Imperialism

Types of Imperialism

• Colony = territory ruled over directly by an imperial power

• Protectorate = a situation where a country has its own government, but officials of a foreign power guide its policies, particularly in foreign affairs

• Sphere of influence = a region of a country in which a foreign power has exclusive investment or trading rights (e.g., Germans on the Shandong peninsula in China ca 1900)

• Economic imperialism = private business interests from abroad control a country’s economy & govt.

Causes of Imperialism

• Nationalism

• Demand for raw materials

• Demand for markets for Europeans to sell goods

• Racism/ Feeling of Cultural Superiority

• Missionary impulse

• “White Man’s Burden”

The White Man’s Burden

An example of Imperialism at work

The Berlin Conference in 1884

Cecil Rhodes as Colossus

Mad Scramble for Africa

King Leopold II of Belgium and the Congo: site of some of the worst atrocities

Which two countries in Africa avoided becoming European colonies by 1914?

The Imperialist’s tentacles are everywhere!

Imperialists in China

Asian Imperialists in China also

Was the U.S. ever an imperialist power?

Anti-imperialism in the U.S. after the Spanish-American War

Teddy Roosevelt and the Caribbean: the Monroe Doctrine and its corollary