Imperialism

To bring out of a savage, uneducated, or rude state

To raise from brutality to an educated stage of development; bring out of a primitive or savage state

The “OPENING UP” OF AFRICA

• Mid-1800s

• Missionaries and explorers sparked foreign interest in Africa

Africa (1880)

DAVID LIVINGSTONE (1813-1873)

• Scottish missionary

• 1841-1873 – lived in central Africa– Explored Africa

• Named Lake Victoria after the British queen

– Converted many Africans to Christianity

– Wrote books on Africa which piqued foreign interest

• 1871 – reported “lost”– “Found” by Henry Stanley

– “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”

ExplorationDr. Livingstone, I Presume?”

• David Livingstone• Doctor/Missionary• Mapping the “Dark Continent”• Open the interior of

Africa for commerce & Christianity

David Livingstone

The Scramble for Africa

King Leopold II of Belgium

# 1. Colonization of Africa by Europeans 1880-1914

#3 Great Britain, France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Germany, Belgium

Imperialism: The policy by a stronger nation to attempt to create an empire by dominating

weaker nations economically, politically, culturally, or militarily.

A coaling station for steamships, Cape Town, South Africa

How Did Imperialism Begin?

Economic Motives #1

Industrialized nations sought:

• Raw materials• Natural resources• A cheap labor

supply• New marketplaces

for manufactured goods

• Control means of production

The Industrial Revolution

• The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain in the mid-18th century

• Britain’s advantages

• The spread of industrialization

Technological Advances

• The steam engine• Better transportation• Increased exploration• Improvements in communication

The steamboat Herald (with mounted machine guns) on the Zambezi river in Africa

One of the first steam engines

Cecil Rhodes

• British imperialist who made huge profits from Africa’s natural resources

• Founder of the state of Rhodesia in Africa

#9

This cartoon depicts British imperial ambitions to control the entire African continent.

“The Rhodes Colossus”

Motives #1

• Religious: to spread the benefits of Christianity and Western Culture

• Political: competition fuel by Nationalism, Empire Building

Justification for Imperialism

• A desire to “civilize” non-Europeans also spurred the development of imperialism

• Social Darwinism

Darwin’s handwritten cover page for The Origin of Species

Herbert Spencer

Describe 3 examples of European ethnocentrism in the political cartoon.

Imperialism Quote

• “If you woke up one morning and found that somebody had come to your house, and had declared that the house belonged to him, you would naturally be surprised, and you would like to know by what arrangement.”– Jomo Kenyatta – 1st President of Kenya

• How does this quote show an African reaction to European Imperialism in Africa? Use 3 examples

Imperialism Quote

• Desmond Tutu … “when the missionaries came to Africa, they had the Bible and we had the land. They said ‘let us close our eyes and pray’. When we opened them, we had the Bible, and they had the land”.

• How does this quote show an African reaction to European Imperialism in Africa? Use 3 examples

The Berlin Conference1884 #4

Rules to divide Africa among European powers to avoid conflict among European powers= Artificial Borders

By 1914, only two African nations

remained independent

Liberia and Ethiopia #2

European Control of Africa

British troops fighting forces in Benin in 1897

The Maxim Gun #5

Methods of Management • Indirect Control: This form relied on using the

existing African political rulers.– Britain sometimes asked local chiefs to accept

British rule and legislative councils were formed and included colonial (European) officials and merchants.

• The idea was that these councils would train the Africans, and at some point in time, these territories would be able to rule themselves, much like Australia and Canada.

Methods of Management • Direct Control: The French and most other European countries

preferred stronger control because they felt that Africans were not civilized enough to rule themselves.– They adopted a policy of paternalism, in which the

Europeans acted like the Africans’ parents in providing for their survival, but denying them rights.

– They avoided training locals, and instead, brought along Europeans to rule the Africans.

– The French also supported a policy of assimilation, in which the native population would take on French customs and culture and be like them.

• African customs and culture were looked at as inferior, or not as good as French culture.

Direct vs. Indirect Rule #6

European nations chose one of two different paths when it came to colonial rule:

Indirect rule: colonies were ruled through existing traditional rulers

Example: Nigeria

Direct rule: the colony was directly administered by the colonizer

Example: Senegal

Result: loss of power and influenceBy Traditional rulers

Cash Crop/Money Economy #7• Africans sold labor to make money to pay taxes

• Problems– Created dependence on Colonial rulers

#8 Purpose of the Railroads was to extract wealth

#9 Aim of Colonial Rulers

• To benefit Colonial economies accomplished by cash crop system and forced labor

• King Leopold II of Belgium

• Cecil Rhodes

5-8 Million Victims! (50% of Popul.)

It is blood-curdling to see them (the soldiers) returning with the hands of the slain, and to find the hands of young children amongst the bigger ones evidencing their bravery...The rubber from this district has cost hundreds of lives, and the scenes I have witnessed, while unable to help the oppressed, have been almost enough to make me wish I were dead... This rubber traffic is steeped in blood, and if the natives were to rise and sweep every white person on the Upper Congo into eternity, there would still be left a fearful balance to their credit. -- Belgian Official

African Resistance

• Africans Confront Imperialism– Broad resistance, but Europeans have superior weapons

• Unsuccessful Movements– Algeria fights the French for 50 years– German East Africa resistance results in 75,000 deaths

• Successful Movements– Ethiopia under Emperor Menelik II– Plays Europeans against each other– Stockpiles modern weapons

– Defeats Italy and remains independent #10

African Resistance• Unsuccessful Attempts: Africans resisted

Europeans in both military conflict, and through religious resistance. – Algeria was able to resist French rule for 50 years.– French West Africa held out for 16 years because it

had a strong king named Samori Toure that had modernized his military.

– In the end, only famine could beat Toure.

African Resistance• German East Africa: Natives in this region used

religious faith as defense.– German colonizers had forced them to grow

cash crops, such as cotton, instead of food.– Natives came to believe that if magic water

called maji-maji were sprinkled on their bodies, they would be bullet-proof

• Furthermore, they believed that God had approved of their struggle, and that their dead ancestors would rise from the grave and help them against the Germans.

• As many as 75,000 were mowed down by German Maxim machine guns, and 150,000 more starved to death later.

Maji-Maji prisoners captured by Germans.

African Resistance

• Ethiopia: A Successful Resistance: Ethiopia was the only country that successfully resisted Europeans.– Its king, Menelik II, played all of the European countries

off of each other (tricked them) as they tried to convince him to be under their sphere of influence,

• While he tricked them, he bought modern weapons from the French and Russians.

African Resistance

– In signing a treaty with Italy, Menelik II realized that he had been tricked by differences in translation between languages, and that he had given up control of his country.

• Menelik declared war on Italy, and was able to beat Italy at the Battle of Adowa. 1896

– Menelik II continued to stockpile weapons to resist any other attempts to take over his country.

The Age of Imperialism Section 3

Even without modern weapons, other Africans still fiercely resisted European powers.

Africans did not passively accept European claims to rule over them. As European troops advanced on African territory, they met stiff resistance.

• Zulu people resisted colonialization more than 50 years

• Zulu leader Shaka built strong kingdom by subduing several neighboring peoples

• 1879, British invaded Zulu territory, annexed kingdom as colony

The Zulu

African Resistance

• Only nation to retain independence by matching European firepower

• 1889, emperor Menelik II modernized nation, army

• 1895, Italian forces invaded over treaty dispute

• Menelik’s forces defeated Italians

Ethiopia

The Age of Imperialism Section 3

French West Africa

• West Africa, leader of Malinke peoples, Samory Touré, formed army to fight against French rule; fought for 15 years; proclaimed self king of Guinea

• 1898, French defeated Touré, ended resistance to French rule in West Africa

Rebellion Put Down

• To combat Germans, spiritual leader encouraged followers to sprinkle magic water over bodies to protect selves from German bullets; did not work

• Rebellion quickly put down; Germans killed tens of thousands of Africans

German East Africa

• Africans called on gods, ancestors for spiritual guidance in resistance

• 1905, several African peoples united to rebel against Germans’ order to grow cotton for export to Germany

French and Germans

#10 African Resistance and failure• Many Africans resisted European rule

– Millions of Africans died – Europeans = superior military technology

• North Africa: Algerians fought French• West Africa: Ibo and Fulani fought

British• Congo Free State: 20 years of fighting• Ethiopia exception: European training

preserved independence

The Legacy of Imperialism

Mozambican war refugees, 1978

Caricature of former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin

How do the pictures show how life changed for Africans after the arrival of Europeans? 3 examples

A Closer Look at Imperialism in Africa

• European quest to control natural resources

• Doing so led to drastic changes in the infrastructure of the continent

The port of Zanzibar around 1900

Transportation, Communication, Education, Medical Care

Effects• New political systems• New Economic pattern: money economy, cash crops, taxes,

dependence, lack of diversity• Transportation• Communication, • Education, • Medical Care• migrant workers, chibaro = breakdown of Family• New attitude towards land• Racism• Christianity• Artificial boundaries• Educated African elite• Nationalism• westernization• Generalization: change and breakdown of traditional values and

organizations

Economic Consequences

Result: Slowed development and modernization

Cash Cropsdepleted the soil and made it difficult to grow

subsistence crops. undermine local industries because they sucked up

most of the labor force. once colonies gained their independence, years of

dependence on a single cash crop made it difficult to modernize and diversify their economies

Effects of European Imperialism on AfricaDirections: Using your answers from question #11 from Scramble for Africa sheet and pages 102-104 from the text, categorize the effects of European Imperialism on Africa as positive or negative to the development of Africa.

Positive Negative

Was European Imperialism in Africa more disruptive or beneficial to the African culture and its people?

Support your answer with evidence.

Positive

• Material Improvements– Transportation and communication– RR and Telegraphs– Hospitals– Sanitation and water systems– Formal education system (western)

• Educated African elite• Nationalism

Negative•Disruption of Traditional African Life•New political systems•New Economic pattern: money economy, cash crops, taxes, economic dependence, lack of diversity•migrant workers, chibaro = breakdown of Family•New attitude towards land•Racism•Christianity•Artificial boundaries•westernization•Generalization: change and breakdown of traditional values and organizations

Positive Negative

Material improvements:

•Transportation and communication

•RR and Telegraphs

•Hospitals

•Sanitation and water systems

•Formal education system (western)•Nationalism

•westernization

Disruption of Traditional African Life

•New political systems

•New Economic pattern: money economy, cash crops, taxes, dependence, lack of diversity

•migrant workers, chibaro = breakdown of Family

•New attitude towards land

•Racism

•Christianity

•Artificial boundaries

•Educated African elite

•Generalization: change and breakdown of traditional values and organizations