AP World History 6.1-6.2: State Expansion and Resistance

New Imperialism

The late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century wave of overseas territorial expansion by major Western powers and Japan. It was characterized by conquest, direct colonial rule, economic exploitation, and intensified rivalry among great powers.

Why is this period called "New" Imperialism?

The term distinguishes late-nineteenth-century imperial expansion from earlier empire-building, including ancient empires and the first wave of European colonization. New Imperialism involved an especially rapid and extensive pursuit of overseas territories.

Which states were the major participants in New Imperialism?

The main participants included Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Russia, the United States, and Japan.

What were the main methods of state expansion during New Imperialism?

States expanded through military conquest and direct colonial rule, treaties and diplomatic pressure that limited other states' sovereignty, and economic domination through trade privileges, investment, concessions, and control of resources.

Why was Britain initially dominant during the nineteenth century?

Britain industrialized first and became a leading producer of manufactured goods, exporter, investor, and naval power. Its factories could often sell goods more cheaply than producers in other countries.

What technological and economic changes helped drive New Imperialism?

Industrialization gave imperial powers superior weapons, transportation, communication, and production capacity. These advantages made conquest, administration, and extraction of overseas resources more feasible while encouraging the search for markets and raw materials.

How did Britain's relative economic position change between 1870 and 1910?

Britain's share of world manufacturing declined while the shares of the United States and Germany increased. This relative decline encouraged Britain to defend its overseas trade, investments, and imperial position more aggressively.

How did the Long Depression encourage imperialism?

The prolonged period of deflation and economic downturn increased pressure on governments to protect domestic industries. European powers increasingly abandoned free trade, sought protected markets, and used imperial expansion to support national economic interests.

What major economic motivations encouraged imperial expansion?

Industrial powers sought raw materials, investment opportunities, secure markets for manufactured goods, and control over trade routes. Imperial governments also used colonies to protect national commercial interests from foreign competition.

How did great-power rivalry contribute to New Imperialism?

European states and Japan competed for territory, strategic positions, prestige, resources, and geopolitical influence. Imperial expansion became a way to strengthen national power and prevent rivals from gaining advantages.

How did nationalism motivate imperial expansion?

States equated national greatness with the possession of colonies and competed for overseas territory as a demonstration of power. Imperial expansion also provided strategic advantages and increased international prestige.

How did imperialism connect nationalism and racism?

Imperial competition encouraged states to equate national greatness with the possession of colonies. Racial ideologies then portrayed imperial domination as evidence of national superiority or as a supposed duty to civilize other peoples.

Civilizing mission

The claim that imperial powers had a moral responsibility to spread Christianity, Western education, technology, government, or social institutions to colonized peoples. In practice, this rhetoric often justified political domination and economic exploitation.

How did Social Darwinism support New Imperialism?

Social Darwinist ideas falsely applied competition and hierarchy to human societies, portraying some peoples as more advanced than others. Imperialists used these claims to rationalize racial domination and colonial conquest.

Social imperialism

The idea that governments used overseas expansion and nationalist imperialism to redirect domestic tensions outward and preserve the existing social and political order. In this interpretation, imperialism helped elites mobilize popular support and distract from industrialization's disruptive effects.

How did the American Revolution and Latin American independence affect European imperialism?

The American Revolution and the collapse of the Spanish Empire in Latin America ended the first major phase of European imperial expansion. These events also exposed weaknesses in mercantilism and encouraged Britain to reconsider its economic policies.

How did mercantilist practices shape colonial economies?

Colonies were often required to trade primarily or exclusively with the imperial power, reinforcing the metropole's economy. Later imperialism sometimes used military pressure or political intervention to force foreign markets open.

What is gunboat diplomacy in the context of New Imperialism?

It is the use or threat of naval and military force to obtain commercial, political, or diplomatic concessions from another state. Imperial powers used it to open markets and protect strategic or economic interests.

How did private companies contribute to New Imperialism?

Chartered companies and other private organizations explored, claimed, administered, and exploited overseas territories. Their commercial interests often encouraged governments to provide military or diplomatic support and eventually assume direct colonial control.

Berlin Conference

An 1884–1885 meeting of European powers that established rules for claiming African territory, especially the principle of "effective occupation." It accelerated the partition of Africa without African representatives participating in the decisions.

What did "effective occupation" mean at the Berlin Conference?

A power could gain international recognition of a territorial claim by demonstrating actual control and administration rather than merely announcing a claim. In practice, this encouraged military conquest and suppression of African resistance.

How did the Berlin Conference affect Africa's political boundaries?

European powers divided Africa into colonies and drew boundaries that often ignored existing cultural, linguistic, and political divisions. The resulting borders frequently combined or separated communities in destabilizing ways.

What was the scale of the Scramble for Africa by 1914?

European powers had brought almost the entire continent under colonial control, with Liberia and Ethiopia remaining the principal independent states. Britain controlled the largest share of Africa's population, followed by France, Germany, Belgium, and Italy.

What was the Congo Free State?

A territory in Central Africa privately controlled by Belgium's King Leopold II under the claimed sponsorship of an international scientific and humanitarian organization. Its administration became associated with severe exploitation and coercive labor practices.

What did the Herero Wars and Maji Maji Rebellion demonstrate?

They showed that European colonial rule depended on military force and that indigenous resistance was often suppressed brutally. Both occurred in German-controlled African territories in the early twentieth century.

Why did Britain occupy Egypt and Sudan?

Britain occupied Egypt in 1882 largely to secure the strategically vital Suez Canal and the route to India. Control of Egypt led Britain to pursue control of the Nile, including the conquest of Sudan.

What was the British "Cape to Cairo" vision?

It was the proposed chain of British-controlled territory and rail connections running from southern Africa to Egypt. The plan aimed to link strategic routes and mineral-rich regions, but German and Belgian territories obstructed its completion.

How did Britain establish control over India?

The British East India Company expanded from Bengal after 1757 and annexed much of the subcontinent by 1849, using military power, political alliances, and succession policies. After the 1857 rebellion, the British Crown assumed direct control.

What was the significance of the 1857 Indian Rebellion?

The uprising by Indian soldiers, including both Hindu and Muslim sepoys, challenged Company rule. After Britain suppressed it, administration of India passed from the East India Company to the British Crown.

How did British rule restructure India's economy?

Britain encouraged or compelled production of export-oriented cash crops such as cotton and tea, collected substantial land and other taxes, and made India a market for British manufactured textiles. These policies weakened parts of India's traditional textile industry and redirected economic activity toward imperial needs.

How did European powers divide Southeast Asia during New Imperialism?

Britain expanded into Burma, Malaya, Singapore, and Borneo, while France annexed Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos to form French Indochina. Siam remained nominally independent as a buffer between British and French territories, and the United States took control of the Philippines after the Spanish-American War.

How did Dutch rule in Indonesia differ from settler colonization?

The Dutch East Indies relied mainly on controlling existing indigenous populations and rulers rather than on mass European settlement. Dutch authority used indirect governance, military force, and the existing network of trading posts inherited from the Dutch East India Company.

What was indirect rule in the Dutch East Indies?

Dutch officials retained local rulers, such as village chiefs and regional regents, while supervising and directing them through Dutch residents and inspectors. This reduced the administrative burden on the colonial state while preserving effective political control.

How did foreign imperialism operate in nineteenth-century China?

After military defeats, China was forced into unequal treaties that granted foreign powers treaty ports, concessions, leased territories, economic privileges, and legal exemptions. Foreign states thereby exercised substantial control without always formally annexing all of China.

Unequal treaties

Agreements imposed on China by foreign powers after military defeats that restricted Chinese sovereignty and granted foreigners special economic, territorial, and legal privileges. They became a central symbol of China's subjugation during the so-called century of humiliation.

Extraterritoriality

A legal privilege under which foreign nationals in China were subject to their own consular courts rather than Chinese law. This created unequal legal treatment between foreigners and Chinese residents.

What were foreign concessions and treaty ports in China?

Treaty ports were places opened to foreign trade, while concessions were enclaves administered by foreign powers within Chinese cities. These areas often had foreign police, troops, taxation systems, and legal authority.

What was the Open Door Policy?

A United States policy that sought equal commercial access to China for foreign powers rather than exclusive colonial spheres. It only partially limited the broader imperial erosion of Chinese sovereignty.

The Great Game

The strategic rivalry between the British and Russian Empires for influence in Central Asia, especially involving Afghanistan, Persia, and the Central Asian khanates. Competition combined diplomacy, intelligence, economic pressure, and the threat or use of military force.

Why was Afghanistan important in the Great Game?

Afghanistan occupied a strategic position between Russian expansion from the north and British India from the south. Both empires sought influence there partly to protect their own frontiers and prevent the other from gaining a regional advantage.

How did imperialism contribute to resistance?

Colonial conquest, forced labor, economic exploitation, racial inequality, and the loss of political autonomy provoked resistance. European powers frequently suppressed such resistance through military force.