Late Nineteenth-Century Imperialism
and
the Scramble for Africa
1880-1914
Africa,
1794
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Causes of “New” Imperialism
1.
2.
3.
4.
ECONOMIC motives: profit?
PRESTIGE and NATIONALISM
DOMESTIC POLITICS: Bismarck
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION and its
technological advances
5. Ideological reasons:
A. SOCIAL DARWINISM
B. WHITE MAN’S BURDEN
C. MISSIONARY ZEAL
Cecil Rhodes, 1853-1902
• Epitomized British
Imperialism
• Fifth son of English
Vicar
• Went to Natal, studied
at Oxford
• 1888 founded DeBeers
Mines
• Most enthusiastic
imperialist
• Rhodesia, founded
1895
King of Belgium, Leopold II
(r. 1865-1909)
• 1860: "I believe that the
moment is come for us to
extend our territories. I
think that we must lose
no time, under penalty of
seeing the few remaining
good positions seized
upon by more
enterprising nations than
our own.”
• 1876: International
Association for the
Exploration and
Civilization of the Congo
Henry M. Stanley (1841-1904)
•
•
•
•
•
•
Orphan
Self-made
Wanderer
Journalist
Explorer
Found David
Livingstone
• 1878: goes to work
for Leopold
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Pierre de Brazza (1852-1905)
• Italian born, 7th
son of nobleman
• Explored the
north of the
Congo river for
France
• Brazzaville
• Ran into conflict
with Stanley
Egypt
• Muhammad Ali, 17691849; r. 1805-1848
• Ottoman general
(Albanian) turned ruler
and reformer
• Focus: Military reform
• Agriculture: Cotton,
profitable but devastating
• Tried to Europeanize
Egypt.
• 1820s conquered Sudan
Egypt
• Ismail Pasha, r. 18631879 (grandson of Ali)
• Paris educated
• 1867: Khedive/Hidiv of
Egypt and Sudan
• Further modernized:
–
–
–
–
Post office
Sugar industry
Railroads
Suez Canal
Egypt
• Suez Canal (completed 1869)
• But Europeanization greatly
increased debt, from 3 to 100
million pounds
• 1875: Ismail forced to sell shares
in Suez Canal Company
• British PM D’Israeli paid 4 million
pounds
• British and French interference
increased.
• 1879: Pressured Ottoman Sultan
to replace Ismail with Tewfik.
Urabi revolt, 1879-1882
• Col. Ahmed Urabi
– Egyptian nationalist party
– Anti-European
– Anti-Ottoman
• British and French worried
of debt and Suez (sent
warships)
• June 1882: Provoked riots
in Alexandria
• British decided to occupy
Berlin Conference (1884-1885):
Otto von Bismarck and Jules Ferry
1. Effective Occupation
2. Congo Free State
3. Abolished Slavery
Participants:
Germany
Austria–Hungary
Belgium
Denmark
France
United Kingdom
Italy
Netherlands
Portugal
Russia
Spain
Sweden-Norway
Ottoman Empire
Battle of Khartoum, 1885
Battle of Adwa, 1896
Menelik II of Ethiopia vs. Italy
• Ethiopians: 100,000 troops; 40 artillery guns
• Italians: 15,000 troops, 56 artillery guns
• Casualties: 8000 each side
Battle of Omdurman, 1898
Maxim gun and modern artillery
Fashoda incident, 1898
French: Jean-Baptiste Marchand
British: Horatio Herbert Kitchener
(later Lord Kitchener)
George Washington Williams
(1849-1891)
• First African American
Historian
• 1889: Leopold II
• 1890: Congo Free State to settle
African Americans
• 1890: wrote Leopold an open
letter
• 1891: died
Joseph Conrad (1857-1924)
• Jozef Teodor Konrad
Nalecz Korzeniowski
• Merchant marine
• Languages
• Congo in 1890
• Heart of Darkness
(1899)
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Consequences of New
Imperialism
1. ARMY OF OCCUPATION: Guns and plunder
2. AFRICAN SOCIETY
a) DEATH
b) RULES OF SOCIETY
c) ECONOMY: World Map of GDP per capita
d) NEW BORDERS
e) HUMILIATION
Consequences (cont.)
3. CULTURE
4. CONFLICT AMONGST IMPERIAL POWERS
5. ENCOURAGED EUROPEANS’ SENSE OF
SUPERIORITY and RACISM