6.1: Rationales for Imperialism

• One major effect of Industrial Revolution is a new wave of empire building called imperialism

• Three main reasons for imperialism:
• Culture
• Nationalism
• Economics

Cultural Motives for Imperialism

Racial Ideologies and the Misuse of Science

• European Whites believed they were racially superior to the people they colonized

• “White man’s burden” by Rudyard Kipling says it is Europeans’ duty to civilize the inferior people

• Social Darwinism misappropriated Darwin’s theory of natural selection to justify the superiority of the whites and imperialism
• If the strongest survive and the weak die, then this principle should also apply to strong nations absorbing weaker nations

• Through this, many Europeans, with no consideration, would combine several cultures and peoples into one colony
• Could be used to explain how stuff like the Rwandan Genocide came to be

Religious Motives

• Christian missionaries also wanted to “civilize” people and spread Christianity

• Example of continuity:
• In last period, Spanish and Portuguese missionaries converted peoples in say the Americas
• In this time period British Protestant missionaries also participated in colonization and conversions

• Missionaries also had positive effects
• set up schools that also taught secular subjects like math and science
• improved medical care
• helped to abolish the slave trade

Nationalist Motives for Imperialism

• Countries wanted to show off the power of their nation by colonizing

British Imperialism

• After losing their colonies in the Americas they set out to conquer new colonies

• Conquered Australia, India, Burma, Singapore, Malacca

French Imperialism

• Established colonies in North Africa (specifically Algeria), West Africa (Senegal), and Indochina

Japanese Imperialism

• By late 1800s Japanese were significantly influencing Korea’s politics and economy
• Remember Korea is a tribute state of China

• China didn’t like this, and this conflict over influence in Korea sparked the Sino-Japanese War

• Sino-Japanese War took place in late 1800s
• Japan’s modernization allowed Japan to easily defeat China
• Japan took Korea and Taiwan

Economic Motives for Imperialism

• As industrialization ⬆️, demand for raw materials ⬆️

• They also needed new markets to sell their manufactured goods to

• British, French, Dutch got rights by local governments in India, Africa, Southeast Asia to setup trading posts AND the right to defend them
• The right to set up trading post is a continuity
• The right to defend them is a HUGE change
• This means that Europeans started to raise armies dedicated to protecting these posts
• These armies would embark on conquering more territory to add to the empire

British East India Company

• Was a royal charter granted a monopoly on England’s trade with India

• Primarily traded in cotton, silk, indigo, spice

• Kicked out the Portuguese out of India

• By early 1700s it become the major agent of British imperialism in India

• Also engaged in the slave trad and illegally exported opium to Chins

Dutch East India Company

• Replaced Portuguese in Spice Islands like Malacca

• In 1799 the Dutch government seized the company’s possessions