Section Overview |
By 1914, most of Africa and Asia |
The European imperial outreach of the 19th century was in some ways a continuation of three centuries of colonization, but it also resulted from the economic pressures and necessities of a maturing industrial economy. The new technologies and imperatives of the second industrial revolution (1870–1914) led many European nations to view overseas territories as sources of raw materials and consumer markets.
While European colonial empires in the Western Hemisphere diminished in size over this period as former colonies gained independence, the region remained dependent on Europe as a source of capital and technological expertise and was a market for European-made goods. European powers also became increasingly dominant in Eastern and Southern Asia in the early 19th century, and a combination of forces created the conditions for a new wave of imperialism there and in Africa later in the century. Moreover, European national rivalries accelerated the expansion of colonialism as governments recognized that actual control of these societies offered economic and strategic advantages.
Notions of global destiny and racial superiority fed the drive for empire, and innovations such as antimalarial drugs, machine guns, and gunboats made it feasible. Non-European societies without these modern advantages could not effectively resist European imperial momentum. The “new imperialism” of the late 19th and early 20th centuries was promoted in European nations by interest groups that included politicians, military officials and soldiers, missionaries, explorers, journalists, and intellectuals. As an example of a new complex phase of imperial diplomacy, the Berlin Conference in 1884–1885 outlined the procedures that Europeans should use in the partition of the African continent.
By 1914, most of Africa and Asia were under the domination of Great Britain, France, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Notwithstanding the power of colonial administrations, some groups in the colonial societies resisted European imperialism, and by 1914, anti-colonial movements had taken root within the non-European world and in Europe itself. Imperialism exposed Europeans to foreign societies and introduced “exotic” influences into European art and culture. At the same time, millions of Europeans carried their culture abroad, to the Americas and elsewhere, through emigration, and helped to create a variety of mixed cultures around the world.
Source: https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/pdf/ap-european-history-course-and-exam-description.pdf
While European colonial empires in the Western Hemisphere diminished in size over this period as former colonies gained independence, the region remained dependent on Europe as a source of capital and technological expertise and was a market for European-made goods. European powers also became increasingly dominant in Eastern and Southern Asia in the early 19th century, and a combination of forces created the conditions for a new wave of imperialism there and in Africa later in the century. Moreover, European national rivalries accelerated the expansion of colonialism as governments recognized that actual control of these societies offered economic and strategic advantages.
Notions of global destiny and racial superiority fed the drive for empire, and innovations such as antimalarial drugs, machine guns, and gunboats made it feasible. Non-European societies without these modern advantages could not effectively resist European imperial momentum. The “new imperialism” of the late 19th and early 20th centuries was promoted in European nations by interest groups that included politicians, military officials and soldiers, missionaries, explorers, journalists, and intellectuals. As an example of a new complex phase of imperial diplomacy, the Berlin Conference in 1884–1885 outlined the procedures that Europeans should use in the partition of the African continent.
By 1914, most of Africa and Asia were under the domination of Great Britain, France, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Notwithstanding the power of colonial administrations, some groups in the colonial societies resisted European imperialism, and by 1914, anti-colonial movements had taken root within the non-European world and in Europe itself. Imperialism exposed Europeans to foreign societies and introduced “exotic” influences into European art and culture. At the same time, millions of Europeans carried their culture abroad, to the Americas and elsewhere, through emigration, and helped to create a variety of mixed cultures around the world.
Source: https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/pdf/ap-european-history-course-and-exam-description.pdf
Latin American Revolutions
The New Imperialism
Around 10 million died during Belgian King Leopold II's 20 year reign in the Congo.
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Europeans established rules for conquering and colonizing Africa at the Berlin Conference.
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Cecil Rhodes aspired to unite a strong of British colonies "From Cape to Cairo."
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Millions starved during a series of late 19th century famines in British-controlled India when peasants were forced to grow cash crops instead of food.
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19th–Century Military and Medical Advances
Maxim machine guns could fire 600 rounds per minute while expanding Dum Dum bullets shattered bone and left gaping wounds.
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The German Big Bertha howitzer could fire a 2000-pound shell up to nine miles.
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The HMS Dreadnought was a revolutionary British battleship that triggered a naval arms race with Germany.
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Reactions to Empire in Europe
Gustave Léonard de Jonghe's The Japanese Fan (1865) reflects European fascination with Asian culture.
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Colonial Nationalist Movements
INDIA
'Justice.' An English cartoon of 1857 expressing the British desire for revenge after the massacre of English prisoners at Cawnpore, India, July 1857, by Sepoys under the command of Nana Sahib.
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SOUTH AFRICA
Lizzie van Zyl a Boer child, in a British concentration camp. The Boer War introduced many cruel practices of 20th century warfare.
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CHINA
French political cartoon depicting China being carved up by Queen Victoria of Britain; Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany; Tsar Nicholas II of Russia; Marianne, symbol of France; and a Japanese samurai.
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British, French, Dutch, and American ships bombarded Japan during the brief Shimonoseki War (1864).
JAPAN
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