Chapter 18

Edward Blyden

Prominent West African scholar and political leader who argued that each civilization, including those of Africa, has its own unique contribution to make to the world.

unequal treaties

Series of nineteenth-century treaties in which China made major concessions to Western powers. Japan also made similar agreements with Western powers shortly after Matthew Perry challenged their isolation in 1854. However these agreements had little lasting effect beyond opening Japan to foreign trade.

Qiu Jin

She was from a gentry family in China but rejected the traditional role outlined for women by Confucian practice. She left a husband and two children to study in Japan. Upon her return to China she started a women's journal, arguing that strong women were essential for a strong Chinese nation. She worked to recruit students into the movement opposed to the Qing Dynasty and often dressed in male clothing.

Islamic modernism

Supporters of this favored a government based on a constitution based on democratic principles. They felt that only through such a European-style government could countries in the Middle East or Africa overcome the backwardness that left the m vulnerable to European imperialism. This philosophy was typical for many of the Young Ottomans

Meiji Restoration

This period in Japanese history is marked by the rise of the Japanese emperor after the collapse of the Tokugawa Shogunate. The emperor's government sent students and officials abroad to study technology, constitutions, and economic development. As a result of these travels and studies the Japanese government adopted a constitution in imitation of the German government and worked to modernize their economy and military in imitation of several different western powers (especially Great Britain and the United States). As a result of this successful adaptation to the modern methods of the West, Japan avoided domination by European powers and eventually developed its own empire.

African Reformation

Twentieth century African churches combined African cultural practices and modes of worship with Christian beliefs to form new denominations that split with their European counterparts.

Indian Rebellion of 1857-1858

Violent conflict between British officials in India and Sepoys who were upset about the rifle cartridges that they were expected to use. This insurrection was defeated by the British forces in 1858. This event led to the British government formally converting India into a British colony with the appointment of a viceroy as the leader.

"the sick man of Europe"

Western Europe's unkind nickname for the Ottoman Empire in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a name based on the sultans' inability to prevent Western takeover of many regions and to deal with internal problems; it fails to recognize serious reform efforts in the Ottoman state during this period.

Ishandlwana

Zulu victory in South Africa in which approximately 20,000 Zulu warriors killed noted than 1300 out off 1800 British soldiers engaged in battled. This battle occurred in 1875 and was followed by British campaign txt ultimately resulted in the conquest of the Zulu kingdom

Cheikh Anta Diop

a French-educated scholar from Senegal who insisted that the ancient Egyptian civilization was the work of black Africans. He argued that much of Western Civilization was inspired by Ancient Egypt and consequently derived from black Africa.

Kishida Toshiko

a Japanese feminist who called for equal rights for women. In one of her best known speeches she condemned the "boxes" that restricted the lives of women and called for an education that would free them of traditional roles and expectations. In addition to her concerns about the lives of Japanese women, she argued that greater gender equality was "essential if other technologically advanced nationals were to accept them."

Fukuzawa Yukichi

a Japanese writer who called for modernization of Japan in the 1870s. He advocated learning from the West in matters of commerce, education, industry, and literature. He also called for gender equality in matters of marriage, divorce and property rights. He also advocated more education for girls.

British East India Company

an English joint stock company that was originally organized in 1600 to carry on trade with the East Indies but altered focused on economic opportunities in India and China. It came dominate that politics and economy in parts of South Asia but was eventually forced to relinquish its political role after the Indian Revolution of 1857. It was dissolved in 1874.

Suez Canal

an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction, it allows ships to travel between Europe and South Asia without navigating around Africa thereby reducing the sea voyage distance between Europe and India by about 4,300 miles

Liberia

country in West Africa that was established by freed slaves from the United States in 1847. The freed slaves functioned as the political elite and shared little of their power with the indigenous people of the area.

quinine

medicine that was derived from the bark of the cinchona tree that was native to Peru. Jesuit missionaries learned of its medicinal value from Quechua healers and mixed it with wine to make the first effective Western treatment for Malaria. Its introduction as a fever redder and fever preventative enabled Europeans to explore ad settle in many tropical regions which had previously been deadly du to disease. Europeans imperialism in the African interior became possible through the use of this medicine.

ulama

religious scholars who often influence policies and attitudes of governments in the Middle East. Their emphasis on traditional Islamic practice and belief often led them to condemn influences from the West as secular and materialistic. Their influence was most strongly felt in Persia, but was also a factor in the political development of the Ottoman Empire.

Bantustans

territories that were reserved for native Africans in South Africa after they were displaced from their homelands by British settlers. These reserves were generally short on resources and became environmentally damaged due to erosion and the over farming that resulted from overcrowding. Over time the men who lived on these reserves sought work in the mines and on the farms run by British settlers leaving their wives and children to work the land they left behind.

Samara Toure

the founder of the Wassoulou Empire, an Islamic State in present day Guinea that resisted French colonial rule in West Africa from 1882 until his capture in 1898. His ability as a military commander and a negotiator were critical to the long resistance of his people to French Control. his skills in acquiring modern breech-loading rifled from British merchants made it hard for the French to gain an advantage over his troops.

Treaty of Nanjing

treaty made at the conclusion of the Opium War between the Chinese and Great Britain made in 1842. This treaty ceded Hong Kong Island to Britain, opened five Chinese ports to commerce and residence, compelled the Qing government to extend most-favored nation status to Britain, and granted extraterritoriality to Britain subjects.

Rudyard Kipling

A British writer who wrote works such as "The Man Who Would Become King" (1889), "The Jungle Book" (1894), and "Kim" (1901). These are all set in British occupied India. He was also the author of the poem entitled "The White Man's Burden." He believed that British culture provided advantages to the native people of India and is consequently believed to be a great defender of imperialism.

"colonial tribalism"

A European tendency, especially in African colonies, to identify and sometimes invent distinct "tribes" that had not existed before, reinforcing European notions that African societies were primitive. This way of thinking helped Europeans to justify controlling territory that they perceived as "less advanced" than their own.

extraterritoriality

A privilege generally extended to diplomats in a foreign country which holds that they are not subject to the laws of the host nation, sometimes referred to as "diplomatic immunity." This privilege was extended to many foreign nationals in China and the Ottoman Empire in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Consequently the Chinese and Ottomans had difficulties policing foreign behavior within their borders. This led to exploitation by European merchants and native resentment of European power.

Taiping Rebellion

A revolution in Qing China led by Hung Xiuquan which placed heavy social reforms on Chinese culture such as prohibition of slave trade, prostitution, and foot-binding. Taiping beliefs were inspired to some degree by Christian beliefs and the work of European missionaries in China. Lasting from 1850 - 1864, millions of Chinese died during this conflict. The violence and economic dislocation associated with this event severely weakened China and the Qing Dynasty.

capitulations

A series of agreements between the Ottoman government and European powers that granted Europeans exemptions from Ottoman law and taxation. These agreements facilitated the Western penetration of the Ottoman economy and eroded Ottoman sovereignty and dramatically illustrated the declining position of the empire in relation to Europe. Islamic artisans, merchants, and clerics all resented what they perceived to be the interference of European countries in their affairs.

indentured labor

After slavery was abolished in many countries in the 1800s, a large number of laborers were needed to take the place of the slaves. These laborers were provided with food and free passage but were required to work for their employer for up to seven years with very little pay. The majority of these workers came from India, but sizable numbers also came from China, Japan, Java, Africa, and the Pacific islands. They primarily travelled to tropical and subtropical lands in the Americas, the Caribbean, Africa, and Oceania. The indentured labor migrations helped to maintain economic stability in global agricultural production and planters were still able to make a considerable profit despite the end of slavery.

Cash crops

Agricultural production, often on a large scale, of crops for sale in the market, rather than for consumption by the farmers themselves. These became more important in many parts of Africa and Asia after Europeans established colonies in those areas.

social Darwinism

An application of the concept of "survival of the fittest" to human history in the 19th century. It was used by imperialist to justify taking over territories in Africa, Asia, and the pacific since any group that might be conquered was by their definition weak and less deserving of resources. It was also used to justify racism and cruel punishment of the working class and the poor since those groups with less power were also defined as weak. Herbert Spencer was one of the better known supporters of this attitude.

defensive modernization

Approach assumed by many non-Western societies in which the governments adopted new technology and governing methods in order to avoid being taken over by Western powers in the 1800s. Japan and Ethiopia are examples of countries that successfully embraced this approach.

spheres of influence

Areas in China that came to be dominated by different imperialist powers. Although not colonies in the strict sense, the regions claimed by Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and Japan were required to allow foreign trade exclusively from the dominant country with Chinese officials allowed to charge no more than a five percent tariff. The United States maintained that there should be free trade in China and established its Open Door policy in 1899.

Cecil Rhodes

British businessman, mining magnate, and politician in South Africa. An ardent believer in British colonialism, Rhodes was the founder of the souther African territory of Rhodesia, which was named after him in 1895. South Africa's Rhodes University is also names after him. He set up the provisions of the Rhodes Scholarships, which is funded by his estate.

Omdurman

British victory over a large native army in the Sudan in 1898. It was a demonstration of the superiority of a highly disciplined army equipped with modern rifles, machine guns and artillery over a vastly larger force armed with older weapons, and marked the success of British efforts to re-conquer the Sudan.

self-strengthening

China's program of internal reform in the 1860s and 1870s, based on vigorous application of Confucian principles and limited borrowing from the West.

Boxer Uprising

Chinese Revolt against European dominance in China that was led by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists. In their efforts to drive out the European influence this group killed Europeans, Chinese Christians, and many Chinese that had economic ties to the "foreign devils." In addition this movement sought to capture many of the European embassies in Beijing in 1900 but was thwarted in these efforts by British, French, German, Japanese, Russian and United States troops. After this rebellion was defeated, many Chinese believed that the Qing dynasty had lost its mandate of heaven and eventually supported Sun Yixian's revolution and the Republic that he set up in China in 1911.

second wave

Colonialism of the 19th century which emphasized the development of markets as well as the attainment of raw materials by countries eagerness to expand their industrialization. Generally referred to as imperialism, it was less concerned with the creation of settler colony than earlier colonization. This period of expansion included Belgium, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the US in addition to Great Britain, France, Netherlands, Spain, and Portugal which has been part of the first wave of colonialism form the 1500s to the 1700s.

Matthew Perry

Commander of the United States naval squadron who arrived in Edo Bay in 1853 and presented demands that the Shogun open Japan to diplomatic and commercial relations. The Japanese government's agreement to these demands gave the United States commercial rights, deprived the Japanese government of control over tariffs, and granted foreigners extraterritorial rights. These concessions to the United States prompted further concessions by the Japanese government to several European countries. These events led to the collapse of the Tokugawa Shogunate and the beginning of the Meiji Restoration.

Lin Zexu

Commissioner appointed by the emperor to stop the smuggling of opium into China. In 1839 he forced foreign merchants to turn over more than three million pounds of raw opium which he then ordered to be destroyed by mixing it with water, salt and lime and then flushing it into the sea. This action provoked a military response from the British East India company in 1840 which sent gunboats to attack China in what came to be known as the first Opium War.

Second Boer War

Conflict between British forces and the combined forces of the Transvaal and the Orange Free state that took place in southern Africa. The descendants of Dutch settlers fought unsuccessfully to keep the British out of their territory. The discovery of gold and diamonds in the region motivated British expansion in the area. Cecil Rhodes was a strong supporter of British imperialist interests in the area

Opium Wars

Conflicts between Britain and China over the illegal opium trade in China. In the first of these conflicts (1839-1842), British gunboats took control along the Yangzi and Yellow Rivers and quickly overcame the Chinese military. In the second of these conflicts (1856 - 1860) British forces avenged Chinese imprisonment of British diplomats by attacking and destroying much of the Chinese Emperor's Summer Palace. These events demonstrated China's military weaknesses against the industrialized European countries and forced China into unequal treaties with Britain. British interests built the city of Hong Kong in territory taken from China after the first of these conflicts.

Hundred Days of Reform

Effort to modernize China through a series of imperial edicts by Emperor Guangxu in 1898. His reforms included a new focus on math and science in education, efforts to bring industrialization, adopting a constitution, strengthening the army, and adopting principles of capitalism. Conservative forces opposed these changes under the leadership of the Empress Dowager Cixi. The conservatives deposed Guangxu and required him to remain in the Forbidden City while leading officials in favor of the reforms were executed or fled the country.

Adowa

Ethiopian military victory over an Italian invasion force in 1896. Unlike most of his contemporary African leaders, Menelik II of Ethiopia was able to avoid conquest by a European power. His military and diplomatic skill were essential to the Ethiopian victory in which the native forces were equipped with modern rifles and artillery much the same as the Italian forces.

Young Ottomans

Group of would-be reformers in the mid-nineteenth-century Ottoman Empire that included lower-level officials, military officers, and writers; they urged the extension of Westernizing reforms to the political system.

Selim III

He was a reform-minded sultan who planned to modernize the Ottoman Empire. He developed plans for modernizing the Ottoman Army but faced opposition from the Janissaries and consequently decided to concentrate on creating a separate European-style army, using modern weapons and European tactics. In response to this new army, the Janissaries rose up in revolt, killing many of the new troops, and locking up the sultan. While in prison, he was murdered by one of his dynastic rivals.

Muhammad Ali

He was selected to serve as the governor of Egypt for the Ottoman Empire. He drafted peasants to serve as infantry, hired French and Italian officers to train his troops, and launched a program of industrialization based on cotton textiles and armaments. He invaded Syria and Anatolia, and threatened to capture Istanbul and topple the Ottoman state. His efforts to make Egypt a modern industrialized country were ultimately unsuccessful due to opposition from European governments and the large debt he incurred in his efforts to build factories and railroads

Leopold II

He was the king of Belgium who gained personal possession of the Congo. While under his control, the Congo was exploited so severely that the Belgian government eventually took this territory away from him and made it a Belgian colony His claims in the Congo touched off the scramble for Africa among the most powerful countries in Europe.

Tanzimat

Important reform measures undertaken in the Ottoman Empire beginning in 1839; the term means "reorganization." These reforms included education based on Western math and science, postal service, telegraphs, railroads, a constitution, an improved position of religious minority groups, and a treaty with the British that increased international trade

Maji Maji Rebellion

Insurrection by natives in Tanganyika, Africa (present-day Tanzania) which sought to expel German colonial authorities from 1905 to 1907. Supporters sprinkled "magic" water on themselves believing it would protect them from the Germans' weapons. Unfortunately they were wrong and about seventy-five thousand rebels died. This unsuccessful rebellion showed the effectiveness of European weapons in comparison to the weapons of tribal Africans. The failure of this rebellion convinced the African natives to resort to other means such as boycotting European goods and organizing political parties.

Chulalongkorn

King of Siam who was able to preserve the independence of his kingdom through clever diplomacy that played the French and British interests off against each other. His willingness to embrace Western culture also helped to preserve the independence of his country. The later success of Siam (Thailand) can be attributed to his success in addressing Western imperialism.

Maxim

Machine gun invented in Great Britain in 1883. Its ability to fire 600 bullets/minute gave its operators an advantage over forces that did not have this weapon. European armies (especially the British) used this weapon in their conquest of other societies in Africa, Asia, and other parts of the world. The name of this weapon was taking from its inventor.

Young Turks

Movement of Turkish military and civilian elites around 1900 that called for modernization through the application of science and enlightenment ideas, Their focus on a more narrow nationalist agenda did not include Arabs or other nationalities that were part of the Ottoman Empire. Their approach to Middle Eastern problems eventually contributed to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.

Scramble for Africa

Name used for the process of the European countries' partition of the continent of Africa between themselves in the period 1875-1900. At the end of this process only the country of Ethiopia and Liberia remained independent of European control.

Sepoys

Natives of India who served in the armies of the British. Originally they served in the private armies of British merchants from the British East India Company. They later served in the British colonial army in India as well as other locations in the British Empire and elsewhere during World War I. Some of them staged a bloody revolt in 1857, and which was eventually defeated by the British in 1858.. In response to this revolt, Britain imposed direct imperial rule on India.