Imperialism and Decolonization

1870s-1970s

EAST MEETS WEST

Phases of Empire Growth and Collapse

OLD IMPERIALISM

AGE OF REVOLUTIONS

NEW IMPERIALISM

DECOLONIZATION

Old Imperialism

1500-1700s

GB, FRANCE, SPAIN, PORTUGAL

LARGE TERRITORIAL ACQUISITIONS IN THE AMERICAS

TRADING OUTPOSTS ELSEWHERE

Age of Revolution

1776-1830

American Revolution

French Revolution

Latin American Revolutions

New Imperialism

1880s-1914

Rapid and sudden partition amongst European powers of the world’s non-European areas.

Decolonization

1945-1970s

New states established in former colonial areas. In some cases, transition to independence is forced and violent (France – Algeria); in other cases, the handover is peaceful (GB – Ghana).

Empires and Colonies

Major League – Great Britain, France First Division – Germany, USA, Japan Minor League – Russia, Ottomans, Italy, Austria-Hungary

Types of Imperial Control

Sphere of Influence

Protectorate Colony

European Power had economic as opposed to political control (e.g. Germany in Shantung, China.

Europeans manage external affairs and strongly influence internal affairs “on behalf” of a native ruler (e.g., France and Morocco).

·  Settler Colonies – Existed primarily for “white” settlement (Australia)

·  Commercial Colonies – Existed ostensibly for economic gain (India)

Map of Empires

The British Empire

Colonial Management

• Direct Control (e.g., France and Cochinchina).

• Indirect Control – local political representation, but w/o “real power” (e.g., GB and Palestine).

• Colonial Autonomy – local pol. rep. have significant authority (e.g., USA and Philippine “Commonwealth”)

The New Imperialism

From 1870-1900, GB adds 4.5m. sq. miles and 150m. people; France adds 3.5m. sq. miles and 26m. people. (mostly in Africa)

Africa in 1870

Africa in 1914

Antecedents to the New Imperialism

a)      Demographic – European population rise from 266m. (1850) to 468m. (1914).b)      Economic – Second Industrial Revolution: 50,000 miles of new railroad built 1850-1870; new production processes; fall in prices and increased credit services.c)      Political –Defeat of France in Franco-Prussian War; German Unification (1871)

Theories of Imperialism

ECONOMIC POLITICAL IDEOLOGICAL

Economic Explanations

Hobson (1902) – “Excess Profit” or “surplus capital” is the “economic taproot of imperialism”. Although colonies are not particularly great sources of gov’t revenue, financiers influence politicians to acquire colonies so that they can invest there.ii.       V.I. Lenin (1916) – In Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism, he claims that capitalists sought to monopolize sources of raw materials and export markets in the colonial areas, thus intensifying global economic rivalry amongst nation states, the final prelude to a global war and capitalist collapse.

Relative Wealth(The size of the flag indicates amount of income)

British Empire Revenues (1905)

Criticism of Economic Theories

i.        Most European overseas investment in the 1870-1914 period did not go to the “new” colonies. GB’s investments went to the USA; France’s to Russia. As for colonies as markets, most were operated at a loss and provided poor markets for the products of major European industry.

Political Explanations

i.        Balance of Power – European powers consciously and unconsciously divert continental rivalry elsewhere. AJP Taylor called this the “export of tensions.”ii.       Strategy – Powers acquire “worthless” territory to protect other possessions (GB and the Sudan).

Ideological Explanations

i.     Jingoism – Although empire building was initially unpopular, public opinion, influenced by ideas about national prestige, a “civilizing mission”, racism, and Social Darwinism, motivated imperial policy.

France and Empire after 1870

Social and Political Context

• French Defeat in Franco-Prussian War (1870-71)

• Establishment of Third Republic (1870-1941)

• Loss of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany

• The Commune

Imperial Motivations

Economic

Prestige Politics Strategy

La Mission Civli-satrice Safety

Valve

EconomicAlthough only 9% of French foreign investment was in her colonies in 1914, the amount had increased 300% from 1900. Colonial trade has also increased by 67%. By 1930, 45% of France’s foreign investment and 27% of trade was with the colonies. Also, certain industries (Lyon silk spinners) had powerful lobbies in the government.

Prestige Politics

Note Jules Ferry’s comment on why a republic needed to annex Tonkin –

“France cannot simply be a free country, she must be a great one.” Empire building can make up for tragedy of 1870.

Strategy

Displacement of Continental Rivalry to Imperial Periphery (AJP Taylor)

La Mission Civilisatrice

• French propagated myth that GB only exploited her colonies with the aid of local elites (Association); France, in contrast, exported her culture, including religion, politics, and language with the objective of making “Frenchmen” out of non-European peoples (Assimilation). This has a parallel in America’s Wilsonianism

Social Safety Valve

• Although France’s demographic growth was one of the poorest in Western Europe, politicians did think of the colonies as a “dumping grounds” for excess people and dangerous radicals. Victor Hugo wrote: “Go peoples! Spill out your excessive numbers into Africa…resolve your social questions…change your proletarians into landowners.”

DECOLONIZATION

• 1945-1970s

• Process by which colonial peoples gained independence

• Wars of National Liberation (e.g., Vietnam)

• Negotiated Transfer (e.g., India, Ghana)

Process Complete?

• Collapse of Soviet Union – final decolonization phase?

• Persistence of Economic and Cultural Imperialism (North-South / West- East)

• Neo-colonialism

• Dependency Theory

• Globalization

CONTRIBUTING FACTORS

• World War I and Wilsonian Principles:– National Self Determination– Freedom of the Seas

• World War II– Atlantic Charter (Churchill-Roosevelt 1941 agreement on

post-war world: territorial adjustments, democracy, etc.)– Participation of Colonial Forces in War

• Expectations of Indigenous Elites– Education / Experience of Self Rule– Integration into World Economy

Negotiated Independence –The GB Experience

• British imperial administration adapted itself to local circumstance

• “Association” preferred to “Assimilation”• “Devolution” or gradual relinquishment of control

from center to periphery begun after WW1 (Canada, Australia, NZ, S. Africa achieve “Dominion” status)

• Montagu-Chelmsford “Dyarchy” in India indicative of GB willingness to share power

Violent National Liberation – The French Experience

• La Mission Civilisatrice• Assimilation Preferred to Association• French Empire Not open to Free Trade• Presence of Two French Gov’ts (Petain’s

Vichy and De Gaulle’s Free France) weaken authority

• Blockage of avenues of legitimate protest lead to open rebellion

End of Introductory Session