Part 2. Imperialism in Africa

Part 2. Imperialism in Africa

Part 2. Imperialism in Africa• Modernization in Egypt– Defensive Modernization: “modernize or be

colonized”– Mohammad Ali: Turkish general who took control

of Egypt from the Turkish sultan (before the Europeans could get to it…)

– Forced modernizations:• Nationalized cotton crops• Trained modern army• Europeanized cities

Ottoman Empire & the Suez Canal Modernization Project

Modernization in Egypt• Ali’s grandson Ismael took over and continued

efforts• Financed Suez Canal with cotton– High Prices due to US Civil War– Overstretched his projects– Cotton crashed, defaulted on loans

• French & British banks concerned about defaulted loans, force Ismael to give up control of finances

• Urabists led unsuccessful revolt, justification for direct control by British in 1892

Tunisia

• Like Egypt, Tunisia contracts foreign debts to finance modernization projects

• French seize the occasion to establish a protectorate in Tunisia in 1881

Imperialism in Africa• Before 1885, only 10% of continent

controlled by Europeans• Gold Coast trade, Boers in South Africa • Italy present in Erythrea and Somalia

(1890-1892) and Libya 1912• French North Africa: France regroups

Algeria, Tunisia and Moracco (1912)• France annexes Madagascar in 1896 and

establishes several colonies in West Africa.

• Germany settles in Togo and Cameroon 1884 and Tanganyika (modern Tanzania)

1876, Leopold II of Belgium took Belgian Congo as his personal colony

80X size of BelgiumPromised to use if for researchNotorious for torture, terrorism and genocideRemarkably lucrative, inspired other nations

• Scramble for Africa: 1880-1885• Competition devolving into war by European

nations• Berlin Conference 1884-1885– Meeting to divide up Africa w/o war– Delicious cake of Africa– Diffused crisis but rivalries continued– 90% of Africa colonized by 1900 (except

Ethiopia/Liberia)

Berlin Conference: Splitting up the Delicious Cake of Africa

Fighting over the Spoils of Africa

Before and After the Berlin conference

European Rivalries continue

• Franco British Rivalry– 1898 tensions culminate in Fachoda, Sudan• French captain Marchand and British Kitchener• French capitulate to the British

• Franco German Rivalry– 1911 France and Germany vie over Moracco• France gains domination in exchange for territory in

West Africa

European Missionaries in Africa

The White Man’s Burden• Social Darwinism: the natural domination of

colonized races• Europeans racially superior to the people of

Africa, India and Asia• Belief that Europeans have moral obligation to

civilize the people of colonies as best they can• Forced assimilation, Christianity “teach” work

ethic through grueling labour

The White Man’s Burden• Take up the White Man's burden, Send forth the best ye breed

Go bind your sons to exile To serve your captives' need;To wait in heavy harness, On fluttered folk and wild--

Your new-caught, sullen peoples, Half-devil and half-child.• Take up the White Man's burden, In patience to abide,

To veil the threat of terror And check the show of pride;By open speech and simple, An hundred times made plain

To seek another's profit, And work another's gain.• Take up the White Man's burden, The savage wars of peace--

Fill full the mouth of Famine And bid the sickness cease;And when your goal is nearest The end for others sought,

Watch sloth and heathen Folly Bring all your hopes to nought.• Take up the White Man's burden, No tawdry rule of kings,

But toil of serf and sweeper, The tale of common things.The ports ye shall not enter, The roads ye shall not tread,

Go mark them with your living, And mark them with your dead.• Take up the White Man's burden And reap his old reward:

The blame of those ye better, The hate of those ye guard--The cry of hosts ye humour (Ah, slowly!) toward the light:--

"Why brought he us from bondage, Our loved Egyptian night?"• Take up the White Man's burden, Ye dare not stoop to less--

Nor call too loud on Freedom To cloke your weariness;By all ye cry or whisper, By all ye leave or do,

The silent, sullen peoples Shall weigh your gods and you.• Take up the White Man's burden, Have done with childish days--

The lightly proferred laurel, The easy, ungrudged praise.Comes now, to search your manhood, through all the thankless years Cold, edged with dear-bought wisdom, The judgment of your peers!

Rudyard Kipling, 1899

1. How does Kipling’s poem portray colonized peoples?

2. What benefits of taking up the White Man’s burden are mentioned?

Great Colonial Empires in 1914

• 2 Great imperial powers– The United Kingdom • 33 million km²• 450 million inhabitants• African colonies + India, Birma, Singapor

– France• 10 million km²• 48 million inhabitants• African colonies + New Caledonia /Indochina

Domination in various forms

• Direct Rule– French Colonial possessions ruled by a French

respresentative– Colonized people very little involved in colonial

administration– French population • Minority• Holds most power

Algeria

• Settlement Colony• French and Algerians unequal rights• Indigenous Code– Separate penal code for natives

• Effective segregation (e.g. town planning)

Criticism of Imperialism• Majority of Europeans supported Imperialism• Seen as way to build strong nations at home• Flex muscle of national superiority• Critics voiced dissatisfaction with process• J.A. Hobson British socialist economist– Imperialism result of unregulated capitalism– Colonies not beneficial in the long run– Diverted resources away from domestic issues

More Criticism of Imperialism• Anti-Imperialism Literature– Joseph Conrad – “Heart of Darkness”• Exposed torture and crimes against Africans

– Edward Morel – “Black Man’s Burden”• International Socialists pinned imperialism as

the final stage of capitalism• Social critics pointed to hypocrisy of

expanding rights and voting at home while denying freedoms abroad

Native Responses to Imperialism

• Violent Uprisings against colonizers• Almost always ended poorly for natives• Superior weapons and training for West• Traditionalists – rejected Western ways• Modernists – adapted to West• Most Asians and Africans eventually

conformed

Native Responses to Imperialism

Maji Maji Rebellion in German East

Africa (modern Tanzinia)

1905-1907

Herero Uprising in Namibia 1907

Assimilated Modernists’ Reaction

• Indigenous nationalism– Modern native elites educated in Europe expect

treatment of liberty and equality as taught in Western education• Leopold Sedar Senghor from Senegal • Develops idea of Negritude – pride in African identity

– Colonization challenged by communist propaganda• Ho Chi Minh from Indochina

First Cracks in the Empire

• 1920-1930 after WWI– Colonized peoples participate in war effort, expect

recognition for their sacrifices• Nationalist movements gain ground– Population becomes pro-independent– Politically more structured– Most active in India, Indochina, North Africa, Syria

and Lebanon

Video: Colonialism in 10 minutes, The Scramble for Africa

British India

From Trading Post to Colony• British East India Company had

trading rights during Mughal Empire• Mughal Empire collapsed in 1757,

BEIC took control with Sepoy force• Sepoy Mutiny (Great Rebellion) in

1857 - warning to British government

• Queen Victoria’s government took direct control of the Raj in 1857

Sepoy Mutiny1857

British India

• Upper class Indian bureaucracy given some local power – indirect rule (but British made decisions and passed laws, not Indians)

• Began to become a louder voice for self-rule• Indian National Congress established in 1885

began to push the issue with surging Indian nationalism

• New identity in some ways created by British presence

1st Indian National Congress 1885

Mohandas Gandhi• Indian middle class background• Sollicitor trained in London• Head of National Indian Party from 1920• Non-violent protest based on civil disobedience– Boycotts elections– Boycotts British products, schools, courts– Refuses to pay taxes

Gandhi and Salt March 1930protesting British monopoly of salt

Steps to India’s Independence pre WWII

• London signs the India Act 1935– Gives form of political autonomy

• 1942 Congress Party launches “Quit India” campaign– Leaders arrested– Massive violence erupts

Steps to India’s Independence post WWII

• Postwar period, negotiations resume– UK accepts principle of independence– Wants guarantees that country will remain unified and

minority (Muslims) rights protected• Bloodbath between Hindus and Muslims– 1946 Great Killing of Calcutta

Steps to India’s Independence post WWII

• British grant full independence 1947 with partition– Territory divided into 2 nations: India and Pakistan– Extreme violence between communities (300 –

500 thousand deaths, 10-15 million people migrate

• Gandhi assasinated by Hindu extremist in 1948

Great partition of India and

Pakistan 1947

Jawharlal Nehru• 1929 becomes president of Congress Party• Fights for total Indian independence• Becomes Prime Minister of India until his

death in 1964

Video: Partition of India

Homework

• The Unfinished Nation by Alan BrinkleyChapter 20 The Imperial Republic, pp 534-554

• Mastering Modern World History by Norman LoweChapter 24 The End of the European Empires, pp. 509-541

• The World Since 1914, by Joe Scott, Part 8, “The End of Empire” (6 pages)