Modern World History: Historical Summary: European Imperialism
Imperialism is when one country takes over and controls lands beyond its own borders. There are many reasons
why a country would want to take over lands beyond its own borders such as wanting to get resources in those other lands
or controlling the other lands will make the country more secure. Imperialism has existed though out world history, as
best shown by the ancient Roman Empire. The period of European Imperialism in the nineteenth century is important in
the formation of the modern world because it was a time European countries were able to take over large parts of the rest
of the world which resulted in European ideas being spread around the world. Many of the ideas associated with the
modern world, such a freedom, democracy and capitalism, were introduced to other societies during this time. However,
while the spread of these ideas was important to the development of the modern world, the process of European
Imperialism during this time period was brutal and destroyed many societies around the world. Essentially, the Europeans
were hypocritical in that they spoke of spreading democracy, freedom and capitalism, but often gave the people they ruled
no say in their government and gave few ways to improve their lives. Whether European Imperialism did more harm than
good to many parts of the world is an issue that is still debated.
The process of European countries taking lands around the world and building colonies began with the voyages of
exploration in the fifteenth century – three hundred years before the period of European Imperialism. In the voyages of
exploration, early European explorers (like Christopher Columbus) set out to find trade routes to other parts of the world
where Europeans could buy things not available in Europe, like spices such as pepper and cinnamon. These explorers
often established colonies in the Americas, Africa and Asia to engage in trade. These colonies were European settlements
in which Europeans lived the way they would back in Europe. In North and South America, these colonies expanded to
become European empires because Native Americans were not strong enough to stop European expansion and lots of
Europeans were able to easily move across the Atlantic Ocean to live in these empires. The Europeans destroyed the
American civilizations of the Aztecs and Inca in wars and through diseases they carried – like smallpox. However, in
Africa and Asia the early European colonies stayed small because societies in those parts of the world were strong enough
to fight back against Europeans and few Europeans were willing to travel to those parts of the world because they were so
far away. In these colonies, Europeans tended to live and work alongside the existing societies in Africa, Asia and the
Middle East.
Changes in Europe in the nineteenth century, such as the Industrial Revolution, gave Europeans the ability and
desire to take over other parts of the world and establish empires in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. As a result of the
Industrial Revolution, Europeans were able to build new weapons that made it possible for small numbers of Europeans to
defeat large armies in other parts of the world. For example, the British used industrially produced rifles defeat Indian
armies, maxim guns (early machine guns) to destroy African tribes and iron battleships to sink the Chinese navy. Many
Europeans, like the British soldier Charles Gordon, became heroes Europe fighting in these colonial wars. The steam
engine that drove the Industrial Revolution could also be used to power the ships and trains that made it easier for
Europeans to travel to other parts of the world. Millions of poor Europeans left Europe to live and work in other parts of
the world where they could enjoy a quality of life better than they could in Europe. These Europeans established farms to
grow crops like cotton and cacao (used for making chocolate) or to build mines to get gold and diamonds – resources that
they could not get in Europe. The
Europeans built railroads and shipping
ports around the world to help move these
resources back to Europe. In addition,
the invention of the telegraph allowed
European governments to quickly
communication with their colonies in
Africa, Asia and the Middle East, which
made it easier to control these colonies.
Basically, during the period of European
Imperialism, more Europeans with better
weapons were able to defeat the societies
in Asia, Africa and the Middle East and
then use the resources in those parts of
the world to enrich Europe. Clearly,
Europeans benefited from the period of
Imperialism.
The leaders of Europe during this time believed that it was important for countries to have large overseas empires
because they made the country more powerful. Queen Victoria ruled the British Empire, which grew during this time
period to cover a fifth of the world’s surface, actively supported British expansion in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
The British boasted that “The sun never sets on the British Empire”, which was true because the empire spanned the
whole world. This pride in empire also affected the leaders of small European countries who had ambitions to be
powerful. For example, Leopold II, the king of Belgium, took the region of the Congo in central Africa as to build his
own colony (which was 80 times larger than Belgium).
The strange part is that Europeans believed that it was good for the other people of the world to be conquered by
the Europeans. While the Europeans often looked down on the societies they conquered and felt that their success in
taking over these other societies demonstrated that their ways were superior, they also believed in, what they called, the
“civilizing mission” – which meant that they had a mission to “civilize” the rest of the world. They believed that they had
a responsibility to rule their empires around the world with the purpose of teaching the people who lived there about the
European ways of doing things. They thought that in the long run, these people would adopt European ways. Some
Europeans, like the explorer David Livingstone, were very interested in African cultures and societies and dedicated his
life to trying to find ways to improve the lives of Africans – such as working to end slavery. However, other Europeans,
like the explorer Henry Stanley and the miner Cecil Rhodes, used the idea of the “civilizing mission” to justify the way
they brutalized and destroyed African societies. They believed that Europeans and European ways of doing things were
superior and that this gave Europeans the right to rule over people and these people should serve Europeans.
While European Imperialism was largely about the Europeans acting for their own benefit, European rule did
bring several benefits to the people who lived in the lands that they took over. First, the Europeans built railroads and
telegraph systems which connected people in these places to the wider world. Second, the Europeans opened schools and
taught their languages to the people in this place which allowed people in these regions to talk to each other. For
example, there were many different languages in India and only when English became the common language were Indians
in one part of the country able to communicate with those in other parts of the country. Third, the Europeans introduced
modern medicine and built hospitals.
While the European Imperialism was
similar around the world in how it used military
force to take lands and force the populations in
those lands to work for Europeans, how this
happened was very different around the world.
The British took over India through a
gradual process that began in the 1600’s with a
private British trading company, called the East
India Company, setting up colonies on the coast
of India. The company, by making treaties with
Indian rulers and fighting wars, slowly expanded
to takeover large parts of India. The East India
Company controlled its colony in India with an
army of Indian soldiers called Sepoy. Indian
anger at the way the East India Company ruled
its Indian territory resulted in the Sepoys
revolting against the East India Company and
attacking British people in India. The British
government, under Queen Victoria, sent the
British army to brutally crush the Sepoy Mutiny
in 1857. After this, India was made part of the
British Empire. The British government directly
controlled India and built railroads and cotton
farms in India to support British industry.
The Europeans, lead by Britain, took over China through a series of wars over the course of the 19th century.
Europeans had been in contact with China since the 1600’s, when the first European voyages of exploration reached
China. However, the Chinese looked down upon the Europeans and refused to trade with them because they did not think
the Europeans had anything worth buying. However, the Europeans wanted to buy a lot of things from the Chinese,
especially tea and silk. The British began to smuggle opium (made in India) into China to trade for tea and silk. The
Chinese government fought back against this in the First Opium War in 1839. The British used their modern navy to
crush the Chinese and force the Chinese to give the British the right to trade freely in China. Other European colonies
saw this and attacked China and there were a series of Opium Wars in which the Chinese government slowly lost control
of large parts of China. The weakness of the Chinese government angered many Chinese people and they revolted against
the government. The Europeans countries supported the Chinese government in crushing these rebellions because they
wanted a weak Chinese government they could control. In 1899, the United States forced China to accept the Open Door
Policy which meant that any country had the right to trade with China. The United States did this because it was afraid
that the European countries would chop China up into little colonies and it would not be able to get part of China.
The Europeans did not become interested in talking over large parts of Africa until the end of the 19th century.
This was because large parts of Africa were unexplored, it was hard to travel across Africa and Europeans had little
resistance to African diseases, like malaria. Historically, the Europeans had been interested in Africa as a source of
slaves, which they bought on the coast of Africa, and did not go into the interior of the country. However, the Industrial
Revolution changed that situation. Europeans became interested in getting resources from Africa that were not available
in Europe, such as ivory, rubber and coca (for making chocolate). In addition, Africa had a lot of gold and diamonds. In
the second half of the 19th century, the Europeans participated in what has been described as the “scramble for Africa” in
which European countries each tried to seize part of Africa. In this scramble, some of the European countries almost went
to war with each other over African territory. In1884, the German leader Otto von Bismarck held a meeting called the
Berlin Conference in which the European countries agreed how to divide Africa between them. Even though they knew
little about Africa or the people who lived there, they drew borders and established their colonies. The result was that
often African tribes were divided by these borders or forced to live in colonies with their historic enemies. The conflicts
among Africans living in these colonies was made worse by the way Europeans would favor one tribe, by giving them
schools, jobs and guns, and use that tribe to suppress other tribes in the colony. The Europeans generally tricked Africans
out of their land and violently crushed any rebellion against their rule. They also did little to improve the lives of
Africans and only developed Africa enough to get the resources they needed.
Reaction to European Imperialism
European Imperialism had a deep and lasting impact on the parts of the world that the Europeans took over and
made into colonies. Before the Europeans took over, the societies in these places had sophisticated cultures that stretched
back thousands of years and controlled regions larger than most European countries. Cities in these regions, like Beijing
in China, Delhi in India and Cairo in Egypt, had for centuries been larger with healthier populations than any city in
Europe. Even in the 18th century, the lifestyle of people in these regions was higher than that of people in Europe.
However, the Industrial Revolution changed this situation because the technology of the Industrial Revolution gave the
Europeans the ability to produce more and improve their standard to living. In addition, the Industrial Revolution
changed the way Europeans interacted with the rest of the world by giving Europeans the interest in getting resources
from the rest of the world and the military power to take over large parts of the world. The imperialistic invasions by
Europeans disrupted the societies in the regions they took over. The Europeans defeated their armies, took away the
power of these people to rule themselves and forced them to accept European culture. The short amount of time it took
the Europeans to take over these regions shocked the people who lived in these places.
The impact of European imperialism sparked conflict in places where the Europeans pushed aside the traditional
societies and took over. Many societies were divided about how to react to European rule. The reality was that while
being conquered and ruled by Europeans was deeply humiliating, European rule also brought benefits like modern
medicine and technology, such as railroads, to these societies. In general, the societies taken over by the Europeans could
be divided into three groups based on how they reacted to European imperialism. The first group was the people who
benefited from European rule and worked with and supported European imperialism. These people often converted to
European Christianity and worked with the Europeans in running the colonies as soldiers and administrators. The second
group was people who lost their power and status or believed that their traditional society was superior to the European
ways. These people often resisted the Europeans and fought back in open rebellion against the Europeans. The third
group was people who resented being ruled by the Europeans but recognized that they could not defeat the Europeans
because the Europeans had superior weapons and technology. These people chose to work with the Europeans so as to
learn European technology and ideas so that they could use them to make their country strong and win their independence
at a later date. The conflicts between these groups as they reacted to European imperialism played out in many different
ways around the world.
In India, the British took over slowly through the British East India Company. The Company fought wars and
made treaties with local Indian rulers. By the 1800’s, the British East India Company controlled most of India and
employed an army of Indian soldiers (called Sepoys) that was larger than the British army. The British generally looked
down on Indian culture and religions and tried to make the Indians adopt British ways and become Christian. Many
Indians resented the way the British treated them. In 1857, this resentment toward the British became a rebellion when
the Sepoys mutinied against the Company all across India. In this rebellion, the Sepoy massacred entire British
communities in India. The British government responded to the rebellion by sending in the British army. The British
army, using better weapons, crushed the Sepoy forces and brutally killed any Sepoy they captured. After this, the British
government made India a formal part of the British Empire and was careful to make sure Indians would never be in a
position to threaten rebellion again. Still, many Indians continued to push for Indian independence, but did so through
peaceful means that worked with the system of British rule.
The Chinese Imperial government tried to keep the Europeans out of China by allowing them to only do business
in the city of Canton and would only allow the Europeans to buy Chinese goods with silver. The Chinese looked down on
the Europeans and did not want to buy any European goods. The British began to smuggle opium into China to trade for
Chinese goods. The Chinese emperor reacted by having all the captured opium destroyed. This sparked the First Opium
War in 1839, in which the British used modern steam powered gunships to sink the Chinese navy and forced the Chinese
to open themselves to trade with Europe. The Chinese government reacted to the defeat in the Opium War by holding to
its traditions and refusing to adopt modern technology and ideas. The Europeans then fought several more “Opium Wars”
with the Chinese to force the Chinese to give the Europeans more benefits and trading rights. Many Chinese were
humiliated that the Europeans had beaten them and that now the Europeans could freely do whatever they wanted in
China. China was troubled with several rebellions against both the Chinese government and the Europeans powers in
China. The first of these major rebellions was the Taiping Rebellion which lasted from 1850 to 1864 and consumed most
of southeastern China. It is estimated that up to 20 million people died in this rebellion. The Chinese government was
only able to put down the rebellion with the assistance of European and American military leadership and weapons. After
this, the Chinese government became dependent on American and European support and the Europeans began to directly
take over some parts of China. Throughout this period, the Chinese government worked with the Europeans and did not
try to modernize the way it ruled China. When the Emperor tried to start a process of modernization, he was removed
from power by his mother, the Empress Dowager Cixi had him removed from power and the reforms stopped. This only
increased Chinese anger and 1898 the Boxer Rebellion swept across China. Groups of Chinese attacked Europeans and
Americans living in China. In response, Europe and America sent a combined army to China and defeated the Boxers.
After this, the Europeans and Americans stationed armies in China and the Chinese had to pay these armies. The
combination of the weakness of the Chinese government and the anger of the Chinese over European Imperialism lead to
the Xinhai Revolution in 1912 that overthrew the Chinese government.
The reaction of Japan to European imperialism stands in contrast to that of China. For centuries, the government
of Japan had ruled that the country be isolated from the rest of the world. During this time, Japan was dominated by the
shogun, or “imperial general” who ruled the country with the loyal support of the noble samurai warriors. Japan did have
an emperor, but he only had symbolic power. The shogun believed that if Japan did not have any contact with the rest of
the world then it would not be taken over. However, in 1853 the American navy arrived in Japan and demanded that it
open itself up to the world. Unlike China, which did not change in response to the rest of the world, Japan opened itself
up to the rest of the world and embarked on a process of rapid modernization based on copying Europe and America. The
Japanese call this process the Meiji Restoration because it began with the shogun losing his power and emperor becoming
the ruler of Japan. After this, Japan sent experts to study European and American governments, industries and militaries.
When they returned they wrote a new constitution for the government based on Germany, built factories based on
American and British models and created a modern military. In the space of a few decades, Japan was transformed from a
weak traditional society into a modern country that was of equal strength to any European country. Japan also began to
act like a European country by using its newly developed industrial power and military to build an empire in Asia.
Similar to the Europeans, the Japanese were interested in taking over other places to get resources, like coal and iron,
which they did not have in their own country. The Japanese used their new military power to take over Korea and parts of
China – working with the Europeans to defeat the Boxer Rebellion in China. Japan’s military power made it equal to
many European powers, which can be seen in the fact that Japan signed a military alliance with England in 1902 and
defeated Russia in the Russo-Japanese War in 1905.
Africa was the part of the world most devastated by European Imperialism. Before the period of European
Imperialism in the 19th century, Europeans had damaged African societies by participating in the slave trade in which
millions of Africans were forcibly removed from Africa and sent to labor for rest of their lives in the Americas. In the 19 th
century, Europeans became interested in the resources, like rubber, coca (for making chocolate) ivory, gold and diamonds,
that they could get in Africa. The Europeans began to Africa to set up colonies in a process that was called the “scramble
for Africa”. The Europeans often tricked Africans out of their lands, used their military power to destroy African tribes
and then forced Africans to work like slaves to get resources for Europe. In order to avoid fighting with each other over
African lands, the European countries met at the Berlin Conference in 1884 to divide Africa between them. The
Europeans knew very little about the Africa when they divided it up as most of the continent was still unexplored. As a
result, African tribes were divided among several European colonies and were often forced to live in the same colonies as
their enemies. Africans who opposed this, like the Zulu and Matebele tribes, were destroyed by the Europeans. The only
place in Africa that successfully resisted European imperialism was Ethiopia.