1IMPERIALISM AND THE ROAD TO WORLD WAR ONE

In the late nineteenth century Western powers subjugated one quarter

of the worlds land surface in less than three decade. Most of the land and
their populations lay in Africa and Asia which then became Western colonies.
This process is called imperialism. Late 19th and early 20th century
imperialism, however, differed from early modern overseas empires. Your
task is to understand why it happened in such a short period, to understand
how that process was made possible, and the short term and long term
consequences imperialism had for everyone involved.
1.

Background: Towards the development of a global economy

a.

In the second half of the 19th century many countries went on

the gold standard. Essentially, the gold standard meant that an
individual country would buy or sell gold at a fixed amount of its
national currency. For example, the United States government
officially made the price of gold as twenty dollars per ounce.
Because gold is too expensive for small items, governments also
set an official price of silver. Because national currencies were
tied to gold, companies could either exchange foreign currency
for gold or use the currency from one country to buy goods in
another country. This meant that after English producers sold
their goods in France for French currency, i.e., francs, they could
exchange their francs for gold, and then use the gold to import
goods from another country, beef from Argentina.
i.
ii.

b.

The gold standard had two immediate results. First, it

quickened trade because the money for every nation on
the gold standard had an absolute value.
Second, it also meant that countries did not have to trade
directly with each other because now they could use gold.

By the second half of the 19th century industrial production was

flooding domestic markets causing industrialized countries to
seek new markets for their products. The resulting competition
among industrial powers led most countries, except Britain, to
abandon the idea of free trade. Individual countries began
protect their domestic market from foreign competition through
expensive tariffsa tariff is a tax on imported goods.

A.

Most of the major European industrial countries imported more

than they exported because they needed to import raw materials
to sustain industrial production. Trade was conducted through
both visible and invisible assets.
1.

B.

If we examined the value of British industrial exports to

Argentina in the late 19th century, versus the value of the wheat,
beef, and other commodities it imported from Argentina, then
Britain clearly ran a heavy trade deficit. These are called visible
imports and exports.
1.

But, if we examine the invisible exports, then we see that

Britain had a large positive balance of trade. Invisible
exports refer to services such as shipping and insurance. It
further includes interest profits from money loaned to
another country and from profits on direct investments.
Such invisible exports offset visible trade deficits.

2.

Before World War one, Britain dominated much of the

worlds trade through invisible exports. London became the
money market for the world and the easiest place to buy,
sell, and trade foreign currencies. Lloyds of London
became the worlds largest insurance company, insuring
not only British companies but foreign trade as well.
Hollywood actors often insured themselves with Lloyds for
example.
Before 1914 Britain had overseas investments worth $20
billion dollars compared to Frances 8.7 and Germanys 6
billion.
Its merchant marine carried British manufactured goods
throughout the world as well as carrying goods and
commodities for foreigners.

3.
4.

C.

For example, Japan had to import oil because it lacked

petroleum deposits while Britain had to import wheat and
beef from Argentina because English agriculture could not
produce sufficient food to maintain its growing population.

Such economic competition directly affected less developed

areas such as Africa, Asia, and Latin America because Britain and
Europe were dependent upon these areas for raw materials.
1.

People in Africa, Asia, and Latin America were thus

compelled to participate in the developing global economy

but on unequal terms. To obtain needed resources,

Western powers either destroyed local economies, and
often the societies of those economies, or compromised
them.

II.

For example, Englands textile factories destroyed Indias

textile industry. European miners and ranchers took over
foreign territory, displacing local populations.

3.

Europeans and the British did enlist local workers, but the
vast majority of them only required unskilled labor and a
third world unskilled working class developed that lived
and worked under even worse conditions then their
Western counterparts. Europeans courted local chieftains
to supply labor under conditions little better than slavery.
Africans became victimized by a system which destroyed
native customs without replacing them with anything new.

Imperialism
A.
Political reasons: as more of the non-European world was carved
up international rivalries grew and intensified. Western
governments felt it necessary to control territory and, if possible,
to control local governments in order to keep other colonial
powers away.
B.

III.

2.

Each of the major Colonial powers had specific reasons for

establishing overseas possessions.
1.
France had badly lost the Franco-Prussian War and
expanded its overseas possessions to revive its lost honor
and prestige.
2.
Rapidly industrializing France, United States, and especially
Germany had begun seriously challenging England. The
British became concerned of losing markets
3.

Germany had become recently unified. German politicians

saw acquiring an overseas empire necessary if it were to
be considered a great power.

4.

An influential minority in the United States believed that

acquiring an overseas empire would cement its status as a
great power.

How Imperialism was accomplished

A.

IV.

The industrial revolution provided the tools to create large

overseas empires quickly, more cheaply and more easily.
1.

Steamships with metal hulls replaced wooden sailing ships.

These vessels were much faster, far cheaper to maintain,
and could be built much faster than traditional ships. They
allowed raw goods and ores to be shipped cheaply and
rapidly. For example, travel time from Liverpool to Cape
town fell from three months to three weeks. Smaller steam
vessels sailed up stream into rivers and lakes allowing
Western penetration into the interior of Africa and Asia.

2.

The invention of the telegraph followed by underwater

telegraph cables provided rapid communication between all
the major countries and colonies everywhere in the world.

3.

Malaria had been the greatest disease hindrance to

Europeans exploiting tropical areas. The realization that
quinine could prevent malaria allowed Western settlers,
officials and soldiers to do so.

4.

New military technology allowed a small number of

Western soldiers to control vast territory and large
populations. In 1878 fast firing breech loaded rifles allowed
soldiers to shoot several times before reloading with new
magazines. In 1884 the maxim gun, the precursor to the
modern machine gun appeared, shooting eleven bullets
per second.

What were the explanations for Imperialism? One influential group said
economics.
A.
In 1902, J.A. Hobson, an English social reformer wrote the
Scramble for Africa. In it Hobson argued that a small group of
rich influential financiers promoted it for their own economic
interests. He called it, a "depraved choice of national life,
appealing primarily to "the lusts of self-seeking acquisitiveness
and forceful domination."
B.

Vladimir Lenin also argued that economic interests caused

imperialism. But he saw it as a consequence of Capitalism. In
Imperialism: the last stage of Capitalism Lenin argued that
capitalist competition and monopolies had lowered domestic
profits; those with surplus capital had to invest it overseas.
Capitalists, Lenin argued, preferred to do this rather than raise

wages to expand the home market, since higher wages would

also initially cut Into profits.
V.

VI.

But historians argued that economics itself cant completely explain

Imperialism, rather a combination of factors caused it.
A.

If Hobson and Lenin are correct how then how do we account for
the fact that colonial markets were too small to fulfill the needs
of Western manufacturers. In particular, Africa, where the
imperial scramble was the most intense was the poorest and
least profitable area of colonization. Moreover, before 1914 only
a small amount of Western capital had been invested in the
colonials. France invested more capital in Russia than it did in its
colonies.

B.

Historians argue that political interests and nation building

played a key role in imperialism
1.
Britains role in Egypt serves as an example of this. In the
1880s, the British were concerned that Russia would take
over parts of the Ottoman Empire. British investors owned
44% of the Suez Canal and considered it their lifeline to
the East. When Egyptian nationalists began protesting
English involvement in their country, the British navy
bombed the port of Alexandria and put the Egyptian ruler
under their protection.
2.

Political propaganda played a forceful role in imperialism.

Western governments found imperial triumphs useful as
they often made people forget about domestic problems by
focusing popular attention abroad.

3.

Supporters of Imperialism frequently used patriotism to

promote imperialism by claiming that a nation could not be
a great nation unless it had colonies.

The White mans burden: the social and psychological reasons for
Imperialism
A.

B.

Imperialism was very much a mindset. Explorers like David

Livingstone believed that imperialism would end the African slave
trade and "introduce the Negro family into the body of corporate
nations."
Rudyard Kipling, Britains most famous novelist and poet coined
the phrase the "white man's burden." He believed it was the

Wests mission to civilize the barbaric heathens. Thus many

people found combating slave trading, famine, illiteracy and so
forth a legitimate reason to invade Asia and Africa.

VII.

Imperialism in Africa and Asia

A.

Imperialism was most competitive in Africa. In 1875 only 11% of

Africa was in European hands; by 1902 Europeans controlled
90% divided among Britain, France, Portugal, Belgium, Spain,
Germany, and Italy.

B.

One of the most active countries involved in African imperialism,

and certainly the one which treated Africans the worse was
Belgium. The Belgian Congo was a privately financed project
led by King Leopold and H.M. Stanley. The explorer Stanley
negotiated treaties that opened the Congo River to commercial
exploitation.

C.

In 1885 the Berlin Conference was held establish ground rules

for colonization in order to avoid war between European powers.
Countries holding territory along the coast were given first rights
to the hinterland. But territorial rights would only be recognized
by actual occupation through administrators or troops.

D.

The scramble for African territory accelerated after 1885.

Portugal increased its hold on Angola and Mozambique. Italy
occupied Somali land and Eritrea. They tried to invade Ethiopia,
but lost to army of 80,000 Ethiopians--first victory for
native Africans over whites. Germany entered Africa late, in part
because its chancellor Otto Von Bismarck did not see any
economic or political rewards. Under pressure, he reluctantly
agreed and Germany went to East Africa, Cameroon and Togo.

VIII. Cecil Rhodes and the Boer War. Rhodes was an ambitious entrepreneur
and imperial visionary who wanted to build a railroad from Cairo to
Capetown. But the Boers living in Transvaal and the Orange Free State
(present South Africa) opposed his plan. The Boers had settled in the
interior after the British took the Cape Colony from the Dutch. They
deeply disliked the British and preferred agriculture over British
commercial ventures.
A.
In 1886 diamonds and gold were discovered in the Transvaal but
the Boers opposed any British mining attempts. Rhodes then

tried to force a war between the British and Boers. After

bungling the attempt to do so Rhodes had to resign as prime
minister of the Cape Colony.

IX.

B.

War finally broke out in 1899 but the Boers, who knew the
interior and were excellent horsemen and marksmen, defeated
Britains first invasions. The three year war was exceptionally
brutal and saw British put thousands of Boer family in
concentration camps. An armistice ended the fighting and
created the Union of South Africa.

C.

The Boer War resulted in Britain losing international prestige. It

also heightened British-German rivalries since the Kaiser had
publically supported the Boers.

U.S. Imperialism
A.
Although the United States publically supported Latin American
countries against European threats, Americans nevertheless,
preyed on their neighbors when it suited them.
B.

By the mid-1890s the Spanish faced a serious rebellion for

independence in their last major American colony, Cuba. The
U.S. was against the independence movement fearing that it
would damage its extensive investments. The U.S. sent warships
to signal its intention to do so. In 1898 the battleship Maine
exploded in Havana Harbor. William Randolph Hearst and others
whipped up the American public and war was declared. The U.S.
easily won and at its end received Puerto Rico and the
Philippines along with de facto control over Cuba.

C.

In 1903, President Teddy Roosevelt added a corollary giving the

U.S. the right to intervene South of the U.S. border under
certain circumstances.

V. INTERNATIONAL RIVALRIES: THE ROAD TO THE FIRST WORLD WAR

A. most people believed that there would not be war--hadn't been a
Multinational war for 100 years (except Crimea), most also now believed
that industrialism was OK; most countries, even Russia, seemed to be
moving towards democracy.
B. Balance of power: need to understand this to understand WWI.
--def.: power is divided among nations so that one does not have the
means to threaten the general peace.
--Bismarck: spent his time in power making sure that Fr. would not seek

revenge after the Franco-Prussian War. Knew they wouldn't try by

themselves; could not; so he sought to isolate them diplomatically.
A NEW TYPE OF ALLIANCE: PROTECTIVE ALLIANCE
C. Bismarck's alliance system:
--1873: League of the Three Emperors: Austria, Russia, and Germany.
this league soon founders; Germany and Austria, though, cement their
alliance.
--1882: Triple Alliance: Austria, Germany, And Italy.
--1881: Three Emperors revived; lasts until 1887; Bismarck manages to
hold
Russian friendship until 1890 with a Reinsurance Treaty--1887--which
provided for the neutrality of either power if the other went to war.
--SO, by 1882, France is cut off from all powerful friends except GB. But,
GB was maintaining a policy of "splendid isolation" from continental affairs
[even today]
D. After 1890, when Kaiser Wilhelm II gets rid of Bismarck, alliance system
inadvertently becomes a tool of war rather than peace.
--Germans loose support of Russia and Italy; Britain enters into agreements
with France and Russia. All as a result of increasing suspicion.
--Germans begin to believe that they are surrounded by a ring of enemies.
E. Triple Entente: Russia, France and GB. Formed after Kaiser
Wilhelm refused to renew reinsurance treaty with Russia.
--first, secret pact in 1894 between France and Russia: said that each
would come to the aid of the other if attacked by Germany, Austria, or
Italy.
--next, Entente Cordiale: Fr. and GB: 1904: friendly agreement, not
formal alliance.
--finally, Triple Entente in 1907: GB, FR, and Russia: not a formal
alliance, but it was "understood" that military aid would be provided.
SO by 1907, Two camps: Triple Alliance of Germany, Italy and AustriaHungary; Triple Entente of Britain, France and Russia.
F. Question of German "war guilt"
--international tensions not the only thing responsible for WWI.
--Fritz Fischer: ignited a controversy by insisting that the main
reason for WWI was Germany's internally generated drive to power;
its obsessive need to aggrandize itself at the expense of the rest of

Europe.
--supports his view by pointing to G's rapid commercial expansion, growth
of coal and steel industries, dockyards, and overseas shipping.
--increased size of navy; this pleased the industrial bourgeoisie who
not only profited from the construction, but their sons formed the new
naval officer corps.
G. response to this thesis: many industrialists did not want war since
they had investments in Russia and France.
H. Other factors:
--1. Proliferation of War Machines: Serbia and Russia: armies of over
400,000 each; Russia: 1913: 2,000,000; Germany had 2 million also.
--professional military advisors came along with large armies to figure out
how to supply and deploy the armies.
2. Militarism had a social impact: countries became preoccupied with
national birth rates, public health and literacy. France, for example,
worried about declining birthrate after 1870: fewer soldiers
--worried about public health--in GB in industrial areas, as many as 8,000
out of 11,000 volunteers had to be turned away as unfit;
--as the technology increased, non-coms and enlisted men had to be able
to read and do math.
3. War view as "good," therapeutic. "Just" war; keeps a country from
getting soft.
4. Nationalism: Serbia and the Pan-Slavist movement. Serbians wanted all
Serbians united; this upset Turkey and Austria who each had land that
Serbia
wanted. Fed by pan-Slavism: ideas that all Slavs in Eastern Europe were
one cultural nation, and that Russia, as most powerful Slavic state, should
protect smaller states in the Balkans. Became part of official Russian
policy.
5. Balkan wars; 1912: Serbia, Bulgaria, Montenegro, and Greece joined in
a Balkan alliance to conquer Macedonia. War lasted from OctoberDecember;
Turkey defeated. Problem: dividing the spoils. Serbia had been promised
Albania; Austria said no, it should be independent. Serbs upset; antiAustrian agitation becomes more acute. Finally, Archduke Francis
Ferdinand (Austria) assassinated on June 28, 1914. Spark that ignited the
First world war.