6.3: Indigenous Responses to State Expansion
- In response to European imperialism, nationalist movements emerged throughout South America, Africa, and Asia
- Many of the leaders of these nationalist movements were educated about European Enlightenment ideals and drew inspiration from that
Nationalist Movements in the Balkans
- Ottoman Empire in 1800s was starting to lose its territories due to rising nationalist movements
- Serbia (1815) and Greece (1832) won independence
South Asian Movements
- By mid 1800s, sepoys, Indian soldiers under British employ, made up the majority of the British armed forces in colonial India
- In 1857 British began using rifle cartridges greased with fat of cows and pigs
- Greatly infuriated both Muslim and Hindu sepoys
- The Indian Rebellion of 1857 (or Sepoy Rebellion) spread throughout cities in Northern India
- After this rebellion, the British Empire dissolved the British East India Company and took direct control of India by setting up the British Raj
- The raj took orders directly from London