Unit 6.1 - Rationales for Imperialism Flashcards
What were the rationales for imperialism?
Nationalism, spreading culture, a sense of religious duty, a desire for wealth, and Europeans believing they were biologically superior were all justifications
Why did countries want colonies in the 1800s?
To assert their national identity in the world.
Imperialism
A policy in which a country establishes overseas empires
How did Britain try to assert national pride through settlement?
By expanding their rule in overseas countries, they took places in Southeast Asia like India and Africa
How did France try to assert national pride through settlement?
To recover from a humiliating defeat in the Franco-Prussian war, they expanded their overseas territory to places in Africa like Algeria and other islands and Indochina in Asia
How did Italy/Germany try to assert national pride through settlement?
As newly unified states, they began acquiring more land in the mid-1800s for economic, strategic, and nationalistic reasons
How did Spain try to assert national pride through settlement?
Although weaker than they had been in the first wave of imperialism, they attempted to gain land for nationalistic reasons
How did colonizers see themselves and their actions as they invaded and took over countries
That they were civilizing the natives rather than invading their homeland
How did Japan try to assert national pride through settlement?
They went to war with China for Korea (Sino-Japanese War) to assert national pride
How science was used as proof that colonization was the right of stronger nations
Psuedoscientists (people presenting theories as science but aren’t scientific) with the studies of phrenologists (study skull sizes/shapes) claimed that Africans, indigenous people, and Asians having smaller skulls meant they were biologically inferior
Charles Darwin’s idea of natural selection/survival of the fittest and its role in justifying imperialism
Charles Darwin’s theories of evolution caused by natural selection and the weakest being “weeded out” was applied to society (social Darwinism), justifying why Europeans could colonize.
How did colonizing countries force their culture onto their colonies?
Justified through their technological superiority, colonists brought their technology and systems of educational, political, and religious institutes to the colonies. In addition, they would combine all their multiple colonies into one and then unite the different groups of people through their own language.
Example of mother country forcing culture onto a colony
Apartheid and the Europeans/Britain enforcing laws based on race and by controlling all these different tribes of people and combining their lands together, united them by introducing their language.
How Religion Rationaled Imperialism
Missionary attempts to get people to convert to European religions like Christianity, paving the way for people who were focused on expanding for reasons like economics
Use of Treaties and Company Charters in European Countries Colonizing
Treaties were formed between countries in order to give commercial empires the right to trade (trade post empires/forts) in local Asian/African lands in order for their interests to be protected. Charters/monopolies allowed trade empires to be employed by governments to gain more resources and wealth.
