Unit V: Imperialism Study Guide (Kelman Questions) Flashcards
What is imperialism?
Domination by one country of the political, economic, or cultural life of another country or region.
New Imperialism
Dominating Powers seeking control of new colonies abroad and having them join in their political, economic(markets and industry), and cultural life. Essentially it is taking over other countries and joining them to the Empire however they still remain the original country technically.
What was the main motivation/goal of New Imperialism? Was it Industrialization or Nationalism?
Industrialization CAUSED the need for New Imperialism. They needed more raw materials, more markets and cheaper workers. However, the driving force that kept New Imperialism going was Nationalism. People wanted their country to succeed! They wanted it to be the strongest! They felt that if they were to gain New Markets, their countries would be financially strong. It does become a bit of which came first, the chicken or the egg.
Why was financial strength especially important during the early 1900’s? What were the Economic Motives for New Imperialism?
There was also a Second Industrial Revolution that created great competition for world dominance. Every country wanted to be at the top of the Industrial revolution. In addition, Europe had just suffered a depression. Countries were struggling to keep their countries stable financially. Additionally, private individual’s and companies with money wanted to benefit from New Markets available under New Imperialism.
How would financial strength be achieved under New Imperialism? (How would money problems for countries be solved?)
New Colonies would solve the problem. They would give them:
1) New Markets for their manufactured goods
2) More Raw Materials
3) Cheaper Labor
Why would the non-Western world want or benefit from Imperialization? In other words, what were the positives for the other country where the colonies had been set up?
1) MORALS
2) EDUCATION
3) ENDING SLAVE TRADE
4) PROVIDING MEDICAL CARE
5) SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
6) PROTECTION UNDER THE EMPIRE
Why would European countries want to acquire other countries abroad?
1) EXPANSION OF EMPIRE
2) CONTROLING MARKETS They want to dominate and make more money. Having more territory and spreading it out over the world makes you very strong.
Why did European countries want to expand their territory?
Nationalism (being excited about and loyal to your country) makes people think their country is the best. They want to expand their “amazing” country. Having more territory and spreading it out over the world makes you very strong. They ALSO wanted more places to get raw materials, cheap labor and more markets to sell their goods.
Why did European countries want to expand their markets? How could they do that?
Having more colonies around the world gave you more markets. If you have more markets, you have the ability to make more and more money. If you make more money as a country, you get stronger and stronger.
Why did Britain want control over the Suez Canal?
They wanted control over the Suez Canal and ultimately Egypt because they wanted to be able to have easy passage for trade from East to West.
Why did European’s spread their morals to the non-Western world?
To help people become “better” citizens. They thought they were superior and by spreading their morals, they would benefit the society as a whole in the non-Western world.
Why did European’s think it was important to educate people in the non-Western world?
European values held education of all citizens as important. Europeans found that education can improve the quality of life for society as a whole and moral education could take place so their ideas could be spread.
Why did European’s think scientific research was important in the non-Western world?
As scientific research expands, people began to learn more about their own culture, society and religion.
Was the British Government under any pressure regarding New Imperialism? If yes, by whom? Why?
Yes, from Industrialists and Financiers (money people) because they wanted the benefits from the New Markets they could get under New Imperialists.
What could a smaller country do if it was concerned about loosing colonies to larger countries?
They could form an alliance with a larger country to get protection from the larger country against outside forces.
Cash Crops
Crops that yielded well and provided a product that could be sold for good profit.
Did colonies cost the European’s money?
Yes, the cost of military, administration and law enforcement added up!
How did European countries recoup the expense they incurred for the colonies?
They would try to use the cash crops and taxation to offset their expenses.
What were the largest natural resources that could be used to attract private investors in Africa?
Copper, Rubber, and Diamonds.
How did many countries get control over the resources?
They took the mines and crops directly from Africans and gave them to whites.
Kaffirs
Boer(Dutch) term for Africans
Assimilation
Becoming part of another culture
What religion did the French want Africans to convert to?
Catholicism
Indirect ruled colonies
Colonies that had local assistants that were appointed and only loosely supervised by Imperialist leaders.
Directly Ruled Colonies
Colonies were ruled directly by Imperialist leaders
Why did the British use Indirect rule?
To reduce Administrative costs of governing the colonies.
Motives for Imperialism
- Economic
- Political/Military
- Humanitarian
- Exploratory
- Ideological
Economic Motives for Imperialism
Gaining new markets gave new places to sell goods as well as new places to get resources and cheap labor from.
Humanitarian Motives for Imperialism
To help the people of impoverished nations by giving the education, sanitation, crops for food, housing, roads ect.
Exploratory Motives for Imperialism
To discover the resources of other areas and to use colonies to be able to search out new areas to explore outside the colony as well.
Ideological Motives for Imperialism
People justified their motives by saying they were doing it not for profit but for all of mankind. They felt it was their responsibility to spread western morals and religion to make other countries “better”. See also “White Man’s Burden” and “Social Darwinism”. they felt that their morals and religion were better and the white man was superior so others should be more like the white man.
Scramble for Africa
1880’s-1914; European nations ferociously fought over control of Africa. They all wanted colonies there.
How did European control change prior to and at the end of the Scramble for Africa?
Prior to 1880, only Algeria and Cape Colony (South Africa) was under European control but after 1914, only Ethiopia and Liberia were NOT under European control. All others were under European control.
Did African Resistance occur?
Resistance did occur. It was separated into two categories: Primary Resistance and Secondary Resistance.
Primary Resistance
Initial violent reaction to colonial rule. It was on a smaller level and went away as people grew accustom to things. Usually occurred when whites broke religious rules, implemented unfair taxation or put Africans under repeated cruelties. It was not planned out. It was more reactionary
Secondary Resistance
A delayed response to colonization that took place sometimes years later. It took longer to subdue, was on a larger scale, involved many different people from different tribes an was more planned out than Primary Resistance.
Who was Secondary Resistance usually led by?
It was led by a prophet most often that encouraged people to rise up against the colonial power. In Muslim countries, they stood behind Islam to fight against the “Christian” occupation.
African Response to Imperialism
Africans were not often supported and did rebel against the Imperialist country.
Ultimately, what two choices did Africans have in terms of the occupation by Imperialists. List the Countries involved in each type of choice.
Choices included:
1) Join with the values, culture and religion of the Imperialist countries. (France and Britian)
2) Retreat (hide away) to hidden places far away from where the colonialist were. ( Belgium, Italy, Portugal, Germany)
What three types of whites were African’s exposed to?
Merchants, Administrators and Missionaries
Which type of white men had the greatest influence on African culture? How?
Missionaries because they were the academic and religious educators.
How ultimately did these African countries enable themselves to obtain freedom?
The Africans that were educated ended up leading the other Africans to rise up and regain their countries.
What remained the dominant religious force in Northern Africa despite the Christian Missionary efforts?
Islam/Muslim
Were the “native rulers” more understanding than the colonial authorities in Africa?
Often, the “native rulers” abused their power and were even worse than the colonial authorities. Corruption was often seen with the “native rulers”.
What did the African’s find if they just adopted the new white man ways?
They would be healthy with new medicines, they became educated, they could get jobs.
Define, “White Man’s Burden”. How were they able to spread their ideals to other countries?
It was what Europe felt was a burden or job of white people. They felt it was their job to make everything “better”. They felt this could be done by making people in Asia and Africa more “civilized” (or essentially more like them). They did this through providing religious and academic education.
Berlin Conference
Chancellor Bismarck called for the conference in 1884 to find a way to regulate and minimize the disputes. He did this because the peace in Europe was being threatened over the “Scramble for Africa”.
Effective Occupation
Proof that would be required for African occupation that the Africans had ceded or surrendered to the power of the country now ruling them. In addition, they had to provide a “presence” within the territory they claimed to maintain order.
In establishing borders in Africa, what consideration did the Europeans give to geographical, ecological, social and ethnic boundaries that the Africans previously had? What were the results of that if any?
NONE. This caused great infighting within countries in Africa because races and cultures were mixed without their consent.
Protecting Power
The larger power or mother country that pledged to protect the new territory or colony.
Occupying Power
The country who has power in and over the colony.
When a country took over a territory in Africa, what did they need to do to right away?
1) Train African officers that would work for the government under the direction of the Imperialist country.
2) End the Slavery trade by utilizing the new African officers to break up the trade.
3) Use the African officers to stop any resistance among Africans towards colonization.
4) Establish District offices where an official of the mother country would function as a judge and jury
Protectorates
The colony or territory that is protected by the Imperialist country.
Metropoles
Home Country or Mother Country
Spheres of Influence
Colonies that were protected by their larger mother country.
