“New” Imperialism
Mr. Noble &
Mrs. Bischoff
World History
“What enterprise is more noble and
more profitable than the reclamation
from barbarism of fertile regions and
large populations?”
-Winston Churchill
Imperialism
►Taking
control of
another country
for the purpose of
economic/political
gain
Economic Causes of Imperialism
►
Industrial Revolution
 In 1750, the average
standard of living in
Europe was no higher
than the rest of the
world
 By 1970, the average
person in Western
Europe had twenty-five
times the wealth of the
average person in the
poorer countries
► World
Trade
 Centered around Europe
 Had grown 25 times larger from 1800-1913
Types of European Imperialism
► Settlement
Colonies
 People from one country lived together in a new
area
►13
American Colonies
►Australia
► Dependent
Colonies
 A few European officials rule non-European
people
►India
Types of Colonies Continued..

Protectorates
 Local rulers kept their title, but Europeans really
controlled the area
► Morocco
► Spheres
of Influence
 Other nations agree to respect one nation’s special
interest in a certain area
► Monroe
Doctrine = Latin America
 An area in which an outside power claims exclusive
trading rights.
 China was carved out this way.
 It eliminates the “take over” officially of a region or
area.
Britain Led European Trade
► Used
its empire as a market for its
manufactured goods
 Europe bought 50 percent of Britain's cotton
textiles
► Britain
stopped its colonies from raising
protective tariffs
 Colonies could NOT develop own industries
Technological Advances
►The
railroad, the
steamship,
refrigeration, and
other
technological
innovations
revolutionized
trade patterns
►The
Suez and Panama canals and
modern port facilities fostered
intercontinental trade
Political Causes of Imperialism
► National
security
► Military power
► International prestige
 colonies were essential
to Great Nations
Social Reasons
► Many
westerners felt a genuine obligation to
“improve” the lives of others.
► Missionaries wanted to spread their religion.
They built churches and started conversion.
► Europeans saw themselves as superior due
to the fact that they had industrialized.
Other Causes of Imperialism
► Nationalism
► Racism
 showed racial superiority and national greatness
►
Western technological and military superiority
fostered imperialism

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machine gun
quinine
steamship
telegraph
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 halfchild.
What is “White Man’s
Burden?”
2. What were some words
you did not know the
meaning of?
2. What is the purpose of
the poem?
3. Evaluate the poem as
historical evidence. What
does it tell us about the
viewpoint of some
Europeans living at the
time?
4. What do you think
Africans think about
Americans?
1.
“White Man's Burden"
► Rudyard
Kipling - 1899
► Duty to "civilize" more
primitive, nonwhite
peoples
► Missionaries brought
Christianity and
education
 But also racism
British Imperialism
► Largest
colonial empire
 “Sun never sets on the British Empire”
British Imperialism
 Colonies established to
protect trading interests
in Africa and Asia
 Two kinds of colonies
► “White”
Colonies
(Canada, Australia, New
Zealand, South Africa)
given self-rule
► “Non-white” Colonies
(India, Africa) under
direct rule
French Imperialism
►
►
►
►
Acquired Algeria in 1830
Took over Indochina
(Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia)
by the 1880s
Expanded into Western
Africa in the 1880s
Took colonies to make up
for loss of Alsace-Lorraine
in 1870
►
Pitt and Napolean carve up
Asia
German Imperialism
►
Bismarck originally
opposed colonial
expansion
 Unnecessary for Germany
 Did not want to threaten
France or Britain
►
Germany took colonies in
1880s for status symbols
 In Africa and Asia
Why Africa?
►
Africa is a huge continent, four
times the size of Europe.
►
It contains many diverse
cultures and regions. The
people of Africa spoke 100’s of
different languages.
►
This vast continent also
possessed many valuable
natural resources and raw
materials that were needed by
the Industrialized nations of the
world.
European Contact Increases
► In
the 1500’s and 1600’s the coastal areas of
Africa had been used for trading with other
nations but the interior was considered uncharted
territory.
► Africa was referred to as the “Dark Continent”
because the interior was unknown.
► Technology encourages exploration and many
Europeans took on the challenge of the unknown
in Africa.
The Great Scramble Begins!
Scramble for Africa
► Europe
had been interested in Africa for
centuries
 Through the slave trade
► Much
of Africa still unexplored until 1880s
 European influence restricted to coastline
► Technology
allows Europeans to explore
African interior
 Steamboats, Suez Canal, advances in medicine
Berlin Conference 1884
►To
avoid bloodshed and save money,
European nations decided to sit down
in Berlin at the table and carve out the
map of Africa for themselves.
►The interesting part is that no Africans
were invited.
►“We
have been engaged in drawing
lines upon maps where no white man’s
foot has ever trod. We have been
giving away mountains and rivers and
lakes to each other, only hindered by
small impediment that we never knew
exactly where the mountains and rivers
and lakes were.”
A British Politician
Conference of Berlin
1884-1885
►Roles:
 Reporter – records all plans and
agreements between nations.
 Ambassador – publicly explains desire of
country at the “Meeting of the Nations”
 Head Negotiator – Is the only person
who can leave the group to make deals.
►
Goal: To secure for your nation, favorable colonies on the
Continent of Africa. All deals must be agreed upon by
groups (but can be secret). There can be no threat of war
at any time.
►
Countries:

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
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France
Great Britain
Portugal
Spain
Germany
Belgium
Italy
►Materials:
 Map
 Atlas – page 106-113
 focus on annual precipitation,
minerals and energy resources, land
use and population.
 Ignore present day borders!!
Scramble for Africa
1. How were the modern boundaries of Africa
created?
2. The United States got involved with the
conference but did not receive or take any
land. Why?
3. Who was not represented at the
conference? Why?
4. What challenges did this process create for
the indigenous people of Africa?
Scramble for Africa
► By
1914, 90% of Africa under European
control
 France in Northern (Algeria) and Western
Africa
 Britain from Egypt to South Africa
 Belgium in the Congo
 Italy in Libya and Eastern Africa
 Portugal in southern Africa
 Germany in scattered areas
► AFRICA
1892
Africa at the height
of European
Imperialism.
European Control over Africa