Imperialism

Imperialism• Imperialism is a term associated with the

expansion of the European powers, and later the US and Japan, and their conquest and colonization of African and Asian societies, mainly from the 16th through the 19th Centuries

• Was effected not just through the force of arms, but also through trade, investment, and business activities that enabled the imperial powers to profit from subject societies and influence their affairs without going to the trouble of exercising direct political control

Imperialism• Many Europeans came

to believe that imperial expansion and colonial domination were crucial for the survival of their states and societies

• Superior transportation (steamships and canals), military (breech-loading rifles), and communications (undersea telegraph) technologies gave the West a huge advantage

The USS Monocacy was used to protect US interests along the

Yangtze River in China

Imperialism Against China: The Opium War

• In the late 18th and early 19th Centuries, Europeans wanted to trade with the Chinese much more than the Chinese wanted to trade with the Europeans

• Since the Chinese had little demand for European products, the European merchants had to trade with silver bullion

Imperialism Against China: The Opium War

• As an alternative, Europeans gradually began to trade in opium instead

• The trade was illegal and created both an economic and a social problem in China Illustration from an early

19th century book showing an opium addict

Imperialism Against China: Opium War

• In 1839, the Chinese took serious measures to halt the opium trade

• The British protested and launched the Opium War (1839-1842)

The British shell Guangzhou

Imperialism Against China: Opium War

• The war showed the military differential between China and Europe

• The British used steam-powered gunboats to attack the Grand Canal, and China sued for peace

• China suffered other military setbacks with Britain and France (1856-1858), France (1884-1885), and Japan (1894-1895) Cartoon showing China being divided

by the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia, France, and Japan

Imperialism Against China: Unequal Treaties

• As a result of these defeats, China was subjected to what were collectively known as the “unequal treaties”

• China was forced to – Cede Hong Kong to Britain– Open ports to commerce and residence– Permit the establishment of Christian missions– Legalize the opium trade– Not levy tariffs on imports

Imperialism Against China: Unequal Treaties

• By 1900, ninety Chinese ports were under the effective control of foreign powers, foreign merchants controlled much of the Chinese economy, Christian missionaries were converting Chinese throughout the country, and foreign gunboats patrolled Chinese waters

The Treaty of Nanjing (1842) ceded Hong Kong to the British in

perpetuity

China’s Response: Boxer Rebellion

• Eventually an anti-foreign society called the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists (called the “Boxers” by the foreign press) emerged to protest the increasing Western presence in China

• In 1899 the Boxers organized to rid China of “foreign devils”

• They went on a rampage killing foreigners, Chinese Christians, and Chinese who had ties to foreigners

China’s Response: Boxer Rebellion

• In 1900 they besieged the foreign embassies in Beijing

• A heavily armed force of British, French, Russian, US, German, and Japanese troops crushed the rebellion

Calvin P. Titus won the Medal of Honor leading the American attack

over the Chinese City Wall

Imperialism Against Japan: Foreign Pressure

• The Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan was able to control foreign interaction until the early 19th Century

• However, beginning in 1844, British, French, and US ships visited Japan to establish relations– The US in particular wanted

ports where its Pacific whaling and merchant fleets could stop for fuel and provisions

Imperialism Against Japan: Foreign Pressure

• The Tokugawas refused all requests for expanded relations and stuck to their policy of limiting European and American visitors to a small number of Dutch at Nagasaki

• In the late 1840s the Japanese began making military preparations in case of attack

The artificial island Dejima in Nagasaki Bay where the Dutch

were allowed to trade

Imperialism Against Japan: Commodore Perry

• In 1853, Commodore Matthew Perry led a US naval squadron into Tokyo Bay and demanded that the shogun open Japan to diplomatic and commercial relations and sign a treaty of friendship

• The shogun had no good alternative and gave in to Perry’s demands

Commodore Matthew Perry

Imperialism Against Japan: The Opening of Japan

• Representatives of Britain, the Netherlands, and Russia soon won similar rights

• Like the Chinese, the Japanese were subjected to a series of unequal treaties which opened Japanese ports to foreign commerce, deprived the government of control over tariffs (taxes on goods), and granted foreigners extraterritorial rights

Extraterritorial: Where local laws, taxes, etc. don’t apply to foreigners

Japan’s Response: End of Tokugawa Rule

• The sudden intrusion of foreign powers in Japan resulted in the collapse of the Tokugawa and the restoration of imperial rule

• The dissident slogan was “Revere the emperor, expel the barbarians.”

• On Jan 3, 1868, the boy emperor Mutsuhito took power– He later became known as

Meiji (“Enlightened Rule”)

Japan’s Response: Meiji Reforms

• The Meiji government strived to gain parity with foreign powers behind the motto “rich country, strong army”

• It looked to the industrial lands of the United States and Europe to obtain knowledge and expertise to strengthen Japan and win revisions of the unequal treaties– The Meiji sent many students and officials abroad to

learn everything from technology to construction and hired foreign experts to facilitate economic development and indigenous expertise

Japan’s Response: Meiji Reforms

• The Meiji transformed Japan by:– abolishing the feudal order and therefore centralizing

political power,– revamping the tax system to put the regime on a firm

financial footing– creating a constitution which gave the emperor

effective power and the parliament the ability to advise but not control him

– creating a modern transportation, communications, and educational infrastructure

Japan’s Response: Sino-Japanese War

• From 1894-1895 Japan defeated China in a war over Korea which showed how modern and powerful Japan had become and how weakened China had become– The Japanese navy quickly gained control of the

Yellow Sea and then the Japanese army pushed Chinese forces off the Korean Peninsula

– In the peace treaty, China recognized Korean independence which made Korea a virtual dependency of Japan

• The Japanese victory alarmed European powers, especially Russia, who shared interests with Japan in Korea and Manchuria

Japan’s Response: Parity with the West

• In 1899 Japan was able to end extraterritoriality

• In 1902 Japan concluded an alliance with Britain as an equal power

• By the early 20th Century, Japan had joined the ranks of the world’s major industrial powers Toyoda Type-G

Automatic Loom invented in 1924