Jeremy Vick
Topic #4 pg. 641-644+722-727
A) Britain’s Eastern Empire
 1750: British Empire centered on slave-based plantations & American colonies
 A century later: Britain focused on commercial/trade networks & eastern colonies
 French & Dutch defeated by Britain as imperial powers
 Military victories destroyed British competition in colonization
 New policies favored free trade over mercantilism
 Changes in shipbuilding & shipping techniques=shipping faster & more efficient
 These changes -> settlements in South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand
I) Colonies and Commerce
 French serious British rival in imperialism until French Revolution
 French Revolution wars broke apart the Netherlands Indian Ocean Empire
 Dutch ruler gave Britain Dutch colonial possessions
 1795-1796: British occupy Cape Colony, Malacca, Island of Ceylon
 British also occupy Guiana & Trinidad in the South Caribbean
 Seized Java in 1811 along with Mauritius & Reunion
 1814: British return Java -> Dutch & Reunion -> French
 British keep Cape Colony, British Guiana, Trinidad, Ceylon, Malacca & Mauritius
 Cape Colony valuable because it is a strategic supply point for British ships
 British alienated Afrikaners in Cape Colony
 British prohibited expansion of Cape Colony settlement
 1836-1839: Afrikaners embark on “Great Trek” -> high plateau to the north of Cape Colony
 Foundation of 3 new colonies by 1850: Orange Free State, Transvaal, and British Natal
 New colonies surrounded by powerful & populous African Kingdoms
 1824: Thomas Raffles (former ruler of British Java) helped establish trade port @ Singapore
 Singapore became trade center between Indian Ocean and China
 British India administered the “Strait Settlement” until 1867
 Burma emerged as a powerful kingdom by 1750 and planned to expand
 1785: Burma attempts to annex Siam but was defeated by 1802
 Burma next attacked Assam but this sparked a war with British India
 British India was concerned by its border with the now Burmese controlled Assam
 1826: British India annexes Assam and part of northern Burma
 Rice and timber resources made Burma appealing to British India
 1852: British annex Rangoon & Coastal Burma
II) Imperial Policies and Shipping
 British added piece by piece to the list of colonies they controlled, 26 new colonies since
1792
 British portrayed as reluctant imperialists, unwilling to annex lands difficult and expensive to
govern
 British expansion ca. 1870 was for trade development not for territory
 Most colonies secured as ports in British global trade network
 Commercial expansionism tied to needs of growing industrial economy
 Free trade policy favored over forced mercantilism with colonies
 African, Asian, Pacific lands drawn into British trade networks
 Raw materials from colonies -> British, manufactured goods -> Africa, Asia, America
 Industrial nations received better end of trade bargain
 American-built clipper-ships could carry more goods and travel faster
 Cut travel time from India to Britain from 6 months to 3 months
 Size and speed of ships ↑, shipping costs ↓, maritime trade ↑
 Timber clearing to get shipbuilding materials had environmental impacts
B) Asian and Western Dominance
 1869-1914: pressure of imperialism felt throughout Asia, East Indies, Pacific Islands
 As trade with the regions ↑, their attractiveness to imperialists ↑
 1869: British had India, Burma, Spanish Philippines, and Dutch East Indies
 1862-1895: French conquered Indo-China (modern day Vietnam, Kanpuchea & Laos)
 Asian colonies inspired Suez Canal to speed trade
I) Central Asia
 Russians were under rule of nomads
 United, the nomads, ex the Mongols, defeated Russia. Separately they were not able to
 Power struggle between Russia & Nomads ended w/Russian acquisition of rifles and artillery
 1865-1876: Russian forces → Central Asia
 Nomads (Kazakhs) fought bravely but lost
 Russians claimed not to interfere w/conquered nomads
 Began turning “vacant” nomadic lands over to Russian farmers
 By the end of the 19th century, nomads kicked out and starved
 Tashkent, Bukhara, Samarkand under Qing control until ca 1870
 Russian expeditions annex parts of the declining Qing Empire
 Russians abolished slavery, built railroads, planted cotton
 Russians did not screw with native customs, language, traditions
II) Southeast Asia and Indonesia
 Population in contact w/foreigners but still independent kingdoms until 1850’s
 Burma gradually taken by British, last piece annexed in 1885
 Indochina gradually taken by French, totally subdued by 1895
 By early 1900’s Dutch had subdued Northern Sumatra
 Only Siam (modern day Thailand) remained independent
 All regions had fertile soil, warm climate, and heavy rains
 Peoples of the region had long terraced, irrigated, and gardened lands
 Europeans imported laborers from China & India to work lands
 Tobacco, cinchona, manioc, maize, natural rubber from America → India
 Most of the wealth of Southeast Asia & Indonesia exported → Europe
 Received reliable food supply & peace from Europeans, Population ↑
 Agricultural & commercial peoples moved → Forests & mountains, displaced natives
 Immigrants from China & India changed ethnicity & culture of regions
 European missionaries attempted to spread Christianity
 Islam gained more hold b/c it was and established religion in the area
 European ideas impacted politics in Southeast Asia & Indonesia
 India: Nationalist movement arose in 1880’s
 China: modernizers undermining the authority of the Qing rulers
 Japan: rapid industrialization=victory over Russia in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905)
III) Hawaii and the Philippines 1878-1902
 US had fast growing population and industries
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Merchants searched for export markets for surplus goods
Political mood = expansionism
1878: US obtains harbor of Pago Pago in Samoa as a coaling and naval station
1887: US secures Pearl Harbor for use as naval base
1893: American settlers dethrone Queen Liliuokalani & offer Hawaii to US
President Cleveland opposed to annexation, takes Hawaii as informal protectorate
1898: President McKinley annexes Hawaii as a stepping stone to Asia
Hawaii’s strategic location made it an appealing military base
Fertile land cause planters to import labor from Japan, China, and the Philippines
People of Philippines thirsting for independence, Jose Rizal killed for patriotic novels
Emilio Aguinaldo (leader of secret society) proclaimed a republic in 1898
Strong possibility of Filipino independence, Spain occupied w/revolution in Cuba
US goes war w/Spain in April 1898, Quickly overcome forces in Philippines & Cuba
McKinley worried weakened Spain might lose Philippines to Japan or Germany
McKinley purchases Philippines for $20 million
Aguinaldo cooperated in hope of achieving full independence
Independence denied by US. Aguinaldo once again proclaimed independence in 1899
US decided that its global interests > Filipino interests
US occupied rebel areas, tortured prisoners, burned villages & crops, reconcentration camps
Americans looked on Filipinos w/racial contempt
Death toll @ 1902: Americans – 5,000, Filipinos – 200,000
US attempted to soften rule w/public works and economic development
Philippine economy tied even closer to US economy
1907: Filipinos allowed to elect representatives to legislative assembly
Real power still lay in the hands of a US governor appointed by the POTUS
1916: Philippines promised independence, promise fulfilled 30 years later