-
Diamond and gold prospector, imperialist, founder of the British South Africa Company, and Prime Minister of Cape Colony, 1890 – 1896
Cecil John Rhodes
-
Cecil Rhodes’s vision of British imperial control of the vertical axis of Africa, from South Africa to Egypt
“Cape Town to Cairo”
-
Domination over subject lands by means of military conquest and political control or informally, through control of trade, investment, and business activity
Imperialism
-
The colonial expansion adopted by European powers and, later, Japan and the United States, during the 19th and early 20th centuries
Modern Imperialism
-
Imperialist justification for European (“civilized”) intervention in “backward” areas of the non-Christian world
Mission Civilisatrice
-
European and American assumption
that dark-skinned peoples everywhere were in need of guidance and protection by
the “master race”
The White Man’s Burden”
-
Constructed by Ferdinand de Lesseps (1859 – 1869), controlled by Britain (1875), and nationalized by Nasser
of Egypt (1956)
Suez Canal
-
Begun by Ferdinand de Lesseps, completed by the U.S. under the order of Theodore Roosevelt (1904 – 1914), administered by U.S. until 1999
Panama Canal
-
First self-powered gun, invented by an American-born Briton in 1884; recoil force used to eject spent cartridge and advance next round (11 X / sec.)
Maxim Gun
-
Lopsided British and Egyptian victory over Madhist Islamic forces of Sudan (1898); gunboats on the Nile and machine guns kill 10,000 Sudanese (47 Anglo-Egyptians dead)
Omdurman
-
First commercially successful transatlantic telegraph cable connected Ireland and Newfoundland
1866
-
Soldiers of the Bengal army revolted against English East India Company control (1857); British success brought India under direct imperial rule (1858)
Sepoy Rebellion
-
Monarch of the United Kingdom and Empress of India (r. 1837 – 1901); gave her name to an era of British imperial expansion and material progress
Queen Victoria
-
The period of British imperial rule in South Asia (1858 – 1947)
British Raj
-
Hindu custom of widows burning themselves to death on their husbands’ funeral pyres; suppressed during the British Raj
Sati
-
Strategically important sea lane between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea, controlled by British Singapore (1819 – 1965)
Strait of Melaka
-
Modern states of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos; colonized 1859 – 1893
French Indochina
-
Nationalist ruler of Egypt (1805 – 1848); inspired by Napoleon, he challenged and nearly defeated the Ottoman empire
Muhammad Ali
-
Agreements that protected Christian missionaries, exempted European visitors from Ottoman law, and provided European trading companies with extraterritoriality
Capitulations
-
The right of imperial powers to exercise legal jurisdiction over their own citizens in foreign lands
Extraterritoriality
-
Reorganization era of Ottoman history (1839 – 1876); attempt at staving off European aggression through legal, political, and educational reforms based on the European Enlightenment
Tanzimat
-
Founded by Ottoman exiles in Paris (1889); advocated universal suffrage, religious freedom, emancipation of women; controlled Ottoman empire (1908 – 1918)
Young Turk Party
-
Conflict between the United Kingdom and the Qing government over “free trade”; Britain won the right to traffic narcotics; added Hong Kong to their empire (1839 – 1842)
Opium War
-
Series of diplomatic agreements between China and several imperial powers (including the U.S.); curtailed Chinese sovereignty by placing ninety of their ports under foreign control
Unequal Treaties
-
Unsuccessful attempt on the part of Chinese peasants led by Hong Xiuquan to establish a messianic, communal kingdom (1850 – 1864); 20 – 30 million killed
Taiping Rebellion
-
Qing reforms (1860 – 1895) aimed at accelerating Chinese industrialization and scientific progress; failed to prevent further imperialist interventions
Self-Strengthening Movement
-
Frantic program to modernize China and transform it into a constitutional monarchy; annulled by emperor’s aunt Cixi (1898)
Hundred Days Reforms
-
Chinese militias supported by Cixi attacked “foreign devils” and besieged their embassies (1899); crushed by European, Japanese, and U.S. soldiers (1900)
Boxer Rebellion
-
Revolution that ended the Qing dynasty and established the Republic of China (1912)
1911
-
The partition and colonization of most of the continent by European powers (1875 – 1900)
Scramble for Africa”
-
Created a personal colony in the Congo River basin (1884 – 1908); exploited its resources and labor for his own and Belgian wealth, at the cost of eight million African lives
King Leopold II
-
Diplomatic meeting convened by Bismarck; fourteen European powers and the U.S. agreed to carve Africa into imperial colonies, leaving only Ethiopia and Liberia as independent states (1884 – 1885)
Berlin Conference
-
Dutch immigrants to Cape Colony; their descendants in South Africa and Namibia speak Afrikaans (an expatriate dialect of 17th century Dutch)
Boers
-
Boer migration from Cape Colony to interior regions to escape British control (1830s)
Great Trek
-
British defeat of Afrikaners (Boers) in a brutal conflict ignited by diamond and gold rushes (1899 – 1902)
South African War
-
Colony of transported British convicts established around Sydney harbor in Australia (1788)
New South Wales
-
Indigenous people of New Zealand, devastated by disease and warfare with British settlers
Maori
-
American proclamation warning European powers against imperialist interference in the western hemisphere (1823)
Monroe Doctrine
-
The only Pacific island state not claimed by European powers at the Berlin Conference (1884 – 1885)
Tonga
-
Purchased from the Russian empire by the U.S. (1867)
Alaska
-
U.S. protectorate (1875); annexed by U.S. after traditional monarchy overthrown (1898)
Hawai’i
-
After the accidental sinking of U.S.S. Maine in Havana harbor, U.S. defeated Spain and gained control over Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines (1898 – 1899)
Spanish-Cuban-American War
-
Leader of Filipino rebellion against U.S. occupation forces (1899 – 1902); over 200,000 Filipinos killed; 4,200 American dead
Emilio Aguinaldo
-
The expansion of the Monroe Doctrine that claimed the right of the U.S. to interfere with sovereign states that fail to protect American business interests (1904)
Roosevelt Corollary
-
European theory that claimed the superiority of the European “race” over those of the Africans, the Asians, and the Native Americans (Gobineau, 1855)
Scientific Racism
-
Misapplying biological concepts from The Origin of Species (1859), Herbert Spencer and others argued that European global preeminence resulted from innate superiority
Social Darwinists
|
|