During the time of Imperialism, motivations to colonize regions such as Asia, Africa, and the Muslim World were greatly influenced by economic, political, and social interests. The imperialist nation of Great Britain especially demonstrated economic interest when it came to the Opium War with China. Leading up to the war, China enjoyed a trade surplus, exporting more than it imported. Westerners, on the other hand, had a trade deficit with China, buying more from the Chinese than they sold to them. Consequently, Great Britain decided to illegally sell an addictive drug called opium. After this product was outlawed by the Chinese Government, Great Britain decided to go to war. Great Britain's main motivations for the war were expanding their …show more content…
stake in the Chinese economy and balancing a trade deficit. Surely enough, the scales were balanced in Great Britain's eyes when China was forced to agree to unequal treaties relinquishing power to profitable lands such as Hong Kong. Similarly, in Africa, once the abundance of natural resources were discovered, the quest to conqueror this large continent became priority number one for many imperialist countries. Africa's interior was brimming with precious jewels and minerals such as diamonds, gold, silver, which were all economically beneficial. This alone would be enough motivation, yet, it was the political aspect that provided even more ambition. The idea of any other world power gaining this land and its slaves (free labor) was threatening to imperialist nations. Therefore, Europeans countries such as Great Britain, France, and Germany scrambled for control of Africa. Lastly, it was the paternalistic view of African people that caused social interest by many imperialist nations.
To Europeans, African cultures and religions were degraded and in need of transformation. Several Catholics and Protestants traversed all across Africa, seeking to convert natives to Christianity and enlighten them with the Westerners' way of life. Unlike the previous cases, politics played the most significant role in the motivation to rule the Muslim World. As a matter of fact, the Crimean War was solely due to other imperialist nations trying to thwart Russian expansion. Constantly, Russia schemed to gain control of the Turkish straits which would allow them access to the Mediterranean Sea. In their adversaries eyes, this advantage to Russia was unfavorable to them. Therefore, Britain and France (who were usually foes) joined forces to help the Ottoman empire, fearing that Russia might win yet another territory. Not to mention, during this time each European country sought to increase their own influence in the Ottoman empire and frankly, all of the Muslim World. Persia and several other countries were rich in oil and would benefit European economies. With the Ottoman empire crumbling, each imperialist nation had a chance to gain a prized
possession. In conclusion, the lure of riches, political power, and Western influence became an irresistible offer that imperialist nations just couldn't resist.
The failure of defensive development in Egypt, the Ottoman Empire, and Persia had a large and long-lasting effect on the Muslim world. The original goal of the reforms was to end European intervention, revive the weakening empires, and to be on equal standing with Europe. Yet, all three empires over-utilized the wealth and knowledge of Europe, leading to their ultimate demise. The empires wished to impose reforms in the military, economics, education, and law which the region had not experienced previously. This resulted in backlash, violence, and division within the empires eventually leading to bankruptcy, ironically, to those which they wished to separate themselves.
The Ottoman Empire was a large empire that lasted for several hundred years. They were primarily Sunni Muslims and they were led by the Sultan. Over time, they had a long decline, mostly because they hadn’t progressed with the times. France and Britain were getting very involved with their affairs in Egypt. By the late 1800’s most of the Ottoman Empire was gone. During World War One (WWI), in 1916, the Arabs helped Great Britain to defeat the Ottoman Empire. In 1918 the Ottomans surrendered and their empire was dissolved. When mandates were established it caused nationalist ro revolt. General Mustafa
At the end of the eighteenth century, China’s goods were much desired by Britain. However, the Chinese saw Europeans as savages and did not want to trade with them. During trade, there was an imbalance in China’s favor, because the Europeans were forced to buy Chinese goods using silver. The Western Imperialists began to grow opium poppies from in India, and then smuggle them into China. China soon became addicted to the drug and spent most of it’s money on the purchase of it from the Europeans and Americans. This shifted the balance of power to be in Europe’s favor.
...ress from the continuous arms races and military scares, held a big part of the responsibility for the war. Imperialism is tightly connected with militarism, because as one increases so does the other, but if this relationship is ignored we can clearly see that militarism was the half that bore most of the responsibility. Without expanding militarism, countries wouldn’t have had as many imperialist aims. But the deciding factor was the changing alliances in Europe. Even though this ties in with the tension building from the military scares and naval arms races that went on because of military expansion, they provided an environment of mistrust and a sort of betrayal for the evergrowing tensions between nations to grow to the breaking point. Even though alliances alone did not cause the war, without the crumbling alliance system in Europe war could’ve been avoided.
Britain was committed to imperializing countries that benefitted them. Benjamin Disraeli, the British prime minister during the 1870’s, persuaded Great Britain to imperialize because it was a way to guard vital British markets overseas, resources, and jobs, as well as enhance their well known reputation as being the most powerful country (Butler). Great Britain wanted to spread its culture and religion (Butler). As a result, Christianity was dispersed imperialized countries under the name of Great Britain. Another major reason Great Britain imperialized in Africa was because other European countries that were participating in the “Scramble for Africa” (Berard). This was the time period where certain European countries fought over what countries in Africa to imperialize. Britain wanted more power, and therefore, more land as well. Therefore, they resorted to imperializing lands such as those in Africa.
One of the most important aspects of imperialism is the take over of government. The English accomplished this in several ways. Some of the “Unfair Treaties” forced the Chinese to allow the English ships into their ports and to allow them to have a major role in the trade market. The English wanted tea, porcelain, and silk from china. The Chinese however didn’t want to gods the English offered in return. The English began trading opium in return for the goods. Although it was illegal, many of the money hungry merchants excepted the opium in return for the things that were valuable to the English. Because of this, the first Anglo-Chinese war erupted. China underestimated the power of England and was defeated. At the end of the war, they were forced to sign the Treaty of Nanjing (1842). The treaty was one of the first treaties known as the “Unfair Treaties.” Under this treaty, china gave up the island of Hong Kong, abolished the licensed monopoly system of trade, granted English nationals exemption from Chinese laws, and agreed to give England whatever trading concessions that were granted to other countries then and later.
The vast control that the Ottoman had on this, allowed them to grow over the span of a couple of centuries, eventually making them a powerhouse. This made them such a prominent country, making their collapse such a huge implication on European society as a whole. With the collapse of the Ottoman, the balance of power also collapsed, which in turn created a shift for the struggle of power from all the nations, Each country wanted a stake in the Ottoman, each with its own selfish reasons in improving their country, at the expense of the Ottomans. The capitalism in European nations and how it corresponded to the production of the Ottoman Empire, prior to its collapsed made perfect sense for nations to try and control the Ottomans(Pamuk, Sevket). The early trade
There is a point of time in certain a country’s history where they become dominant and more powerful than ever before. During this elongated process a country becomes an empire. The British and the Ottomans were states that succeeded in this process, but becoming an empire such as theirs required vast amounts of political and social maneuvering to expand their boundaries, called imperialism. Imperialism is, “a policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force”. By becoming a modern nation enjoying economic prosperity and political stability, the British and the Ottomans created an imperialistic impact over the globe with distinctive motivations and approaches especially during the transition period of gaining ample amount power and influence globally.
England and other countries profited by exporting opium into China because these countries were receiving goods like tea and silk while China was getting opium. This meant that the other countries were getting items they could sell and receive items that were reusable or they could use for resell in their country for higher prices than what they had spent in China. Not only that but they could sell small amounts of opium for a large sum of money.
Another key cause was Nationalism. Nationalism is “an ideology that arose in the nineteenth century and that holds that all peoples derive their identities from their nations, which are defined by common language, shared cultural traditions, and sometimes religion” (Hunt, G-4). Nationalism can also be described as the attitude that people of a nation have when they care about their national identity as well as the actions these people might take when seeking to achieve self determination. Everyone in the European countries had a lot of pride and joy for their country. This led to these countries trying to prove their dominance and power. Every country had to show that they were the best to all the other countries. Since this was happening, everyone wanted to show their best by helping an alliance in war.
According to the “version of events one hears in the Middle East, is that British and French policy at the time was a straightforward betrayal of the Arabs”(Field 28). Because of the Ottoman rule in the Middle East, the Europeans began to persuade the Arab leaders to revolt by promising them their independence. But what was meant, was independence from Turkish rule with the aid, supervision and/or protection from Britain and France. In simple terms, the Europeans powers would be the new occupiers of the Middle East.
Throughout the years Britain had always tried to use the Chinese markets to their advantage. This is what was seen as the biggest and only cause towards starting the First Opium War. Although the British were gaining a profit from selling their own goods to Chinese consumers, they were not making enough to counter the massive amount of spending they were doing on Chines...
A significant cause of European tension prior to World War I was continued instability and conflict in the Balkans. The name itself referred to a large peninsula sandwiched between four seas: the Black Sea, the Mediterranean, the Adriatic and the Aegean. On this land mass was a cluster of nations and provinces, including Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Bosnia. At the turn of the century the Balkan region was less populated and under-developed, in comparison to western Europe; it had few natural resources, so was hardly an economic prize. The importance of the Balkan peninsula lay in its geographic location. Situated at the crossroads of three major empires – Ottoman, Russian and Austro-Hungarian – and with access to several important waterways, the Balkans were strategically vital. Because of this, the area had for centuries been a gateway between East and West, an
c.) The key to making the Ottoman Empire successful was tolerance, most importantly religious tolerance. The strategic tolerance brought the Ottomans cooperation and large numbers of Christians converted to Islam. Religious tolerance also brought non-Muslims who contributed immensely to the economic expansion of the empire, according to page 175. Jews were very helpful by helping Ottoman cities become major centers of international commerce and as stated on page 175, “European Jews also provided the Ottomans with scientific and medical knowledge, as well as new technologies for industry, arms, and munitions.” The foreign people brought by religious tolerance contributed a lot and played an important role in the rise and success of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire never became world dominant, but according to page 175, it came close to be with its territorial expansion, cultural blossoming, and prosperity.
Not only this, but militar tension was also very evident between the European countries and each country thought that their own military was better than the rest. This was a nationalist thought that definitely played a factor in leading to the start of the war. The big event that ignited the fighting between the countries was the assassination of the Archduke of Austria, Franz Ferdinand. The assassination happened when a Serbian Black Hand member killed Ferdinand and his wife while they were in their car visiting Sarajevo, a city that was then occupied by Austria. The Black Hand of Serbia resisted the occupation of Sarajevo by Austria, which lead to the Archduke’s assassination. In retaliation to the murder of their Archduke, Austria declared war on Serbia, who at the time had an alliance with Russia. Russia decided to honor the treaty with Serbia and declared war on Austria who had an alliance with Germany who declared war on Russia. The confusion does notend there though, Russia also had an alliance with Great Britain and France, who then declared war on Germany. These webs of alliances is also a big factor in the initiation of the