Chapter 21
The Age of Imperialism
1800 - 1914
Key Events
• Competition among European nations led
to the partition of Africa.
• Colonial rule created a new social class
of Westernized intellectuals.
• British rule brought order and stability
to India, but with its own set of costs.
• As a colonial power, the US practiced
many of the same imperialist policies as
European nations.
The Impact Today
• Rhodesia became the nation of
Zimbabwe.
• India adopted a parliamentary form of
government like that of Great Britain.
• The US gave up rights to the Panama
Canal Zone on December 31, 1999.
• Europeans migrated to the Americas,
Australia, New Zealand, and South
Africa.
Section 1
Colonial Rule in
Southeast Asia
The New Imperialism
• European expansion into Asia and Africa
for their raw materials.
• “New Imperialism” – Instead of trading
posts/cities, whole countries were
taken.
• European belief in Social Darwinism and
racism.
– “White Man’s Burden”
Colonial Takeover in Southeast
Asia
• Great Britain sets up posts at Singapore
and Burma to increase trade and
presence in SE Asia and protect India.
• France expands control over Vietnam
and surrounding lands to stop Britain’s
monopoly in SE Asia.
Colonial Takeover (Continued)
• The US takes the Philippines in the
Spanish-American War.
• Thailand stays independent.
– Acts as a buffer between the French and
British possessions.
– “Willingness” to westernize itself.
Colonial Regimes is SE Asia
• Two different types of colonial rule.
– Direct Rule- Mother country sets up own
people at local governments.
– Indirect Rule- Local leaders rule on behalf
of the mother country.
• The economy is set up to make large
profits and suppress the local workers.
Resistance to Colonial Rule
• Early resistance movements led by
local/native government officials and
nobles.
• Peasants revolt for economic and
religious freedom.
Section 2
Empire Building in Africa
West Africa
• Before 1880, most of western Africa is
independent.
• British expansion into the area alarmed
other nations and by 1914, all of West
Africa is claimed except for Liberia.
• France controls most of West Africa.
North Africa
• Egypt gains independence under
Muhammad Ali and westernizes.
• Britain gains interest in Egypt after the
building of the Suez Canal.
• France expands control in Algiers, and
later Tunisia.
• Italy takes Libya after failing to
conquer Ethiopia.
Central Africa
• David Livingstone explores central
Africa for around thirty years.
• Henry Stanley continues Livingstone’s
exploration.
– Hates Africa and urges Belgium to take the
Congo River Valley.
• France fears of Belgian control of
central Africa and rushes to control the
region.
East Africa
• Britain and Germany are chief rivals in
area.
• The German people really wanted an
empire.
• The Berlin Conference of 1884 and 1885
created to settle claims by both Britain
and Germany in east Africa.
South Africa
• Great European presence.
• Britain takes Cape Town and the
surrounding colony from the Dutch (Boers)
during the Napoleonic Wars.
– The Boers move north to create their own
colony and put the natives, like the Zulu, on
reservations.
• Cecil Rhodes wants to have British colonies
“from the Cape to Cairo,” to create
railroads to transport his goods from the
diamond and gold mines.
South Africa Continued
• The Boer War erupted between the
British and the Dutch.
• Union of South Africa created as a
self-governing nation within the British
Empire and allowed both British and
Boers to vote.
Colonial Rule in Africa
• By 1914, only Liberia and Ethiopia
remain independent.
– Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgium,
Italy, Spain, and Portugal all have holdings
in Africa
• Britain preferred indirect rule, but left
little room for class movement.
• France and other nations preferred
direct rule and tried to assimilate the
African people to their culture.
Rise of African Nationalism
• A new class of African intellectuals arises
that has a love-hate relationship with
western culture.
• Most Africans feel repressed by having
low-paying or no jobs with little to no
government representation.
• Africa becomes very segregated.
• Intellectuals use western ideals to stir up
nationalism and spark movements to end
foreign rule.
Section 3
British Rule in India
The Sepoy Mutiny/First War of
Independence
• The British East India Company grows in
influence over Indian affairs.
– Sepoys rebel in 1857 over rumor that the new
bullets being issued were greased in pig and
cow fat.
• Outside of Delhi, the sepoys revolted at a
fort and killed 50 Europeans.
• Revolt spreads in a year but the British
outnumber the rebels and end the
rebellion.
Colonial Rule
The viceroy and 3,500 officials rule over the country of
300 million people.
Pros
• Stability to the country
locked in civil war.
• Brought schools.
• Introduced railroads,
the telegraph, and a
postal service.
Cons
• Only British business
leaders and a few
Indians receive financial
benefits.
• Millions of Indians live
in poverty.
• Low food supplies.
• British didn’t treat
Indians equally and
disrespected their
culture.
Indian Nationalist Movement
• Upper class, English educated Indians
create the Indian National Congress
(INC) in 1885.
• Mohandas Ghandi later pushes for
independence after seeing exploitation
of Indians in South Africa.
Colonial Indian Culture
• Experienced a cultural revival in the
early nineteenth century.
– British college established in Calcutta.
– Opening of a publishing house.
• Literature produced in native tongues.
– Rabindranath Tagore’s writings show the
love-hate relationship many Indians have
with the British.
Section 4
Nation Building in Latin
America
Nationalist Revolts
• The successful revolution in North America
spreads south.
• Central and South Americans sick of the
class system.
– Peninsulares – Top class, native born Europeans.
– Creoles – Middle class, held land and businesses,
European descendants born in Latin America.
– Mestizos – Lowest class and largest group,
servants and laborers, mixed descent.
Prelude to Revolution
• Creoles have growing resentment
towards the peninsulares of Spain and
Portugal.
• Between 1807 and 1825, many revolts
take place because of Spain and
Portugal’s weakened state after the
Napoleonic Wars.
Revolt in Mexico
• Miguel Hidalgo leads local Indians and
mestizos against the controlling creoles
and peninsulares.
– Hidalgo’s attempt fails.
• 1822, military leader Agustin de
Iturbide is made emperor, but is
disposed of a year later for a republic.
Revolts in South America
• Jose de San Martin of Argentina and
Simon Bolivar of Venezuela lead
revolution throughout the continent.
– Freed Peru, Uruguay, Paraguay, Colombia,
Venezuela, Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile.
• Spanish try to regain control with the
help of other European nations, but
British trade interests and America’s
Monroe Doctrine stopped that.
Difficulties of Nation Building
• Caudillos rule by personal power.
– Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna of Mexico put
the nation into chaos for over 20 years.
• Great Britain and the US hold economic
dominance over Latin America.
• Despite independence, many Latin
nations still experienced inequality.
– Most land still held by the elite.
Political Change in Latin America
• The US annexes Puerto Rico and makes
Cuba a protectorate after the SpanishAmerican War.
• Emiliano Zapata leads a revolution in
Mexico to combat inequality and foreign
influence.
– Created land-reform policies, established
limits on foreign investors, and set up
programs that helped the workers.
Economic Change
• Trade increases between Latin America
and the US & Europe.
• A professional middle-class begins to
grow.
– Cities grow, higher education sought, desire
for high incomes.
• Prosperity makes people seek reform
instead of revolution.