C H A P T ER 2 1

THE HIGH TIDE OF IMPERIALISM

Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

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CHAPTER OUTLINE
AND FOCUS QUESTIONS

The Spread of Colonial Rule

What were the causes of the new imperialism of the
nineteenth century, and how did it differ from European
Revere the conquering heroes: Establishing British rule in Africa
expansion in earlier periods?
The Colonial System
What types of administrative systems did the various IN 1877, THE YOUNG BRITISH empire builder Cecil
colonial powers establish in their colonies, and how did Rhodes drew up his last will and testament. He bequeathed
these systems reflect the general philosophy of colonialism? his fortune, achieved as a diamond magnate in South Africa,
to two of his close friends and acquaintances. He also
India Under the British Raj
instructed them to use the inheritance to form a secret soci-
What were some of the major consequences of British ety with the aim of bringing about ‘‘the extension of British
rule in India, and how did they affect the Indian people? rule throughout the world, the perfecting of a system of
Colonial Regimes in Southeast Asia emigration from the United Kingdom . . . especially the occu-
pation by British settlers of the entire continent of Africa,
Which Western countries were most active in seeking
the Holy Land, the valley of the Euphrates, the Islands of
colonial possessions in Southeast Asia, and what were
Cyprus and Candia [Crete], the whole of South America. . . .
their motives in doing so?
The ultimate recovery of the United States of America as an
Empire Building in Africa integral part of the British Empire . . . then finally the founda-
What factors were behind the ‘‘scramble for Africa,’’ and tion of so great a power as to hereafter render wars impossi-
what impact did it have on the continent? ble and promote the best interests of humanity.’’1
Preposterous as such ideas sound today, they serve as
The Emergence of Anticolonialism a graphic reminder of the hubris that characterized the
How did the subject peoples respond to colonialism, and worldview of Rhodes and many of his contemporaries dur-
what role did nationalism play in their response? ing the age of imperialism, as well as the complex union of
moral concern and vaulting ambition that motivated their
CRITICAL THINKING
actions on the world stage.
What were the consequences of the new imperialism of the Through their efforts, Western colonialism spread
nineteenth century for the colonies and the colonial throughout much of the non-Western world during the
powers? How do you feel the imperialist countries should nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Spurred by the
be evaluated in terms of their motives and stated objectives?

614

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demands of the Industrial Revolution, a few powerful Hobson maintained that modern imperialism was a direct
Western states—notably, Great Britain, France, Germany, consequence of the modern industrial economy.
Russia, and the United States—competed avariciously for As in the earlier phase of Western expansion, how-
consumer markets and raw materials for their expanding ever, the issue was not simply an economic one. As
economies. By the end of the nineteenth century, virtually Hobson himself conceded, economic concerns were in-
all of the traditional societies in Asia and Africa were evitably tinged with political overtones and with ques-
under direct or indirect colonial rule. As the new century tions of national grandeur and moral purpose as well. In
began, the Western imprint on Asian and African societies, the minds of nineteenth-century Europeans, economic
for better or for worse, appeared to be a permanent feature wealth, national status, and political power went hand in
of the political and cultural landscape. hand with the possession of a colonial empire. To global
strategists, colonies brought tangible benefits in the world
of balance-of-power politics as well as economic profits,
and many nations became involved in the pursuit of
colonies as much to gain advantage over their rivals as to
The Spread of Colonial Rule acquire territory for its own sake.
The relationship between colonialism and national
Focus Question: What were the causes of the new survival was expressed directly in a speech by the French
imperialism of the nineteenth century, and how did it politician Jules Ferry in 1885. A policy of ‘‘containment or
differ from European expansion in earlier periods? abstinence,’’ he warned, would set France on ‘‘the broad
road to decadence’’ and initiate its decline into a ‘‘third- or
In the nineteenth century, a new phase of Western ex- fourth-rate power.’’ British imperialists, convinced by the
pansion into Asia and Africa began. Whereas European theory of social Darwinism that in the struggle between
aims in the East before 1800 could be summed up in Vasco nations, only the fit are victorious and survive, agreed. As
da Gama’s famous phrase ‘‘Christians and spices,’’ now a the British professor of mathematics Karl Pearson argued
new relationship took shape as European nations began to in 1900, ‘‘The path of progress is strewn with the wrecks of
view Asian and African societies as sources of industrial nations; traces are everywhere to be seen of the [slaugh-
raw materials and as markets for Western manufactured tered remains] of inferior races. . . . Yet these dead people
goods. No longer were Western gold and silver exchanged are, in very truth, the stepping stones on which mankind
for cloves, pepper, tea, silk, and porcelain. Now the pro- has arisen to the higher intellectual and deeper emotional
digious output of European factories was sent to Africa life of today.’’2
and Asia in return for oil, tin, rubber, and the other re- For some, colonialism had a moral purpose, whether
sources needed to fuel the Western industrial machine. to promote Christianity or to build a better world. The
British colonial official Henry Curzon declared that the
British empire ‘‘was under Providence, the greatest in-
The Motives
strument for good that the world has seen.’’ To Cecil
The reason for this change, of course, was the Industrial Rhodes, the most famous empire builder of his day, the
Revolution, which began in England in the late eighteenth extraction of material wealth from the colonies was only a
century and spread to the Continent a few decades later. secondary matter. ‘‘My ruling purpose,’’ he remarked, ‘‘is
Now industrializing countries in the West needed vital the extension of the British Empire.’’3 That British Em-
raw materials that were not available at home, as well as a pire, on which, as the saying went, ‘‘the sun never set,’’
reliable market for the goods produced in their factories. was the envy of its rivals and was viewed as the primary
The latter factor became increasingly crucial as producers source of British global dominance during the second
began to discover that their home markets could not al- half of the nineteenth century.
ways absorb domestic output, and thus they had to export
their manufactures to make a profit. When consumer
The Tactics
demand lagged, economic depression threatened.
As Western economic expansion into Asia and Africa With the change in European motives for colonization
gathered strength during the nineteenth century, it became came a corresponding shift in tactics. Earlier, when their
fashionable to call the process imperialism. Although the economic interests were more limited, European states
term imperialism has other meanings, in this instance it had generally been satisfied to deal with existing inde-
referred to the efforts of capitalist states in the West to pendent states rather than attempting to establish direct
seize markets, cheap raw materials, and lucrative avenues control over vast territories. There had been exceptions
for investment in the countries beyond Western civiliza- where state power at the local level was at the point of
tion. In this interpretation, the primary motives behind collapse (as in India), where European economic interests
the Western expansion were economic. The best-known were especially intense (as in Latin America and the East
promoter of this view was the British political economist Indies), or where there was no centralized authority (as in
John A. Hobson, who published a major analysis titled North America and the Philippines). But for the most
Imperialism: A Study in 1902. In his influential book, part, the Western presence in Asia and Africa had been

T HE S PREAD OF C OLONIAL R ULE 615

 limited to controlling the regional trade network and Asia, Thailand in Southeast Asia, Afghanistan and Persia
establishing a few footholds where the foreigners could in the Middle East, and mountainous Ethiopia in East
carry on trade and missionary activity. Africa, managed to escape internal disintegration or
After 1800, the demands of industrialization in subjection to colonial rule. For the most part, the ex-
Europe created a new set of dynamics. Maintaining ac- ceptions were the result of good fortune rather than
cess to industrial raw materials such as oil and rubber design. Thailand escaped subjugation primarily because
and setting up reliable markets for European manufac- officials in London and Paris found it more convenient to
tured products required more extensive control over transform the country into a buffer state than to fight
colonial territories. As competition for colonies in- over it. Ethiopia and Afghanistan survived due to their
creased, the colonial powers sought to solidify their hold remote location and mountainous terrain. Only Japan
over their territories to protect them from attack by managed to avoid the common fate through a concerted
their rivals. During the last two decades of the nine- strategy of political and economic reform.
teenth century, the quest for colonies became a scramble
as all the major European states, now joined by the
United States and Japan, engaged in a global land grab. The Colonial System
In many cases, economic interests were secondary to
security concerns or the requirements of national pres- Focus Question: What types of administrative systems
tige. In Africa, for example, the British engaged in a did the various colonial powers establish in their
struggle with their rivals to protect their interests in the colonies, and how did these systems reflect the general
Suez Canal and the Red Sea. In Southeast Asia, the philosophy of colonialism?
United States seized the Philippines from Spain at least
partly to keep them out of the hands of the Japanese, Once they had control of most of the world, what did the
and the French took over Indochina for fear that it colonial powers do with it? As we have seen, their pri-
would otherwise be occupied by Germany, Japan, or the mary objective was to exploit the natural resources of the
United States. subject areas and to open up markets for manufactured
By 1900, almost all the societies of Africa and Asia goods and capital investment from the mother country.
were either under full colonial rule or, as in the case of In some cases, that goal could be realized in cooperation
China and the Ottoman Empire, at a point of virtual with local political elites, whose loyalty could be earned,
collapse. Only a handful of states, such as Japan in East or purchased, by economic rewards or by confirming
them in their positions of
authority and status in a new
colonial setting. Sometimes,
however, this policy of indi-
rect rule was not feasible be-
cause local leaders refused to
cooperate with their colonial
masters or even actively re-
sisted the foreign conquest. In
such cases, the local elites
Art Media, Victoria and Albert Museum, London/HIP/The Image Works

were removed from power

and replaced with a new set of
officials recruited from the
mother country.
In general, the societies
most likely to actively resist
colonial conquest were those
with a long tradition of na-
tional cohesion and indepen-
dence, such as Burma and
Vietnam in Asia and the Afri-
can Muslim states in northern
Nigeria and Morocco. In those
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The Company Resident and His Puppet. The British of the East India Company areas, the colonial powers
gradually replaced the sovereigns of the once independent Indian states with puppet rulers tended to dispense with local
who carried out the company’s policies. Here we see the company’s resident dominating a collaborators and govern di-
procession in Tanjore in 1825, while the Indian ruler, Sarabhoji, follows like an obedient rectly. In parts of Africa, the
shadow. As a boy, Sarabhoji had been educated by European tutors and had filled his life and Indian subcontnent, and
home with English books and furnishings. the Malay peninsula, where

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the local authorities, for whatever reason, were willing to or were human beings so shaped by their history and
collaborate with the imperialist powers, indirect rule was geographical environment that their civilizations would
more common. inevitably remain distinct? In that case, a policy of cul-
The distinctions between direct rule and indirect rule tural transformation could not be expected to succeed
were not merely academic and often had fateful con- and could even lead to disaster (see the box on p. 618).
sequences for the peoples involved. Where colonial pow-
ers encountered resistance and were forced to overthrow Assimilation and Association In fact, colonial theorists
local political elites, they often adopted policies designed never decided this issue one way or the other. The
to eradicate the source of resistance and destroy the tra- French, who were most inclined to philosophize about
ditional culture. Such policies often had quite corrosive the problem, adopted the terms assimilation (which
effects on the indigenous societies and provoked resent- implied an effort to transform colonial societies in the
ment and resistance that not only marked the colonial Western image) and association (implying collabora-
relationship but even affected relations after the restora- tion with local elites while leaving local traditions
tion of national independence. The bitter struggles after alone) to describe the two alternatives and then pro-
World War II in Algeria, the Dutch East Indies, and ceeded to vacillate between them. French policy in In-
Vietnam can be ascribed in part to that phenomenon. dochina, for example, began as one of association but
switched to assimilation under pressure from those who
felt that colonial powers owed a debt to their subject
peoples. But assimilation (which in any case was never
The Philosophy of Colonialism
accepted as feasible or desirable by many colonial of-
To justify their rule, the colonial powers appealed in part ficials) aroused resentment among the local population,
to the time-honored maxim of ‘‘might makes right.’’ By many of whom opposed the destruction of their native
the end of the nineteenth century, that attitude received traditions. In the end, the French abandoned the at-
pseudoscientific validation from the concept of social tempt to justify their presence and fell back on a policy
Darwinism, which maintained that only societies that of ruling by force of arms.
moved aggressively to adapt to changing circumstances Other colonial powers had little interest in the issue.
would survive and prosper in a world governed by the The British, whether out of a sense of pragmatism or one
Darwinian law of ‘‘survival of the fittest.’’ of racial superiority, refused to entertain the possibility of
Some people, however, were uncomfortable with assimilation and treated their subject peoples as culturally
such a brutal view of the law of nature and sought a and racially distinct. In formulating a colonial policy for
moral justification that appeared to benefit the victim. the Philippines, the United States adopted a policy of
Here again, the concept of social Darwinism pointed the assimilation in theory but did not always put it into
way. By bringing the benefits of Western democracy, practice.
capitalism, and Christianity to the tradition-ridden so- To many of the colonial peoples, such questions
cieties of Africa and Asia, the colonial powers were en- must have appeared academic, since the primary ob-
abling primitive peoples to adapt to the challenges of the jectives of all the colonial states were economic exploi-
modern world. Buttressed by such comforting theories, tation and the retention of power. Like the British soldier
sensitive Western minds could ignore the brutal aspects in Kipling’s poem ‘‘On the Road to Mandalay,’’ all too
of colonialism and persuade themselves that in the long many Westerners living in the colonies believed that the
run the results would be beneficial for both sides. Few Great Lord Buddha was nothing but a ‘‘bloomin’ idol
were as adept at describing the ‘‘civilizing mission’’ of made of mud.’’
colonialism as the French administrator and twice gov-
ernor-general of French Indochina Albert Sarraut. While Colonialism in Action In practice, colonialism in India,
admitting that colonialism was originally an ‘‘act of force’’ Southeast Asia, and Africa exhibited many similarities
undertaken for commercial profit, he insisted that by but also some differences. Some of these variations can be
redistributing the wealth of the earth, the colonial process traced to political or social differences among the colonial
would result in a better life for all: powers themselves. The French, for example, often tried
to impose a centralized administrative system on their
Is it just, is it legitimate that such [an uneven distribution colonies that mirrored the system in use in France, while
of resources] should be indefinitely prolonged? . . . No! . . .
the British sometimes attempted to transform local ar-
Humanity is distributed throughout the globe. No race, no
people has the right or power to isolate itself egotistically istocrats into the equivalent of the landed gentry at home
from the movements and necessities of universal life.4 in Britain. Other differences stemmed from conditions in
the colonies themselves and the colonizers’ aspirations
But what about the possibility that historically and for them. For instance, the Western powers believed that
culturally the societies of Asia and Africa were funda- their economic interests were far more limited in Africa
mentally different from those of the West and could not, than elsewhere and therefore treated their African colo-
or would not, be persuaded to transform themselves nies somewhat differently than those in India or South-
along Western lines? Was the human condition universal, east Asia.

T HE C OLONIAL S YSTEM 617

 OPPOSING VIEWPOINTS
White Man’s Burden, Black Man’s Sorrow
One of the justifications for modern And when your goal is nearest
imperialism was the notion that the alleg- The end for others sought,
edly ‘‘more advanced’’ white peoples had Watch Sloth and heathen Folly
the moral responsibility to raise ‘‘ignorant’’ Bring all your hopes to nought.
native peoples to a higher level of civilization. Few
captured this notion better than the British poet Rud- Edmund Morel, The Black Man’s Burden
yard Kipling (1865–1936) in his famous poem The
It is [the Africans] who carry the ‘‘Black man’s burden.’’
White Man’s Burden. His appeal, directed to the
They have not withered away before the white man’s occu-
United States, became one of the most famous sets
pation. Indeed . . . Africa has ultimately absorbed within
of verses in the English-speaking world.
itself every Caucasian and, for that matter, every Semitic
That sense of moral responsibility, however, was
invader, too. In hewing out for himself a fixed abode in
often misplaced or, even worse, laced with hypocrisy.
Africa, the white man has massacred the African in heaps.
All too often, the consequences of imperial rule were
The African has survived, and it is well for the white settlers
detrimental to everyone living under colonial authority.
that he has. . . .
Few observers described the destructive effects of
What the partial occupation of his soil by the white
Western imperialism on the African people as well as
man has failed to do; what the mapping out of European
Edmund Morel, a British journalist whose book The
political ‘‘spheres of influence’’ has failed to do; what the
Black Man’s Burden pointed out some of the more
Maxim and the rifle, the slave gang, labour in the bowels
harmful aspects of colonialism in the Belgian Congo.
of the earth and the lash, have failed to do; what imported
Rudyard Kipling, The White Man’s Burden measles, smallpox and syphilis have failed to do; whatever
the overseas slave trade failed to do; the power of modern
Take up the White Man’s burden—
capitalistic exploitation, assisted by modern engines of de-
Send forth the best ye breed—
struction, may yet succeed in accomplishing.
Go bind your sons to exile
For from the evils of the latter, scientifically applied
To serve your captives’ need;
and enforced, there is no escape for the African. Its destruc-
To wait in heavy harness,
tive effects are not spasmodic; they are permanent. In its
On fluttered folk and wild—
permanence resides its fatal consequences. It kills not the
Your new-caught sullen peoples,
body merely, but the soul. It breaks the spirit. It attacks the
Half-devil and half-child.
African at every turn, from every point of vantage. It
Take up the White Man’s burden— wrecks his polity, uproots him from the land, invades his
In patience to abide, family life, destroys his natural pursuits and occupations,
To veil the threat of terror claims his whole time, enslaves him in his own home.
And check the show of pride;
By open speech and simple, According to Kipling, why should Western nations
An hundred times made plain take up the ‘‘white man’s burden,’’ as indicated in this
To seek another’s profit, poem? What was the ‘‘black man’s burden,’’ in the eyes
And work another’s gain. of Edmund Morel?

Take up the White Man’s burden— To read more of The Black Man’s Burden,
The savage wars of peace— enter the documents area of the World His-
Fill full the mouth of Famine tory Resource Center using the access card that is avail-
And bid the sickness cease; able for World History.

India Under the British Raj of its former greatness. During the next few decades,
the British sought to consolidate their control over
Focus Question: What were some of the major the Indian subcontinent, expanding from their base
consequences of British rule in India, and how did areas along the coast into the interior. Some territo-
they affect the Indian people? ries were taken over directly, first by the East India
Company and later by the British crown; others were
By 1800, the once glorious empire of the Mughals had ruled indirectly through their local maharajas and
been reduced by British military power to a shadow rajas.

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 Indian in Blood, English in Taste and Intellect
Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800–1859) English. The other half strongly recommend the Arabic
was named a member of the Supreme and Sanskrit. The whole question seems to me to be, which
Council of India in the early 1830s. In that language is the best worth knowing?
capacity, he was responsible for drawing up I have no knowledge of either Sanskrit or Arabic—
a new educational policy for British subjects in the but I have done what I could to form a correct estimate
area. In his Minute on Education, he considered the of their value. I have read translations of the most cele-
claims of English and various local languages to be- brated Arabic and Sanskrit works. I have conversed both
come the vehicle for educational training and decided here and at home with men distinguished by their profi-
in favor of the former. It is better, he argued, to teach ciency in the Eastern tongues. I am quite ready to take
Indian elites about Western civilization so as ‘‘to form the Oriental learning at the valuation of the Orientalists
a class who may be interpreters between us and the themselves. I have never found one among them who
millions whom we govern; a class of persons, Indian in could deny that a single shelf of a good European library
blood and color, but English in taste, in opinions, in was worth the whole native literature of India and
morals, and in intellect.’’ Later Macaulay became a Arabia. . . .
prominent historian. The debate in India over the rela- It is, I believe, no exaggeration to say, that all the his-
tive benefits of English and the various Indian lan- torical information which has been collected from all the
guages continues today. books written in the Sanskrit language is less valuable than
what may be found in the most paltry abridgments used at
Thomas Babington Macaulay, Minute on Education preparatory schools in England. In every branch of physical
We have a fund to be employed as government shall direct or moral philosophy the relative position of the two nations
for the intellectual improvement of the people of this coun- is nearly the same.
try. The simple question is, what is the most useful way of
employing it? How does the author of this document justify the
All parties seem to be agreed on one point, that the teaching of the English language? Do you find his argu-
dialects commonly spoken among the natives of this part ments persuasive? How might a critic respond?
of India contain neither literary or scientific information,
and are, moreover, so poor and rude that, until they are To read more of Minute on Education, enter
enriched from some other quarter, it will not be easy to the documents area of the World History
translate any valuable work into them. . . . Resource Center using the access card that is available
What, then, shall the language [of education] be? One for World History.
half of the Committee maintain that it should be the

Colonial Reforms of sati was outlawed, and widows were legally permitted
to remarry. The British also attempted to put an end
Not all of the effects of British rule were bad. British to the endemic brigandage (known as thuggee, which gave
governance over the subcontinent brought order and rise to the English word thug) that had plagued travelers
stability to a society that had been rent by civil war. By the in India since time immemorial. Railroads, the telegraph,
early nineteenth century, British control had been con- and the postal service were introduced to India shortly
solidated and led to a relatively honest and efficient after they appeared in Great Britain itself. Work began
government that in many respects operated to the benefit on the main highway from Calcutta to Delhi in 1839
of the average Indian. One of the benefits of the period (see Map 21.1), and the first rail network was opened
was the heightened attention given to education. Through in 1853. A new penal code based on the British model
the efforts of the British administrator Thomas Babington was adopted, and health and sanitation conditions were
Macaulay, a new school system was established to train improved.
the children of Indian elites, and the British civil service
examination was introduced (see the box above). The
instruction of young girls also expanded, with the primary
The Cost of Colonialism
purpose of making them better wives and mothers for the
educated male population. The admission of the first But the Indian people paid a high price for the peace
Indian woman to a Madras medical college, for example, and stability brought by the British raj (from the
occurred in 1875. Indian raja, or prince). Perhaps the most flagrant cost
British rule also brought an end to some of the was economic. While British entrepreneurs and a small
more inhumane aspects of Indian tradition. The practice percentage of the Indian population attached to the

I NDIA U NDER THE B RITISH R AJ 619

 passed legislation protecting far-
CHINA mers against eviction and un-
reasonable rent increases, but this
AFGHANISTAN KASHMIR measure had little effect outside
AND the southern provinces, where
JAMMU
it had originally been enacted.
PUNJAB Similarly, British officials made
Lahore Amritsar TIBET
few efforts during the nineteenth
Delhi century to introduce democratic
R.

us UNITED institutions or values to the

I nd

RAJPUTANA Agra PROVINCES

Tist
Lucknow Cawnpore Ganges R. Indian people. As one senior

a
R. ASSAM political figure remarked in
Varanasi Patna
Karachi SIND BENGAL
(Benares)
BIHAR Parliament in 1898, democratic
AND Calcutta institutions ‘‘can no more be car-
CENTRAL ORISSA BURMA ried to India by Englishmen . . .
Arabian Sea PROVINCES
than they can carry ice in their
Bombay luggage.’’5
BOMBAY Bay of Bengal British colonialism was also
HYDERABAD
remiss in bringing the benefits of
Goa
modern science and technology
Madras
to India. Some limited forms of
MYSORE industrialization took place, no-
Pondicherry
tably in the manufacturing of
Cochin textiles and jute (used in making
CEYLON rope). The first textile mill
0 250 500 750 Kilometers (CROWN opened in 1856. Seventy years
COLONY)
0 250 500 Miles later, there were eighty mills in
the city of Bombay alone. Nev-
ertheless, the lack of local capital
Territory under British rule French enclave
and the advantages given to
Territories permanently administered Hindu-majority provinces British imports prevented the
by government of India (mostly tribal)
Muslim-majority provinces emergence of other vital new
States and territories under Indian commercial and manufacturing
Area of large Sikh population
administration operations.
Portuguese enclave Foreign rule also had a psy-
chological effect on the Indian
MAP 21.1 India Under British Rule, 1805–1931. This map shows the different people. Although many British
forms of rule that the British applied in India under their control. colonial officials sincerely tried
Where were the major cities of the subcontinent located, and under whose rule did to improve the lot of the people
they fall? under their charge, British arro-
gance and contempt for native
tradition cut deeply into the
pride of many Indians, especially
imperial system reaped financial benefits from British those of high caste, who were accustomed to a position
rule, it brought hardship to millions of others in both of superior status in India. Educated Indians trained
the cities and the rural areas. The introduction of in the Anglo-Indian school system for a career in the
British textiles, for example, put thousands of Bengali civil service, as well as Eurasians born to mixed mar-
women out of work and severely damaged the local riages, often imitated the behavior and dress of their
textile industry. rulers, speaking English, eating Western food, and
In rural areas, the British introduced the zamindar taking up European leisure activities, but many
system (see Chapter 16) in the misguided expectation rightfully wondered where their true cultural loyalties
that it would both facilitate the collection of agricul- lay (see the comparative illustration on p. 621). This
tural taxes and create a new landed gentry, who could, cultural collision was poignantly described in the
as in Britain, become the conservative foundation of novel A Passage to India by the British writer E. M.
imperial rule. But the local gentry took advantage of Forster, which relates the story of a visiting English-
this new authority to increase taxes and force the less woman who becomes interested in the Indian way
fortunate peasants to become tenants or lose their land of life, much to the dismay of the local European
entirely. When rural unrest threatened, the government community.

620 CHAPTER 21 THE HIGH TIDE OF IMPERIALISM

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Archives Charmet/The Bridgeman Art Library

Werner Forman/Art Resource, NY

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COMPARATIVE ILLUSTRATION
Cultural Influences—East and West. When Europeans moved into Asia
in the nineteenth century, some Asians began to imitate European customs
for prestige or social advancement. Seen at the left, for example, is a young
Vietnamese during the 1920s dressed in Western sports clothes, learning to
play tennis. Sometimes, however, the cultural influence went the other way. At the right,
an English nabob, as European residents in India were often called, apes the manner of
an Indian aristocrat, complete with harem and hookah, the Indian water pipe. The
paintings on the wall, however, are in the European style.
Compare and contrast the art styles in these two paintings. What message do they
send to the viewer?

Colonial Regimes in British colony on the

island of Singapore at
0 200 Kilometers
Str

Southeast Asia 0 150 Miles

ai

the tip of the peninsula.

to
fM

When the invention of MALAYA

ala

Focus Question: Which Western countries were most steam power enabled a
cc

active in seeking colonial possessions in Southeast merchant ships to save Malacca

Asia, and what were their motives in doing so? time and distance by Singapore
passing through the
In 1800, only two societies in Southeast Asia were under SUMATRA
Strait of Malacca rather
effective colonial rule: the Spanish Philippines and the than sailing with the
Dutch East Indies. During the nineteenth century, how- westerlies across the
ever, European interest in Southeast Asia increased rap- southern Indian Ocean, Singapore and Malaya
idly, and by 1900, virtually the entire area had come Singapore became a
under Western domination (see Map 21.2). major stopping point for traffic en route to and from
China and other commercial centers in the region.
‘‘Opportunity in the Orient’’: The Colonial During the next few decades, the pace of European
penetration into Southeast Asia accelerated as the British
Takeover in Southeast Asia
established control over Burma, arousing fears in France
The process began after the Napoleonic Wars, when the that its British rival might soon establish a monopoly of
British, by agreement with the Dutch, abandoned their trade in South China. The French still maintained a
claims to territorial possessions in the East Indies in re- clandestine missionary organization in Vietnam despite
turn for a free hand in the Malay peninsula. In 1819, the harsh persecution by the local authorities, who viewed
colonial administrator Stamford Raffles founded a new Christianity as a threat to Confucian doctrine. In 1857,

C OLONIAL R EGIMES IN S OUTHEAST A SIA 621

 MAP 21.2 Colonial Southeast
CHINA 0 500 1,000 1,500 Kilometers Asia. This map shows the spread of
0 500 1,000 Miles European colonial rule into Southeast
Asia from the sixteenth century to the
Portuguese end of the nineteenth. Malacca,
initially seized by the Portuguese in
BURMA Spanish and American
(1826) LAOS 1511, was taken by the Dutch in the
(1893) Dutch seventeenth century and then by the
VIETNAM British British one hundred years later.
THAILAND (1859) French
What was the significance of
CAMBODIA PHILIPPINES Malacca? View an animated version
(1863) (Spain, 1521; Not colonized
of this map or related maps at www.
United
States, 1898) (1895) Date of initial claim cengage.com/history/Duiker/World6e
or control
BRUNEI
MALAYA (1888)
NORTH BORNEO
(1786) SARAWAK (1888)
(1888)
MALACCA SINGAPORE
(Port., 1511) (1819)

INDONESIA (early 1600s) NEW

GUINEA

TIMOR (1566)
British Library/HIP/Art Resource, NY
!
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Government Hill in Singapore. After occupying the island of Singapore early in the
nineteenth century, the British turned what was once a pirate lair at the entrance to the Strait
of Malacca into one of the most important commercial seaports in Asia. By the end of the
century, Singapore was home to a rich mixture of peoples, both European and Asian. This
painting by a British artist in the mid-nineteenth century graphically displays the multiracial
character of the colony as strollers of various ethnic backgrounds share space on Government
Hill, with the busy harbor in the background. Almost all colonial port cities became melting
pots of people from various parts of the world. Many of the immigrants served as merchants,
urban laborers, and craftsmen in the new imperial marketplace.

622 CHAPTER 21 THE HIGH TIDE OF IMPERIALISM

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the French government decided to compel the Vietnamese colonial powers tried wherever possible to work with
to accept French protection. A naval attack launched a local elites to facilitate the exploitation of natural resources.
year later was not a total success, but the French even- Indirect rule reduced the cost of training European ad-
tually forced the Nguyen dynasty in Vietnam to cede ministrators and had a less corrosive impact on the local
territories in the Mekong River delta. A generation later, culture. In the Dutch East Indies, for example, officials of
French rule was extended over the remainder of the the Dutch East India Company (VOC) entrusted local
country. By 1900, French seizure of neighboring Cam- administration to the indigenous landed aristocracy, who
bodia and Laos had led to the creation of the French- maintained law and order and collected taxes in return
ruled Indochinese Union. for a payment from the VOC (see the box on p. 624). The
After the French conquest of Indochina, Thailand British followed a similar practice in Malaya. While es-
was the only remaining independent state on the tablishing direct rule over the crucial commercial centers
Southeast Asian mainland. Under the astute leadership of of Singapore and Malacca, the British allowed local
two remarkable rulers, King Mongkut and his son, King Muslim rulers to maintain princely power in the interior
Chulalongkorn, the Thai attempted to introduce Western of the peninsula.
learning and maintain relations with the major European
powers without undermining internal stability or inviting Administration and Education Indirect rule, however
an imperialist attack. In 1896, the British and the French convenient and inexpensive, was not always feasible. In
agreed to preserve Thailand as an independent buffer some instances, local resistance to the colonial conquest
zone between their possessions in Southeast Asia. made such a policy impossible. In Burma, the staunch
The final piece in the colonial edifice in Southeast opposition of the monarchy and other traditionalist
Asia was put in place in 1898, when U.S. naval forces forces caused the British to abolish the monarchy and
under Commodore George Dewey defeated the Spanish administer the country directly through their colonial
fleet in Manila Bay. President William McKinley agonized government in India. In Indochina, the French used both
over the fate of the Philippines but ultimately decided direct and indirect means. They imposed direct rule on
that the moral thing to do was to turn the islands into an the southern provinces in the Mekong delta but governed
American colony to prevent them from falling into the the north as a protectorate, with the emperor retaining
hands of the Japanese. In fact, the Americans (like the titular authority from his palace in Hué. The French
Spanish before them) found the islands convenient as a adopted a similar policy in Cambodia and Laos, where
jumping-off point for the China trade (see Chapter 22). local rulers were left in charge with French advisers to
The mixture of moral idealism and the desire for profit counsel them.
was reflected in a speech given in the Senate in January Whatever method was used, colonial regimes in
1900 by Senator Albert Beveridge of Indiana: Southeast Asia, as elsewhere, were slow to create demo-
cratic institutions. The first legislative councils and as-
Mr. President, the times call for candor. The Philippines are semblies were composed almost exclusively of European
ours forever, ‘‘territory belonging to the United States,’’ as
residents in the colony. The first representatives from the
the Constitution calls them. And just beyond the Philip-
pines are China’s illimitable markets. We will not retreat indigenous population were wealthy and conservative in
from either. . . . We will not renounce our part in the mis- their political views. When Southeast Asians complained,
sion of our race, trustee, under God, of the civilization of colonial officials gradually and reluctantly began to
the world. And we will move forward to our work, not broaden the franchise. Albert Sarraut advised patience in
howling out regrets like slaves whipped to their burdens, awaiting the full benefits of colonial policy: ‘‘I will treat
but with gratitude for a task worthy of our strength, and you like my younger brothers, but do not forget that I am
thanksgiving to Almighty God that He has marked us as
the older brother. I will slowly give you the dignity of
His chosen people, henceforth to lead in the regeneration
of the world.6 humanity.’’7
Colonial officials were also slow to adopt educational
Not all Filipinos agreed with Senator Beveridge’s reforms. Although the introduction of Western education
portrayal of the situation. Under the leadership of Emilio was one of the justifications of colonialism, colonial of-
Aguinaldo, guerrilla forces fought bitterly against U.S. ficials soon discovered that educating native elites could
troops to establish their independence from both Spain backfire. Often there were few jobs for highly trained
and the United States. But America’s first war against lawyers, engineers, and architects in colonial societies,
guerrilla forces in Asia was a success, and the bulk of the leading to the threat of an indigestible mass of unem-
resistance collapsed in 1901. President McKinley had his ployed intellectuals who would take out their frustrations
stepping-stone to the rich markets of China. on the colonial regime. Educational opportunities for the
common people were even harder to come by. In French-
controlled Vietnam in 1917, only 3,000 of the 23,000
The Nature of Colonial Rule
villages in the country had a public school. The French
In Southeast Asia, economic profit was the immediate had opened a university in Hanoi, but it was immediately
and primary aim of colonial enterprise. For that purpose, closed as a result of student demonstrations. As one

C OLONIAL R EGIMES IN S OUTHEAST A SIA 623

 The Effects of Dutch Colonialism in Java
Eduard Douwes Dekker was a
Dutch colonial official who
served in the East Indies for
nearly twenty years. In 1860,
he published a critique of the Dutch colo-
nial system that had an impact in the
Netherlands similar to that of Harriet
Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin in the
United States. In the following excerpt
from his book Max Havelaar, or Coffee
Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company,
Douwes Dekker described the system as it

William J. Duiker
was applied on the island of Java, in the
Indonesian archipelago.

Eduard Douwes Dekker, Max Havelaar

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Dutch administration buildings in Batavia
The Javanese is by nature a husbandman;
the ground whereon he is born, which gives
much for little labor, allures him to it, and, above all things, obeys his chiefs; to win the chiefs, it was only necessary to
he devotes his whole heart and soul to the cultivating of give them a part of the gain,—and success was complete.
his rice fields, in which he is very clever. He grows up in To be convinced of the success of that policy we need
the midst of his sawahs [rice fields] . . . ; when still very only consider the immense quantity of Javanese products
young, he accompanies his father to the field, where he sold in Holland; and we shall also be convinced of its injus-
helps him in his labor with plow and spade, in constructing tice, for, if anybody should ask if the husbandman himself
dams and drains to irrigate his fields; he counts his years gets a reward in proportion to that quantity, then I must
by harvests; he estimates time by the color of the blades in give a negative answer. The Government compels him to
his field; he is at home amongst the companions who cut cultivate certain products on his ground; it punishes him if
paddy with him; he chooses his wife amongst the girls of he sells what he has produced to any purchaser but itself;
the dessah [village], who every evening tread the rice with and it fixes the price actually paid. The expenses of transport
joyous songs. The possession of a few buffaloes for plowing to Europe through a privileged trading company are high;
is the ideal of his dreams. The cultivation of rice is in Java the money paid to the chiefs for encouragement increases
what the vintage is in the Rhine provinces and in the the prime cost; and because the entire trade must produce
south of France. But there came foreigners from the West, profit, that profit cannot be got in any other way than by
who made themselves masters of the country. They wished paying the Javanese just enough to keep him from starving,
to profit by the fertility of the soil, and ordered the native which would lessen the producing power of the nation.
to devote a part of his time and labor to the cultivation of
other things which should produce higher profits in the According to the author, what was the impact
markets of Europe. To persuade the lower orders to do so, of Dutch colonial policies on Javanese peasants? How
they had only to follow a very simple policy. The Javanese might a colonial official respond to the criticism?

French official noted in voicing his opposition to in- coffee, and palm oil from the East Indies; and sugar and
creasing the number of schools in Vietnam, educating the copra (coconut meat) from the Philippines.
natives meant not ‘‘one coolie less, but one rebel more.’’ In some Southeast Asian colonial societies, a measure
of industrial development did take place to meet the
Economic Development Colonial powers were equally needs of the European population and local elites. Major
reluctant to take up the ‘‘white man’s burden’’ in the area manufacturing cities like Rangoon in lower Burma, Ba-
of economic development. As we have seen, their pri- tavia on the island of Java, and Saigon in French Indo-
mary goals were to secure a source of cheap raw mate- china grew rapidly. Although the local middle class
rials and to maintain markets for manufactured goods. benefited from the increased economic activity, most
Such objectives would be undermined by the emergence large industrial and commercial establishments were
of advanced industrial economies. So colonial policy owned and managed by Europeans or, in some cases, by
concentrated on the export of raw materials---teakwood Indian or Chinese merchants. In Saigon, for example, even
from Burma; rubber and tin from Malaya; spices, tea and the production of nuoc mam, the traditional Vietnamese

624 CHAPTER 21 THE HIGH TIDE OF IMPERIALISM

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 fish sauce, was under Chinese ownership. In most cities,
foreigners controlled banking, major manufacturing ac- CHRONOL0GY Imperialism in Asia
tivities, and the import-export trade. The natives were Stamford Raffles arrives in Singapore 1819
more apt to work in a family business, in factory or as-
British attack lower Burma 1826
sembly plants, or as peddlers, day laborers, or rickshaw
pullers---in other words, at less profitable and less capital- British rail network opens in northern India 1853
intensive businesses. Sepoy Rebellion 1857
French attack Vietnam 1858
Colonialism and the Countryside Despite the growth of British and French agree to neutralize Thailand 1896
an urban economy, the vast majority of people in the Commodore Dewey defeats Spanish fleet in Manila Bay 1898
colonial societies continued to farm the land. Many
French create Indochinese Union 1900
continued to live by subsistence agriculture, but the co-
lonial policy of emphasizing cash crops for export also led
to the creation of a form of plantation agriculture in
which peasants were recruited to work as wage laborers proportion of their children would die in infancy. But
on rubber and tea plantations owned by Europeans. To improved sanitation and medical treatment resulted in
maintain a competitive edge, the plantation owners kept lower rates of infant mortality and a staggering increase
the wages of their workers at poverty level. Many plan- in population. The population of the island of Java, for
tation workers were ‘‘shanghaied’’ (the English term example, increased from about a million in the precolo-
originated from the practice of recruiting laborers, often nial era to about 40 million at the end of the nineteenth
from the docks and streets of Shanghai, by unscrupulous century. Under these conditions, the rural areas could no
means such as the use of force, alcohol, or drugs) to work longer support the growing populations, and many
on plantations, where conditions were often so inhumane young people fled to the cities to seek jobs in factories or
that thousands died. High taxes, enacted by colonial shops. The migratory pattern gave rise to squatter set-
governments to pay for administrative costs or im- tlements in the suburbs of the major cities.
provements in the local infrastructure, were a heavy As in India, colonial rule did bring some benefits to
burden for poor peasants. Southeast Asia. It led to the beginnings of a modern
The situation was made even more difficult by the economic infrastructure and to what is sometimes called
steady growth of the population. Peasants in Asia had a ‘‘modernizing elite’’ dedicated to the creation of an
always had large families on the assumption that a high advanced industrialized society. The development of
an export market helped create an
entrepreneurial class in rural areas.
This happened, for example, on the
outer islands of the Dutch East
Indies (such as Borneo and Suma-
tra), where small growers of rubber
trees, palm trees for oil, coffee, tea,
and spices began to share in the
profits of the colonial enterprise.
A balanced assessment of the
colonial legacy in Southeast Asia
must take into account that the early
stages of industrialization are diffi-
cult in any society. Even in western
Europe, industrialization led to the
creation of an impoverished and
powerless proletariat, urban slums,
William J. Duiker

and displaced peasants driven from

the land. In much of Europe and
Japan, however, the bulk of the
population eventually enjoyed bet-
!
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Royal Palace at Bangkok. Few societies in Asia have been as adept at absorbing ter material conditions as the profits
Western influence without destroying their own institutions and customs as the Thai. In from manufacturing and plantation
some cases, this talent has extended to the field of architecture. The illustration shown agriculture were reinvested in the
here depicts a late-nineteenth-century building on the grounds of the royal palace in national economy and gave rise to
Bangkok. Note the way in which the architect has attempted to synthesize Western increased consumer demand. In
classical techniques with the rooftop design and Buddhist stupas characteristic of contrast, in Southeast Asia, most of
traditional religious buildings in Thailand. the profits were repatriated to the

C OLONIAL R EGIMES IN S OUTHEAST A SIA 625

 William J. Duiker
William J. Duiker

!
!

c
c

The Production of Rubber. Natural rubber was one of the most important cash crops
in the European colonies in Asia. Rubber trees, native to the Amazon River basin in Brazil,
were eventually transplanted to Southeast Asia, where they became a major source of profit.
Workers on the plantations received few benefits, however. Once the sap of the tree (known as
latex and shown on the left) was extracted, it was hardened and pressed into sheets (right
photo) and then sent to Europe for refining.

colonial mother country, while displaced peasants fleeing outrage among humanitarians in several European coun-
to cities like Rangoon, Batavia, and Saigon found little tries over the purchase, sale, and exploitation of human
opportunity for employment. Many were left with sea- beings. Dutch merchants effectively ceased trafficking in
sonal employment, with one foot on the farm and the slaves in 1795, and the Danes stopped in 1803. A few years
other in the factory. The old world was being destroyed later, the slave trade was declared illegal in both Great
while the new one had yet to be born. Britain and the United States. The British began to apply
pressure on other nations to follow suit, and most did so
after the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, leaving only
Empire Building in Africa Portugal and Spain as European practitioners of the trade
south of the equator. In the meantime, the demand for
Focus Question: What factors were behind the slaves began to decline in the Western Hemisphere, and by
‘‘scramble for Africa,’’ and what impact did it have on the 1880s, slavery had been abolished in all major coun-
the continent? tries of the world. It continued to exist, although at a
reduced rate, along the Swahili Coast of East Africa.
Up to the beginning of the nineteenth century, the rela- Economic as well as humanitarian interests contrib-
tively limited nature of European economic interests in uted to the end of the slave trade. The cost of slaves had
Africa had provided little temptation for the penetration begun to rise after the middle of the eighteenth century,
of the interior or the political takeover of the coastal and the growth of the slave population reduced the need
areas. The slave trade, the main source of European profit for additional labor on the plantations in the Americas.
during the eighteenth century, could be carried on by The British, with some reluctant assistance from France
using African rulers and merchants as intermediaries. and the United States, added to the costs by actively using
Disease, political instability, the lack of transportation, their navy to capture slave ships and free the occupants.
and the generally unhealthy climate all deterred the Eu- When slavery was abolished in the United States in 1863
ropeans from more extensive efforts in Africa. and in Cuba and Brazil seventeen years later, the slave
trade across the Atlantic was effectively brought to an end.
The Growing European Presence As the slave trade in the Atlantic declined during the
first half of the nineteenth century, European interest in
in West Africa
what was sometimes called ‘‘legitimate trade’’ in natural
As the new century dawned, the slave trade itself was in a resources increased. Exports of peanuts, timber, hides,
state of decline. One reason was the growing sense of and palm oil from West Africa increased substantially

626 CHAPTER 21 THE HIGH TIDE OF IMPERIALISM

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during the first decades of the century, while imports of The growing European presence in West Africa led to
textile goods and other manufactured products rose. the emergence of a new class of Africans educated in
Stimulated by growing commercial interests in the Western culture and often employed by Europeans. Many
area, European governments began to push for a more became Christians, and some studied in European or
permanent presence along the coast. During the first American universities. At the same time, the European
decades of the nineteenth century, the British established presence inevitably led to increasing tensions with African
settlements along the Gold Coast and in Sierra Leone, governments in the area. British efforts to increase trade
where they set up agricultural plantations for freed slaves with Ashanti led to conflict in the 1820s, but British in-
who had returned from the Western Hemisphere or had fluence in the area intensified in later decades. Most Af-
been liberated by British ships while en route to the rican states, especially those with a fairly high degree of
Americas. A similar haven for ex-slaves was developed political integration, were able to maintain their inde-
with the assistance of the United States in Liberia. The pendence from this creeping European encroachment,
French occupied the area around the Senegal River near called ‘‘informal empire’’ by some historians, but the
Cape Verde, where they attempted to develop peanut prospects for the future were ominous. When local groups
plantations (see Map 21.3). attempted to organize to protect their interests, the British
stepped in and annexed the coastal
states as the British colony of Gold
Coast in 1874. At about the same

O TT O MA
time, the British extended an infor-
TU
UN
U NIS
MO
MOR
ORO
OR OCC
O CC
CCOO Mediterranean Sea mal protectorate over warring eth-
RIO
O nic groups in the Niger delta.
DE
E
NE
ORO ALGERIA
MP
LIBYA
EGYPT IR
E
Imperialist Shadow
over the Nile
SE
ENE
EGAL FRENCH FRENCH SOM
OM
MALILAND
LI
GAMBIA WEST
ES AFRICA L Khartoum
EQUATORIAL
E A similar process was under way in
i ER
RITRE
REA
RE
AFRICA the Nile valley. There had long been
Ng

GUINEA SUDAN
er

Nile

interest in shortening the trade

R.

NIG
NIGERIA ABYSSINIA
A route to the East by digging a canal
( HIOPIA)
(ET across the low, swampy isthmus
R.

SIE
ERRRA
RA CAM
CA
C A EROON
ON
ON
NS
LEONENE
E TOG
TOG
OGOLA
OLA
O LA
A ND
ND separating the Mediterranean from
ER A GOL
GOLDD RIO
R O Congo
LIBERI R UG ND
UGA
UG DA
D A the Red Sea. The Turks had con-
COAST MUN NI KENYA
.

FRENCH sidered constructing a canal from

EQ
QUATORIA
QUU AL Inn di
d an
BELGIAN
N Cairo to Suez in the sixteenth cen-
AFR
A
AFFR IICA
CA
C A
CONGO GERMAN ZANZIBAR
EAST tury, as had the French king Louis
Atlantic AFRICA O ean
Oc XIV a century later, but the French
ANGOLA did nothing about it until the end
NORTHE
THERN
Ocean RHODESIA
A of the eighteenth century. At that
Zambez time, Napoleon planned a military
i
R.

GERMAN
G SOUTHER
S O RN takeover of Egypt to cement French
SOU
UTHWEST T RHODES
HO SIA MA
ADAGA SC
SCA R
AFR
AF
A F ICA power in the eastern Mediterranean
BECHUANAL
A AN
ND and open a faster route to India.
UNIONN MOZAM
MOZ AMB
MBIIQU
MB IQU
QUEE Napoleon’s plan proved abor-
0 750 1,500 2,250 Kilomete
eters
rs OF SWAZILAND
S AND tive. French troops landed in Egypt
SOUTH in 1798 and toppled the ramshackle
BASUTOLAND
0 750 1,500 Miles AFRICA
Mamluk regime in Cairo, but the
British counterattacked, destroying
Possessions, 1914
the French fleet and eventually
Spain Great Britain Germany Belgium forcing the French to evacuate in
Portugal France Italy Independent disarray. The British restored the
Mamluks to power, but in 1805,
MAP 21.3 Africa in 1914. By the start of the twentieth century, virtually all of Muhammad Ali, an Ottoman army
Africa was under some form of European rule. The territorial divisions established by officer of Turkish or Albanian ex-
colonial powers on the continent of Africa on the eve of World War I are shown here. traction, seized control.
Which European countries possessed the most colonies in Africa? Why did Ethiopia During the next three decades,
remain independent? View an animated version of this map or related maps at Muhammad Ali introduced a series
www.cengage.com/history/Duiker/World6e of reforms to bring Egypt into the

E MPIRE B UILDING IN A FRICA 627

 modern world. He was completed in 1869. The project brought little imme-

OT
Mediterranean Sea diate benefit to Egypt, however. The construction not only
modernized the

TO
army, set up a pub- cost thousands of lives but also left the Egyptian govern-

MA IRE
EM
lic educational sys- ment deep in debt, forcing it to depend increasingly on

N
P
Suez Canal tem (supplementing foreign financial support. When an army revolt against
the traditional reli- growing foreign influence broke out in 1881, the British
gious education pro- stepped in to protect their investment (they had bought
SINAI
PENINSULA vided in Muslim Egypt’s canal company shares in 1875) and establish an
schools), and spon- informal protectorate that would last until World War I.
sored the creation Rising discontent in the Sudan added to Egypt’s
Gu
lf o

EGYPT of a small industrial growing internal problems. In 1881, the Muslim cleric
fS
ue

sector producing Muhammad Ahmad, known as the Mahdi (in Arabic, the
z

refined sugar, textiles, ‘‘rightly guided one’’), led a religious revolt that brought
0 150 Kilometers
Red Sea
munitions, and even much of the upper Nile under his control. The famous
0 100 Miles ships. Muhammad British general Charles Gordon, who had earlier com-
Ali also extended manded Manchu armies fighting against the Taiping
The Suez Canal
Egyptian authority Rebellion in China (see Chapter 22), led a military force
southward into the Sudan and across the Sinai penin- to Khartoum to restore Egyptian authority, but his be-
sula into Arabia, Syria, and northern Iraq and even sieged army was captured in 1885 by the Mahdi’s troops,
briefly threatened to seize Istanbul itself. To prevent the thirty-six hours before a British rescue mission reached
possible collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the British Khartoum. Gordon himself died in the battle, which
and the French recognized Muhammad Ali as the became one of the most dramatic news stories of the last
hereditary pasha (later to be known as the khedive) of quarter of the century.
Egypt under the loose authority of the Ottoman The weakening of Turkish rule in the Nile valley had
government. a parallel farther to the west, where local viceroys in
The growing economic importance of the Nile valley, Tripoli, Tunis, and Algiers had begun to establish their
along with the development of steam navigation, made the autonomy. In 1830, the French, on the pretext of pro-
heretofore visionary plans for a Suez canal more urgent. tecting European shipping in the Mediterranean from
In 1854, the French entrepreneur Ferdinand de Lesseps pirates, seized the area surrounding Algiers and integrated
signed a contract to begin construction of the canal, and it it into the French Empire. By the mid-1850s, more than
150,000 Europeans had settled in the
fertile region adjacent to the coast. In
1881, the French imposed a protec-
torate on neighboring Tunisia. Only
Tripoli and Cyrenaica (the Ottoman
provinces that comprise modern Libya)
remained under Turkish rule until the
Italians seized them in 1911--1912.

Arab Merchants and European

Missionaries in East Africa
Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz/Art Resource, NY

As always, events in East Africa fol-

lowed their own distinctive pattern
of development. Whereas the Atlan-
tic slave trade was in decline, demand
for slaves was increasing on the other
side of the continent due to the
growth of plantation agriculture in
the region and on the islands off the
coast. The French introduced sugar
to the island of Réunion early in the
!
c

The Opening of the Suez Canal. The Suez Canal, which connected the century, and plantations of cloves
Mediterranean and Red Seas, was constructed under the direction of the French (introduced from the Moluccas in
promoter Ferdinand de Lesseps. Still in use today, the canal is Egypt’s greatest the eighteenth century) were estab-
revenue producer. This sketch shows the ceremonial passage of the first ships lished under Omani Arab ownership
through the canal in 1869. Note the combination of sail and steam power, reflecting on the island of Zanzibar. Zanzibar
the transition to coal-powered ships in the mid-nineteenth century. itself became the major shipping port

628 CHAPTER 21 THE HIGH TIDE OF IMPERIALISM

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 FILM & HISTORY
Khartoum (1966)
The tragic mission of General Charles ‘‘Chinese’’
Gordon to Khartoum in 1884 was one of the most
dramatic news stories of the last quarter of the
nineteenth century. Gordon had already become re-
nowned in his native Great Britain for his successful
efforts to bring an end to the practice of slavery in
North Africa. He had also attracted attention for
helping the Manchu Empire suppress the Taiping
Rebellion in China in the 1860s (see Chapter 22).

Cinerama/United Artists/The Kobal Collection

But the Khartoum affair not only marked the tragic
culmination of his storied career but also symbol-
ized in broader terms the epic struggle in Britain
between advocates and opponents of imperial ex-
pansion. The battle for Khartoum thus became an
object lesson in modern British history.
Proponents of British imperial expansion ar-
gued that the country must project its power in the
Nile River valley to protect the Suez Canal as its
main trade route to the East. Critics argued that im-
General Charles Gordon (Charlton Heston) astride his camel in
perial overreach would inevitably entangle the
Khartoum, Sudan
country in unwinnable wars in far-off places. The
film Khartoum, produced in London in 1966, dra- unwinnable war; he thus orders Gordon to lead an evacu-
matically captures the ferocity of the battle for the Nile as ation of the city. The most fascinating character in the
well as its significance for the future of the British Empire. film is the Mahdi himself (played brilliantly by Sir Lau-
General Gordon, stoically played by the American actor rence Olivier), who firmly believes that he has a sacred
Charlton Heston, is a devout Christian who has devoted mandate to carry the Prophet’s words to the global
his life to carrying out the moral imperative of imperialism Muslim community.
in the continent of Africa. When peace in the Sudan (then The conclusion of the film, set in the breathtaking
a British protectorate in the upper Nile River valley) is beauty of the Nile River valley, takes place as the clash
threatened by the forces of radical Islam led by the Muslim of wills reaches a climax in the battle for control of Khar-
mystic Muhammad Ahmad— known as the Mahdi— Gordon toum. Although the film’s portrayal of a face-to-face
leads a mission to Khartoum under orders to prevent catas- meeting between Gordon and the Mahdi is not based
trophe there. But Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone, on fact, the narrative serves as an object lesson on the
admirably portrayed by the consummate British actor dangers of imperial overreach and as an eerie foretaste
Ralph Richardson, fears that Gordon’s messianic desire of the clash between Islam and Christendom in our
to save the Sudan will entrap his government in an own day.

along the entire east coast during the early nineteenth The tenacity of the slave trade in East Africa---
century, and the sultan of Oman, who had reasserted Zanzibar had now become the largest slave market in
Arab suzerainty over the region in the aftermath of the Africa---was undoubtedly a major reason for the rise of
collapse of Portuguese authority, established his capital Western interest and Christian missionary activity in the
at Zanzibar in 1840. region during the middle of the century. The most re-
From Zanzibar, Arab merchants fanned out into the nowned missionary was the Scottish doctor David Liv-
interior plateaus in search of slaves, ivory (known as ingstone, who arrived in Africa in 1841. Because
‘‘white gold’’), and other local products. The competition Livingstone spent much of his time exploring the interior
for slaves spread as far as Lake Victoria and the lower of the continent, discovering Victoria Falls in the process,
Sudan as traders from the north launched their own raids he was occasionally criticized for being more explorer
to obtain conscripts for the Egyptian army. The khedive than missionary. But Livingstone was convinced that it
sent General Charles Gordon to Uganda to stop the was his divinely appointed task to bring Christianity to
practice, but in the absence of alternative sources of in- the far reaches of the continent, and his passionate op-
come, local merchants could not easily be persuaded to position to slavery did far more to win public support for
give up a lucrative occupation. the abolitionist cause than the efforts of any other figure

E MPIRE B UILDING IN A FRICA 629

 Legacy of Shame. By the mid-
nineteenth century, most European nations
had prohibited the trade in African slaves,
but slavery continued to exist in East Africa
under the sponsorship of the sultan of
Zanzibar. When the Scottish missionary
David Livingstone witnessed a slave raid
near Lake Tanganyika in 1871, he wrote,
‘‘It gave me the impression of being in
Hell.’’ Despite his efforts, the practice was
not eradicated until well into the next
century. Shown here are domestic slaves on
the island of Zanzibar under the baton of a
supervisor. The photograph was taken
about 1890.
Bojan Brecelj/CORBIS
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c

of his generation. Public outcries provoked the

British to redouble their attempts to bring the
slave trade in East Africa to an end, and in 1873,
the slave market at Zanzibar was finally closed as
the result of pressure from London. Shortly 0 250 500 750 Kilometers

before, Livingstone had died of illness in Central 0 250 500 Miles

Africa, but some of his followers brought his

R.
body to the coast for burial. His legacy is still
po
o
mp
visible today in the form of an Anglican cathe- 2)
Li

5
dral that was erected on the site of the slave (18
AL
market at Zanzibar. V APretoria
S
AN
TR
Bantus, Boers, and British in the South Va
al
R.
E 854
ANGTE 1
Nowhere in Africa did the European presence OR STA
grow more rapidly than in the south. During the REE ZULULAND
Or

F Annexed by
a

eighteenth century, the Boers, Afrikaans-speak-

ng

e Britain, 1877–1881
.
R

ing farmers descended from the original Dutch NATAL

Ea Annexed by
settlers of the Cape Colony, began to migrate ster o
f

n frontier Britain, 1845

eastward. After the British seized control of the C ap ny
e Colo TRANSKEI
cape from the Dutch during the Napoleonic CAPE COLONY Annexed by
Wars, the Boers’ eastward migration intensified, Cape Colony, 1871–1894
Cape Town
culminating in the Great Trek of the mid-1830s.
In part, the Boers’ departure was provoked by
the different attitude of the British to the native Cape of
population. Slavery was abolished in the British Good Hope African nations or tribal groups

Empire in 1834, and the British government Land partly emptied by African migrations
was generally more sympathetic to the rights of Great Trek (Boer migration)
the local African population than were the
Boer republics
Afrikaners, many of whom believed that white
superiority was ordained by God and fled from
British rule to control their own destiny. Even- MAP 21.4 The Struggle for Southern Africa. European settlers
tually, the Boers formed their own independent from the Cape Colony expanded into adjacent areas of southern Africa in
republics---the Orange Free State and the South the nineteenth century. The arrows indicate the routes taken by Afrikaans-
African Republic (usually called the Transvaal; speaking Boers.
see Map 21.4). Who were the Boers, and why did they migrate eastward?

630 CHAPTER 21 THE HIGH TIDE OF IMPERIALISM

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 Mary Evans Picture Library/Everett Collection
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c
The Sunday Battle. When Boer ‘‘trekkers’’ seeking to escape British rule arrived in the
Transvaal in the 1830s and 1840s, they were bitterly opposed by the Zulus, a Bantu-speaking
people who resisted European encroachments on their territory for decades. In the battle
shown in this 1847 lithograph, thousands of Zulu warriors engaged in a battle with their
European rivals. Zulu resistance was not finally quelled until the end of the nineteenth century.

Although the Boer occupation of the eastern terri- Great Britain, and Portugal, engaged in a feeding frenzy
tory was initially facilitated by internecine warfare among to seize a piece of African territory before the carcass had
the local inhabitants of the region, the new settlers met been picked clean. By 1900, virtually all of the continent
some resistance. In the early nineteenth century, the had been placed under some form of European rule. The
Zulus, a Bantu people led by a talented ruler named British had consolidated their authority over the Nile
Shaka, engaged in a series of wars with the Europeans valley and seized additional territories in East Africa (see
that ended only when Shaka was overthrown. The local Map 21.3 on p. 627). The French retaliated by advancing
Khoisan people also sometimes reacted with violence eastward from Senegal into the central Sahara. They also
when the Boers attempted to drive them off their grazing occupied the island of Madagascar and other territories
lands. One Dutch official complained that the Khoisan in West and Central Africa. In between, the Germans
were driving settlers from their farms ‘‘for no other rea- claimed the hinterland opposite Zanzibar, as well as
son than because they saw that we were breaking up the coastal strips in West and Southwest Africa north of the
best land and grass, where their cattle were accustomed to cape, and King Leopold II of Belgium claimed the Congo.
graze.’’8 Ultimately, most of the black Africans in the Boer Eventually, Italy entered the contest and seized modern
republics were confined to reservations. Libya and some of the Somali coast.
What had happened to spark the sudden imperialist
hysteria that brought an end to African independence?
The Scramble for Africa Clearly, the level of trade between Europe and Africa was
At the beginning of the 1880s, most of Africa was still not sufficient to justify the risks and the expense of
independent. European rule was limited to the fringes of conquest. More important than economic interests were
the continent, such as Algeria, the Gold Coast, and South the intensified rivalries among the European states that
Africa. Other areas like Egypt, lower Nigeria, Senegal, and led them to engage in imperialist takeovers out of fear
Mozambique were under various forms of loose protec- that if they did not, another state might do so, leaving
torate. But the pace of European penetration was accel- them at a disadvantage. As one British diplomatic official
erating, and the constraints that had limited European remarked, a protectorate at the mouth of the Niger River
rapaciousness were fast disappearing. would be an ‘‘unwelcome burden,’’ but a French protec-
The scramble began in the mid-1880s when several torate there would be ‘‘fatal.’’ In such circumstances,
European states, including Belgium, France, Germany, statesmen felt compelled to obtain colonies as a hedge

E MPIRE B UILDING IN A FRICA 631

 against future actions by rivals. In the most famous ex- Bismarck, convened a conference in Berlin in 1884 to set
ample, the British solidified their control over the entire ground rules for future annexations of African territory
Nile valley to protect the Suez Canal from seizure by the by European nations. The conference combined high-
French. minded resolutions with a hardheaded recognition of
Another consideration might be called the ‘‘mis- practical interests. The delegates called for free commerce
sionary factor,’’ as European missionary interests lobbied in the Congo and along the Niger River as well as for
with their governments for colonial takeovers to facilitate further efforts to end the slave trade. At the same time,
their efforts to convert the African population to Chris- the participants recognized the inevitability of the im-
tianity. The concept of social Darwinism and the ‘‘white perialist dynamic, agreeing only that future annexations
man’s burden’’ persuaded many that it was in the interests of African territory should not be given international
of the African people, as well as their conquerors, to be recognition until effective occupation had been demon-
introduced more rapidly to the benefits of Western civ- strated. No African delegates were present.
ilization (see the box on p. 618). Even David Livingstone The Berlin Conference had been convened to avert
had become convinced that missionary work and eco- war and reduce tensions among European nations
nomic development had to go hand in hand, pleading to competing for the spoils of Africa. It proved reasonably
his fellow Europeans to introduce the ‘‘three C’s’’ successful at achieving the first objective but less so at
(Christianity, commerce, and civilization) to the conti- the second. During the next few years, African territo-
nent. How much easier such a task would be if African ries were annexed without provoking a major confron-
peoples were under benevolent European rule! tation between the Western powers, but in the late
There were more prosaic reasons as well. Advances in 1890s, Britain and France reached the brink of conflict
Western technology and European superiority in firearms at Fashoda, a small town on the Nile River in the Sudan.
made it easier than ever for a small European force to The French had been advancing eastward across the
defeat superior numbers. Furthermore, life expectancy for Sahara with the transparent objective of controlling the
Europeans living in Africa had improved. With the dis- regions around the upper Nile. In 1898, British and
covery that quinine (extracted from the bark of the cin- Egyptian troops seized the Sudan from successors of the
chona tree) could provide partial immunity from the Mahdi and then marched southward to head off the
ravages of malaria, the mortality rate for Europeans living French. After a tense face-off at Fashoda, the French
in Africa dropped dramatically in the 1840s. By the end of government backed down, and British authority over
the century, European residents in tropical Africa faced the area was secured. Except for the Mediterranean lit-
only slightly higher risks of death by disease than in- toral and their small possessions of Djibouti and a
dividuals living in Europe.
Under these circumstances,
King Leopold of Belgium used
missionary activities as an ex-
cuse to claim vast territories in
the Congo River basin (Belgium,
he said, as ‘‘a small country, with
a small people,’’ needed a colony
to enhance its image).9 This set
off a desperate race among Eu-
ropean nations to stake claims
throughout sub-Saharan Africa.
Leopold ended up with the ter-
ritories south of the Congo
River, while France occupied
areas to the north (Leopold be-
Snark/Art Resource, NY

queathed the Congo to Belgium

on his death). Meanwhile, on the
eastern side of the continent,
Germany (through the activities
of an ambitious missionary and
!
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with the agreement of the British, The Scramble for Africa. The rivalry among Western powers for territory in Africa at
who needed German support the end of the nineteenth century inspired much controversy in Europe between supporters
against the French) annexed the and opponents of the imperialist enterprise. In this cartoon, published in the contemporary
colony of Tanganyika. To avert French journal The Butterplate, the anonymous artist lampoons the struggle between the
the possibility of violent clashes British and the French, resulting here in a torn map of Africa. Significantly, the cartoon
among the great powers, the does not adopt a partisan position on the issue while implying that the results will not be
German chancellor, Otto von beneficial for either side.

632 CHAPTER 21 THE HIGH TIDE OF IMPERIALISM

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 declined, and most European governments settled down
CHRONOL0GY Imperialism in Africa to govern their new territories with the least effort and
Dutch abolish slave trade in Africa 1795
expense possible. In many cases, this meant a form of
indirect rule similar to what the British used in the
Napoleon invades Egypt 1798
princely states in India. The British, with their tradition
Slave trade declared illegal in Great Britain 1808 of decentralized government at home, were especially
French seize Algeria 1830 prone to adopt this approach.
Boers’ Great Trek in southern Africa 1830s
Sultan of Oman establishes capital at Zanzibar 1840 Indirect Rule In the minds of British administrators,
David Livingstone arrives in Africa 1841 the stated goal of indirect rule was to preserve African
Slavery abolished in the United States 1863 political traditions. The desire to limit cost and incon-
Suez Canal completed 1869
venience was one reason for this approach, but it may
also have been due to the conviction that Africans were
Zanzibar slave market closed 1873
inherently inferior to the white race and thus incapable of
British establish Gold Coast colony 1874 adopting European customs and institutions. In any
British establish informal protectorate over Egypt 1881 event, indirect rule entailed relying to the greatest extent
Berlin Conference on Africa 1884 possible on existing political elites and institutions. Ini-
Charles Gordon killed at Khartoum 1885 tially, in some areas the British simply asked a local ruler
to formally accept British authority and to fly the Union
Confrontation at Fashoda 1898
Jack over official buildings. Sometimes it was the Africans
Boer War 1899–1902 who did the bidding, as in the case of the African leaders
Union of South Africa established 1910 in Cameroons who wrote to Queen Victoria:
We wish to have your laws in our towns. We want to have
portion of the Somali coast, the French were restricted every fashion altered; also we will do according to your Con-
to equatorial Africa. sul’s word. Plenty wars here in our country. Plenty murder
Ironically, the only major clash between Europeans and plenty idol worshippers. Perhaps these lines of our writ-
over Africa took place in southern Africa, where compe- ing will look to you as an idle tale.
We have spoken to the English consul plenty times
tition among the powers was almost nonexistent. The about having an English government here. We never have
discovery of gold and diamonds in the Boer republic of the answer from you, so we wish to write you ourselves.10
Transvaal was the source of the problem. Clashes between
the Afrikaner population and foreign (mainly British) Nigeria offers a typical example of British indirect
miners and developers led to an attempt by Cecil Rhodes, rule. British officials maintained the central administra-
prime minister of the Cape Colony and a prominent en- tion, but local authority was assigned to native chiefs,
trepreneur in the area, to subvert the Transvaal and bring with British district officers serving as intermediaries with
it under British rule. In 1899, the so-called Boer War broke the central administration. Where a local aristocracy did
out between Britain and the Transvaal, which was backed not exist, the British assigned administrative responsibility
by its fellow republic, the Orange Free State. Guerrilla to clan heads from communities in the vicinity. The local
resistance by the Boers was fierce, but the vastly superior authorities were expected to maintain law and order and
forces of the British were able to prevail by 1902. To to collect taxes from the native population. As a general
compensate the defeated Afrikaner population for the loss rule, indigenous customs were left undisturbed, although
of independence, the British government agreed that only the institution of slavery was abolished (see the box on
whites would vote in the now essentially self-governing p. 634). A dual legal system was instituted that applied
colony. The Boers were placated, but the brutalities com- African laws to Africans and European laws to foreigners.
mitted during the war (the British introduced an institu- One advantage of such an administrative system was
tion later to be known as the concentration camp) created that it did not severely disrupt local customs and in-
bitterness on both sides that continued to fester through stitutions. Nevertheless, it had several undesirable con-
future decades. sequences. In the first place, it was essentially a fraud, since
all major decisions were made by the British admin-
istrators while the native authorities served primarily as a
Colonialism in Africa
mechanism for enforcing those decisions. Moreover, in-
As we have seen, European economic interests were more direct rule served to perpetuate the autocratic system often
limited in Africa than elsewhere. Having seized the con- in use prior to colonial takeover. It was official policy to
tinent in what could almost be described as a fit of hys- inculcate respect for authority in areas under British rule,
teria, the European powers had to decide what to do with and there was a natural tendency to view the local aris-
it. With economic concerns relatively limited except for tocracy as the African equivalent of the British ruling class.
isolated areas like the gold mines in the Transvaal and Such a policy provided few opportunities for ambitious
copper deposits in the Belgian Congo, interest in Africa and talented young Africans from outside the traditional

E MPIRE B UILDING IN A FRICA 633

 ‘‘There’s a European, There’s a European!’’
Most Africans living outside the port cities At that time Yusufu was the [Fulani] king of Kano. He
had little idea of what to expect from the did not like the Europeans, he did not wish them, he
arrival of the white man and the new colo- would not sign their treaty. Then he saw that perforce he
nial authority. Thanks to these memoirs, would have to agree, so he did. We Habe wanted them to
recounted a half-century later by an African woman come, it was the Fulani who did not like it. When the Euro-
from northern Nigeria, we are offered an intimate peans came the Habe saw that if you worked for them
glimpse into the arrival of the British at the end of the they paid you for it, they didn’t say, like the Fulani, ‘‘Com-
nineteenth century. It is interesting to note that slavery moner, give me this! Commoner, bring me that!’’ Yes, the
among Africans was still a long-established tradition in Habe wanted them. . . .
the area. In a later passage, the woman remarks that The Europeans said that there were to be no more
her family lost income from the flight of its slaves, but slaves; if someone said ‘‘Slave!’’ you could complain to
the loss was offset by a reduction in taxes that African the alkali [judge] who would punish the master who said
farmers had traditionally been compelled to pay to fill it, the judge said, ‘‘That is what the Europeans have
the pockets of local officials and chiefs. decreed.’’ . . . When slavery was stopped, nothing much hap-
pened at our rinji [the farm where their slaves lived] except
that some slaves whom we had bought in the market ran
Baba, a Hausa Woman of Nigeria
away. Our own father went to his farm and worked, he and
When I was a maiden the Europeans first arrived. Ever his son took up their large hoes. . . . They farmed guinea-
since we were quite small the malams [Muslim scholars] corn and millet and groundnuts and everything; before
had been saying that the Europeans would come with a this they had supervised the slaves’ work—now they did
thing called a train, they would come with a thing called a their own. When the midday food was ready, the women
motor-car. . . . They would stop wars, they would repair the of the compound would give us children the food, one of
world, they would stop oppression and lawlessness, we us drew water, and off we went to the farm to take the
should live at peace with them. We used to go and sit men their food at the foot of a tree.
quietly and listen to the prophecies. . . .
I remember when a European came to Karo on a Why did the Fulani and the Habe peoples
horse, and some of his foot soldiers went into the town. respond in different ways to the arrival of the Euro-
Everyone came out to look at them. . . . Everyone at Karo peans? How did the Europeans affect the institution
ran away—‘‘There’s a European, there’s a European!’’ . . . of slavery in the area?

elite and thus sowed the seeds for class tensions after the British Rule in South Africa The British used a different
restoration of independence in the twentieth century. system in southern Africa, where there was a high per-
centage of European settlers. The situation was further
The British in East Africa The situation was somewhat complicated by the division between English-speaking and
different in East Africa, especially in Kenya, which had a Afrikaner elements within the European population. In
relatively large European population attracted by the 1910, the British agreed to the creation of the independent
temperate climate in the central highlands. The local Union of South Africa, which combined the old Cape
government had encouraged white settlers to migrate to Colony and Natal with the Boer republics. The new union
the area as a means of promoting economic development adopted a representative government, but only for the
and encouraging financial self-sufficiency. To attract European population, while the African reserves of Ba-
Europeans, fertile farmlands in the central highlands sutoland (now Lesotho), Bechuanaland (now Botswana),
were reserved for European settlement, while, as in and Swaziland were subordinated directly to the crown.
South Africa, specified reserve lands were set aside for The union was now free to manage its own domestic af-
Africans. The presence of a substantial European mi- fairs and possessed considerable autonomy in foreign re-
nority (although in fact they represented only about lations. Formal British rule was also extended to the
1 percent of the entire population) had an impact on remaining lands south of the Zambezi River, which were
Kenya’s political development. The white settlers actively eventually divided into the territories of Northern and
sought self-government and dominion status similar Southern Rhodesia. Southern Rhodesia attracted many
to that granted to such former British possessions as British immigrants, and in 1922, after a popular referen-
Canada and Australia. The British government, however, dum, it became a crown colony (see the box on p. 635).
was not willing to run the risk of provoking racial ten-
sions with the African majority and agreed only to es- Direct Rule, French Style Most other European nations
tablish separate government organs for the European governed their African possessions through a form of
and African populations. direct rule. The prototype was the French system, which

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 The Ndebele Rebellion
As British forces advanced northward from We knew that we had very little chance because their
the Cape Colony toward the Zambezi River weapons were so much superior to ours. But we meant to
in the 1890s, they overran the Ndebele peo- fight to the last, feeling that even if we could not beat
ple, who occupied rich lands in the region them we might at least kill a few of them and so have
near the site of the ruins of Great Zimbabwe. Angered some sort of revenge. . . .
by British brutality, Ndebele warriors revolted in 1896 I remember a fight . . . when we charged the white men.
to throw off their oppressors. Despite the Ndebele’s There were some hundreds of us; the white men also were
great superiority in numbers, British units possessed many. We charged them at close quarters: we thought we
the feared Maxim gun, which mowed down African had a good chance to kill them but the Maxims were too
attackers by the hundreds. Faced with defeat, the much for us. . . . Many of our people were killed in this
Ndebele king, Lobengula, fled into the hills and com- fight. . . .
mitted suicide. In the following account, a survivor We were still fighting when we heard that [Cecil] Rhodes
describes the conflict. was coming and wanted to make peace with us. It was best
to come to terms he said, and not go shedding blood like
Ndansi Kumalo, A Personal Account this on both sides. . . . So peace was made. Many of our peo-
We surrendered to the white people and were told to go ple had been killed, and now we began to die of starvation;
back to our homes and live our usual lives and attend to and then came the rinderpest and the cattle that were still
our crops. But the white men sent native police who did left to us perished. We could not help thinking that all these
abominable things; they were cruel and assaulted a lot dreadful things were brought by the white people.
of our people and helped themselves to our cattle and
goats. . . . They interfered with our wives and molested Compare this account with that of the Hausa
them. . . . We thought it best to fight and die rather than woman from Nigeria in the document on p. 634. What
bear it. . . . factors might account for the differences?

reflected the centralized administrative system introduced ‘‘sacred trust’’ to be maintained by the civilized countries
in France itself by Napoleon. As in the British colonies, at until the Africans became capable of self-government.
the top of the pyramid was a French official, usually More emphasis was placed on economic development and
known as the governor-general, who was appointed from on the exploitation of natural resources to provide the
Paris and governed with the aid of a bureaucracy in the colonies with the means of achieving self-sufficiency. More
capital city. At the provincial level, French commissioners Africans were now serving in colonial administrations, al-
were assigned to deal with local administrators, but the though relatively few were placed in positions of respon-
latter were required to be conversant in French and could sibility. On the other hand, race consciousness probably
be transferred to a new position at the needs of the increased during this period. Segregated clubs, schools, and
central government. churches were established as more European officials
Moreover, the French ideal was to assimilate their brought their wives and began to raise families in the
African subjects into French culture rather than pre- colonies. At the same time, European feelings of superiority
serving their native traditions. Africans were eligible to to their African subjects led to countless examples of
run for office and to serve in the French National As- cruelty similar to Western practices in Asia. While the in-
sembly, and a few were appointed to high positions in the stitution of slavery was discouraged, African workers were
colonial administration. Such policies reflected the rela- often subjected to unbelievably harsh conditions as they
tive absence of racist attitudes in French society, as well as were put to use in promoting the cause of imperialism.
the conviction among the French of the superiority of
Gallic culture and their revolutionary belief in the uni- Women in Colonial Africa The establishment of colo-
versality of human nature. nial rule had a mixed impact on the rights and status of
After World War I, European colonial policy in Africa women in Africa. Sexual relationships changed profoundly
entered a new and more formal phase. The colonial ad- during the colonial era, sometimes in ways that could justly
ministrative network was extended to a greater degree into be described as beneficial. Colonial governments attempted
outlying areas, where it was represented by a district official to bring an end to forced marriage, bodily mutilation such
and defended by a small native army under European as clitoridectomy, and polygamy. Missionaries introduced
command. Greater attention was given to improving social women to Western education and encouraged them to
services, including education, medicine and sanitation, and organize themselves to defend their interests.
communications. The colonial system was now viewed But the colonial system had some unfavorable
more formally as a moral and social responsibility, a consequences as well. African women had traditionally

E MPIRE B UILDING IN A FRICA 635

 Serving the White Ruler.
Although European governments
claimed to be carrying out a
civilizing mission in Africa, all
too often the local population
was forced to labor in degrading
conditions to serve the economic
interests of the occupying power.
Here, African workers carry
British officers across a
mangrove swamp in Central
Africa. Two porters in the rear
Mary Evans Picture Library/The Image Works

bring the liquor.

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benefited from the prestige of matrilineal systems and that possesses common institutions, traditions, language,
were empowered by their traditional role as the primary and customs (see the comparative essay ‘‘The Rise of
agricultural producers in their community. Under colo- Nationalism’’ in Chapter 20). Few nations in the world
nialism, European settlers not only took the best land for today meet such criteria. Most modern states contain a
themselves but also, in introducing new agricultural variety of ethnic, religious, and linguistic communities,
techniques, tended to deal exclusively with males, en- each with its own sense of cultural and national identity.
couraging them to develop lucrative cash crops, while Should Canada, for example, which includes peoples of
women were restricted to traditional farming methods. French, English, and Native American heritage, be con-
Whereas African men applied chemical fertilizer to the sidered a nation? Another question is how nationalism
fields, women used manure. While men began to use differs from other forms of tribal, religious, or linguistic
bicycles, and eventually trucks, to transport goods, affiliation. Should every group that resists assimilation
women still carried their goods on their heads, a practice into a larger political entity be called nationalist?
that continues today. In British colonies, Victorian atti- Such questions complicate the study of nationalism
tudes of female subordination led to restrictions on even in Europe and North America and make agreement
women’s freedom, and positions in government that they on a definition elusive. They create even greater di-
had formerly held were now closed to them. lemmas in discussing Asia and Africa, where most so-
cieties are deeply divided by ethnic, linguistic, and
religious differences and the very term nationalism is a
The Emergence of Anticolonialism foreign concept imported from the West (see the box on
p. 637). Prior to the colonial era, most traditional so-
Focus Question: How did the subject peoples respond cieties in Africa and Asia were formed on the basis of
to colonialism, and what role did nationalism play in religious beliefs, tribal loyalties, or devotion to heredi-
their response? tary monarchies. Although individuals in some coun-
tries may have identified themselves as members of a
Thus far we have looked at the colonial experience pri- particular national group, others viewed themselves as
marily from the point of view of the colonial powers. subjects of a king, members of a tribe, or adherents to a
Equally important is the way the subject peoples reacted particular religion.
to the experience. Looking back, it seems clear that their The advent of European colonialism brought the
primary response was to turn to nationalism as a means consciousness of modern nationhood to many of the
of preserving their ethnic, cultural, or religious identity. societies of Asia and Africa. The creation of European
colonies with defined borders and a powerful central
government led to the weakening of tribal and village ties
and a significant reorientation in the individual’s sense of
Stirrings of Nationhood
political identity. The introduction of Western ideas of
As noted earlier, nationalism refers to a state of mind citizenship and representative government produced a
rising out of an awareness of being part of a community new sense of participation in the affairs of government.

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 The Civilizing Mission in Egypt
In many parts of the colonial world, European man] has not trodden underfoot. Any place he goes he
occupation served to sharpen class divisions takes control of its resources . . . and turns them into
in traditional societies. Such was the case in profit . . . and if he does harm to the original inhabitants, it
Egypt, where the British protectorate, estab- is only that he pursues happiness in this world and seeks it
lished in the early 1880s, benefited many elites, who wherever he may find it. . . . For the most part he uses his
profited from the introduction of Western culture. Ordi- intellect, but when circumstances require it, he deploys
nary Egyptians, less inclined to adopt foreign ways, sel- force. He does not seek glory from his possessions and col-
dom profited from the European presence. In response, onies, for he has enough of this through his intellectual
British administrators showed little patience for their achievements and scientific inventions. What drives the
subjects who failed to recognize the superiority of Englishman to dwell in India and the French in Algeria . . . is
Western civilization. This view found expression in the profit and the desire to acquire resources in countries
words of the governor-general, Lord Cromer, who where the inhabitants do not know their value or how to
remarked in exasperation, ‘‘The mind of the Oriental, . . . profit from them.
like his picturesque streets, is eminently wanting in sym- When they encounter savages they eliminate them or
metry. His reasoning is of the most slipshod description.’’ drive them from the land, as happened in America . . . and
Cromer was especially irritated at the local treatment of is happening now in Africa. . . . When they encounter a
women, arguing that the seclusion of women and the nation like ours, with a degree of civilization, with a past,
wearing of the veil were the chief causes of Islamic and a religion . . . and customs and . . . institutions . . . they
backwardness. deal with its inhabitants kindly. But they do soon acquire
Such views were echoed by some Egyptian elites, its most valuable resources, because they have greater
who were utterly seduced by Western culture and em- wealth and intellect and knowledge and force. . . . [The veil
braced the colonialists’ condemnation of native ways. constituted] a huge barrier between woman and her eleva-
The French-educated lawyer Qassim Amin was one ex- tion, and consequently a barrier between the nation and its
ample. His book, The Liberation of Women, published in advance.
1899 and excerpted here, precipitated a heated debate
between those who considered Western nations the liber- Why does the author believe that Western culture
ators of Islam and those who reviled them as oppressors. would be beneficial to Egyptian society? How might a
critic of colonialism respond?
Qassim Amin, The Liberation of Women To read Cromer’s ‘‘Why Britain Acquired
European civilization advances with the speed of steam Egypt in 1882,’’ enter the documents area of
and electricity, and has even overspilled to every part of the World History Resource Center using the access
the globe so that there is not an inch that he [European card that is available for World History.

At the same time, the appearance of a new elite class Traditional Resistance: A Precursor
based not on hereditary privilege or religious sanction to Nationalism
but on alleged racial or cultural superiority aroused a
shared sense of resentment among the subject peoples, The beginnings of modern nationalism can be found in
who felt a common commitment to the creation of an the initial resistance by the indigenous peoples to the
independent society. By the first quarter of the twentieth colonial conquest. Although, strictly speaking, such re-
century, political movements dedicated to the overthrow sistance was not ‘‘nationalist’’ because it was essentially
of colonial rule had arisen throughout much of the non- motivated by the desire to defend traditional institutions,
Western world. it did reflect a primitive concept of nationhood in that it
Modern nationalism, then, was a product of colo- aimed at protecting the homeland from the invader; later
nialism and, in a sense, a reaction to it. But a sense of patriotic groups have often hailed early resistance move-
nationhood does not emerge full-blown in a society. The ments as the precursors of twentieth-century nationalist
rise of modern nationalism is a process that begins movements. Thus traditional resistance to colonial con-
among a few members of the educated elite (most quest may logically be viewed as the first stage in the
commonly among articulate professionals such as law- development of modern nationalism.
yers, teachers, journalists, and doctors) and then spreads Such resistance took various forms. For the most
only gradually to the mass of the population. Even after part, it was led by the existing ruling class. In the
national independence has been realized, as we shall see, Ashanti kingdom in Africa and in Burma and Vietnam
it is often questionable whether a mature sense of na- in Southeast Asia, resistance to Western domination was
tionhood has been created. initially directed by the imperial courts. In South Africa,

T HE E MERGENCE OF A NTICOLONIALISM 637

 OPPOSING VIEWPOINTS
To Resist or Not to Resist
How to respond to the imposition of colonial indicate that your anxious concern was not only for my
rule was sometimes an excruciating problem own security but also for the peace and order of our entire
for political elites in many Asian countries, region. I understood plainly your sincere arguments.
since resistance often seemed futile while I have concluded that if our country has survived
simply adding to the suffering of the indigenous popu- these past thousand years when its territory was not
lation. Hoang Cao Khai and Phan Dinh Phung were large, its army not strong, its wealth not great, it was be-
members of the Confucian scholar-gentry from the cause the relationships between king and subjects, fathers
same village in Vietnam. Yet they reacted in dramatically and children, have always been regulated by the five
different ways to the French conquest of their country. moral obligations. In the past, the Han, the Sung, the
Their exchange of letters, reproduced here, illustrates Yuan, the Ming time and again dreamt of annexing our
the dilemmas they faced. country and of dividing it up into prefectures and dis-
tricts within the Chinese administrative system. But never
Hoang Cao Khai’s Letter to Phan Dinh Phung were they able to realize their dream. Ah! if even China,
Soon, it will be seventeen years since we ventured upon which shares a common border with our territory, and is
different paths of life. How sweet was our friendship when a thousand times more powerful than Vietnam, could not
we both lived in our village. . . . At the time when the capi- rely upon her strength to swallow us, it was surely be-
tal was lost and after the royal carriage had departed, you cause the destiny of our country had been willed by
courageously answered the appeals of the King by raising Heaven itself.
the banner of righteousness. It was certainly the only thing The French, separated from our country until the pres-
to do in those circumstances. No one will question that. ent day by I do not know how many thousand miles, have
But now the situation has changed and even those crossed the oceans to come to our country. Wherever they
without intelligence or education have concluded that came, they acted like a storm, so much so that the Emperor
nothing remains to be saved. How is it that you, a man of had to flee. The whole country was cast into disorder. Our
vast understanding, do not realize this? . . . You are deter- rivers and our mountains have been annexed by them at a
mined to do whatever you deem righteous. . . . But though stroke and turned into a foreign territory.
you have no thoughts for your own person or for your Moreover, if our region has suffered to such an extent,
own fate, you should at least attend to the sufferings of the it was not only from the misfortunes of war. You must real-
population of a whole region. . . . ize that wherever the French go, there flock around them
Until now your actions have undoubtedly accorded groups of petty men who offer plans and tricks to gain the
with your loyalty. May I ask however what sin our people enemy’s confidence. . . . They use every expedient to
have committed to deserve so much hardship? I would un- squeeze the people out of their possessions. That is how
derstand your resistance, did you involve but your family hundreds of misdeeds, thousands of offenses have been
for the benefit of a large number. As of now, hundreds of perpetrated. How can the French not be aware of all the
families are subject to grief; how do you have the heart to suffering that the rural population has had to endure?
fight on? I venture to predict that, should you pursue your Under these circumstances, is it surprising that families
struggle, not only will the population of our village be should be disrupted and the people scattered?
destroyed but our entire country will be transformed into a My friend, if you are troubled about our people, then
sea of blood and a mountain of bones. It is my hope that I advise you to place yourself in my position and to think
men of your superior morality and honesty will pause a about the circumstances in which I live. You will under-
while to appraise the situation. stand naturally and see clearly that I do not need to add
anything else.
Reply of Phan Dinh Phung to Hoang Cao Khai
In your letter, you revealed to me the causes of calamities Explain briefly the reasons advanced by each
and of happiness. You showed me clearly where advan- writer to justify his actions. Which argument do you believe
tages and disadvantages lie. All of which sufficed to would earn more support from contemporaries? Why?

as we have seen, the Zulus engaged in a bitter war of Similarly, after the decrepit monarchy in Vietnam had
resistance to Boer colonists arriving from the Cape bowed to French pressure, a number of civilian and
Colony. In some cases, traditionalists continued to op- military officials set up an organization called Can
pose foreign conquest even after resistance had collapsed Vuong (literally, ‘‘save the king’’) and continued their
at the center. In India, Tipu Sultan resisted the British in resistance without imperial sanction (see the box
the Deccan after the collapse of the Mughal dynasty. above).

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 COMPARATIVE ESSAY
Imperialism: The Balance Sheet
Few periods of history are as controver-
sial among scholars and casual observ-
ers as the era of imperialism. To
defenders of the colonial enterprise like
the poet Rudyard Kipling, imperialism was the
‘‘white man’s burden,’’ a disagreeable but necessary
phase in the evolution of human society, lifting up
the toiling races from tradition to modernity and
bringing an end to poverty, famine, and disease
(see the box on p. 618).
Critics took exception to such views, portraying
imperialism as a tragedy of major proportions. The
insatiable drive of the advanced economic powers

William J. Duiker
for access to raw materials and markets created an
exploitative environment that transformed the vast
majority of colonial peoples into a permanent un-
derclass while restricting the benefits of modern

!
c
technology to a privileged few. Kipling’s ‘‘white Gateway to India. Built in the Roman imperial style by the British to
man’s burden’’ was dismissed as a hypocritical ges- commemorate the visit to India of King George V and Queen Mary in
ture to hoodwink the naive and salve the guilty 1911, the Gateway to India was erected at the water’s edge in the harbor
feelings of those who recognized imperialism for of Bombay, India’s greatest port city. For thousands of British citizens
what it was—a savage act of rape. arriving in India, the Gateway to India was the first view of their new
Defenders of the colonial experiment some- home and a symbol of the power and majesty of the British raj.
times concede that there were gross inequities in
the colonial system but point out that there was a
positive side to the experience as well. The expansion of How, then, are we to draw up a final balance sheet on
markets and the beginnings of a modern transportation the era of Western imperialism? Although both sides have
and communications network, while bringing few imme- good points to make, perhaps the critics have the best of
diate benefits to the colonial peoples, laid the ground- the argument. While sometimes the colonial authorities
work for future economic growth. At the same time, the did provide the beginnings of an infrastructure that could
introduction of new ways of looking at human freedom, eventually serve as the foundation of an advanced indus-
the relationship between the individual and society, and trial society, all too often they sought to prevent the rise
democratic principles set the stage for the adoption of of industrial and commercial sectors in their colonies that
such ideas after the restoration of independence follow- might provide competition to producers in the home
ing World War II. Finally, the colonial experience offered country. Sophisticated, age-old societies that could have
a new approach to the traditional relationship between been left to respond to the technological revolution in
men and women. Although colonial rule was by no their own way were thus squeezed dry of precious national
means uniformly beneficial to the position of women in resources under the false guise of a ‘‘civilizing mission.’’
African and Asian societies, growing awareness of the As the sociologist Clifford Geertz remarked in his book
struggle by women in the West to seek equality offered Agricultural Involution: The Processes of Ecological Change
their counterparts in the colonial territories a weapon to in Indonesia, the tragedy is not that the colonial peoples
fight against the long-standing barriers of custom and suffered through the colonial era but that they suffered
legal discrimination. for nothing.

The first stirrings of nationalism in India took place by their British acquaintances. Roy was by no means a
in the early nineteenth century with the search for a re- hidebound traditionalist. He opposed such practices as
newed sense of cultural identity. In 1828, Ram Mohan sati and recognized the benefit of introducing the best
Roy, a brahmin from Bengal, founded the Brahmo Samaj aspects of European culture into Indian society.
(Society of Brahma). Roy probably had no intention of Sometimes traditional resistance to Western pene-
promoting Indian national independence but created the tration went beyond elite circles. Most commonly, it
new organization as a means of helping his fellow reli- appeared in the form of peasant revolts. Rural rebellions
gionists defend the Hindu religion against verbal attacks were not uncommon in traditional Asian societies as a

T HE E MERGENCE OF A NTICOLONIALISM 639

 means of expressing peasant discontent with high taxes, animal products and Muslim prohibitions against eating
official corruption, rising rural debt, and famine in the pork. Protests among sepoy units in northern India
countryside. Under colonialism, rural conditions often turned into a full-scale mutiny, supported by uprisings in
deteriorated as population density increased and peasants rural districts in various parts of the country. But the
were driven off the land to make way for plantation ag- revolt lacked clear goals, and rivalries between Hindus
riculture. Angry peasants then vented their frustration at and Muslims and discord among the leaders within each
the foreign invaders. For example, in Burma, the Bud- community prevented coordination of operations. Al-
dhist monk Saya San led a peasant uprising against the though Indian troops often fought bravely and out-
British many years after they had completed their take- numbered the British six to one, they were poorly
over. Similar forms of unrest occurred in various parts of organized, and the British forces (supplemented in many
India, where zamindars and rural villagers alike resisted cases by sepoy troops) suppressed the rebellion.
government attempts to increase tax revenues. Yet an- Still, the revolt frightened the British and led to a
other peasant uprising took place in Algeria in 1840. number of major reforms. The proportion of native
troops relative to those from Great Britain was reduced,
The Sepoy Rebellion Sometimes the resentment had a and precedence was given to ethnic groups likely to be
religious basis, as in the Sudan, where the revolt led by loyal to the British, such as the Sikhs of Punjab and the
the Mahdi had strong Islamic overtones, although it was Gurkhas, an upland people from Nepal in the Himalaya
initially provoked by Turkish misrule in Egypt. More Mountains. To avoid religious conflicts, ethnic groups
significant than Roy’s Brahmo Samaj in its impact on were spread throughout the service rather than assigned
British policy was the famous Sepoy Rebellion of 1857 in to special units. The British also decided to suppress the
India. The sepoys (derived from the Turkish sipahi, a final remnants of the hapless Mughal dynasty, which
cavalryman or soldier) were native troops hired by the had supported the mutiny, and turned responsibility
East India Company to protect British interests in the for the administration of the subcontinent over to the
region. Unrest within Indian units of the colonial army crown.
had been common since early in the century, when it had Like the Sepoy Rebellion, traditional resistance move-
been sparked by economic issues, religious sensitivities, ments usually met with little success. Peasants armed with
or nascent anticolonial sentiment. Such attitudes inten- pikes and spears were no match for Western armies
sified in the mid-1850s when the British instituted a new possessing the most terrifying weapons then known to
policy of shipping Indian troops abroad---a practice that human society. In a few cases, such as the revolt of the
exposed Hindus to pollution by foreigners. In 1857, Mahdi at Khartoum, the natives were able to defeat the
tension erupted when the British adopted the new Enfield invaders temporarily. But such successes were rare, and
rifle for use by sepoy infantrymen. The new weapon was a the late nineteenth century witnessed the seemingly in-
muzzle loader that used paper cartridges covered with exorable march of the Western powers, armed with the
animal fat and lard; because the cartridge had to be bitten Gatling gun (the first rapid-fire weapon and the precur-
off, it broke strictures against high-class Hindus’ eating sor of the modern machine gun), to mastery of the globe.

CONCLUSION

By the first quarter of the twentieth century, virtually all of Latin America and much of Asia) so poor? . . . The answer is
Africa and a good part of South and Southeast Asia were very brief: we have made it poor.’’11
under some form of colonial rule. With the advent of the Between these two irreconcilable views, where does
age of imperialism, a global economy was finally estab- the truth lie? This chapter has contended that neither
lished, and the domination of Western civilization over extreme position is justified. In fact, the consequences of
those of Africa and Asia appeared to be complete. colonialism have been more complex than either its
Defenders of colonialism argue that the system was a defenders or its critics would have us believe. While the
necessary, if painful, stage in the evolution of human colonial peoples received little immediate benefit from
societies. Critics, however, charge that the Western the imposition of foreign rule, overall the imperialist
colonial powers were driven by an insatiable lust for profits era brought about a vast expansion of the international
(see the comparative essay ‘‘Imperialism: The Balance trade network and created at least the potential for
Sheet’’ on p. 639). They dismiss the Western civilizing societies throughout Africa and Asia to play an active and
mission as a fig leaf to cover naked greed and reject the rewarding role in the new global economic arena. If, as
notion that imperialism played a salutary role in hastening the historian William McNeill believes, the introduction
the adjustment of traditional societies to the demands of of new technology through cross-cultural encounters is
industrial civilization. In the blunt words of two Western the driving force of change in world history, then Western
critics of imperialism: ‘‘Why is Africa (or for that matter imperialism, whatever its faults, served a useful purpose

640 CHAPTER 21 THE HIGH TIDE OF IMPERIALISM

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 in opening the door to such change, much as the rise of citizens of the colonial powers. Where those interests
the Arab empire and the Mongol invasions hastened the collided with the needs of the colonial peoples, those of
process of global economic development in an earlier the former always triumphed. However sincerely the
time. David Livingstones, Albert Sarrauts, and William McKin-
Still, the critics have a point. Although colonialism leys of the world were convinced of the rightness of their
did introduce the peoples of Asia and Africa to new civilizing mission, the ultimate result was to deprive the
technology and the expanding economic marketplace, it colonial peoples of the right to make their own choices
was unnecessarily brutal in its application and all too about their own destiny.
often failed to realize the exalted claims and objectives of Africa and southern Asia were not the only areas
its promoters. Existing economic networks—often poten- of the world that were buffeted by the winds of Western
tially valuable as a foundation for later economic expansionism in the late nineteenth century. The
development—were ruthlessly swept aside in the interests nations of eastern Asia, and those of Latin America
of providing markets for Western manufactured goods. and the Middle East as well, were also affected in
Potential sources of native industrialization were nipped significant ways. The consequences of Western political,
in the bud to avoid competition for factories in Amster- economic, and military penetration varied substantially
dam, London, Pittsburgh, or Manchester. Training in from one region to another, however, and therefore
Western democratic ideals and practices was ignored out require separate treatment. The experience of East Asia
of fear that the recipients might use them as weapons will be dealt with in the next chapter. That of Latin
against the ruling authorities. America and the Middle East will be discussed in
The fundamental weakness of colonialism, then, was Chapter 24.
that it was ultimately based on the self-interests of the

TIMELINE

1800 1820 1840 1860 1880 1900

Africa
Slave trade declared French seize Algeria Opening of Suez Canal Boer War
illegal in Great Britain
Berlin Conference
on Africa
India
British rail network opened in northern India

Sepoy Rebellion

Southeast Asia
Stamford Raffles First French attack French protectorates
founds Singapore on Vietnam in Indochina

French and British agree

to neutralize Thailand

Commodore Dewey defeats

Spanish fleet in Manila Bay

C ONCLUSION 641
 CHAPTER NOTES India For an overview of the British takeover and
administration of India, see S. Wolpert, A New History of India,
1. Quoted in J. G. Lockhart and C. M. Wodehouse, Rhodes
8th ed. (New York, 2008). C. A. Bayly, Indian Society and the
(London, 1963), pp. 69--70.
Making of the British Empire (Cambridge, 1988), is a scholarly
2. K. Pearson, National Life from the Standpoint of Science (Lon-
don, 1905), p. 184. analysis of the impact of British conquest on the Indian economy.
3. Quoted in H. Braunschwig, French Colonialism, 1871--1914 Also see A. Wild’s elegant East India Company: Trade and
(London, 1961), p. 80. Conquest from 1600 (New York, 2000). For a comparative
4. Quoted in G. Garros, Forceries Humaines (Paris, 1926), p. 21. approach, see R. Murphey, The Outsiders: The Western Experience
5. Cited in B. Schwartz’s review of D. Cannadine’s Ornamentalism: in China and India (Ann Arbor, Mich., 1977). In a provocative
How the British Saw Their Empire, in the Atlantic, November work, Ornamentalism: How the British Saw Their Empire (Oxford,
2001, p. 135. 2000), D. Cannadine argues that it was class and not race that
6. Quoted in R. Bartlett, ed., The Record of American Diplomacy: motivated British policy in the subcontinent.
Documents and Readings in the History of American Foreign
Colonial Age in Southeast Asia General studies of the
Relations (New York, 1952), p. 385.
colonial period in Southeast Asia are rare because most authors
7. Quoted in L. Roubaud, Vietnam: La Tragédie Indochinoise (Paris,
focus on specific areas. For some stimulating essays on a variety of
1926), p. 80.
8. Quoted in J. Iliffe, Africans: The History of a Continent (Cambridge, aspects of the topic, see Continuity and Change in Southeast Asia:
1995), p. 124. Collected Journal Articles of Harry J. Benda (New Haven, Conn.,
9. Quoted in T. Pakenham, The Scramble for Africa (New York, 1972). For an overview by several authors, see N. Tarling, ed., The
1991), p. 13. Cambridge History of Southeast Asia, vol. 3 (Cambridge, 1992).
10. Quoted in ibid., p. 182, citing a letter to Queen Victoria dated Women in Africa and Asia For an introduction to the
August 7, 1879. effects of colonialism on women in Africa and Asia, see S. Hughes
11. Quoted in P. C. W. Gutkind and I. Wallerstein, eds., The Political and B. Hughes, Women in World History, vol. 2 (Armonk, N.Y.,
Economy of Contemporary Africa (Beverly Hills, Calif., 1976), 1997). Also consult the classic by E. Boserup, Women’s Role in
p. 14.
Economic Development (London, 1970); J. Taylor, The Social
World of Batavia (Madison, Wis., 1983); and L. Ahmed, Women
SUGGESTED READING
and Gender in Islam (New Haven, Conn., 1992).
Imperialism and Colonialism There are a number of good
works on the subject of imperialism and colonialism. For a study that Enter CengageNOW using the access card that is
directly focuses on the question of whether colonialism was beneficial available with this text. CengageNOW will help
to subject peoples, see D. K. Fieldhouse, The West and the Third you understand the content in this chapter with lesson plans gen-
World: Trade, Colonialism, Dependence, and Development (Oxford, erated for your needs, as well as provide you with a connection
1999). Also see W. Baumgart, Imperialism: The Idea and Reality of to the Wadsworth World History Resource Center (see description
British and French Colonial Expansion, 1880--1914 (Oxford, 1982), below for details).
and D. B. Abernathy, Global Dominance: European Overseas
Empires, 1415--1980 (New Haven, Conn., 2000). On technology, see
WORLD HISTORY RESOURCE CENTER
D. R. Headrick, The Tentacles of Progress: Technology Transfer in
the Age of Imperialism, 1850--1940 (Oxford, 1988). For a defense of
the British imperial mission, see N. Ferguson, Empire: The Rise and Enter the Resource Center using either your CengageNOW
Demise of the British World Order (New York, 2003). access card or your separate access card for the World History
Resource Center. Organized by topic, this Website includes
Imperialist Age in Africa On the imperialist age in Africa,
quizzes; images; over 350 primary source documents; interactive
above all see R. Robinson and J. Gallagher, Africa and the
simulations, maps, and timelines; movie explorations; and a
Victorians: The Official Mind of Imperialism (London, 1961). Also wealth of other resources. You can read the following docu-
see B. Vandervoort, Wars of Imperial Conquest in Africa, 1830--1914 ments, and many more, at the World History Resource Center:
(Bloomington, Ind., 1998), and two works by T. Pakenham, The J. A. Hobson, Imperialism: A Study
Scramble for Africa (New York, 1991) and The Boer War (London, Henry Morton Stanley, How I Found Livingstone
1979). On southern Africa, see J. Guy, The Destruction of the Zulu Visit the World History Companion Website for chapter quizzes
Kingdom (London, 1979), and D. Nenoon and B. Nyeko, Southern and more:
Africa Since 1800 (London, 1984). Also informative is R. O. Collins, www.cengage.com/history/Duiker/World6e
ed., Historical Problems of Imperial Africa (Princeton, N.J., 1994).

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