European imperialism

th th
in the 19 /20 centuries
HIST 3150 Shehzad Martin
 A new phenomenon:
THE NATION-STATE
Only in the 19th, 20th centuries  a global,
modern, uniform system of sovereign
nation-states
Before that, a person’s identity was more organic
than acquired
Organic: based on birth, family, local community,
land, culture
Acquired: create and organized from above

HIST 3150 Shehzad Martin

 A new phenomenon: THE NATION-STATE
18th-century Europe:
a large number of states run by dynasties,
aristocracy and the Church
Constantly competing claims of sovereignty

HIST 3150 Shehzad Martin

 How did this change?
1. a revolution in the concept of the state:
French/American revolution:
“By what authority do governments govern?”
The answer: popular sovereignty; people
power; democracy
Dynastic subjects replaced by citizens
Ultimate authority resided in the collective
citizenry
This is the classical European political
tradition – referring to universal political
principles (‘Rights of Man’) and making the
citizen the basis of the state
HIST 3150 Shehzad Martin
 2. a profound change in the
relationship between identity
and the state

Dynastic entities transformed

into nations

La nation = French
revolutionary concept
Foundation of the state = not
identity, but a political
principle

HIST 3150 Shehzad Martin

At the same time, growing racial and ethnic awareness
Great interest in the origins of humanity and its racial,
linguistic and cultural diversity
Darwinism
Social Darwinism

HIST 3150 Shehzad Martin

The modern phenomenon of nationalism grew
out of a dynamic contact between ethnic
consciousness and the concept of popular
sovereignty / democracy
(Clive J. Christie)

Demands that ethnic identity be given a

legitimate political expression
Ethnic consciousness existed before, but only
now does it take a political shape

HIST 3150 Shehzad Martin

 Europe’s nationalist
programme:
18th-20th centuries
Top-down – states become nations:
Pre-national dynastic states
(e.g. Britain) forged a national
identity to match the boundaries of
the existing state

From the ground up: nations become

states; ethnic communities create
nation-states for themselves
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 European history in the 19th and 20th centuries was
dominated – and almost destroyed – by this process
of consolidation and fragmentation
Multi-ethnic empires were broken up
(Austro-Hungary)
At the same time, mini-states were linked together to
create nation-states (Germany, Italy)

HIST 3150 Shehzad Martin

 In parts of
eastern Europe,
this process is
still underway
today

HIST 3150 Shehzad Martin

 1820s - 1900
Europe: creation of nation-states
Asia, Africa: European nations consolidating
their global empires
France, Britain, the Netherlands in SE Asia:
From scattered trading posts and other possessions
to regional empires
USA: a growing Pacific/Caribbean empire

HIST 3150 Shehzad Martin

 1820s - 1900
An outburst of global political, military, diplomatic
and administrative activity
Sources: technology / industrialization search for new
markets, raw materials, investment, political prestige;
fear of other European powers gaining an advantage
Also, creation of new naval-military networks to protect
and promote these interests

HIST 3150 Shehzad Martin

 Growing convergence of British
and French interests in Europe
The final stages of imperial consolidation in SE
Asia were achieved with a degree of consensus,
making the colonial expansion in this part of
the world a remarkably smooth process

Likewise, the boundaries of British

and Dutch empires reflected the complex state
of diplomatic relations between Britain and
Netherlands, 1789 – 1824
British and Dutch possessions in SE Asia:
arbitrary creations, disregarding political and
ethnic contours of the region
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 19th century:
British control over Malay
peninsula
Combination of negotiation
and force

Singapore = the centre

of this artificial new order
that replaced the natural,
organic, pre-colonial,
Malacca-centred trading
system

HIST 3150 Shehzad Martin

KL: seen from Singapore
as provincial, remote, up-
river
British Malaya and Dutch
East Indies = basis of
modern nation-states of
Malaysia and Indonesia

British colonial practices in

Malaya, including mass
immigration, transplanted
from India, Burma

HIST 3150 Shehzad Martin

HIST 3150 Shehzad Martin
 French-controlled SE
Asia 1858-1900:
Vietnam + Laos +
Cambodia =

French
Indochina

HIST 3150 Shehzad Martin

 1870s – WWI:
Emergence of ‘imperial philosophies’:
Dutch ‘Ethical Policy’
French mission civilisatrice
Idea of reciprocal benefits
Better government, education, welfare

HIST 3150 Shehzad Martin

 1870s – WWI:
Emergence of ‘imperial
philosophies’:
Crucially: access to the
culture, ideas
and technology of
Europe

HIST 3150 Shehzad Martin

 Ultimately, the whole system
of colonial administration
depended on an
elite ‘collaborator’
stratum

They were to be introduced to

Western education and ideas
Creation of a European-oriented
native elite as a means of
strengthening the foundations of
the empire

Imperial participation
enthusiastically taken up by
individuals as well as groups, e.g.
the Straits Chinese HIST 3150 Shehzad Martin
 Late 19th, early 20th centuries:
Loyalism
Native elite interest in European
ideas and education and social
reform
A perception of helplessness in
the face of the European threat
‘if you can’t beat them, join them’
A feeling that non-European
societies failed to adjust to a
changing world

Questioning local cultures

and political systems
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 Pre-WWI:
Islamic and Buddhist
reform movements
An attempt to :
1. ‘purify’ religion of local
practices and superstitions;
2. restore the ‘pure essence’ of
original religious doctrine;
and
3. adapt that doctrine to the
modern challenges of
democracy and technological
progress

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Educational and linguistic reforms
Romanization reforms in Vietnam, Malaya
Malay story-telling ‘frozen’ / ‘deadened’ into
‘literature’
Renewed interest in classical Asian literature
Organizations for the encouragement of social
and cultural change
Whole areas of traditional life opened up for
discussion
Overall agenda ‘self-strengthening’ but not
necessarily anti-colonial

HIST 3150 Shehzad Martin