European Imperialism

Question 1

What had been the impact of imperialism from the British Empire by the start of the 19th century?

Answer 1

Goods were being traded across the world by companies like the East India Company and the Hudson’s Bay Company
Trading posts gave good opportunities to sell British goods abroad and buy goods not available in Britain, like cotton and tea
Wars had been fought like the Seven Years War, resulting in Britain gaining territory overseas
In other cases treaties were signed to gain territory like Singapore
Rivalry between European countries led to more territory claimed

Question 2

How did imperialism in the British Empire develop during the 19th century?

Answer 2

Britain’s Empire expanded to cover a quarter of the globe
The value of overseas colonies and the financial rewards they brought were recognised
European countries all wanted to be the most powerful and fought to control as much as land as possible

Question 3

Why had imperialism occurred in the British Empire?

Answer 3

The industrial revolution and consequent development of weapons meant European countries could overpower others
There was competition for land, wealth, power and status, which overseas territories gave them
There was competition for resources and markets
Colonies brought a larger and cheaper labour force
New foods like bananas could be brought over for the wealthy
A large Empire meant a large military
There was lots of money from trade

Question 4

Why did people in Britain support the idea of imperialism?

Answer 4

They wanted to be a more powerful country
Imperialism brought new goods and money to Britain
British people thought they were the superior race and that colonial people could learn from the ‘mother country’ - that it was their duty
Many missionaries spread Christianity to ‘heathen’ natives
‘Civilisation’ was being shared with natives

Question 5

What was it like in China at the beginning of the 19th Century?

Answer 5

The Qing Dynasty ruled over China
Emperor Qianlong refused to accept western ideas, had no ambassadors, built no trading ships or allow western merchants
China refused to buy goods from foreign countries
Trade was only allowed through one port (Canton) and had to be done in silver coin or bullion, making it very expensive for Britain
Emperor Qianlong thought no other kings were as important as he was
They felt they had everything they needed
They were not interested in learning about Christianity

Question 6

What did George Macartney do in China?

Answer 6

He was sent by George III as an ambassador in 1793 to ask Emperor Qianlong to change their trade regulations. Qianlong did not accept ambassadors as that would mean accepting that other kings were important as he was. Macartney was not permitted to visit Qianlong at his palace and instead met him in a yurt outside the Forbidden City. He brought him a ship of British merchandise but the Emperor treated it as a gift. He took the goods and saw Macartney without them. Macartney gave him a letter from King George III saying Britain wanted to send an ambassador, access all of China’s ports and permission to build trading posts. The Emperor refused.

Question 7

What did Britain do after Macartney’s meeting?

Answer 7

They were angered by Qianlong’s decision. They used opium as it was highly addictive. The East India Company grew poppies in India and turned it into opium, which they sold in Canton and smuggled into other ports. When the Emperor found out, he made it illegal, but corrupt officials continued to smuggle it.

Question 8

What did Daoguang do to relieve the opium problem?

Answer 8

He appointed Lin Zexu, who arrested 60 of the biggest opium dealers and sent a message to all British ships to hand over opium. British merchants trading opium would be put to death. Opium was thrown into the sea

Question 9

What happened at Kowloon?

Answer 9

At the end of June 1839 the Chinese coastguard arrested the commodore of the Carnatic, a British clipper. A few days later British and American sailors, including the Carnatic’s crew, were drinking and getting out of control. They vandalised a temple and killed a man. The Chinese government ordered the men handed over but Britain refused.

Question 10

What happened after the incident at Kowloon?

Answer 10

The Chinese insisted British merchants could only trade if they signed a bond under penalty of death promising not to smuggle opium, agreeing to Chinese laws and acknowledging Chinese jurisdiction. Charles Elliot, British Chief Superintendent of Trade in China, refused and banned British traders from trading in China. The British navy refused to let any ships enter or leave Canton for four years until in 1843 the Chinese surrendered.

Question 11

What was the Treaty of Nanjing?

Answer 11

It was signed in 1843 by China after the First Opium War. It is also called the ‘Unequal Treaty’ as Britain got everything it wanted. China had to pay for the opium they had thrown into the sea, to open up five more ports, to allow British merchants to build settlements and live in China all year round, and to give up Hong Kong. Soon similar treaties with France and the USA had been signed.

Question 12

What happened on the ship the Arrow?

Answer 12

In October 1856 Chinese officials arrested the crew of the Arrow, a Chinese-owned ship, registered in Hong Kong. Although the crew were Chinese, British officials demanded their release as it had been British registered. The British insisted it had been flying a British ensign, while the Chinese said it was not. The Chinese eventually agreed to British demands.

Question 13

What was the Treaty of Tientsin?

Answer 13

After the incident on the Arrow, several documents were signed in June 1858. Britain, France, Russia and America were all involved. They forced China to open more ports to foreigners, permitted foreign ambassadors in Beijing, allowed Christian missionaries and legalised the opium trade.

Question 14

What happened during the Second Opium War?

Answer 14

In summer 1860, a year after the Anglo-French naval force was forced to retreat, 170 ships sailed to Beijing. The Chinese fought back but were not strong enough. Ministers were dispatched by China for peace talks but the British envoy Harry Parkes was wrongly accepted. The British and French were furious and virtually destroyed the Chinese army. The Emperor fled. British and French troops freed Parkes and the other prisoners. They looted and virtually destroyed the Emperor’s Summer Palace and Old Summer Palace.

Question 15

What happened to start the Second Opium War?

Answer 15

In June 1859 an Anglo-French naval force with over 2000 troops sailed to Beijing, bringing envoys for a new embassy. Angry at having to sign the Treaty of Tientsin, the Chinese blocked the river. British forces blew up the iron obstacles and sailed on, attacking the Fort of Taku as they went. The Chinese fought back, forcing the ships to retreat.

Question 16

What was the self-strengthening movement?

Answer 16

With all the foreign influence in China, the government began to think it would be beneficial to learn about western ideas and technology. They learnt about western weapons and boat building and strengthened their army and navy, built coal mines, iron works and textile mills, and built railways and telegraph lines. In 1872 120 Chinese schoolboys were sent to go to American ideas to study western ideas.

Question 17

Why was the self-strengthening movement not as successful as it could have been?

Answer 17

Western technology flooded an otherwise undeveloped country. Soldiers were not trained to use the new weapons, coal mines were inefficient, and railways only covered a fraction of the land. After nine years of a planned fifteen the Chinese schoolboys in America were ordered back to China, as it was felt they were learning too many western ideas and not enough about Chinese traditions.

Question 18

What was the Boxer rebellion?

Answer 18

The Boxers were a nationalist group who hated Christians and any Chinese who worked with foreigners. They were superstitious and believed they could become immune to western bullets. They first attacked German missionaries and their Chinese friends. Empress Cixi agreed to the order from foreign governments to stop the rebels, but never ordered her army to act. Many foreigners hid in embassies and Boxers surrounded them. Cixi declared China was at war with the countries of the West.

Question 19

How was the Boxer rebellion crushed?

Answer 19

News of the siege of embassies reached the world and thousands of soldiers from Russia, Japan, America, Britain and France landed on China and marched to Beijing. The Boxers’ invincibility did not work and soldiers entered the Forbidden City and attacked the Summer Palace. Cixi fled. Chinese officials promised that if western soldiers left they would deal with the Boxers, that Cixi’s declaration of war was unofficial, to punish rebellion supporters, and pay compensation. The West also allowed Cixi to return as Empress, but she had to allow schools to teach western ideas, to outlaw foot binding, and to send officials abroad to learn about European government. Three years later, in 1908, Cixi died, and noblemen running the government did whatever Russia, Japan and the USA told them.

Question 20

What was the Sichuan rebellion?

Answer 20

In 1911, the Sichuan Province wanted to build their own Chinese railway. They ran out of money and Qing regents made a deal with European bankers, meaning it would not be owned just by the Chinese. Officials refused and declared their own Chinese republic. The president would be Sun Yat-sen. He led revolutionaries in his Nationalist Party and the rebellion spread all over China. In 1912 Emperor Puyi abdicated, ending the Qing dynasty.

Question 21

What happened at Fort William?

Answer 21

In order to protect traders and trading posts, the British decided to build fortified walls around themselves in places. The governor of Bengal, Siraj Ud Daulah, was angry at the British building Fort William in Calcutta without his permission. He offered the French land if they would help him chase the British out. They captured it on 19th June 1756, killing most people there. The East India Company hired its own army to punish Siraj. Sir Robert Clive, general of the East India Company army, made a pact with the senior enemy general, Mir Jafar, promising he could become ruler of Bengal if he betrayed Siraj. He surrendered immediately in battle and Siraj was killer. He became ruler of Bengal but had to do whatever the British wanted him to. When he did resist, the East India Company’s army removed him. They began ruling Bengal, at first following Indian laws and traditions, but less so later on. The Emperor was powerless.

Question 22

How did the East India Company gain power in India?

Answer 22

The Indian empire continued to fall apart and they claimed more and more land. They took the Emperor under their ‘protection’, making him do what they told him. They used Direct Rule, making laws that benefitted trade, taring down temples to make way for railways, using Christian missionaries and discouraging traditional Hindu and Muslim practices.

Question 23

What did Lord William Bentinck do?

Answer 23

He became Governor of Bengal in 1827. He cut soldiers’ wages and reformed the court system, making English the language used. He encouraged western education and was involved in banning ‘suttee’, where a widow would be burnt alive on her husband’s funeral pyre. He sold marble from Agra Fort, an important monument, and metal from the Agra Gun, a historical artefact. He was very unpopular among Indian people.

Question 24

What did James Broun-Ramsay, Marquess of Dalhousie do?

Answer 24

He was appointed Governor-General of India in 1848. He oversaw the continued development of railways, roads, postal services, and the telegraph, further upsetting Indian people. He added the Punjab and parts of Burma to British controlled territories. He introduced the ‘Doctrine of Lapse’, where if the ruler of any state under East India Company influence lacked a natural heir, it would be annexed under the British Empire. It gained several territories, but was very unpopular.

Question 25

What caused the Sepoy Mutiny?

Answer 25

Sepoys were Indian soldiers working in East India Company armies with British officers. In 1856 Britain passed a law saying any soldier in India in the British army could be put on a ship and sent to fight in another country during conflict. Hindus believe they can only keep clean if they cook their own food and draw their own bath, both impossible on a ship. Muslims also followed daily rituals which a ship journey would interfere with. The East India Company introduced the P53 Enfield rifle, which required soldiers to bite off the end of a cartridge before loading it. They contained grease from animal fat, so neither Hindus nor Muslims wished to used them. The sepoys thought it was a deliberate attempt to destroy their faith.

Question 26

What happened in the Sepoy Mutiny?

Answer 26

They declared the Emperor, Bahadur Shah II, their leader and that they would no longer follow the British. Bahadur Shah was 82 and too old to fight but announced his support for the rebels. They attacked Delhi, Cawnpore and Lucknow. The East India Company hired more British soldiers and laid siege to Delhi. The sepoys fought hard but the Company soon retook it. Bahadur Shah surrendered and was put on trial for treason. He was exiled and died five years later at 87.

Question 27

What started the Raj?

Answer 27

After the death of Bahadur Shah, Britain decided India would no longer have an emperor. They also thought the East India Company had made too many mistakes and should no longer rule either. The Government of India Act was passed in 1858, transferring control of India to the Crown. Queen Victoria announced that India was a kingdom (raj) of the British Empire, ruled by her and governed directly by Parliament.

Question 28

What went well in the Indian Raj?

Answer 28

Dams, irrigation schemes, factories, hospitals, school, clinics, and universities were introduced, based on British ideas
The ‘Thuggee’ were bands of robbers who befriended travellers before robbing and murdering them. By setting up a special police force to hunt them down, encouraging informants, warning travellers, and building railways, the British eradicated them
The British in India thought they had a duty to bring their own customs and ways to India because they believed that, rightly or wrongly, these were much better than Indian tradition.

Question 29

What went badly in the British Raj?

Answer 29

Despite British ‘improvements’ (dams, hospitals, schools etc.) India remained extremely poor and was hit by famine on several occasions
White people held more privileges, more wealth and a better lifestyle than Indians did. British citizens lived in reserved neighbourhoods, where the only Indians were servants, nursemaids, cooks or nannies, who had to call white people master and mistress

Question 30

What was the scramble for Africa?

Answer 30

In the years after 1880 so many countries were rushing to gain as much control of Africa as they could. Every nation in Europe believed that whichever of them held the most foreign territory could claim to be the greatest power. Most land in Africa was relatively easy to take as natives had inferior weapons, were often willing to make deals, and remained divided into tribes. Because of this the quick claiming of territory was called the scramble for Africa.

Question 31

Why were European countries so interested in Africa?

Answer 31

There were rich resources such as ivory, rubber, limestone, gold and silver
It was easy to take territory, as they had advanced weaponry, communication and travel
Europeans thought whichever country held the most foreign territory could claim to be the greatest power
The ‘White Man’s Burden’
The Berlin Conference provided a legitimate way of dividing up and claiming Africa
Feelings of nationalism meant each population wanted to see their country excel

Question 32

What was the Berlin Conference?

Answer 32

In 1884 Otto von Bismarck invited the rest of Europe to Berlin. Representatives from a dozen different countries met and decided that it would be best if they avoided fighting expensive wars over Africa. They would divide it ‘fairly’: if any country built trading posts and missionary stations in any part of Africa, they could claim it and no other country could claim or attack it. They also agreed to suppress the internal African slave trade and ban importing firearms there.

Question 33

What was life like in the Belgian area of the Congo?

Answer 33

King Leopold II of Belgium claimed the Congo as his own private, personal colony. Rubber was a major resource there and natives were ordered to lather their bodies in latex, let it set, and have it scraped off. It was a painful process. The Force Publique (FP) was set up to make sure natives were collecting enough rubber. Villages who did not meet steep quotas were forced to pay the remaining amount in human hands. Soldiers were required to submit one hand for every bullet used and sometimes soldiers could shorten their service term by bringing more hands than their peers. During Leopold’s rule the native Congo population was almost halved.

Question 34

What happened when the British colonised South Africa?

Answer 34

It had been occupied by Europeans for over a hundred years. Initially colonised by Dutch farmers (Boers), the British had made attempts to take it. They claimed ‘Cape Colony’ in 1820. British settlers began to arrive and a new British governor took over. The Boers hated life under British rule, particularly when Britain declared slavery illegal.

Question 35

What was the Great Trek of the Boers?

Answer 35

Between 1835 and 1843, thousands of Boers left Cape Colony. The journey was long and difficult, bur they found a place to live and called it ‘Natal’. Four years later, the British invaded and took Natal. They then left and settled in two kingdoms, The Orange Free State and the Transvaal Republic. They called themselves Afrikaners now. Britain was too busy dealing with other colonies so they recognised them as independent countries.

Question 36

What caused tensions between the Boers and the British?

Answer 36

Diamonds were found in 1871 between the Boer and British colonies. Nobody had claimed this land, so Britain did. Gold was found in 1886 in the Transvaal Republic but Boers could not get all of the gold out of the ground. They agreed to let British people mine it as long as the people of Transvaal could keep part of it. The British claimed another colony, Rhodesia, in the 1890s. British territory now surrounded the Boers. In 1899 the British invaded the Transvaal to claim it for Britain. Fearing that Britain would try and take the Orange Free State as well, the Afrikaners declared war.

Question 37

What happened in the Boer War?

Answer 37

Afrikaner soldiers took them by surprise in several towns but after months of fighting, British reinforcements arrived and the tide of battle turned. Eventually Afrikaners began to surrender. After the war had ended, gangs of Afrikaner guerrilla fighters continue to occupy areas and attack British people. The British rounded up civilians them and put them in ‘concentration camps’. These were not intended to torture or murder, but poor conditions and disease killed thousands. In 1902 the Peace of Vereeniging was signed, uniting warring colonies to form the Union of South Africa.

Question 38

What was the Fashoda incident?

Answer 38

In 1898 French colonies wanted to create a railway to link colonies. The British also wanted to create a railway to link their colonies. They would cross near the town of Fashoda, so both the French and the British needed control of Fashoda. Tension was already high. The French sent 120 soldiers. The British sent gunboats. They both insisted their right to Fashoda. The British had a stronger navy and France needed an alliance with Britain against Germany, so France ordered its soldiers to withdraw.

Question 39

What was company rule?

Answer 39

In the early days of colonialism, European nations allowed private companies to govern large territories. They were formed by businessmen who wanted to exploit natural resources of the land. They could set taxes and direct natives, but also took responsibility for the expenses. The mother country gained the political benefit of an additional presence without the cost.

Question 40

What is an example of company rule in Africa?

Answer 40

The British East Africa Company was established in 1888 and colonised Kenya on behalf of Britain. It made treaties that claimed to offer protection for native tribes in exchange for accepting their rule. They governed Kenya until 1893.

Question 41

What was direct rule?

Answer 41

European countries, mostly France, Belgium, Germany, and Portugal, set up their own governments and created laws and regulations which the people there had to obey and follow. The invading country tried to make natives within the colony western - more ‘civilised’. Native people were usually considered less important than Europeans. European strategy was to ‘divide and rule’: implementing policies that intentionally weakened the natives’ position and creating situations which caused divisions between tribes.

Question 42

What is an example of direct rule in Africa?

Answer 42

Capt. Louis Faidherbe was governor of Senegal from 1854 to 1865. He set about expanding French held land inland, in particular the Niger region, hoping for control all the was across to the Red Sea. He followed the ‘Plan of 1854’, creating forts along the Senegal River with the aim of taking over the African acacia gum trade. He often used force and persuasion to gain land and sometimes acted beyond French instruction. After the Battle of Logandème, he ordered his men to burn the villages of the Fatick region to the ground. He faced opposition from natives, in particular from Umar Tall, the Muslim ruler in middle Niger. Faidherbe forced a Muslim retreat. He then set about westernising the territory with transport links, telegraph communication and fresh water supplies. The French treated the colonies as one large political and economic area. Local chiefs were replaced with French officials, everyone there became a French citizen, French became the official language, and people were expected to follow French traditions.

Question 43

What was indirect rule?

Answer 43

It was used by Britain. It gave power and responsibility to native rulers, who were then answerable to Britain. It only really worked if the natives were organised in tribes with their own chiefs, which was not always the case. It could increase tensions between native groups when power was given to selected individuals.

Question 44

What is an example of indirect rule in Africa?

Answer 44

In 1912, Lord Frederick Lugard became governor of British land in Nigeria. It was two separate areas, but his mission was to combine the territories into one colony. He received little opposition, except in Lagos. Once united, he set about trying to improve the colony by building hospitals, railways and harbours. He claimed to be trying to reduce alcohol consumption and suppress slavery, but much of the funding for his project came from taxes on imported alcohol, and he permitted some slavery by wealthy families. He failed to see natives as equals, entitled to an education. The British controlled the army and taxation; almost everything else was left to cooperative natives.

Question 45

What was settler rule?

Answer 45

Sometimes huge numbers of European settlers came to live in a colony, intending to make the area their permanent home. In order for this to happen successfully, they needed political power and the ability to make money from available resources. They needed to be more powerful than the native population that significantly outnumbered them. This was usually achieved by harsh and unfair treatment of the latter.

Question 46

What was the ‘white man’s burden’?

Answer 46

The British felt that colonising Africa, and teaching its people British customs, was in Africa’s best interests. They felt it was their duty to pass their knowledge and technology to the less fortunate and ‘inferior’ people of the Empire. The British felt proud to carry this burden, and wanted to let those in the Empire know they were willing to help them improve. Christian missionaries wanted to end traditional customs they believed evil. Missionaries often spoke out against treatment of native people, but most supported colonialism as it made it easier to spread religion.