Chapter 11
The Age of Imperialism
1850-1914
Section 3
Europeans Claim Muslim Land
• Europeans Grab Territory
– Russia and the Crimean War
Geopolitics: taking
land for its strategic
location or products
• Access to sea trade routes focuses attention on
Ottoman lands
• Crimean War is an example of geopolitics
• RUS attacks Ottomans in 1853 to gain warmwater port & access to Mediterranean Sea
• Brit & FR join in to stop RUS expansion
• RUS loses, but Ottomans are shown to be weak;
still lose land b/c of rebellions
• By 1914 Ottoman Empire declined to 1/3 of its
greatest size
• Egypt Initiates Reforms
– Military and Economic Reforms
• Muhammad Ali breaks away from Ottoman control
and rules Egypt
• Begins series of reforms in military and economy
– modernizes to keep out Euro control
• Shifts Egypt agriculture from food crops to cash
crops (similar to Euro colonial policies)
Exploit: to take
advantage of
– The Suez Canal
• Egypt builds Suez Canal
• Modernization creates huge debt
– Brits take over financial control of canal,
occupy Egypt in 1882
• Persia Pressured to Change
– The exploitation of Persia
• Rus wants access to Persian Gulf and Indian
Ocean
• Brit wants Persian oil and Afghanistan
• Persia gives in to Western businesses
– Battle over Tobacco
• Persian ruler agrees to allow Brit to export
tobacco
• Persians boycott tobacco, leads to riots
• 1907, Rus and Brit seize and divide Persia
between them as spheres of influence
Group Work
Critical Thinking Questions
In groups of 4, work together to answer the following questions:
1. What part did internal corruption play in the decline of
Ottoman power?
2. Why did the discovery of oil in Persia increase the value of
Ottoman territory?
3. In what way were the RUS, BR, and FR motivations in the
Crimean War similar?
4. How was Muhammad Ali’s promotion of cotton production
similar to Euro imperialists’ actions in AFR?
5. Why was the completion of the Suez Canal cause for
international celebration?
6. What advantages did granting business concessions to
Western countries offer Persia?
7. How did Persia’s granting of concessions eventually lead to
its takeover by BR & RUS?
Critical Thinking Answers
1.
It led to a weakened economy and technological
stagnation.
2.
The oil had to pass through Ottoman land to Europe.
3.
They all wanted to control Ottoman territory
4.
Both substituted production of cash crops for food
crops
5.
It greatly decreased the time needed to travel from
Euro to East AFR and Asia
6.
Income, development of their resources, and
participation in world events
7.
Concessions allowed Western countries to establish
an economic foothold in Persia, which they exploited
when the Persian gov’t lost control of the country.