Political History - AP European History

The territory that comprises the state of Virginia was “discovered” by Sir Walter Raleigh in the late sixteenth century (presumably the city of Raleigh in North Carolina is named for him). When Raleigh returned and informed Elizabeth that she ruled a territory with a Native American name she reportedly changed it to “Virginia” to reflect her famous status as the “Virgin Queen” of England.

The phrase "White Man's Burden" comes from a poem with that title written by Rudyard Kipling in 1899, which commented on the United States' war in the Philippines and Cuba against Spain. The poem urges "white men" to take "civilization" to non-white peoples around the globe for their benefit. This idea was then taken up by many Europeans in their colonization efforts throughout Africa and Asia.

Henry was a Portuguese prince who lived from 1394 to 1460 and who believed in the importance of exploring foreign lands. He helped to set up a school to train explorers and also was interested in exploring the coast of Africa. His efforts helped to make Portugal a powerful and rich nation due to its ability to gain resources, conquer lands, and engage in global commerce.

The New Imperialism of the second half of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century differed from the style of imperialism that came before it in a few noticeable ways. Most significantly, in the earlier period of imperialism and overseas colonization, the European powers focused a lot of their efforts on establishing trading posts and ruling through proxy control of the local powers. The New Imperialism model was focused a lot more heavily on using military force to establish direct control over other territories. Although a lot of this New Imperialism was focused on the African continent, it was also practiced in Asia and South America. Religion played a deeply important role in both periods of European imperialism.

The nineteenth century witnessed a noticeable resurgence of Christian thinking that led to a global mission project to convert all the people of the world to Christianity. This was particularly pronounced in the African continent. On numerous occasions missionaries would try to establish contact with native populations only to be rebuffed and attacked. This gave public support to politicians in the mother country who were then able to establish military control over a new territory with the backing of the people.

The Suez Canal was built through Egypt to allow ships to pass from the Arabian Sea into the Mediterranean. Previously ships had had to sail around the Southern horn of Africa in order to bring goods from the Far East to Europe. The construction of the Suez Canal dramatically shortened the time needed to transport goods and thus increased the flow of trade between Europe and the Far East.

Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco all came under French administration in the time period mentioned. Algeria, in particular, would have profound implications for the French imperial experience for the next several decades.

Having once been a part of the Ottoman Empire, Libya was colonized by the Italians in the 1910s. The Italians would also forcibly occupy Ethiopia before their failures in the Second World War cost them their African colonies.

The Belgian King Leopold II wanted Belgium to be a major imperial power like many other European nations and so carved out for himself a personal fiefdom in Central Africa. The Belgian Congo was several times larger than Belgium itself and ruled under the personal control of Leopold until his manifest crimes caught up to him. The Congo provided extremely lucrative quantities of rubber as well as many other raw resources; however, it was administered with profound cruelty and apathy towards the safety and health of the local population. Some modern estimates put the number of people who died during Belgian control of the Belgian Congo in the tens of millions.

The Sepoy Mutiny occurred in 1857 when Hindu and Muslim troops in the army of the British East India Company revolted against their imperial masters. The causes are often debated, but popular history tends to blame British disregard for Hindu and Muslim religious customs. The Mutiny was suppressed and led to the end of the British East India Company’s control over the Indian subcontinent to be replaced by direct control of the British government. This period of Indian history is known as the British Raj.

All of these countries came under the control of European imperialism in the nineteenth century except for Japan, which was able to maintain its independence. Japan even famously defeated the Russians in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. China was divided into spheres of European influence; India was under the direct control of the British government; and Vietnam and Laos were controlled by the French as part of the colony of French Indochina.

The term “extraterritoriality” means exempt from local laws, subject to laws of one’s home country as opposed to the country one currently resides in. So in the context of Europeans in China it meant that they were legally free from the constraints of the Chinese legal system and were only subject to the laws of their home country. This, naturally, greatly angered much of the local Chinese population and was a source of consistent tension.

The Dutch controlled the territory of Indonesia until their defeat to the Japanese in the Second World War. Following the end of the Second World War the Dutch tried to re-implement control, but met with fierce and organized resistance. Sukarno led the resistance against the Dutch until Indonesian independence was formalized in 1954. Sukarno would continue to rule as a military dictator for another decade or so.

The end of World War Two brought to an end the unprecedented period of European global hegemony which had been building from the fifteenth century and reached its height in the years from 1870-1918. By 1945 and the end of the Second World War the major imperial nations of Europe were economically devastated and unable to hold on to their overseas colonies. This inadequacy combined with a rising international support for independence and national self-determination led to the rapid break up of European imperialism in the twenty years that followed the Second World War.

The Boxer Rebellion broke out in China in the last years of the nineteenth century and was eventually crushed by the combined efforts of local government administrators and the European powers in 1900. The rebellion broke out in China due to anger directed at the growing influence of European powers in Chinese affairs.

In 1956, the Egyptian government, led by Gamal Abdel Nasser, nationalized the Suez Canal. This led to a declaration of war from Israel followed in short order to declarations of war by the French and British, as well as by other allies. The war is often seen as the final death of the British Empire, as it ended in failure for the invading powers and humiliation on the international stage.

The defeat of the Spanish in the Spanish-American War (1899-1902) led to the independence of Cuba and the United States taking control over most of the remaining remnants of the once mighty Spanish Empire. The Americans took direct administration of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines.

It is generally accepted by many historians that former British colonies have fared better than the former colonies of other European powers. This is primarily attributed to the British commitment to encourage the local population to participate in and control the administration of their territory. This, it is said, better prepared the colonial people for self-rule following the end of European rule.

The French did not give up their colonies without a fight in the years following World War Two. The French left Indochina in the mid-1950s following their defeat to the forces of resistance. Likewise, the French tried desperately to hold onto their territory in Algeria, but were eventually overwhelmed by the strength of nationalist resistance in the country.