Trans-Oceanic Empire
Building
Industrialization = Power!
• Goods are made more quickly
• Militaries are made more powerful
• Fossil fuels unleash a huge amount of
productive capacity
• Countries & empires that didn’t
industrialize found themselves weak and
shocked by the huge shift in power
Causes of European Empire
Building After 1750
• Industrialization in Europe drove increasing
demand for raw materials
• Europe began importing more raw materials
and exporting more manufactured goods (a
reversal of how it was in previous time
periods!)
• Europe eventually tried to gain colonies to
extract other global areas’ raw materials
• They moved from having little trading port
colonies to conquering full-fledged empires
Reactions to European Empire
Building After 1750
• Some nations began to industrialize on their
own (USA, Russia, Germany, Japan) - - their
governments helped support this effort
(industrialization was state-sponsored)
• Some countries were too slow to industrialize
and got taken over by Europe.
• Europe’s industrial revolution had made them
so powerful, they could easily beat militaries
that, 100 years before, could have taken
them on and won (like China’s)
Why Important?
• Nations like Britain and the Dutch moved
form controlling small coastal trading cities
(British in India, Dutch in Indonesia) and
now took full political control of these
areas
British Imperialism
in India
India: From trading colony to
“Jewel in the British Empire’s
Crown”
Decline of Mughal India after
1750 •Decentralized states
controlled by Nawabs
ruled
•Technically, these
nawabs owed allegiance
to Mughals
•British East India
Company made
agreements with
nawabs. Brits supported
nawabs’ rule & got trade
and land taxes in return
Stage One: East India Company Rule
(1818-1857)
• EIC = a joint-stock company focused on
looking for trade & protected by the British
government
• EIC collected taxes, made reforms (eg:
outlawing sati)
• Depended on nawabs & Sepoys for
support & had to respect Indian customs
• Sepoy – an Indian (Hindu or Muslim)
recruited & serving as an EIC soldier
Sepoy Rebellion 1857
• Beef & pork fat
issue
• Real issue was
racism/British
superiority complex
• Sepoy soldiers
rebelled against
bad treatment by
British foreigners
• Rebellion was put
down very violently
on both sides
British Colonial Rule (1857-1947)
• British government took control (to keep
cotton & opium raw materials)
• Queen Victoria of Britain became Empress
of India
• India = main source of cotton for English
textile mills
– Finished goods were resold in India
– Destroyed local hand-made industries
The Good and the Bad
• Britain improved-
• Britain made worse-
– Hospitals
– Transportation (railroads,
etc.)
– Communication
– Education
– Laws & safety
– Women’s status a bit
–
–
–
–
Self-determination
Ignored Habits/customs
racism
Economic exploitation
Rising Nationalism
• Nationalism – feeling of identity within a common
group of people (the “nation”)
• British used Indirect Rule
• Middle class of Indian officials began to rise
• New Indian bureaucracy took in western political
values from the Enlightenment (liberty, equality,
justice)
• Rammouhan Roy – advocated unity for Indians
w/ Indian National Congress (from 1880s)
(mainly Hindu; upper class movement)
• Lacked support of the average, uneducated
Indian