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European Colonial Expansion Flashcards

1
Q

When was the European colonial expansion

A

From the voyages of discovery (15th-17th centuries) to the early 20th century

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2
Q

Where was the European colonial expansion

A

South and North America, Africa, Asia

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3
Q

What was the European colonial expansion

A

established colonies and territories around the world; expansion of their political, economic and cultural influence in colonies

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4
Q

Reasons for the european colonial expansion

A
  • legacy of the voyages of discovery
  • industrial revolution
  • ideological factors
  • cultural and religious factors
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5
Q

legacy of the voyages of discovery

A
  • improvement in navigation techniques
    –> e.g. compasses
  • new land routes
    –> mostly made by fleets from spain and portugal
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6
Q

explorers and achievements in the voyages of discovery

A

vasco da gama – sailing along the coast of Africa and reach India

Christopher columbus – reaching america

ferdinand megallan – being the first to circumnavigate the world

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7
Q

impact of the voyages of discovery

A
  • technology
    such voyages allowed the european powers to reach out to other parts of the world and conquer these places by their superior military forces
  • trade interests
    in the 15th and 16th centuries, europeans wanted goods from asia, africa and south america.
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8
Q

example of goods traded during the voyages of discovery

A

silk, tea, spices

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9
Q

what was the industrial revolution

A

a rapid development of industry, agriculture, transport, communications, science and technology in Europe from the mid-18th century to the end of the 19th century. It started in Britain and spread to other parts of Europe

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10
Q

three aspect of impact of industrial revolution on european countries

A
  • political
  • economic
  • social
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11
Q

political impact of the industrial revolution on european countries

A
  • imperialism: extending a country’s power and influence by colonisation and military force
  • acquiring colonies for
    –> revenue
    –> market
    –> land, resources and labour
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12
Q

economic impact of the industrial revolution on european countries

A
  • productivity increased
  • living standards increased
  • better food quality
  • better medicine
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13
Q

social impact of the industrial revolution on european countries

A
  • pollution
  • improvement of transportation
  • child labour
  • urbanization
  • labour movement
    –> seeking rights for workers
  • rise of working class
  • factory owner vs workers (exploitation of workers)
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14
Q

effects of industrial revolution on european colonial expansion

A
  • economic motives for getting colonies
  • technologies advancements to support colonisation
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15
Q

effects of industrial revolution on european colonial expansion: Economic motives for getting colonies

A
  • The rise of imperialism
  • The industrialized countries tended to favour the ideal of colonial expansion
    They would aim to colonize weaker foreign countries for resources/markets
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16
Q

effects of industrial revolution on european colonial expansion: technological advancements to support colonisation

A

technological advancements applied to military
- steamboat –> battleships
- weapons

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17
Q

ideological factors

A
  • rise of many new nations in europe in the 19th century (with ideology)
  • methods to achieve national self rule
  • after independence and unification movements, this ideology became extreme, and it encouraged the pursuit of national glory
    –> development of imperialism
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18
Q

examples of new nations in europe in 19th century

A

Italy, germany

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19
Q

main ideology leading to rise of new nations in europe in 19th centur

A

nationalism: people of the same race, language and culture should achieve national self rule

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20
Q

methods to achieve national self rule

A

revoluions, wars, independence and unification

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21
Q

methods to achieve national glory

A

expansion, conquering others, wars

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22
Q

white mans burden (cultural and religion factors)

A

a duty asserted by the white peoples too bring their civilization to non-white people whom they believed to be less developed

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23
Q

How was the white mans burden done

A

European powers and the united states conquered the less developed places and turned them into their colonies, and imposed their systems in these places by their superior military forces

–> spreading christianity by sending missionaries to the colonies

24
Q

aims of european countries for colonial expansion

A
  • economic benefits (trade, labour)
  • national glory, showing national strength
  • spreading western civilisation and christianity
25
who were the biggest colonial empires at the start of 20th century
- Britain had colonies in different continents e.g. India - French also had colonies in Africa and Asia eg Vietnam
26
Political situation of africa at the start of 20th century
- being colonies by different european countries - e.g. britain controlled egypt
27
how did european countries colonise the americans, africa and asian
by military force, economic request etc
27
methods of european colonial expansion
- taking away resources - occupying lands - military backup
28
taking away resources
- gold, silver and minerals - set up plantations - selling of black slaves
29
taking away resources: gold, silver and minerals
- european countries expanded to regions which had rich natual resources - e.g. portugal set up strongholds in gold coast in africa
30
taking away resources: set up plantations
- some cash crops in need were not easily planted in europe, so european countries set up large scale plantations in their colonies - e.g. the british planted tobacco in north america
31
taking away resources: selling of black slaves
- european countries needed alot of workers to mine and work in plantations in america - european merchants caught a lot of black africans through bribing trifal chiefs, who were then sold to america as slaves
32
occupying lands
- setting up strongholds - setting chartered companies - establishing sphere of influence - colonization
33
occupying lands: setting up strongholds
- first occupied some major points of transportation, and turned them into strongholds for navigation and commerce, as well as bases for further invasion - e.g. portugal occypied macau of china
34
occupying lands: setting chartered companies
- since the 16th century, there were some trading companies targeting the East among european countries - they were equal to local governments representing the european countries in asian regions - the european merchants could monopolise trade with the east through chartered opportunities, earning great profits
35
How did britain gain huge economic profits throught the east india company
- exploiting cheap labour in india to lower production costs and increase productivity - obtaining cheap raw materials from india and transporting them back to britain - gaining access to an enormous market to sell british products to local indians
36
occupying lands: establishing sphere of influence
- after setting up strongholds and trade organisations, european powers gradually expanded their spheres of influence in order to control the trade activities in the regions - e.g. britain occupied india
37
spheres of influence
a country or area in which another country has power to affect developments although it has no formal authority
38
occupying lands: colonization
- the great power occupied places of other countries and made them their colonies, which provided markets, raw materials, and investment opportunities - e.g. britain colonized india
39
What diplomatic policy did britain adopt when facing resistance
they would usually adopt gunboat diplomacy. Through starting wars with the local regimes, occupying their lands or forcing them to sign treaties, they made them their vassals
40
what kind of advantages and privileges would they normally get through singing unequal treaties
territorial gain, rights to trade, rights to build railways, extra-territorial rights
40
Political impact of european colonial expansion
- setting boundaries for modern southeast asian countries - disappearance of ancient civilization in america - sparking struggles against invasions - promoting modernization of some regions
41
Political impact: setting boundaries for modern southeast asian countries
- western powers established colonies in southeast asia and redrew the boundaries of the southeast asian kingdoms in order to rule them more easily and avoid arguments over lands - boundaries for modern southeast asian countries were thus set - e.g. vietnam
42
Political impact: promoting modernization of some regions
- in order to make the delivery of natural resources and the trading activities easier, the european countries improved the government systems and transportation facilities of colonies - e.g. setting up organized government bodies - these facilities enhanced the processes of urbanisation of these colonies, and laid a foundation for the future modernisation
42
Political impact: disappearance of ancient ciivilization in america
- the aztec empire and inca empire originated in central and south america - e.g. spain conquered the two ancient empires in the 16th century
43
Political impact: sparking struggles against invasions
- under european military invasions and unequal treaties, the livelihoods of peoples in emerica, africa and asia were ruined - the peoples' dignity and national feelings also received a heavy blow --> started to fight against the invasions - e.g. the boxers rebellion in china
44
economic impacts of european colonial expansion
- establishment of a europe centered world economic system - changing the traditional economic system
45
economic impacts: establishment of a europe centered world economic system
- european countries bought cheap raw materials from the colonies and exported a lot of industrial goods to them in order to earn huge profits - as expensive metals such as gold and silver outflowed to europe, the economic developments and the processes of industrialisation of the european countries were greatly enhanced - a europe centered world economic system was formed
46
economic impacts: changing the traditional economic system
- resources in colonies were taken away by western colonisers, and their farmlands were turned into plantations to plant cash crops - therefore, the food production decreased greatly, famines occured - european countries also exported their industrial products to their colonies --> a heavy blow to local traditional handicrafts
47
social impacts of european colonial expansion
- misery made to the native people --> slave trade --> spread of epidemic diseases - interactions of cultures and products
48
interactions of cultures and products
- through colonial expansion, europeans spread their cultures and religions to the world - e.g. christianity spread to africa and america - religions and western studies were also spread throught european missionaries to asian countries - the worldwide trade became frequent: europeans introduced livestock such as pigs to america - meanwhile, other local products were also imported to europe, such as african coffee
48
slave trade
- at least 12 million african black slaves were sold to america - the conditions in the ships from africa to america were extremely poor, many slaved died during the trips - slaves arrived in america were often exploited and tortured
49
spread of epidemic diseases
- with the discoveries of new sea routes, some epidemic diseases originated in europe spread to america, such as small pox - as the native people were not immune to these european epidemic diseases, epidemics broke out and killed alot of people
50
positive impact of european colonial expansion to the world
- bringing technological advancements and building infrastructure --> facilitated development and promoted modernisation in some areas - spread of new ideas, cultural interactions
51
negative impact of european colonial expansion to the world
- destruction of ancient civilisations in america - casuing violent struggles and casualties due to invasion - damages to local environment/exploitation of local resources in colonies - racism -- discriminating the africans and asians + harmful impact of slave trade: deaths and exploitation - new diseases to the native people

History (6 decks)

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