The Age of
New
Imperialism
The Essential Question

To what extent is the legacy of
European colonizers responsible for
current economic, social, and political
developments in former colonies?
Overview
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What’s imperialism?
Why study imperialism?
Motives for imperialism
The rise of the new imperialism
WHAT’S IMPERIALISM?
Imperialism
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Imperialism: the takeover of a
country or territory by a stronger nation
with the intent of dominating the
political, economic, and social life of the
people of that nation
The Age of “New
Imperialism”: Definitions
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“New imperialism”: the expansion of
European political influence and control
over most of Asia, the Middle East, Africa,
and Latin America that took place from
1850 to 1914
WHY STUDY IMPERIALISM?
Why should we care?
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Understanding roots of contemporary
global politics and economy
Source of many political conflicts
Global economic inequality is partly the
result of this era
The Rise of Global Inequality
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The evolution of the “lopsided world”
1750: standard of living in Europe no
higher than the rest of the world
1970: average person in wealthy
countries has 25x income of poorest
countries
Gaps in food, clothing, health,
education
The Rise of Global Inequality
1970
GNP per capita map
Two explanations
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A) The West used science, technology,
capitalist organization, and its
enlightened philosophy to create its
wealth and greater physical well-being
B) The West used its political and
economic power to steal much of its
riches, continuing even into the 20th
century, its aggressive colonialism
Percentage of Five Major
Regions/Continents Controlled by US and
Europe in 1900
Region
Africa
Percentage
Controlled
90.4
Polynesia
98.9
Asia
56.5
Australia
100
Americas
27.2
13
Population of Colonies and Continents
Controlled by European Nations by 1939
Country
Great Britain
Population of
Colonies (in
millions)
470
France
65
Belgium
13
Netherlands
66
Germany (1914)
13
14
Examples of Former
Colonies
• Belgium: Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Rwanda, Burundi
• Britain: Sudan, Botswana, Kenya, Somalia,
Ghana, Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia, Malawi,
Sierra Leone, South Africa, Namibia, Uganda,
Palestine, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Malaysia
• France: Algeria, Cameroon, Chad, Ivory Coast,
Morocco, Senegal, Madagascar, Lebanon, Syria,
Cambodia, Vietnam
• Germany: Rwanda, Tanzania, Ghana,
• Netherlands: Angola, South Africa, Senegal,
Taiwan
15
MOTIVES FOR IMPERIALISM
Economic Competition
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Industrial Revolution:
increased output of
machine-made goods that
began in England during
18th century
New markets
Raw materials
National Pride
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“All great nations in the fullness of their
strength have desired to set their mark
upon barbarian lands and those who fail
to participate in this great rivalry will
play a pitiable role in the time to
come”—German historian, Heinrich von
Treitschke
Racism
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Theory of Social
Darwinism
Charles Darwin’s “Origin
of Species” “survival
of the fittest” applied to
social change
Europeans thought they
had the right and duty
to bring progress to
other nations
Religion
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Push for expansion
from missionaries
Convert native
populations to
Christianity
Wanted to “civilize”
and “westernize” the
colonized
THE RISE OF THE NEW
IMPERIALISM
Africa Before Colonialism
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Ethnic and linguistic
groups
Large empires to
independent villages
Europeans confined to
coasts
European travel to
interior virtually
impossible
Large networks of
African trade: gold, ivory
Technology Enables
Imperialism
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Technology:
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Maxim gun, 1889 –
first machine gun
Steam engineeasier
travel; railroads &
cablescommunication
among colonies
Medicine: malaria and
quinine (popularized
after 1870)
Things Fall Apart
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Internal Factor:
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Africa’s huge variety of languages and
cultures discouraged unity
Wars over land, trade, water
Europeans learned to play these groups
against each other
The Berlin Conference
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Date: 1884-1885
Conference between European countries
to peaceably divide Africa (avoiding a war
between whites)
No Africans invited
European nations claimed regions where
they had government presence and
control
Started the “Scramble for Africa”
The Scramble for Africa
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Roughly 1881-1914
Fierce competition
among European
nations to colonize
Africa
By 1914, only
Liberia and Ethiopia
were free
Exit Ticket

On an index card with PROPER
HEADING, write 3 big ideas that a
student who missed today’s lecture
should know.
Congo Overview Notes
King Leopold II
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How did one
man end up
controlling
most of central
Africa as his
territory?
King Leopold II
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Belgium
Desperately want
overseas empire
Central Africa
1876: Conference
of explorers and
geographers
Exploring the Congo
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Explorer: Henry
Morton Stanley
Stanley hired by
King Leopold II of
Belgium
Signed 450 treaties
with local chiefs
Rivalry between
Leopold and France
The Berlin Conference
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Few participants ever been
to Africa
Henry Morton Stanley is an
advantage
Leopold manipulates events
US recognizes Leopold’s
control
Berlin Act: Leopold gains
private control over land
80x size of Belgium
Leopold’s Reign: Broken
Promises
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Central Africa was a
free trade zone
All merchants can trade
equally
Leopold will create just
and stable government
Businessmen and
missionaries can do
work to “civilize” Central
Africa
Broken Promise
Post-Independence Congo
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Independence in 1960
Mobutu from 1960-1985:
 88,000 miles of road to
12,000
 Selfsufficientmalnutrition
 Kleptocracy
 1984: $4 billion debt
Even today…
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Democratic Republic of
Congo suffers from:
 Warlords
 Systematic rape
 Wide-scale killing
 Human rights
violations