil, cocoa & rubber. These products displaced the food crops grown by farmers to feed their families. The major source of wealth in Africa was the continents rich mineral resources. The Belgian Congo contained untold wealth in copper & tin, but these were small in comparison to the gold & diamonds in South Africa.

3 groups clash over South Africa

1. Africans From the late 1700s to the late 1800s, a series of local wars shook Africa. A Zulu Chief, Shaka Zulu, used highly disciplined warriors & good military organization to create a large centralized state. His successors, however, were unable to keep the kingdom intact against the superior arms of the British invaders. In 1879, after Zulu King Cetshwayo refused to dismiss his army & accept British rule, the British invaded the Zulu nation. Although the Zulus used spears & shields against British guns, they nearly defeated the British army. In July 1879, however, the Zulus lost the Battle of Ulundi and their kingdom became controlled by the British.

2. The Dutch first came to the Cape of Good Hope in 1652 to establish a way station for their ships sailing between the Dutch East Indies & home. Dutch settlers known as Boers (Dutch for Farmers) gradually took over native Africans land & established large farms. When the British took over the cape Colony in the 1800s the 2 groups of settlers clashed over British policy regarding land & slaves. In the 1830s, to escape the British, several thousand Boers began to move north, which caused them to clash with the Zulu & other African groups whose land they were taking.

When diamonds & gold were discovered in South Africa in the 1860s, outsiders from all over the world rushed in to make their fortunes. The Boers tried to keep the outsiders from gaining political rights.

An attempt to start a rebellion against the Boers failed. The Boers blamed the British & in 1899 the Boers took up arms against the British.

Cape of Good Hope

Black South Africans were also involved in the war. Some fought; others served as scouts, guards, drivers & workers. Many black South Africans were captured by the British & placed in concentration camps, where over 14,000 died.

The Boers launched commando raids & used guerrilla tactics against the British. The British then countered by burning Boer farms & imprisoning women & children in disease ridden concentration camps. Britain won the war. In 1902, the Boer republics were joined into a selfgoverning Union of South Africa controlled by the British.

Europeans used 4 techniques of control in Africa

Colony- a country or a region governed internally by a foreign

power.
Direct and Indirect.

Protectorate- a country or territory with its own internal government but under the control of an outside power.

Sphere of Influence- An area in which an outside power claims exclusive investment of trading privileges.

Economic ImperialismIndependent but less developed nations controlled by private business interests rather than by other governments.

European rulers also needed to develop methods of day to day management of the colonies in Africa. Management Methods:

Indirect Control
Local government officials were used
Limited self-rule Goal: To develop future leaders Government institutions are based on European styles but may have local rules No self-rule

Direct Control
Foreign officials brought in to rule

Goal: Assimilation Government institutions are based only on European styles

Across Africa, European attempts to colonize the lands were met with resistance. The contest between African states & European powers was never equal due to the Europeans superior arms.

Sometimes African societies tried to form alliances with the Euros so that the Euros would allow them to remain independent.

In some cases the Euros would help defeat the rivals, only to turn on their African allies.
All of these attempts ultimately failed, except for Ethiopia.

Ethiopia was the only African nation to successfully resist the Euros due to Menelik II. He became emperor of Ethiopia in 1889. He managed to play the Italians, the French & the British against each other, all who were trying to control Ethiopia. Menelik managed to build up a huge arsenal of modern weapons purchased from France & Russia. When he was about to sign a treaty with France, he discovered that the wording of the treaty was different in both his language (Amharic) & in Italian. In his language, it stated that he was giving up only a small portion of Ethiopia, but in the Italian language it stated that all of Ethiopia was going to be surrendered.

Menelik declared war in 1896. The battle was known as THE BATTLE OF ADOWA. Ethiopian forces outnumbered the French forces 196,000 to 25,000. Menelik managed to split the French forces in two & he along with another general attacked the French army successfully defeating them & maintaining their nations independence.

Impact of Colonial/European Rule

Positives:
Reduced local warfare Improved sanitation & brought hospitals & schools African products came to be valued on the international market Gained railroads, dams, telephone & telegraph lines

Negatives:
Africans lost control of their land Africans lost control of their independence Many Africans died of diseases such as smallpox Many Africans died in their resistance Famines resulted from the change to cash crops in place of food crops Africans lost their traditional culture Homes & property were transferred with little regard to their importance to the people Men were forced to leave their villages to find ways to support themselves & their families They had to work in mines on European owned farms or railroad building

Worldwide Views of Imperialism

The views of the Europeans themselves represented a wide range of political opinions & moral beliefs

Pros:
Because Europeans believe themselves to be a superior race, they are morally obligated to teach their way of life to the less fortunate. Europeans achieve great status in their world of nations by the influence they exert over others.
Europeans help less advanced societies by providing education & technology

Cons:
Europeans fail to see what wisdom other ancient cultures can teach them.
The brutality with which Europeans rule contradicts their claim to be a superior culture. Europeans destroy other societies by breaking up families & weakening ancient traditions