History 2: How the World Was Divided by the Great Empires PDF

## 2. How the World Was Divided by the Great Empires The conquest of territories was quick and easy. The search for new territories where to expand prompted a series of scientific journeys and geographic explorations carried out in central Africa, such as those by the British David Livingstone and...

## 2. How the World Was Divided by the Great Empires The conquest of territories was quick and easy. The search for new territories where to expand prompted a series of scientific journeys and geographic explorations carried out in central Africa, such as those by the British David Livingstone and Henry M. Stanley and the Frenchman Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza. After the exploration of the territories, the military conquest began, which was carried out relatively quickly and easily. This is explained by the extraordinary technological superiority of Europe and the exploitation of internal rivalries between indigenous tribes and ethnic groups, with the aim of confronting them and recruiting troops to serve them. ### ...Implied rivalry and conflict... The conquest had a warlike character with constant wars and conflicts of interests between rival powers. The rivalries over the partition of Africa prompted the convocation of the *Berlin Conference (1885)* in which the rules were decided to divide the territory and the areas that each power would occupy. However, despite the establishment of these agreements, colonial conflicts or wars continued: * **France and England** clashed in 1898 in an area east of Lake Chad, called **Fachoda**, and the war was about to break out. * The **Anglo-Boer conflict** (1880-1881 and 1899-1902) confronted the British with the Dutch colonists (Boers) of South Africa. * The **Opium Wars** (1839-1860), between China and the British Empire, forced the opening of trade and the entry of Western interests into China. ### ...and Created Different Types of Colonial Administration After the military conquest of the colony, the organization of administration and control of the territory began. Not all colonies had the same characteristics: * **Exploitation colonies** were territories fundamentally intended for economic exploitation. The colonizers appropriated land to create large plantations (coffee, sugar, cocoa, tea, rubber...) or to exploit mineral deposits of copper, gold and diamonds * **Settlement colonies** received a European population permanently (colonists); this was the case in Algeria, where the French colonized. Some enjoyed a special relationship with the metropolis, which recognized their autonomy in internal government (British dominions, such as Canada). * **Protectorates** were created in territories where there were structured states. An indigenous government was maintained, but the metropolis created and imposed a parallel government that dominated the local government and reserved the functions of defense and foreign policy. An example was the British protectorate in Egypt. ### **Colonial Empires** | Metropolis | Area (millions of km2) | |---|---| | Great Britain | 31.4 | | France | 11 | | Germany | 3 | | Belgium | 2.5 | | Portugal | 2 | | The Netherlands | 2 | | Italy | 0.5 | | Spain | 0.3 | In 1800, the European powers controlled 35% of the Earth's surface. In 1878 it was 67% and in 1914 it was 84.4%. **I Observe and Understand** 6. Look at the table. Which colonial empire was the second largest in area? **I Compare** 7. Compare the three types of colonial administration and list their differences briefly. 8. Compare the British and French projects in Africa. Did they succeed? What did they find? Locate it on the map. **I Reason** 9. Do you think the expansion of colonial empires was a first step toward a global economy? Explain. **I Place it in Space and Time** 10. Draw a table listing the colonies that the European powers had in 1914: America, the Middle East and the Far East.