The Height of Imperialism Part 1

The Height of Imperialism

Colonial Rule in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia Map

The New Imperialism
• In the nineteenth century, a new phase of Western expansion began.

• European nations began to view Asian and African societies as a source of industrial

raw materials and a market for Western manufactured goods.

• The Scramble for Territories

• In the 1880s, European states began an intense scramble for overseas territory.

• Imperialism, the extension of a nation’s power over other lands, was not new.

• Europeans had set up colonies and trading posts in North America, South America, and

Africa by the sixteenth century.

• However, the imperialism of the late nineteenth century, called the “new

imperialism” by some, was different.

• Earlier, European states had been content, especially in Africa and Asia, to set up few

trading posts where they could carry on trade and perhaps some missionary activity.
• Now they sought nothing less than direct control over vast territories.

• Motives for Imperialism

• Why did Westerners begin to increase their search for colonies after 1880?

• There was a strong economic motive.

• Capitalist states in the West were looking for both markets and raw materials such as

rubber oil, and tin for their industries.
•The issue was not simply an economic one, however.

Multiple Select

Which TWO societies did European nations begin to view as a source for industrial raw materials and a market for Western manufactured goods?

• American

• Asian

• African

• Australian

Multiple Choice

What is the extension of a nation's power over other lands called?

• Imperialism

• Nationalism

• Fascism

• Socialism

The New Imperialism

• Motives for Imperialism Cont.

• European nation-states were involved in heated rivalries.

• They acquired colonies abroad in order to gain an advantage over their rivals.

• Colonies were also a source of national prestige.

•To some people, in fact, a nation could not be great without colonies.

• In addition, imperialism was tied to Social Darwinism and racism.

• Social Darwinists believed that in the struggle between nations, the fit are

victorious.
• Racism is the belief that race determines traits and capabilities.

•Racists erroneously believe that particular races are superior or inferior.

• Racist beliefs have led to the use of military force against other nations.

•One British professor argued in 1900, “The path of progress is strewn with the wrecks of nations;
traces are everywhere to be seen of the [slaughtered remains] of inferior races. Yet these dead
people are, in very truth, the stepping stones on which mankind has arisen to the higher intellectual
and deeper emotional life of today.”

• Some Europeans took a more religious and humanitarian approach to

imperialism.

• They believed Europeans had a moral responsibility to civilize primitive people.

• They called this responsibility the “white man’s burden”.

•To some this meant bringing the Christian message to the “heathen masses.”
• To other, it meant bringing the benefits of Western democracy and capitalism to these societies.

Multiple Select

What TWO things was imperialism tied to?

• Social Darwinism

• Religion

• Racism

• Dictatorships

Multiple Choice

What is the belief that race determines traits and capabilities?

• Predestination

• Social Darwinism

• Racism

• Religion

Colonial Takeover

• The new imperialism of the late nineteenth century was evident in Southeast Asia.

• In 1800, the Europeans ruled only two societies in this area: the Spanish Philippines and the

Dutch East Indies.
•By 1900, virtually the entire area was under Western rule.

• Great Britain

• The process began with Great Britain.

• In 1819, Great Britain sent Sir Thomas StamfordRaffles to found a new colony on a

small island at the tip of the Malay Peninsula.
• Called Singapore(“city of the lion”), in the new age of steamships , it soon in the new age of

steamships, it soon became a major stopping point the traffic going to or from China.
•Raffles was proud of his new city.
• He wrote about Singapore to a friend in England: “Here all is life and activity; and it would be

difficult no name a place on the face of the globe with brighter prospects.”

• During the next few decades, the British advance into Southeast Asia

continued.

• Next to fall was the kingdom of Burma(modern Myanmar).

• Britain wanted control of Burma in order to protect its possessions in India.

•It also sought a land route through Burma into south China.
• Although the difficult terrain along the frontier between Burma and China caused this effort to fail,

British activities in Burma led to the collapse of the Burmese monarchy.
• Britain soon established control over the entire country.

Multiple Choice

What kingdom is modern day Myanmar?

• Hungary

• Turkey

• Serbia

• Burma

Colonial Takeover
• France

• France, which had some missionaries operating in Vietnam, nervously watched

the British advance into Burma.

• The local Vietnamese authorities, who viewed Christianity as a threat to Confucian

doctrine, persecuted the French missionaries.
• However, Vietnam failed to stop the Christian missionaries.

•Vietnamese internal rivalries divided the country into two separate governments-the north and the
south.

• France was especially alarmed by British attempts to monopolize trade.

• To stop any British move into Vietnam, the Frenchgovernment decided in 1857 to

force the Vietnamese to accept French protection.

• The French eventually succeeded in making the Vietnamese ruler give up

territories in the Mekong Riverdelta.
• The French occupied the city of Saigon and, during the next thirty years,

extended their control over the rest of the country.

• In 1884, France seized the city of Hanoi and later made the Vietnamese empire a

French protectorate-a political unit that depends on another government for its
protection.
• In the 1880s, France extended its control over neighboring Cambodia, Annam, Tonkin, and

Laos.
•By 1887, France included all of its new possessions in a new Union of French Indochina.

Multiple Choice

Where did the French eventually succeed in making the Vietnamese give up territories in?

• Mekong River Delta

• Beijing

• Tokyo River Basin

• Red Sea

Colonial Takeover

• Thailand-the Exception

• After the French conquest of Indochina, Thailand (the called Siam) was the only

remaining free state in Southwest Asia.

• During the last quarter of the nineteenth century, British and French rivalry

threatened to place Thailand, too, under colonial rule.

• Two remarkable rulers were able to prevent that from happening.

• One was King Mongkut (known to theatergoers as the king in “The King and I”), and

the other was his son, King Chulalongkorn.
• Both promoted Western learning and maintained friendly relations with the major

Europeanpowers.
•In 1896, Britain and France agreed to maintain Thailand as an independent buffer state between their
possessions in Southeast Asia.

• The United States

• One final conquest in Southeast Asia occurred at the end of the nineteenth

century.

• In 1898, during the Spanish-American War, United Statesnaval forces under

Commodore George Dewey defeated the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay.

Multiple Choice

After the French conquest of Indochina, what was the only free state in Southwest Asia?

• Burma

• Nepal

• Thailand

• India

Colonial Takeover

• The United States Cont.

• Believing it was his moral obligation to “civilize” other parts of the world,

President William McKinley decided to turn the Philippines, which had been
under Spanish control, into an American colony.

• This action would also prevent the area from falling into the hands of the Japanese.

•In fact, the islands gave the United States a convenient jumping-off point for trade with China.

• This mixture of moral idealism and desire for profit was reflected in a speech given in the

U.S. Senate in January 1900 by Senator Albert Beveridge of Indiana:

• “Mr. President, the times call for candor. The Philippines are ours forever. And just beyond the

Philippines are China’s unlimited markets. We will not retreat from either. We will not abandon an
opportunity in [Asia]. We will not renounce our part in the mission of our race, trustee, under God,
of the civilization of the world.”

• The Filipinos did not agree with the American senator.

• Emilio Aguinaldo was the leader of a movement for independence in the Philippines.

•He began his revolt against the Spanish and went into exile in 1898.
• When the United States acquired the Philippines, Aguinaldo continued the revolt and set himself

up as the President of the Republic of the Philippines.
• Led by Aguinaldo, the guerrilla forces fought bitterly against the United Statestroops to

establish their independence.

• The flight for Philippines independence resulted in three years of bloody warfare.

• However, the United States defeated the guerrilla forces, and President McKinley had his

stepping-stone to the rich markets of China.

Multiple Choice

Who was the leader for independence in the Philippines?

• Fidel Castro

• Emilio Aguinaldo

• San Pedro

• Presley Warner

Colonial Regimes
• Western powers governed their new colonial empires by either indirect or

direct rule.

• Their chief goals were to exploit the natural resources of the lands and to open up

markets for their own manufactured goods.

• Indirect and Direct Rule

• Sometimes a colonial power could realize its goals by cooperating with local

political elites.

• FOR EXAMPLE, the Dutch East India Company used indirect rule in the Dutch East

Indies.
• Under indirect rule, local rulers were allowed to keep their authority and status in a new

colonial setting.
•This made access to the region’s natural resources easier.
• Indirect rule was cheaper because fewer officials had to be trained and it affected local culture

laws.

• However, indirect rule was not always possible.

• Some local elites resisted the foreign conquest.

• In these cases, the local elites were replaced with Western officials.

•This system is called direct rule.

Multiple Choice

Under which style of rule were local rulers allowed to keep their authority and status?

• Direct Rule

• Dictatorship

• Democracy

• Indirect Rule

Colonial Regimes

• Indirect and Direct Rule Cont.

• However, indirect rule was not always possible.

• Some local elites resisted the foreign conquest.

• In these cases, the local elites were replaced with Western officials.

•This system is called direct rule.
• FOR EXAMPLE, Great Britain administered Burma directly through its colonial government in India.

• In Indochina, France used both systems.

• It imposed direct rule in southern Vietnam, but ruled indirectly through the emperor in

northern Vietnam.

• To justify their conquests, Western powers spoke of bringing the blessings of

Western civilization to their colonial subjects, including representative
government.

• However, many Westerners came to fear the idea of native people (especially

educated ones) being allowed political rights.

Multiple Choice

What is the system called where local elites are replaced by Western officials?

• Direct Rule

• Oligarchy

• Communism

• Indirect Rule

Colonial Regimes

• Colonial Economies

• The colonial powers did not want their colonists to develop their own

industries.

• Thus, colonial policy stressed the export of raw materials.

• This policy often led to some form of plantation agriculture.

•Peasants worked as wage laborers on the foreign owned plantations.
• Plantationowners kept wages at poverty levels to increase profits.

• Conditions on plantations were often so unhealthy that thousands died.

• Also, peasants bore the burden of high taxes.

• Nevertheless, colonial rule did bring some benefits to Southeast Asia.

• A modern economic system began there.

• Colonialgovernments built railroads, highways, and other structures that benefited native

peoples as well as colonials.
•The development of an export market helped create an entrepreneurial class in rural areas.
• In the Dutch East Indies, FOR EXAMPLE, small growers of rubber, palm oil, coffee, tea, and spices

began to share in the profits of the colonial enterprise.
• Most of the profits, however, were taken back to the colonial mother country.

Multiple Choice

What did the colonial policy stress the export of?

• Vegetables

• Manufactured Goods

• Raw Materials

• Automobiles

Resistance to Colonial Rule

• Many subject peoples in Southeast Asia resented being governed by Western

powers.

• At first, resistance came from the existing ruling class.

• In Burma, FOR EXAMPLE, the monarch himself fought Western domination.

•By contrast, in Vietnam, after the emperor had agreed to French control of his country, a number of
government officials set up an organization called Can Vuong (“Save the King”).
• They fought against the French without the emperor’s help.

• Sometimes, resistance to Western control took the form of peasant revolts.

• Under colonial rule, peasants were often driven off the land to make way for

plantationagriculture.
• Angry peasants then vented their anger at the foreign invaders.

•FOR EXAMPLE, in Burma, in 1930 the BuddhistmonkSaya San led a peasant uprising against the
British colonial regime many years after the regime had completed its takeover.

• Early resistancemovements failed.

• They were overcome by Western powers.

• At the beginning of the twentieth century, a new kind of resistance began to emerge that

was based on the force of nationalism.
•The leaders were often from a new class that the colonial rule had created: westernized intellectuals
in the cities.

Multiple Choice

Under colonial rule, who were driven off the land to make way for plantation agriculture?

• Peasants

• Serfs

• Lords

• Farmers

Resistance to Colonial Rule

• In many cases, this new urban middle class-composed of merchants, clerks,

students, and professionals- had been educated in Western-style schools.

• They were the first generation of Asians to embrace the institutions and values of

the West.
• Many spoke Western languages and worked in jobs connected with the colonial regimes.

• At first, many of the leaders of these movements did not focus clearly on the

idea of nationhood.

• Instead, they simply tried to defend the economic interests or religious beliefs of the

native peoples.
• In Burma, FOR EXAMPLE, students at the University of Rangoon formed an organization to

protest against official persecution of the Buddhist religion and British lack of respect for
local religious traditions.
•They protested against British arrogance and failure to observe local customs in Buddhist temples.
• Not until the 1930s, however, did these resistance movements, such as those begun in Burma,

begin to demand national independence.

Multiple Select

Which of these THREE professions were a part of the urban middle class?

• Merchants

• Clerks

• Students

• Priests