Imperialism

With the defeat of Napolean at Waterloo in 1815, Britain was left as the only major power with colonies, and from 1815-1875 they retained their dominance. However, in recent years, we have seen many other powers arise and carve up land as well. These powers include Belgium, Portugal, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia. Their takeovers have been happening very quickly and aggressively, as the Industrial Revolution gave the ability for these countries to expand, by providing stronger and more efficient equipment and transportation. In addition, the economies of these major powers have boosted with higher production rates from factories. With all these factories in existence, nations have been given even more of an incentive to try to acquire land, in order to get more raw materials to produce more goods. Countries also want to increase their markets by having more areas to sell to which would keep all of their citizens employed and happy. These nations also wanted to set up naval bases across the world to make sure their nation is competing with the others to be the strongest. In addition, Europeans actually feel as though they are doing the Natives of the countries they conquer a favor by “enlightening them,” as Social Darwinism causes Europeans to think themselves superior to others. With the race for colonies, protectorates and spheres of influence becoming so tight, Bismark called the Berlin Conference in 1885 to avoid conflict from nations competing for the same place. This conference set up rules for claiming areas, particularly in Africa, that required countries to show ownership of land. It also suppressed slave trade. So, one may ask, what areas does each country own? Let’s take a look. 

As one can see, in Africa, Belgium had control of Congo, which King Leopold II aggressively took for them and exploited Congo. Portugal has control of Angola and Mozambique. France’s colonies are West Africa, Madagascar, Morocco and the Ivory Coast, as France hopes to create an East-West belt across Africa, from Dakar to the Gulf of Aden. Germany also hopes to establish an East-West connection, through Africa as well; currently, they have East Africa, South West Africa, Kamerun and Togo, and they hoped that one day they could obtain Congo to complete their dream. Libya and Somaliland are run by Italy. Lastly in Africa, Britain has control of East Africa, Egypt, Sudan, Nigeria, Gambia, Nayasaland, Sierra Leone, Rhodesia, Uganda, South Africa, Natal and Transsvaal. It is clear that Britain’s early dominance helped them to own the most land in Africa, as they try to complete their “Cape-to- Cairo” dream, of dominating the Cape of Good Hope up to Egypt, in a North to South trek. 

In Asia, the Dutch has control of Indonesia, where they had to put down many revolts. Britain has control of India and Burma, while the French have Indo-China. Germany claimed New Guinea, Marshal, and the Soloman Islands. In particular India and Indonesia were highly sought after, as they had amazing natural resources and successful domestic markets for countries to sell to. 

China as a whole was extremely valuable. The Ching Dynasty was falling, and the country was in a state of chaos; it was perfect for Europeans to come in and straighten out, while gaining access to prized goods and industries, such as silks. Britain took Hong-Kong, while Japan had Korea, and Russia claimed Camchacka.

Overall, the Great Powers were met with resistance from the natives, as well as from each other, as they fought for the same territories. Notably in Africa, Britain’s North-South passage collided with the East-West passages of Germany and France. 

Conflicts of Imperialism:

The Fashoda Crisis

The East-West expansion of France finally met the North-South expansion of Britain at Sudan. In 1898, the French, led by Major Marchand, reached Fashoda. Before they could officially claim the territory, Britain reached Fashoda as well, under Lord Kitchener. Both countries attempted to claim Fashoda and Sudan. Neither country wanted to give in, and both considered going to war. Eventually, France decided to back down and recognize Britain’s ownership of Egypt and Sudan, as long as Britain recognized Morocco as France’s.  This decision by France was extremely tactful, as they realized a fight with Britain would only weaken Britain and France’s empire, and allow Germany to pull ahead of the two of them. So, they decided it was better to team up with Britain and keep the late Great Power down. 

The Opium Wars

Between 1839-1842 Britain and China engaged in a harsh conflict when Britain smuggled opium into China. Britain had been buying a lot of tea from China and needed to balance out their trade so they could keep a stable economy, but the Chinese government did not want their citizens buying opium, and made it illegal. In 1839, China confiscated and destroyed opium from British merchants at Guangzhou. In response, Britain attacked coastal cities in China, and China was defeated by the much more modern British weaponry. The Chinese were forced to sign the Treaty of Nanjing and the British Supplementary Treaty of the Bogue, which opened up several Chinese ports for trade to the British, and gave Hong-Kong to the British. Other Western European Nations followed suit by signing treaties with China gaining privileges for themselves. In 1856, a second war broke out, as China was accused of illegally searching the British ship the Arrow in Guangzhou. China was forced to sign the treaties of Tianjin, giving France, Russia and the United States access to 11 ports, allow Christian missionary activity, and legalize the import of opium. In 1859, Britain showed their intensity in enforcing the treaty by burning Yuan ming yuan; China affirmed their compliance of the treaty at the Beijing conventions of 1860.

The Sepoy Rebellion

Since 1667, the British East India Company has been recruiting native citizens as troops, and in 1748, the British government also began training Indians to fight for them, who were known as “native sepoys.” These sepoys were a huge part of the British army in India, outnumbering the British soldiers, and as Britain began trying to take over every aspect of Indian life, including their technology and religion, the Sepoys and regular citizens of India became very unhappy. The sepoys were finally pushed over the edge when they were forced to use a new type of rifle, which required them to bite a greased cartridge to load. The sepoys were afraid this cartridge was made out of either cow or pig fat; the biting of them would violate the Muslim and Hindu religions. The sepoys saw this as a way for the English to try to convert them all to Christians. The sepoys thus decided to revolt. Beginning on Sunday, May 10, 1857, at the garrison in Meerut, they murdered every European they found. They were led by the Mogul Emperor Bahadur Shah, and sepoys rebelled all over India. It was discovered that at Cawnpore, 200 men, women and children were killed, and Britain took action, executing all the rebels. In a year’s time, Britain was back in control of India. 

The Boer War

When gold was discovered in Transvaal, many British miners came in to the territory. The Boers, who were Dutch speaking settlers/farmers in the area, were upset. They reacted by forcing the British in Transvaal to pay higher taxes and not have the right to vote. So, the British immigrants revolted, and were backed up by British troops. A war erupted between the British and the Boers, and although the Boers were doing well at first, they realized the skilled British troops were far superior. Thus, the Boers adopted a strategy of digging holes to shoot at the British soldiers, which sparked the idea of trenches in WWI. Britain put many Boers and their families in concentration camps, and the Treaty of Vereeniging was signed to end the war. This made Transvaal and the Orange Free State British colonies.