THE AGE OF IMPERIALISM

THE NEW IMPERIALISM

Imperialism is the domination by one

country of the political, economic, or cultural
life of another country or region.
Between 1500 and 1800, European states won empires
around the world. However, Europe had little influence
on the lives of the people of these conquered lands.
By the 1800s, Europe had gained considerable power.
Encouraged by their new economic and military
strength, Europeans embarked on a path of aggressive
expansion that todays historians call the new
imperialism.

CAUSES OF IMPERIALISM
ECONOMIC INTERESTS

POLITICAL & MILITARY INTERESTS

Manufacturers wanted access to

natural resources.

Merchant ships and naval vessels

needed bases around the world.

Manufacturers hoped for new

markets for factory goods.

Western leaders were motivated by

nationalism.

Colonies offered a valuable outlet for

Europes growing population.

HUMANITARIAN GOALS

Many westerners felt concern for

their little brothers overseas.
Missionaries, doctors, and colonial
officials believed they had a duty to
spread western civilization.

SOCIAL DARWINISM
Many westerners viewed European
races as superior to all others.
They saw imperial conquest as
natures way of improving the human
species.

THE SUCCESSES OF IMPERIALISM

In just a few decades, imperialist nations gained
control over much of the world. Western
imperialism succeeded for a number of reasons:
While European nations had grown stronger in the 1800s, several older
civilizations were in decline.
Europeans had the advantages of strong economies, well-organized
governments, and powerful armies and navies.
Europeans had superior technology and medical knowledge.

FORMS OF IMPERIAL RULE

COLONIES

The French practiced direct

rule, sending officials to
administer their colonies.
The British practiced on
indirect rule, using local rulers
to govern their colonies.

PROTECTORATES
In a protectorate, local rulers
were left in place but were
expected to follow the advice
of European advisers.
A protectorate cost less to run
than a colony and usually did
not require a large military
presence.

SPHERES OF
INFLUENCE
A sphere of influence is
an area in which an
outside power claimed
exclusive investment or
trading privileges.
The United States claimed
Latin America as its
sphere of influence.

IMPERIALISM IN AFRICA TO 1914

BRITISH COLONIAL RULE: INDIA

After 1858, Parliament set up a system of

colonial rule in India.
The British built roads and an impressive railroad network.
The British flooded India with machine-made textiles, ruining
Indias once-prosperous hand-weaving industry.
Better health care and increased food production led to rapid
population growth. Over-population led to terrible famines.
British rule brought peace and order to the countryside.
Upper-class Indians sent their sons to British schools.

IMPERIALISM IN INDIA TO 1858

THE TRADE ISSUE: CHINA

Prior to the 1800s, Chinese rulers placed strict limits on foreign traders.
China enjoyed a trade surplus, exporting more than it imported.
Westerners had a trade deficit with China, buying more from the Chinese than
they sold to them.
In 1842, Britain made China accept the Treaty of Nanjing, the first in a series of
unequal treaties that forced China to make concessions to western powers.
The British gained the island of Hong Kong.
China had to open five ports to foreign trade and grant British citizens in China
extraterritoriality.

IMPERIALISM IN CHINA TO 1914

REFORMS UNDER THE MEIJI

The Meiji reformers wanted to replace the rigid feudal order with a
completely new political and social system and to build a modern
industrial economy.

GOVERNMENT
Adopted the German
model of government
Set forth the principle
that all people were
equal under the law

ECONOMIC
REFORMS
Encouraged Japans
business class to
adopt western
methods
Built factories and
sold them to wealthy
business families

SOCIAL CHANGE
Ended legal
distinctions
between classes
Set up schools and
a university
Hired westerners to
teach the new
generation modern
technology

JAPANESE IMPERIALISM
As with western industrial powers, Japans economic needs fed its
imperialist desires.
In 1894,Japan defeated China in
the Sino-Japanese War, gaining
treaty ports in China and control
over the island of Taiwan.

In 1905, Japan defeated Russia in

the Russo-Japanese War, gaining
control of Korea as well as rights in
parts of Manchuria.

In 1910, Japan annexed Korea,

absorbing the kingdom into the
Japanese empire and ruling it for 35
years.

WORLD
WAR I

CAUSES OF WORLD WAR I

There are four factors which contribute to the outbreak of World

War I and one event which sparks it all:
Nationalism: Nations pursue only their own interest. (national pride)
Imperialism: Nations compete for territories.
Militarism: The build up of armies and stockpile of weapons.
Alliances: Nations sign treaties to protect themselves as tension
starts to build.
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand: The heir to the
Austria-Hungary throne is killed by Serbian Nationalist Igniting the
War.

ASSASSINATION OF ARCHDUKE FERDINAND

Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary was to visit Sarajevo,
the capital of Bosnia
Bosnia was under the rule of Austria-Hungary
Home to many Serbs and other Slavs
Serbian nationalists viewed the Austrians as foreign oppressors
Members of Unity or Death, (The Black Hand) a Serbian terrorist
group vowed to take action

THE CONFLICT WIDENS

A Harsh Ultimatum: or final set of demands
The Serbians must end all anti-Austrian agitation
punish any Serbian official involved in the murder plot
Let Austria join investigation
July 28, 1914 Austria declared war on Serbia

THE WAR STARTS

Germany backed Austria-Hungary

Russia backed Serbia
Russia began to mobilize: or prepare its military forces for war
Germany declares war on Russia
Russia appealed to France, when Germany told France to back off,
France refused
Germany declares war on France
Italy and Britain practiced neutrality: a policy of supporting neither side in
a war

GERMANY ATTACKS FRANCE

Germany developed a plan of attack against
France to avoid a two-front war
To carry out this plan Germany invaded
Belgium to get to France
Britain and other
European powers had a treaty
guaranteeing Belgium
neutrality
Britain declares war on
Germany

THE GREAT WAR

Largest conflict in history up to that time

French almost 8.5 million men
British: 9 million men
Russians: 12 million men
Germans: 11 million men
Austria-Hungry: 2 million men

TRENCH WARFARE
Armies burrowed into vast system of trenches linked by underground
networks which linked bunkers
Horrible conditions
Between the two trench lines lay no mans land
Each side would charge the other across no mans land
The struggle would continue back and forth, over a few hundred yards of
territory
Creates a stalemate

Trench Warfare

NO MANS LAND

COSTLY BATTLES

Battle at Verdun was an 11 month struggle that cost more than

a half-million causalities on both sides
Allied offensive at Somme River cost 60,000 British troops
lives in one day, over five months over one million soldiers
were killed without either side winning an advantage

TECHNOLOGY OF MODERN WARFARE

Modern weapons added to the destructiveness
Rapid-fire machine guns
Artillery
1915: Germany began using poison gas, allies began using later in the year
Armored tank
Aircrafts
Zeppelins: large gas-filled balloons
Equipped airplanes with machine guns
Submarines
U-boats: German submarines
Attacked merchant ships that carried supplies
Convoys: groups of merchant ships protected by warships to counteract U-boats

TECHNOLOGY

REVOLUTION IN RUSSIA
March 1917 bread riots turned into a revolution that brought down the
Russian monarchy
At first the U.S. welcomed the overthrow of the czar, they hoped Russia
would institute a democratic government
Later Lenin came to power and promised to pull Russian troops out of the
war
Without Russia Germany could concentrate its forces on the Western Front

REASONS FOR U.S. INVOLVEMENT IN EUROPE

As the war drags on the U.S. businesses fear that the Allies would lose and
Britain and France owe money to these businesses. So they pressure the
government to give aide to the Allies.
Unrestricted submarine warfare: The Allies place a blockade around Germany
denying them supplies leading to nation wide starvation.
- The sinking of the Lusitania: The British Liner sunk by the Germans killed
over 100 U.S. citizens.

REASONS FOR U.S. INVOLVEMENT IN EUROPE CONT.

Zimmerman Note
Note from German foreign minister, Arthur Zimmerman, to ambassador in
Mexico.
Promised if Mexico supported Central Powers that they would help Mexico
to reconquer the lost territory in New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona

CAMPAIGN TO VICTORY
1918
March: Germans launch offensive and push allies back 40 miles by July but
this exhausted them
Allies launched counterattack: drove German forces back across France and
Belgium
Germans realized war would not be won, uprisings exploded in cities
November 1918: William II steps done from throne, flees to the Netherlands
Austria-Hungary was weakening, nationalities under their rule were revolting
November 11, 1918: New German government sought an armistice: or
agreement to end fighting with the Allies, the Great War came to an end

THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES

June 1919 Allies and new German Republic meet at the palace of Versailles outside
Paris to read/go over the document drawn up by the Allied powers.
Reparations
Burdened an already staggering German economy
Reparations covered destructions caused by war and pensions for millions of Allied
soldiers or their widows and families
Limited the size of the German military
Returned territory back to France and stripped them of overseas colonies
Germans signed because they had no choice

MAKING THE PEACE

The Costs of War
Human life
More than 8.5 million people dead
Double that were wounded
Famine threatened many regions
Influenza pandemic: the spread of a disease across
an entire country, continent, or in this case, the whole world
Killed more than 20 million people