Unit 6: Consequences of Industrialization Flashcards
How was colonial rule experienced by the societies that it encompassed?
Foreign rule by Western Europeans, Russians, and Americans was a major new experience for many millions of Africans, Asians, and Pacific islanders
How did the Industrial Revolution shape nineteenth-century European imperialism?
- gave rise to new economic needs
- created the need for extensive raw materials and agricultural products (cotton, opium, rubber, gold, rice, wool)
- Europe needed to sell its own products since its factories churned out more goods than its people could afford to buy
Explain the role of nationalism in the growth of imperialism in Europe.
By 1871, the unification of Italy and Germany intensified Europe’s already competitive international relations. Much of this rivalry spilled over into the struggle for overseas colonies or economic concessions
How did Industrialization help European powers achieve their goals?
- steam-drived ships allowed Europeans to reach Asian, African, and Pacific ports more quickly and predictably
- underwater telegraph made instant communication possible
- the discovery of quinine to prevent malaria reduced European death rates in the tropics
What role did racial superiority play in European quest for empire?
- Their opinions of other cultures dropped sharply
- Europeans believed that they were superior (had unsurpassed military power, unprecedented wealth, etc.)
How did scientific racism factor into the European view of their own global expansion?
- Europeans believed that they had a right and duty to civilize inferior races
- Used the prestige and apparatus of science to support their racial preferences and prejudices
Which countries were major players in the new age of Imperialism?
- Germany, Italy, Belgium, the US, Japan
Why did Europeans prefer informal control over a region?
Economic penetration and occasional military intervention without colonial takeover was cheaper and less likely to provoke wars
How did environmental factors play in European imperial efforts ?
- Climactic instability that caused monsoon rains gave “the green light” for an imperialist landrush
- In Africa, a drought helped British success in reining in Zulu independence
How did the scramble for Africa impact the indigenous populations?
African kingdoms and societies were unable to overcome European modern weapons and professional armies. This meant that Europeans divided the continent among themselves with little attention to ethnic or linguistic divisions
How did imperialism impact Oceania and the South Pacific?
- Britain, France, the Netherlands, Germany, the US. and Australia claimed control of all the islands of Oceania
- Conquest accompanied by large-scale European settlement and diseases reduced native numbers by 75% or more by 1900
- Disease took a terrible toll on people who lacked immunities to European pathogens
How did imperialism impact the indigenous populations of the United States?
- Indigenous peoples were confined and children in boarding schools were removed
- Seeking territory for white settlement, the US removed and sometimes almost exterminated Indigenous peoples
- Reformers sought to civilize remaining Native Americans, eradicating tribal life and culture
How did indigenous societies in general try to confront empire builders?
- Some tried to pitt off imperial powers against one another and others resorted to military action
- Some negotiated, attempting to preserve as much independence and power as possible
In what ways did indigenous peoples cooperate with colonial authorities?
- Many men found employment, status, and security in European-led armed forces
- Colonial rulers relied on a range of local intermediaries due to the shortage of European administrators
Explain the shift from traditional elites to an educated Western class.
- Colonial governments and private missionary organizations had an interest in promoting European education
- As colonial governments and business enterprises became more sophisticated, Europeans increasingly depended on the Western-educated class at the expense of the more traditional elites
Describe the Indian Rebellion of 1857
- Many groups of people had grievances generated by the British colonial presence (religious beliefs and practices transgressed, local rulers lost power, peasants were overtaxed)
- Greatly widened the racial divide
- Convinced the Britihs government to assume direct control over India, ending the era of British East India Company rule
Describe the Ghost Dance
- A religiously inspired rebellion
- Practiced by multiple Native American societies in the western states
- Practitioners believed that the Ghost Dance would reunite the living with the spirits of their ancestors, oust the foreigners, and bring peace, prosperity, and unity to the Native American population
What did resistance look like in Africa?
- Frequent uprisings
- Traditional religions enabled opposition movements
- Islam provided an ideology of resistance, supporting rebellions in Algeria, Niger, Somalia, and the Sudan
What role did women play in resistance in Africa?
- Thousands of women gathered in protest, singing and dancing, sometimes naked, and directly confronting African warrant chiefs appointed by the British, shaming them for their bad behavior, damaging their homes, and sometimes directly attacked them
- Women destroyed native courts and released prisoners from jails
In what ways were nineteenth-century European empires distinctive?
- the prominence of race in distinguishing rulers as superior to the ruled
- Scientific racism coincided with the acquisition of Asian and African colonies
- Racial distinctions were more pronounced when there were large European settler populations
Why were Europeans reluctant to encourage modernization in their colonies?
- Europeans were reluctant to encourage urban growth, industrialization, individual values, and religious skepticism, fearing that this social change would encourage unrest and challenge colonial rule
- Preferred a traditional rural society, with social hierarchies and established authorities
In what ways did older ways of working erode with imperialism?
- Subsistence farming diminished as growing numbers started working for wages or selling what they produced for a cash income
- Artisans suffered greatly when cheaper machine-manufactured merchandised displaced their handmade goods
How did coerced labor during the era of new imperialism differ from the plantation systems of old imperialism?
- European powers used forced labor systems where workers were technically free but were subjected to exploitative conditions
- Old imperialism depended on slavery and plantation agriculture but new imperialism used forced labor in industrial, resource extraction, and infrastructure projects, often under the guise of modernization
How did the cultivation system strengthen the Dutch economy and authority?
- Cash crops were highly profitable for Dutch traders, the state, and its citizens
- Improved the Dutch economy by enabling it to avoid taxing its own people and providing capital for its Industrial Revolution