Imperialism
1875-1914
Red-coated British soldiers stand at attention around
a royal pavilion during a ceremony in India.
Britain’s Queen Victoria took the title Empress on
India in 1876.
Vocabulary
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Raw materials
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Arbitrary borders
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Social Darwinism
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Technology
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Christianity
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Innovation
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Empires
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Ethnocentric
So What is
Imperialism?
Imperialism: a policy of
conquering and ruling other
lands
Competition Between Nations
So who do you think was the most powerful nation?
Think Industrial Revolution!
Competition
In the mid 1800’s Britain was the most powerful
nation in the world
Industrialization was higher than any other country
Produced more goods
British Navy guarded the oceans, why?
British banks and industrialization
Competition
Late 1800s two countries were challenging Britain’s
economic leadership.
Germany and the US
Faced with possible decline of power, Britain looked to
its colonies for markets and resources
Competition Pt. 3
The French and Dutch as well as other industrialized
nations needed raw materials (rubber, copper, gold,
and cotton) to make manufactured goods
These nations established colonies around the world
and relied on raw materials imported from their
colonies to make a variety of products
Who Colonized What?
Spain and Portugal attempted to build new empires in
Africa
Austria-Hungary moved to the Balkans
Russia expanded into Caucasus, Central Asia, and
Siberia
Other countries that had no colonies felt the need to
acquire them
Belgium, Italy, and Germany all took over lands in
Africa
Who Colonized What?
US and Japan
Interested in overseas expansion
Interested in East Asia
US tied to Latin America
Europeans viewed an empire as a measure of national
stature
Why?
Needed Raw Materials
Social Darwinism
Bringing the “superior” civilization to conquered areas.
Spread Christianity
Why would the
Europeans think they
were “superior?”
Due to the Industrial Revolution, Europeans
regarded their new technology as proof they were
better. (weaponry, telegraph, railroads)
• Reflection of racism.
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•
Europeans believed that they had the right and duty to
bring the results of their progress to other countries.
Thus, the Race for
Colonies
Grew out of a strong sense of national
pride as well as from economic
competition
Europeans altered
the way of life on
EVERY continent
Bell ringer: Read this selection from Rudyard Kipling’s The
White Man's Burden (1899) and answer the following questions:
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 half-child.
1. What does he mean by “the White Man’s Burden”?
2. What was the exile of which he spoke?
3. What does the word captives indicate?
Racism and Morality
In Imperialism
What is racism?
How is it tied to Imperialism?
PRIMARY SOURCE
I contend that we [Britons] are the first
race in the world, and the more
of the world we inhabit, the better it is
for the human race. . . . It is our
duty to seize every opportunity of
acquiring more territory and 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 honourable race the
world possesses.
(CECIL RHODES, Confession of Faith,
1877)
What attitude about the British
does Rhodes’s statement display?
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Scramble for Africa
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Pre-colonial Africa
Colonial Africa
Things to note:
Europeans wanted more resources to fuel their
industrial production
Africa was a source for raw materials and market for
industrial products
Before European Domination
Africans were divided into hundreds of ethnic and
linguistic groups
Many continued their traditional beliefs
Many converted to Islam and Christianity
Although Europeans were able to conquer some of subSaharan Africa, the powerful African armies were able
to keep Europeans out for many years
Before African Domination
Explorers, Missionaries, and Humanitarians who
opposed European/American slave trade were allowed
in
Congo
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Henry Stanley explored the
Congo River
King Leopold II of Belgium
became interested.. Wanted to
obtain Congo
1908 gave the land to Belgium.
Now known as the Belgium
Congo
European Superiority
Racism
Social Darwinism
“Survival of the Fittest” was applied to human society
PRIMARY SOURCE
I contend that we [Britons] are the first
race in the world, and the more
of the world we inhabit, the better it is
for the human race. . . . It is our
duty to seize every opportunity of
acquiring more territory and 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 honourable race the
world possesses.
(CECIL RHODES, Confession of Faith,
1877)
What attitude about the British
does Rhodes’s statement display?
•
What is the Scramble for
Africa?
The time period between 1880 and 1914 in which
European countries competed to claim more African
territory in an attempt to keep other countries from
gaining too much power
Europe and Africa
How did Europeans create great empires?
Expanded territorial claims in Africa
Why did they desire this?
The belief that a large empire was needed in order to be
politically powerful.
How were they able to conquer?
Advanced technology (superior weapons, transportation
technology [steamboat])
Also technology and innovation brought positive
change: Medical care improved