The generation between 1880 and 1914 witnessed a unprecedented outburst of European empire building
- USA was a part of it too
- A period of highly competitive colonization
- 4/5ths of Earth’s surface was under European or USA control
- A few cases of successful resistance, but they were scattered and very few
- By 1914, the domination of the white race over the world was so extensive that many Europeans and Americans saw this as just as natural as the earth’s revolution around the sun
– Empires were not new, and weren’t always centred in Europe
- 1900, Ottoman and Chinese empires were reminders that non-white peoples had dominated large portions of the globe
- But this was the farthest they had extended
– The Scramble for Africa
- By 1914, disputes over who could claim was colony had brought many rival European nations to the brink of war
- In 1870, only 1/10 of Africa was in European hands
- By 1914, all but 1/10 of Africa was in European hands
– New interpretations of the “new imperialism” – what explanations are there for this new and sudden outburst of imperialism?
- The economic argument = colonies provide a safe place for investment, a reliable source of raw materials, and a protected market
- Also provided new home and labour markets for emigrants,
- Marxists support this view; see colonies as an outlet for funds countries deny their home-workers and sale outlets for products that have already saturated home-markets
- the moral argument = we’re on a civilizing mission
- mission was to teach backward peoples the white man’s improving ways
- patriotic argument = if international relations means survival, than a countries status depends on having the largest empire
– the harsh realities of colonialism
- huge population declines in colonized nations
- most of the native population still illiterate and on the brink of starvation (India)
- good farming land in hands of white settlers (Kenya)
