Final - Week 13 - European Imperialism & World War Flashcards
New Imperialism
European nations began to compete for overseas territory. Imperialism, (the extension of a nation’s power over other lands) was not new. But the “new imperialism” of the late nineteenth century was different. Previously, European expansion in Africa and Asia had been limited to setting up a few trading posts. Now European nations wanted direct control over vast territories.
Social Darwinists
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, scientific theories were sometimes applied inappropriately. For example, nationalists and racists applied the theories of Charles Darwin to human society. Their ideas are known as Social Darwinism. One Social Darwinist, Herbert Spencer, argued that social progress came from the “struggle for survival” in which the “fit” survive. Some businessmen used Social Darwinism to explain their success. They believed that they were successful because they were “fit” (strong and capable). Extreme nationalists also believed that nations were engaged in a “struggle for existence” in which only the fittest (the strongest) survived. In Germany, extreme nationalism and racism were combined.
“White Man’s Burden”
Imperialism was also tied to social Darwinism and racism. Racism is the belief that race determines traits and capabilities. Racists believe that particular races are superior or inferior to others. Finally, some Europeans had religious and humanitarian motives. They believed that Europeans had a moral responsibility to civilize primitive people. They called this responsibility “the white man’s burden.” These people believed that Western nations should help the nations of Asia and Africa. To some, this meant bringing the Christian message to these nations. To others, it meant bringing the benefits of Western capitalism and democracy to these countries.
Scramble for Africa
The “Scramble for Africa” was the occupation, division, and colonisation of African territory by European powers during the period of New Imperialism, between 1881 and 1914. It is also called the Partition of Africa and by some the Conquest of Africa. In 1870, only 10 percent of Africa was under European control; by 1914 it had increased to almost 90 percent of the continent, with only Ethiopia (Abyssinia), the Dervish state (present-day Somalia)[1] and Liberia still being independent.
Boer War
In the 1880s, Cecil Rhodes, the prime minister of Cape Colony, influenced British policy in South Africa. Rhodes had founded diamond and gold companies that made him a fortune. He gained control of a territory north of the Transvaal, which he named Rhodesia after himself. In 1896, the British government forced him to resign as prime minister of Cape Colony after it was discovered that he planned to overthrow the Boer government of the South African Republic. This was too late to avoid a war between the British and the Boers, however. This war was called the Boer War and lasted from 1899 to 1902. Boer women and children were put in detention camps. Lack of food caused some 20,000 deaths in the camps. Eventually, the British army won the war. In 1910, the British created an independent Union of South Africa. This new nation combined the old Cape Colony and the Boer republics. To appease the Boers, the British agreed that only whites and a few property-holding Africans could vote.
Nationalism
A new class of leaders emerged in Africa by the beginning of the twentieth century. They were educated in colonial schools or in Western nations. The members of this new class admired Western civilization and sometimes disliked the ways of their own countries. Many resented foreigners and their lack of respect for African peoples. Westerners said that they believed in democracy, equality, and political freedom, but they did not apply these values in the colonies. There were few democratic institutions. For many Africans, colonialism had meant the loss of their farmlands or terrible jobs on plantations or in sweatshops and factories. For all of these reasons, educated Africans resented colonial rule and were determined to assert their own nationality. During the first part of the twentieth century, resentment turned to action. Educated African peoples began to organize political parties and movements seeking the end of foreign rule.
Militarism
After 1900, the size of armies throughout Europe grew at an alarming rate. Conscription, a military draft, was used by most Western nations before 1914. It caused the size of European armies to double between 1890 and 1914. Militarism (preparation for war) was growing. Military leaders became more powerful. They began to draw up plans that could be used if their countries
went to war.
Central Powers (WW I)
Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire
Allies (WW I)
Russia, Great Britain, and France
Archduke Francis Ferdinand
On June 28, 1914, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, visited the Bosnian city of Sarajevo. Members of the Black Hand made plans to kill him. The Black Hand was a Serbian terrorist organization that wanted Bosnia to be free of Austria-Hungary. An attempt to kill the archduke with a bomb was unsuccessful. Later in the day, however, Gavrilo Princep, a 19-year-old Bosnian Serb, shot and killed both the archduke and his wife.
Trench warfare
is a type of land warfare using occupied fighting lines consisting largely of military trenches, in which troops are well-protected from the enemy’s small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from artillery. The most famous use of trench warfare is the Western Front in World War I
Treaty of Versailles
was the most important of the peace treaties that brought World War I to an end. The Treaty ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919 in Versailles, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of World War I signed separate treaties.[8] Although the armistice, signed on 11 November 1918, ended the actual fighting, it took six months of Allied negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference to conclude the peace treaty. The treaty was registered by the Secretariat of the League of Nations on 21 October 1919.
Reparations
The Germans, in particular, were unhappy with the peace settlement. The French government demanded strict enforcement of the Treaty of Versailles. In April 1921, the Allied Reparations Commission determined that Germany had to pay 33 billion dollars for reparations (the payments the Germans were supposed to make for the damage they had done in the war). Germany tried to make these payments, but after one year, they announced that they could no longer afford to pay. France sent troops to occupy the Ruhr Valley, the chief industrial and mining center of Germany. The French intended to collect reparations by operating the Ruhr mines and factories. German workers resisted by going on strike. To pay the workers, the German government printed more and more paper money. This added to the inflation (rise in prices) that had already begun in Germany. The German mark (Germany’s currency) soon became worthless. Workers took their weekly pay home in wheelbarrows.
War Guilt Clause
The War Guilt Clause was added in order to get the French and Belgians to agree to reduce the sum of money that Germany would have to pay to compensate for war damage. The article was seen as a concession to the Germans by the negotiators. It was bitterly resented, however, by virtually all Germans who did not believe they were responsible for the outbreak of the war. This article was a constant thorn in the side of the Weimar leaders who tried to meet the terms of the agreement while trying to have these terms modified.
Identify 3 reasons why European states looked to gain colonies overseas after 1870.
Modern imperialism was triggered by the Industrial Revolution, which so increased the productive capacity of the major European states that they were forced to seek overseas markets and sources for raw materials. This process began around 1870. The United States joined the competition late because the country had been preoccupied with westward expansion across the North American continent.
