Industrialism and Imperialism in Textbook PDF

A | A | A Vocabulary | Reading Strategies Lesson 1 The Industrial Revolution ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS How can innovation affect ways of life? How does revolution bring about political and economic change? During the late eighteenth century, the Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain. An agricultur...

A | A | A Vocabulary | Reading Strategies Lesson 1 The Industrial Revolution ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS How can innovation affect ways of life? How does revolution bring about political and economic change? During the late eighteenth century, the Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain. An agricultural revolution and industrialization caused a shift from an economy based on farming and handicrafts to an economy based on manufacturing by machines in factories. The Industrial Revolution in Great Britain What was the significance of the Agricultural Revolution in Great Britain? Why did the Industrial Revolution start in Great Britain? The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain in the 1760s. However, it took decades to spread to other Western nations. Several factors contributed to make Great Britain the starting place. First, an Agricultural Revolution beginning in the eighteenth century changed agricultural practices. Expansion of farmland, good weather, improved transportation, and new crops such as the potato dramatically increased the food supply. More people could be fed at lower prices with less labor. Now even ordinary British families could use some of their income to buy manufactured goods. Second, with the increased food supply, the population grew. When Parliament passed enclosure movement laws in the eighteenth century, landowners fenced off common lands. This forced many peasants to move to towns, creating a labor supply for factories. Third, Britain had a ready supply of money, or capital, to invest in new machines and factories. Entrepreneurs found new business opportunities and new ways to make profits. Fourth, natural resources were plentiful in Britain. The country's rivers provided water power for the new factories and a means for transporting raw materials and finished products. Britain also had abundant supplies of coal and iron ore. Finally, a supply of markets gave British manufacturers a ready outlet for their goods. Britain had a vast colonial empire, and British ships could transport goods anywhere in the world. Also, because of population growth and cheaper food at home, domestic markets increased. A growing demand for cotton cloth led British manufacturers to look for ways to increase production. Cotton Production and New Factories In the eighteenth century, Great Britain had surged far ahead in the production of inexpensive cotton goods. The manufacture of cotton cloth was a two-step process. First, spinners made cotton thread from raw cotton. Then, weavers wove the cotton thread into cloth on looms. In the eighteenth century, individuals did these tasks in their rural cottages. This production method was thus called a cottage industry. A series of technological advances during this time made the cottage industry inefficient. In 1764 James Hargreaves invented a machine called the spinning jenny, which made the spinning process much faster. In fact, spinners produced thread faster than weavers could use it. The invention of a water-powered loom by Edmund Cartwright in 1787 made it possible for the weaving of cloth to catch up with the spinning of thread. It was now more efficient to bring workers to the new machines and have them work in factories near streams and rivers, which were used to power many of these early machines. The cotton industry became even more productive when the steam engine was improved in the 1760s by James Watt, a Scottish engineer. In 1782 Watt made changes that enabled the engine to drive machinery. Steam power could now be used to spin and weave cotton. Before long, cotton mills using steam engines could be found throughout Britain. Because steam engines were fired by coal, not powered by water, they did not need to be located near rivers. British cotton cloth production increased dramatically. In 1760 Britain had imported 2.5 million pounds (1.14 million kg) of raw cotton, which was used to produce cloth in cottage industries. By 1840, 366 million pounds (166 million kg) of cotton were imported each year. By this time, cotton cloth was Britain's most valuable product. Sold around the world, British cotton goods were produced mainly in factories. The factory was another important element in the Industrial Revolution. From its beginning, the factory created a new labor system. Factory owners wanted to use their new machines constantly. So, workers were forced to work in shifts to keep the machines producing at a steady rate. Early factory workers came from rural areas where they were used to periods of hectic work, such as the harvest, followed by periods of inactivity. Early factory owners therefore disciplined workers to a system of regular hours and repetitive tasks. For example, adult workers were fined for being late and were dismissed for more serious misconduct, especially being drunk. Child workers were often beaten with a rod or whipped to keep them at work. One early industrialist said that his aim was “to make such machines of the Men as cannot err.” Coal, Iron, and Railroads The steam engine was crucial to Britain's Industrial Revolution. For fuel, the engine depended on coal, which seemed then to be unlimited in quantity. The success of the steam engine increased the need for coal and led to an expansion in coal production. New processes using coal aided the transformation of another industry—the iron industry. Britain's natural resources included large supplies of iron ore. A better quality of iron was produced in the 1780s when Henry Cort developed a process called puddling. In this process, coke, which was derived from coal, was used to burn away impurities in crude iron, called pig iron, and to produce an iron of high quality. The British iron industry boomed. In 1740 Britain had produced 17,000 tons (15,419 metric tons or t) of iron. After Cort's process came into use in the 1780s, production jumped to nearly 70,000 tons (63,490 t). In 1852 Britain produced almost 3 million tons (2.7 million t)—more iron than was produced by the rest of the world combined. High-quality iron was used to build new machines, especially trains. In the eighteenth century, more efficient means of moving resources and goods developed. Railroads were particularly important to the success of the Industrial Revolution. Richard Trevithick, an English engineer, built the first steam locomotive. In 1804 Trevithick's locomotive ran on an industrial rail line in Britain. It pulled 10 tons (9 t) of ore and 70 people at 5 miles (8.05 km) per hour. Better locomotives soon followed. One called the Rocket was used on the first public railway line, which opened in 1830 and extended 32 miles (51.5 km) from the cotton-manufacturing town of Manchester to the thriving port of Liverpool. The Rocket sped along at 16 miles (25.7 km) per hour while pulling a 40-ton (36-t) train. Within 20 years, locomotives were able to reach 50 miles (80.5 km) per hour, an incredible speed. In 1840 Britain had almost 2,000 miles (3,218 km) of railroads. In 1850 more than 6,000 miles (9,654 km) of railroad track crisscrossed much of the country. Building railroads created new jobs for farm laborers and peasants. Less expensive transportation led to lower-priced goods, thus creating larger markets. More sales meant more demand and the need for more factories and more machinery. Business owners could reinvest their profits in new equipment, adding to the growth of the economy. This type of regular, ongoing economic growth became a basic feature of the new industrial economy. The Spread of Industrialization What factors fed the spread of industrialization in Europe and North America? By the mid-nineteenth century, Great Britain had become the world's first industrial nation. It had also become the world's richest nation. Great Britain produced one-half of the world's coal and manufactured goods. Its cotton industry alone in 1850 was equal in size to the industries of all other European countries combined. The Industrial Revolution spread to the rest of Europe at different times and at different speeds. France was one of the first states to be industrialized in continental Europe. Industrialization there was a slow process. The French economy was hindered by political instability in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. France also did not have a good source of coal, which was an important resource for industrial development. In contrast to the heavy mechanization in Britain during this period, many goods produced in France were still handmade. There was also some resistance to the mechanization of these traditional industries and the government protected them. In the late nineteenth century the French government began to play a major role in the industrialization of France. Roads were improved and the French rail system was expanded. The Industrial Revolution in the German states took place in the mid-nineteenth century. The German state of Prussia was especially rich in iron and coal resources and its government assisted in the development of iron, steel, and chemical manufacturing companies. The unification of the German state in 1870 led to rapid industrial growth. Unification, too, made the development of railroad transportation much easier than before. By the early twentieth century, Germany was a great industrial power. An Industrial Revolution also occurred in the United States during the first half of the nineteenth century. In 1800 more than 5 million people lived in the United States, and nearly 6 out of every 7 American workers were farmers. No city had more than 100,000 people. In contrast, the U.S. population had grown to more than 30 million people by 1860. Many of these people moved into the cities. Eight cities had populations over 100,000, and only about 50 percent of American workers were farmers. A large country, the United States needed a good transportation system to move goods across the nation. Thousands of miles of roads and canals were built to link east and west. Robert Fulton built the first paddle-wheel steamboat, the Clermont, in 1807. Steamboats made transportation easier on the waterways of the United States. Most important in the development of an American transportation system was the railroad. By 1860, about 30,000 miles (48,270 km) of railroad track covered the continental United States. The railroad soon turned the country into a single massive market for the manufactured goods produced in the Northeast. Labor for the growing number of factories in the Northeast came chiefly from the farm population. Women and girls made up a large majority of the workers in large textile (cotton and wool) factories. Social Impact of Industrialization What was the social impact of industrialization in Europe? The Industrial Revolution drastically changed society in Britain, France, Germany, and other parts of Europe. In the first half of the nineteenth century, cities grew and two new social classes—the industrial middle class and the industrial working class—emerged. Population Growth and Urbanization European population stood at an estimated 140 million in 1750. By 1850, the population had almost doubled to 266 million. The key to this growth was a decline in death rates, wars, and major epidemic diseases, such as smallpox and plague. Because of an increase in the food supply, people were better fed and more resistant to disease. Famine and poverty were two factors that impacted global migration and urbanization. More than 1 million people died during the Irish potato famine, and poverty led a million more to migrate to the Americas. Industrialization also spurred urbanization, as large numbers of people migrated from the countryside to cities to work in factories. In 1800 Great Britain had one major city, London, with a population of about 1 million. Six cities had populations between 50,000 and 100,000. By 1850, London's population had swelled to about 2.5 million. Nine cities had populations over 100,000. Also, more than 50 percent of the population lived in towns and cities. The rapid growth of cities in the first half of the nineteenth century led to pitiful living conditions for many, leading urban reformers to call on local governments to clean up their cities. Reform would be undertaken in the second half of the nineteenth century. New Social Classes The Middle Ages saw the rise of commercial capitalism, an economic system based on trade. Industrial capitalism, an economic system based on industrial production, rose during the Industrial Revolution. This system produced a new middle-class group—the industrial middle class. In the Middle Ages, the bourgeois, or middle-class person, was the burgher or town dweller. The bourgeoisie were merchants, officials, artisans, lawyers, or intellectuals. Later, the term bourgeoisie came to include people involved in industry and banking, as well as lawyers, teachers, or doctors. The new industrial middle class that emerged during the Industrial Revolution was made up of the people who built the factories, bought the machines, and developed the markets. They had initiative, vision, ambition, and often greed. One said, "Getting of money… is the main business of the life of Man...." The Industrial Revolution also created an industrial working class that faced wretched working conditions. Work hours ranged from 12 to 16 hours each day, 6 days per week. There was no security of employment, and there was no minimum wage. Conditions in the coal mines were harsh. Steam-powered engines lifted the coal from the mines to the top, but the men inside the mines dug out the coal. Dangerous conditions, including cave-ins, explosions, and gas fumes, were a way of life. The cramped conditions in the mines and their constant dampness led to workers' deformed bodies and ruined lungs. The worst conditions were in the cotton mills, which were also dirty, dusty, dangerous, and unhealthy. In Britain, women and children made up two-thirds of the cotton industry's workforce by 1830. However, the number of child laborers declined after the Factory Act of 1833. This act set nine as the minimum age for employment and limited hours for older children. After this, women came to make up 50 percent of the British labor force in textile factories. They were paid half or less than half of what men received. When the work hours of children and women were limited, a new pattern of work emerged. Men now earned most of the family income by working outside the home. Women took over daily care of the family and performed low-paying jobs that could be done at home. Early Socialism In the first half of the nineteenth century, the pitiful conditions created by the Industrial Revolution gave rise to a movement known as socialism. In this economic system, society—usually in the form of the government— owns and controls some means of production, such as factories and utilities. Early socialism was largely the idea of intellectuals. To later socialists, especially the followers of Karl Marx, such ideas were impractical dreams. They contemptuously labeled the earlier reformers utopian socialists, a term that has lasted to this day. Robert Owen, a British cotton manufacturer, was one utopian socialist. He believed that humans would show their natural goodness if they lived in a cooperative environment. Owen transformed the squalid factory town of New Lanark, Scotland, into a flourishing community. He created a similar community at New Harmony, Indiana, in the United States in the 1820s, which failed. In the 1880s the Chancellor of Germany, Otto von Bismarck, responded to the development of the socialist movement by creating old age pensions, accident insurance, medical care, and unemployment insurance. Beginning in the 1890s the government of France slowly began to adopt these same measures. These moves formed the basis of the modern European welfare state. Lesson 2 The Growth of Industrial Prosperity ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS How can industrialization affect a country’s economy? How are political and social structures influenced by economic changes? By the late 1800s, the Second Industrial Revolution transformed most of Europe into industrialized societies. However, the transition was not easy for workers. Many sought reform to improve their lives. The Second Industrial Revolution What were the causes and effects of the Second Industrial Revolution in Western Europe? The first Industrial Revolution had given rise to textiles, railroads, iron, and coal. In the Second Industrial Revolution, steel, chemicals, electricity, and petroleum led the way to new industrial frontiers. New Products and Patterns In 1855 Sir Henry Bessemer patented a new process for making high-quality steel efficiently and cheaply known as the Bessemer process. Steel soon replaced iron and was used in the building of lighter, smaller, and faster machines and engines. It was also used in railways, ships, and weapons. In 1860 Great Britain, France, Germany, and Belgium produced 125,000 tons (112,500 t) of steel. By 1913, the total was an astounding 32 million tons (29 million t). Electricity was a valuable new form of energy. It was easily converted into other energy forms, such as heat, light, and motion, and moved easily through wires. In the 1870s, the first practical generators of electrical current were developed. By 1910, hydroelectric power stations and coal-fired steam-generating plants connected homes and factories to a common source of power. Electricity gave birth to a series of inventions. Homes and cities began to have electric lights when Thomas Edison in the United States and Joseph Swan in Great Britain created the lightbulb. A revolution in communications also began. Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876. Guglielmo Marconi sent the first radio waves across the Atlantic Ocean in 1901. By the 1880s, streetcars and subways powered by electricity had appeared in major European cities. Electricity transformed the factory as well. Conveyor belts, cranes, and machines could all be powered by electricity. With electric lights, factories could remain open 24 hours a day. The development of the internal-combustion engine, fired by oil and gasoline, provided a new source of power in transportation. This engine gave rise to ocean liners with oil-fired engines, as well as to the airplane and the automobile. In 1903 Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first flight in a fixed-wing plane at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. In 1919 the first regular passenger air service was established. Industrial production grew at a rapid pace because of greatly increased sales of manufactured goods. Europeans could afford to buy more consumer products for several reasons. Wages for workers increased after 1870. In addition, prices for manufactured goods were lower because of reduced transportation costs. One of the biggest reasons for more efficient production was the assembly line, a new manufacturing method pioneered by Henry Ford in 1913. The assembly line allowed a much more efficient mass production of goods. In the cities, the first department stores began to sell a new range of consumer goods. These goods—clocks, bicycles, electric lights, and typewriters, for example—were made possible by the steel and electrical industries. Not everyone benefited from the Second Industrial Revolution. By 1900, Europe was divided into two economic zones. Great Britain, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Germany, the western part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and northern Italy made up an advanced industrialized core. These nations had a high standard of living and adequate systems of transportation. Another part of Europe to the south and east was still largely agricultural. It consisted of southern Italy, most of Austria-Hungary, Spain, Portugal, the Balkan kingdoms, and Russia. These countries provided food and raw materials for the industrial countries and had a much lower standard of living than the rest of Europe. Toward a World Economy The Second Industrial Revolution, combined with the growth of transportation by steamship and railroad, fostered a true world economy. By 1900, Europeans were receiving beef and wool from Argentina and Australia, coffee from Brazil, iron ore from Algeria, and sugar from Java. European capital was also invested abroad to develop railways, mines, electrical power plants, and banks. Of course, foreign countries also provided markets for Europe’s manufactured goods. With its capital, industries, and military might, Europe dominated the world economy by 1900. Organizing the Working Classes How was socialism a response to industrialization? The transition to an industrialized society was very hard on workers. The desire to improve their working and living conditions led many industrial workers to form socialist political parties and socialist trade unions. The theory on which they were based had been developed by Karl Marx. One form of Marxist socialism was eventually called communism. Marx's Theory In 1848 The Communist Manifesto was published. It was written by two Germans, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, who were appalled at the horrible conditions in the industrial factories. They blamed the system of industrial capitalism for these conditions. Marx believed that all of world history was a "history of class struggles." According to Marx, oppressor and oppressed have always "stood in constant opposition to one another." One group—the oppressors—owned the means of production, such as land, raw materials, and money. They controlled government and society. The other group—the oppressed—owned nothing and depended on the owners of the means of production. Marx believed he saw a society that was "more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two great classes directly facing each other: Bourgeoisie and Proletariat." The bourgeoisie—the middle class—were the oppressors. The proletariat (PROH luh TEHR ee uht)—the working class—were the oppressed. Marx predicted that the struggle between the two groups would finally lead to a revolution. The proletariat would violently overthrow the bourgeoisie. After their victory, the proletariat would form a dictatorship to organize the means of production. However, because the proletariat victory would essentially abolish the economic differences that create separate social classes, Marx believed that the final revolution would ultimately produce a classless society. The state itself, which had been a tool of the bourgeoisie, would wither away. Socialist Parties In time, working-class leaders formed socialist parties based on Marx’s ideas. Most important was the German Social Democratic Party (SPD), which emerged in 1875. Under the direction of its Marxist leaders, the SPD advocated revolution while organizing itself into a mass political party that competed in elections for the German parliament. When in parliament, SPD delegates worked to pass laws that would improve conditions for the working class. In spite of government efforts to destroy it, in 1912 the SPD became the largest single party in Germany. Socialist parties also emerged in other European states. In 1889 leaders of the various socialist parties joined together and formed the Second International. This was an association of national socialist groups that would fight against capitalism worldwide. Marxist parties were divided over their goals. Pure Marxists thought that capitalism could be defeated only by a violent revolution. Other Marxists, called revisionists, rejected the revolutionary approach. They argued that workers must continue to organize in mass political parties and even work with other parties to gain reforms. As workers received the vote, they could achieve their aims by working within democratic systems. Trade Unions Another force working for evolutionary, rather than revolutionary, socialism was the trade union, or labor union. To improve their conditions, workers organized in a union. The right to strike was an important part of the trade union movement. In a strike, a union calls on its members to stop work in order to pressure employers to meet their demands for higher wages or improved factory safety. At first, laws were passed that made strikes illegal under any circumstances. In Great Britain, unions won the right to strike in the 1870s. By 1914, there were almost 4 million workers in British trade unions. In the rest of Europe, trade unions had varying degrees of success in helping workers achieve a better life. Lesson 3 Colonial Rule in Southeast Asia ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS What are the causes and effects of imperialism? How do some groups resist control by others? During the nineteenth century, many Western powers scrambled for new territories in Southeast Asia and Africa. Governing by either indirect or direct rule, the Western powers controlled the governments and economies of their colonies. Some territories resisted colonial rule, but most early resistance movements failed. The New Imperialism What were the motivations for the new imperialism? In the nineteenth century, a new phase of Western expansion began. European nations began to view Asian and African societies as a source of industrial raw materials and a market for Western manufactured goods. In the 1880s, European states began an intense scramble for overseas territory. Imperialism, the extension of a nation's power over other lands, was not new. Europeans had set up colonies and trading posts in North America, South America, and Africa by the sixteenth century. However, the imperialism of the late nineteenth century, called the "new imperialism" by some historians, was different. Earlier, European states had been content, especially in the case of Africa and Asia, to set up a few trading posts where they could carry on trade and perhaps some missionary activity. Now they sought nothing less than direct control over vast territories. Why did Westerners begin to increase their search for colonies after 1880? There was a strong economic motive. Capitalist states in the West were looking for both markets and raw materials such as rubber, oil, and tin for their industries. The issue was not simply an economic one, however. European nation-states were involved in heated rivalries. They acquired colonies abroad in order to gain an advantage over their rivals. Colonies were also a source of national prestige. To some people, in fact, a nation could not be great without colonies. In addition, imperialism was tied to Social Darwinism and racism. Social Darwinists believed that in the struggle between nations, the fit are victorious. Racism is the belief that race determines traits and capabilities. Racists erroneously believe that particular races are superior or inferior. Racist beliefs led to the use of military force against other nations. Some Europeans took a more religious and humanitarian approach to imperialism. They believed Europeans had a moral responsibility to civilize primitive people. They called this responsibility the "white man's burden." To some, this meant bringing the Christian message to the "heathen masses." To others, it meant bringing the benefits of Western democracy and capitalism to these societies. Great Britain The process began with Great Britain. In 1819 Great Britain sent Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles to found a new colony on a small island at the tip of the Malay Peninsula. Called Singapore ("city of the lion"), in the new age of steamships, it soon became a major stopping point for traffic traveling to or from China. During the next few decades, the British advance into Southeast Asia continued. Next to fall was the kingdom of Burma (modern Myanmar). Britain wanted control of Burma in order to protect its possessions in India. It also sought a land route through Burma into southern China. Although the difficult terrain along the frontier between Burma and China caused this effort to fail, British activities in Burma led to the collapse of the Burmese monarchy. Britain soon established control over the entire country. France France, which had some missionaries operating in Vietnam, nervously watched the British advance into Burma. The local Vietnamese authorities, who viewed Christianity as a threat to Confucian doctrine, persecuted the French missionaries. However, Vietnam failed to stop the Christian missionaries. Vietnamese internal rivalries divided the country into two separate governments—the north and the south. France was especially alarmed by British attempts to monopolize trade. To stop any British movement into Vietnam, the French government decided in 1857 to force the Vietnamese to accept French protection. The French eventually succeeded in making the Vietnamese ruler give up territories in the Mekong River delta. The French occupied the city of Saigon and, during the next 30 years, extended their control over the rest of the country. In 1883 France seized the city of Hanoi and later made the Vietnamese empire a French protectorate. In the 1880s, France extended its control over neighboring Cambodia, Annam, Tonkin, and Laos. By 1887 France included all its new possessions in a new Union of French Indochina. Thailand—The Exception After the French conquest of Indochina, Thailand (then called Siam) was the only remaining free state in Southeast Asia. But the rivalry between the British and the French threatened to place Thailand under colonial rule, too. Two remarkable rulers were able to prevent that from happening. One was King Mongkut (known to theatergoers as the king in The King and I), and the other was his son, King Chulalongkorn. Both promoted Western learning and maintained friendly relations with the major European powers. In 1896 Britain and France agreed to maintain Thailand as an independent buffer state between their possessions in Southeast Asia. The United States In 1898 during the Spanish-American War, U.S. naval forces under Commodore George Dewey defeated the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay in the Philippines. Believing it was his moral obligation to "civilize" other parts of the world, President William McKinley decided to turn the Philippines, which had been under Spanish control, into an American colony. This action would also prevent the area from falling into the hands of the Japanese. The islands gave the United States convenient access to trade with China. Many Filipinos did not wish to be under American control. Emilio Aguinaldo (AH gee NAHL doh) was the leader of a movement for independence in the Philippines. He began his revolt against the Spanish and went into exile in 1898. When the United States acquired the Philippines, Aguinaldo continued the revolt and set himself up as the president of the Republic of the Philippines. Led by Aguinaldo, the guerrilla forces fought bitterly against the U.S. troops to establish their independence. The fight for Philippine independence resulted in three years of bloody warfare. However, the United States eventually defeated the guerrilla forces, and President McKinley had his stepping-stone to the rich markets of China. Colonial Regimes How did colonial powers govern their colonies? Western powers governed their new colonial empires by either indirect or direct rule. Their chief goals were to exploit the natural resources of the lands and to open up markets for their own manufactured goods. Indirect and Direct Rule Sometimes a colonial power could realize its goals by cooperating with local political elites. For example, the Dutch East India Company used indirect rule in the Dutch East Indies. Under indirect rule, local rulers were allowed to keep their authority and status in a new colonial setting. This made access to the region's natural resources easier. Indirect rule was cheaper because fewer officials had to be trained. It also affected local culture less. However, indirect rule was not always possible. Some local elites resisted foreign conquest. In these cases, the local elites were replaced with Western officials. This system was called direct rule. Great Britain administered Burma directly through its colonial government in India. In Indochina, France used both systems. It imposed direct rule in southern Vietnam but ruled indirectly through the emperor in northern Vietnam To justify their conquests, Western powers spoke of bringing the blessings of Western civilization to their colonial subjects, including representative government. However, many Westerners came to fear the idea of native peoples (especially educated ones) being allowed political rights. Colonial Economies The colonial powers did not want their colonists to develop their own industries. Thus, colonial policy stressed the export of raw materials. This policy often led to the development of plantation agriculture. In this system, peasants worked as wage laborers on the foreign-owned plantations. Plantation owners kept wages at poverty levels to increase profits. Conditions on plantations were often so unhealthful that thousands died. Also, peasants bore the burden of high taxes. Nevertheless, colonial rule did bring some benefits to Southeast Asia. A modern economic system began there. Colonial governments built railroads, highways, and other structures that benefited native peoples as well as colonials. The development of an export market helped create an entrepreneurial class in rural areas. In the Dutch East Indies, for example, small growers of rubber, palm oil, coffee, tea, and spices began to share in the profits of the colonial enterprise. Most of the profits, however, were taken back to the colonizing country. Resistance to Colonial Rule How did indigenous people in Southeast Asia respond to colonial rule? Many subject peoples in Southeast Asia resented colonization. At first, resistance came from the existing ruling class. In Burma, for example, the monarch himself fought Western domination. By contrast, in Vietnam, after the emperor had agreed to French control of his country, a number of government officials set up an organization called Can Vuong ("Save the King"). They fought against the French without the emperor's help. Sometimes resistance to Western control took the form of peasant revolts. Peasants were often driven off the land to make way for plantation agriculture. Angry peasants then vented their anger at the foreign invaders. For example, in Burma, in 1930 the Buddhist monk Saya San led a peasant uprising against the British colonial regime. Early resistance movements failed. They were overcome by Western powers. In the early 1900s, however, a new kind of resistance emerged that was based on nationalism. The leaders were often from a new class that the colonial rule had created: Westernized intellectuals in the cities. They were the first generation of Asians to embrace the institutions and values of the West. Many were educated in the West, spoke Western languages, and worked in jobs connected with the colonial regimes. At first, many of the leaders of these movements did not focus clearly on the idea of nationhood. Instead, they simply tried to defend the economic interests or religious beliefs of the Southeast Asian peoples. In Burma, for example, students at the University of Rangoon formed an organization to protest against official persecution of the Buddhist religion and British lack of respect for local religious traditions. They protested against British arrogance and failure to observe local customs in Buddhist temples. Not until the 1930s, however, did these resistance movements, such as those begun in Burma, begin to demand national independence. Lesson 4 Empire Building in Africa ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS What are the causes and effects of imperialism? How do some groups resist control by others? During the late nineteenth century, the major European powers scrambled to colonize Africa. Virtually all of Africa was under European rule by 1900. Maintaining that rule was not easy, however. African nationalism emerged during the early part of the twentieth century. West Africa and North Africa Why were European countries interested in West Africa and North Africa? Before 1880, Europeans controlled little of the African continent directly. They were content to let African rulers and merchants represent European interests. Between 1880 and 1900, however, Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, spurred by intense rivalries among themselves, placed virtually all of Africa under European rule. West Africa Europeans had a keen interest in Africa's raw materials, especially those of West Africa—peanuts, timber, hides, and palm oil. Earlier in the nineteenth century, Europeans had profited from the slave trade in this region of Africa. By the late 1800s, however, trade in enslaved people had virtually ended. As the slave trade declined, Europe's interest in other forms of trade increased. The growing European presence in West Africa led to increasing tensions with African governments in the region. For a long time, most African states were able to maintain their independence. However, in 1874 Great Britain annexed (incorporated a country within another country) the west coastal states as the first British colony of Gold Coast. At about the same time, Britain established a protectorate in Nigeria. By 1900, France had added the huge area of French West Africa to its colonial empire. This left France in control of the largest part of West Africa. In addition, Germany controlled Togo, Cameroon, German Southwest Africa, and German East Africa. North Africa Egypt had been part of the Ottoman Empire, but as Ottoman rule declined, the Egyptians sought their independence. In 1805 an officer of the Ottoman army named Muhammad Ali seized power and established a separate Egyptian state. During the next 30 years, Muhammad Ali introduced a series of reforms to bring Egypt into the modern world. He modernized the army, set up a public school system, and helped create small industries that refined sugar, produced textiles and munitions, and built ships. The growing economic importance of the Nile Valley in Egypt, along with the development of steamships, gave Europeans the desire to build a canal east of Cairo to connect the Mediterranean and Red Seas. Such a canal would allow transport between Europe and Asia, without traveling around Africa. In 1854 a French entrepreneur, Ferdinand de Lesseps, signed a contract to begin building the Suez Canal. The canal was completed in 1869. The British took an active interest in Egypt after the Suez Canal was opened. Believing that the canal was its "lifeline to India," Great Britain tried to gain as much control as possible over the canal area. In 1875 Britain bought Egypt's share in the Suez Canal. When an Egyptian army revolt against foreign influence broke out in 1881, Britain suppressed the revolt. Egypt became a British protectorate in 1914. The British believed that they should also control Sudan, south of Egypt, to protect their interests in Egypt and the Suez Canal. In 1881 Muslim cleric Muhammad Ahmad, known as the Mahdi (in Arabic, "the rightly guided one"), launched a revolt that brought much of Sudan under his control. Britain sent a military force under General Charles Gordon to restore Egyptian authority over Sudan. However, Muhammad Ahmad's troops wiped out Gordon's army at Khartoum in 1885. General Gordon himself died in the battle. Not until 1898 were British troops able to seize Sudan. The French also had colonies in North Africa. In 1879 after about 150,000 French people had settled in the region of Algeria, the French government established control there. Two years later, France imposed a protectorate on neighboring Tunisia. In 1912 France established a protectorate over much of Morocco. Italy joined the competition for colonies in North Africa by attempting to take over Ethiopia. In 1896, however, the Italian invading forces were defeated. Italy now was the only European state defeated by an African state. This humbling loss led Italy to try again in 1911. Italy invaded and seized Turkish Tripoli, which it renamed Libya. Central and East Africa Why did European countries compete for colonies in Central Africa and East Africa? Central Africa Central African territories were soon added to the list of European colonies. European explorers aroused popular interest in the dense tropical jungles of Central Africa. David Livingstone was one such explorer. He arrived in Africa in 1841 as a 27-year-old medical missionary. During the 30 years he spent in Africa, Livingstone trekked through regions uncharted by Europeans. He sometimes traveled by canoe, but mostly Livingstone walked and spent much of his time exploring the interior of the continent. During his travels through Africa, Livingstone made detailed notes of his discoveries. He sent this information back to London whenever he could. The maps of Africa were often redrawn based on Livingstone's eyewitness accounts and reports. A major goal of Livingstone's explorations was to find a navigable river that would open Central Africa to European commerce and to Christianity. When Livingstone disappeared for a while, an American newspaper, the New York Herald, hired a young journalist, Henry Stanley, to find the explorer. Stanley did find him, on the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika. Overwhelmed by finding Livingstone alive if not well, Stanley greeted the explorer with these now-famous words, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" After Livingstone's death in 1873, Stanley decided to carry on the great explorer's work. Unlike Livingstone, however, Henry Stanley had a strong dislike of Africa. He once said, "I detest the land most heartily." In the 1870s, Stanley explored the Congo River in Central Africa and sailed down it to the Atlantic Ocean. Soon, he was encouraging the British to send settlers to the Congo River basin. When Britain refused, Stanley turned to King Leopold II of Belgium. King Leopold II was the real driving force behind the colonization of Central Africa. He rushed enthusiastically into the pursuit of an empire in Africa. "To open to civilization," he said, "the only part of our globe where it has yet to penetrate, to pierce the darkness which envelops whole populations, it is, I dare to say, a crusade worthy of this century of progress." Profit, however, was equally important to Leopold. In 1877 he hired Henry Stanley to set up Belgian settlements in the Congo. Leopold's claim to the vast territories of the Congo aroused widespread concern among other European states. France, in particular, rushed to plant its flag in the heart of Africa. Leopold ended up with the territories around the Congo River. France occupied the areas farther north. East Africa By 1885 Britain and Germany had become the chief rivals in East Africa. Germany came late to the ranks of the imperialist powers. At first, the German chancellor Otto von Bismarck had downplayed the importance of colonies. As more and more Germans called for a German empire, however, Bismarck became a convert to colonialism. As he expressed it, "All this colonial business is a sham, but we need it for the elections." In addition to its West Africa holdings, Germany tried to develop colonies in East Africa. Most of East Africa had not yet been claimed by any other power. However, the British were also interested in the area because control of East Africa would connect the British Empire in Africa from South Africa to Egypt. Portugal and Belgium also claimed parts of East Africa. To settle conflicting claims, European countries met at the Berlin Conference in 1884 and 1885. The conference officially recognized both British and German claims for territory in East Africa. Portugal received a clear claim on Mozambique. No African delegates, however, were present at this conference. South Africa How was European dominance different in South Africa? Nowhere in Africa did the European presence grow more rapidly than in the south. By 1865 the total white population of South Africa had risen to nearly 200,000 people. The Boers, or Afrikaners—as the descendants of the original Dutch settlers were called—had occupied Cape Town and surrounding areas in South Africa since the seventeenth century. During the Napoleonic Wars, however, the British seized these lands from the Dutch. Afterward, the British encouraged settlers to come to what they called Cape Colony. The Boer Republics In the 1830s, disgusted with British rule, the Boers moved from the coastal lands and headed northward on the Great Trek. Altogether one out of every five Dutch-speaking South Africans joined the trek. Their parties eventually settled in the region between the Orange and Vaal (VAHL) Rivers and in the region north of the Vaal River. In these areas, the Boers formed two independent republics—the Orange Free State and the Transvaal (later called the South African Republic). The Boers believed that white superiority was ordained by God. They denied non-Europeans any place in their society, other than as laborers or servants. As they settled the lands, the Boers put many of the indigenous peoples, those native to a region, in these areas on reservations. The Boers had frequently battled the indigenous Zulu people. In the early nineteenth century, the Zulu, under a talented ruler named Shaka, had carved out their own empire. Even after Shaka's death, the Zulu remained powerful. In the late 1800s, the Zulu were defeated when the British military joined the conflict. Cecil Rhodes In the 1880s, British policy in South Africa was influenced by Cecil Rhodes. Rhodes had founded diamond and gold mining companies that had made him a fortune. Rhodes was a great champion of British expansion. He said once, "I think what [God] would like me to do is to paint as much of Africa British red as possible." One of Rhodes's goals was to create a series of British colonies "from the Cape to Cairo"—all linked by a railroad. When gold and diamonds were discovered in the Transvaal, British settlers swarmed in looking to make their fortunes. The Boer residents resented the settlers and they were sometimes mistreated. Rhodes then secretly backed a raid that was meant to spark an uprising among British settlers against the Transvaal government. The raid failed, and the British government forced Rhodes to resign as head of the Cape Colony. This action was too late, however, to prevent a war between the British and the Boers. The Boer War This war, called the Boer War, dragged on from 1899 to 1902. Fierce guerrilla resistance by the Boers angered the British. They responded by burning crops and forcing about 120,000 Boer women and children into detention camps, where lack of food caused some 20,000 deaths. Eventually, the vastly larger British army won. A peace treaty was signed in 1902. In 1910 the British created an independent Union of South Africa, which combined the old Cape Colony and the Boer republics. The new state would be a self-governing nation within the British Empire. To appease the Boers, the British agreed that only whites, with a few propertied Africans, would vote. Effects of Imperialism How did European governance lead to African nationalism? By 1914 Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain, and Portugal had divided up Africa. Only Liberia, which had been created as a homeland for the formerly enslaved persons of the United States, and Ethiopia remained free states. African peoples who dared to resist were devastated by the Europeans' superior military force. Colonial Rule in Africa As was true in Southeast Asia, most European governments ruled their new territories in Africa with the least effort and expense possible. Indirect rule meant relying on existing political elites and institutions. The British especially followed this approach. At first, in some areas, the British simply asked a local ruler to accept British authority and to fly the British flag over official buildings. The concept of indirect rule was introduced in the Islamic state of Sokoto, in northern Nigeria, beginning in 1903. This system of indirect rule in Sokoto had one good feature: It did not disrupt local customs and institutions. However, it did have some unfortunate consequences. The system of indirect rule was basically a fraud because British administrators made all major decisions. The native authorities served chiefly to enforce those decisions. Another problem was that the policy of indirect rule kept the old African elite in power. Such a policy provided few opportunities for ambitious and talented young Africans from outside the old elite. In this way, British indirect rule sowed the seeds for class and ethnic tensions, which erupted after independence came in the twentieth century. Most other European nations governed their African possessions through a form of direct rule. This was true in the French colonies. At the top was a French official, usually known as a governor-general. He was appointed from Paris and governed with the aid of a bureaucracy in the capital city of the colony. The French ideal was to assimilate African subjects into French culture rather than preserve indigenous traditions. Africans were eligible to run for office and even serve in the French National Assembly in Paris. A few were also appointed to high-powered positions in the colonial administration. Rise of African Nationalism A new class of leaders emerged in Africa by the beginning of the twentieth century. Educated in colonial schools or in Western nations, they were the first generation of Africans to know a great deal about the West. The members of this new class admired Western culture and sometimes disliked the ways of their own countries. They were eager to introduce Western ideas and institutions into their own societies. Still, many of these new leaders came to resent the foreigners and their arrogant contempt for African peoples. These intellectuals recognized the gap between theory and practice in colonial policy. Westerners had exalted democracy, equality, and political freedom but did not apply these values in the colonies. There were few democratic institutions. Native peoples could have only low-paying jobs in the colonial bureaucracy. To many Africans, colonialism had meant losing their farmlands or working on plantations or in factories run by foreigners. Some African leaders lost even more, such as the rights to mine the natural resources in their country. Middle-class Africans did not suffer as much as poor African peasants. However, members of the middle class also had complaints. They usually qualified only for menial jobs in the government or business. Even then, their salaries were lower than those of Europeans in similar jobs. Europeans expressed their assumed superiority over Africans in other ways. Segregated clubs, schools, and churches were set up as more European officials brought their wives and began to raise families. Europeans were also condescending in their relationships with Africans. For instance, Europeans had a habit of addressing Africans by their first names. Such conditions led many members of the new urban educated class to feel great confusion toward their colonial rulers and the civilization the colonists represented. Some educated Africans found aspects of Western culture to be more attractive than their own. However, these intellectuals fiercely hated colonial rule and were determined to assert their own nationality and cultural destiny. Out of this mixture of hopes and resentments emerged the first stirrings of modern nationalism in Africa. During the first quarter of the twentieth century, resentment turned to action. Across Africa, native peoples began to organize political parties and movements seeking the end of foreign rule. They wanted to be independent and self-governing. Lesson 5 British Rule in India ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS What are the causes and effects of imperialism? How do some groups resist control by others? The British brought order and stability to India, but India paid a high price for British rule. The mistrust and cultural differences between the British and Indians sparked an independence movement and renewed interest among Indians in their culture and history. The Great Rebellion What was the source of conflict between the British and the Indian people? Over the course of the eighteenth century, British power in India had increased while the power of the Mogul rulers had declined. The British government gave a trading company, the British East India Company, power to become actively involved in India's political and military affairs. To rule India, the British East India Company had its own soldiers and forts. It also hired Indian soldiers, known as sepoys, to protect the company's interests in the region. Events Leading to Rebellion In 1857 a growing Indian distrust of the British led to a revolt. The British call the revolt the Sepoy Mutiny. Indians call it the First War of Independence. Neutral observers label it the Great Rebellion. The major immediate cause of the revolt was a rumor that the troops' new rifle cartridges were greased with cow and pig fat. The cow was sacred to Hindus. The pig was taboo to Muslims. To load a rifle at that time, soldiers had to bite off the end of the cartridge. To the sepoys, touching these greased cartridges to their lips would mean that they were polluted. A group of sepoys at an army post in Meerut, near Delhi, refused to load their rifles with the cartridges. The British charged them with mutiny, publicly humiliated them, and put them in prison. This treatment of their comrades enraged the sepoy troops in Meerut. They went on a rampage, killing 50 European men, women, and children. Soon other Indians joined the revolt, including princes whose land the British had taken. Within a year, however, Indian troops loyal to the British and fresh British troops had crushed the rebellion. Although Indian troops fought bravely and outnumbered the British by about 230,000 to 45,000, they were not well organized. Rivalries between Hindus and Muslims kept the Indians from working together. Atrocities were terrible on both sides. At Kanpur (Cawnpore), Indians massacred 200 defenseless women and children in a building known as the House of the Ladies. Recapturing Kanpur, the British took their revenge before executing the Indians. Effects of the Rebellion As a result of the uprising, the British Parliament transferred the powers of the East India Company directly to the British government. In 1876 Britain's Queen Victoria took the title Empress of India. The people of India were now her colonial subjects, and India then became her "Jewel in the Crown." Although the rebellion failed, it helped fuel Indian nationalism. The rebellion marked the first significant attempt by the people of South Asia to throw off British Raj (rule). Later, a new generation of Indian leaders would take up the cause. British Colonial Rule What were the consequences of British rule in India? After the Great Rebellion, the British government began to rule India directly. They appointed a British official known as a viceroy (a governor who ruled as a representative of a monarch). A British civil service staff assisted the viceroy. This staff of about 3,500 officials ruled almost 300 million people, the largest colonial population in the world. British rule involved both benefits and costs for Indians. British rule in India had several benefits for colonial subjects. It brought order and stability to a society badly divided into many states with different, and sometimes opposing, political systems. It also led to a fairly honest, efficient government. Through the efforts of the British administrator and historian Lord Thomas Macaulay, a new school system was set up. The goal of the new school system was to train Indian children to serve in the government and army. The new system served only elite, upper-class Indians, however. Ninety percent of the population remained uneducated and illiterate. The British hired Indians and built roads, canals, universities, and medical centers. A postal service was introduced shortly after it appeared in Great Britain. India's first rail network, beginning in Bombay, opened in 1853. By 1900, 25,000 miles (40,225 km) of railroads crisscrossed India. Health and sanitation conditions were also improved. But the Indian people paid a high price for the peace and stability brought by British rule. Perhaps the greatest cost was economic. British entrepreneurs and a small number of Indians reaped financial benefits from British rule, but it brought hardship to millions of others in both the cities and the countryside. British manufactured goods destroyed local industries. British textiles put thousands of women out of work and severely damaged the Indian textile industry. In rural areas, the British sent the zamindars to collect taxes. The British believed that using these local officials would make it easier to collect taxes from the peasants. However, the zamindars in India took advantage of their new authority. They increased taxes and forced the less fortunate peasants to become tenants or lose their land entirely. Peasant unrest grew. The British also encouraged many Indian farmers to switch from growing food to growing cotton. As a consequence, food supplies could not keep up with the growing population. Between 1800 and 1900, 30 million Indians died of starvation. Finally, British rule was degrading, even for the newly educated upper classes who benefited the most from it. The best jobs and the best housing were reserved for Britons. Although many British colonial officials sincerely tried to improve the lot of the people in India, British arrogance and racial attitudes cut deeply into the pride of many Indians and led to the rise of an Indian nationalist movement.