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What is Kipling's, White Man's Burden about?

1. Kipling's White Man's Burden is about the idea that Westerners held responsibility for giving Africans and Asians the benefits of industrialization, Western education. Christianity, advanced medicine, and higher standards of living, which would eventually prepare them for self-governemtn and Western democracy. Basically it was the white man's job to civilize the more primitive nonwhite peoples.

In most European countries, how was emigration related to population growth in the late 19th century?

1. The growing population provided further impetus for Western expansion, and drove more and more people to emigrate. Rapid increase in population led to land hunger and relative overpopulation. Emigration increased as children grew up, saw little available land and few opportunities, and thus departed.

What medication proved to be effective in controlling malaria?

11. The newly discovered quinine proved effective in controlling malaria.

What was the result of the Berlin Conference (1884-84)?

2. The Berlin Conference was a meeting of European leaders between 1884 and 1885 in order to lay down basic rules for imperialist competition in Africa. It established the principle that European claims to African territory had to rest on "effective occupation" (a strong presence on the ground) to be recognized by other states.

What country dominated the 3000 mile archipelago that is now Indonesia?

6. The Dutch gradually brought almost all of the 3000 mile Malay Archipelago under their political authority, though they had share some of the spoils with Britain and Germany.

What did Vladimir Lenin believe about imperialism?

10. Vladimir Lenin believed that imperialism represented the "highest stage" of advanced monopoly capitalism. He predicted that its onset signaled the coming decay and collapse of capitalist society.

What happened in 1898 at Fashoda?

12. Continuing up the Nile river after their victory at the Battle of Omdurman against poorly armed Sudanese Muslim troops, Kitchener's (general of the British force) armies found a small French force that had already occupied the village of Fashoda. The French had been locked in imperial competition with Britain ever since the British occupation of Egypt, and they tried to be the first to reach on of Africa's unclaimed areas - the upper reaches of the Nile. The result was a serious diplomat crisis and threat of war. The French, still struggling after the Dreyfus affair and unwilling to fight, backed down and allowed the British to take over.

What is "Orientalism"?

13. Orientalism (coined by Edward Said) is a term that describes the way Westerners misunderstood and described colonial subjects and cultures. Describes fascination and the stereotypical and the often racist Western understandings of non-Westerners that dominated 19th century Western though. Broadly refers to Western views of non-Western peoples across the globe. Orientalist stereotypes helped spread the notions of Western superiority and justified colonial expansion.

How were governments able to use empires to ease social tensions and domestic political conflicts in the 19th century?

14. In Germany and Russia, and in other countries to a lesser extent, conservative political leaders manipulated colonial issues to divert popular attention from the class struggle at home and to create a false sense of national unity. Imperial propagandists stressed that colonies benefitted workers as well as capitalists, providing jobs and cheap raw materials that raised workers' standard of living. Government leaders and their allies in the press encouraged the masses to savor foreign triumphs and to glory in the supposed increase in national prestige. Conservative leaders defined imperialism as a national necessity (used to justify status quo and their hold on power).

What pattern did migration out of Europe often follow in the 19th century?

2. Different countries had different patterns of migration. People left Britain and Ireland in large numbers from 1840's on - reflected rural poverty and movement of skilled industrial technicians, as well as the preferences shown to British migrants in the overseas British Empire. Emigration declined in Germany after the 1880's as industrialization provided adequate jobs at home. In Italy, more and more Italians left reflecting severe problems in Italian villages and relatively slow industrial growth. Migration patterns mirrored social and economic conditions. Small peasant landowners and village craftsmen typically left Europe because of lack of avaialable land and the growing availability of cheap factory-made goods. A substantial number were migrants - they returned home after some time abroad.

What was the principle by which the European powers established their claim to an African territory after the Berlin Conference?

3. "Effective occupation"; this meant Europeans would push relentlessly into interior regions from all sides and that no single European power would be able t claim the entire continent.

What was "nativism" in the 19th century?

3. Nativism is the policies and beliefs, often influenced by nationalism, scientific racism, and mass migration, that give preferential treatment to established inhabitants over immigrants. Inspired monitored movement across increasingly tight national boundaries through passports and customs posts.

What was the goal of the new imperialism of the late 19th century?

4. The goal of the new imperialism was to create vast political empires abroad. To plant the flag over as many people and as much territory as possible. The new imperialism aimed primarily at Asia and Africa.

How did the Union of South Africa function differently than any other territory in Africa?

5. In 1910 the Afrikaner territories (the Orange Free State and the Transvaal) were united with the old Cape Colony and the eastern province of Natal in a new Union of South Africa, established as a largely "self-governing" colony. Gradually the defeated Afrikaners used their numerical superiority over the British settlers to take political power, as even the most educated nonwhites lost the right to vote, except in the Cape Colony.

To what extend did the new imperialism result in economic gains and why?

7. The economic gains of the new imperialism proved quite limited before 1914. The new colonies were too poor to buy much, and they offered few immediately profitable investments.

Why did Great Britain chose to seize land in Africa and Asia in the late 19th century?

8. Economic reasons. By the late 1870's, France, Germany, and the US were industrializing rapidly with rising tariffs as a barrier to foreign competition. Great Britain was losing its economic lead and facing increasingly tough competition in foreign markets. When continental powers began seizing land in Asia and Africa in the 1880's Britain became increasingly worried that Germany and France would seal off their empires with high tariffs, which would result in the permanent loss of future economic opportunities for Britian. For this reason, the British began the push to expand their own empire.

What did Heinrich von Trietschke believe about colonies?

9. Trietschke believed that all great nations had established colonial power. He believed that they all desired to make their mark upon "barbarian lands" and those that failed to do so would eventually suffer the consequences. His view reflected aggressive European nationalism and Social Darwinian theories of brutal competition among races.