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Narratives : High Imperialism http://www.zum.de/whkmla/sat/texts/narrhimp.html |
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Early Colonialism is discussed in the chapters Era of European Discovery and
Mercantilism. The years from 1756 to 1815 had resulted in major shifts in political, economic and social history. In a series of wars (Seven Years War 1756-1763, War of American Independence 1776-1783 resp. 1784, and the Wars of the Coalitions 1792-1815) the British fleet, by eliminating her European competition - most notably the French navy - had established her superiority on the world's oceans; Britain controlled many strategic locations enabling her to controll access, such as Gibraltar, Cape Town, from 1819 onward Singapore, from 1839 onward Aden. The decline of feudal order in Europe had resulted in consequences overseas; the expulsion and dissolution of the Jesuit Order from Latin America, the bankrupcy of companies such as the V.O.C. (1798), the cancellation of the monopoly of the E.I.C., abolitionist teaching, the missionary activity of the Moravian brethren questioned the order in plantation and mining-based societies established by Europeans in the New World; in mainland North and Latin America, readers of enlightenment philosophy and Freemasons (George Washington, Simon Bolivar) lead revolutions which toppled colonial rule and resulted in the establishment of republics. French Jacobins exported the French Revolution, including terror, to Haiti. The Continental Blockade (1806-1815) temporarily ruined the Caribbean plantation industry; in 1807 Britain abolished slave trade (and, in the Acts of the Vienna Congress 1815, convinced the rest of Europe to go along). This, in turn, had a significant impact on African trade, as the abolition of the slave trade removed the number one trade item from the legitimate market - slaves. By 1815, France had lost most of her First Colonial Empire - Canada 1763, Louisiana 1803, Haiti (small, but, until then, very prosperous, 1804). The Netherlands had lost key colonies - the Cape Colony and Ceylon (1815), but held on to her core possession - the Dutch East Indies. Spain, in 1810-1826, lost her possessions in mainland America, only holding on to Puerto Rico and Cuba. Denmark held on to her few colonies on the Gold Coast, in India and the West Indies. Britain was the one power which had gained, except for the loss of her American colonies in 1776-1783. This phase did not merely see the decline of many colonial powers and the rise of the British, but it did see important structural changes, the demise of monopolist chartered companies such as the V.O.C., which in essence were states disguised as commercial companies, and their replacement by the government. With the bankrupcy of V.O.C. (1798) and W.I.C. (1799), the Batavian Republic (which later was succeeded by the Kingdom of the Netherlands) took over her assets and responsibilities; with the bankrupcy of the E.I.C. (1858) the British administration took over E.I.C. assets and responsibilities in India and beyond. Chartered monopolist companies pursued a policy of maximizing profits; they shied away from investments in infrastructure, such as railways, educational facilities, roads, which would pay off in years to come. The transition to government rule resulted in a change of policies, in the development of infrastructure, the introduction of new crops etc. However, in the 1850es and 1860es, it was widely perceived that colonialism was a policy of the past, that colonies (with a few exceptions) would cost more than they bring in. Denmark may be regarded an example for this attitude; she sold her possessions in India to the British in 1845, her possessions on the Gold Coast to the British in 1850. In the early 18th century there were a few exceptions, where colonial acquisitions were being made : the French expanded into Algeria and Senegal, the E.I.C. rapidly expanded her holdings in India, the Dutch their possessions in the East Indies. The European economy, during the 19th century, underwent rapid development, and European society changed in the process. Technological progress greatly increased mobility. While, during the 18th century, a journey across the North Atlantic or around Africa to India, was an adventure, trains and steamships turned it into routine events; not only the risks, but also time and costs for transportation were reduced. The growing European industries competed for raw materials and markets. The growing European population, for her food supply, became dependent on the import of fertilizer (Guano etc.) from overseas. In the liberal culture of 19th century Europe, the churches (now reduced to private organizations) searched for new fields of activity and discovered them in overseas mission. The newspaper readers of the 19th century devoured stories about explorers and newly discovered 'savage' peoples. The early 19th century thus saw Africa, the Pacific Islands and Asia exposed to European missionaries, whalers, traders, mercenaries and adventurers. Stories about stupendous achievements based on technological superiority of whites, combined with the superstition of the natives, f.ex. the Ever Victorious Army, only increased the fascination of the world beyond Europe to Europeans. Egypt under Mehmet Ali and Ibrahim Pasha modernized with the service of hundreds of European advisors. In Sarawak, James Brooke established himself as 'the White Rajah', founding a dynasty which ruled the country in her own right until 1941/1946. While considerable groups of Europeans saw opportunities overseas, most European governments saw otherwise. Even within French society - France since 1830 established her Second Colonial Empire - opinions were divided. The French operation against Oran and Algiers in 1830 had been intended as a punitive action against piracy; the driving force behind French colonial expansion were military officers stationed in the colonies, seeing this as an opportunity to forward their careers. Those individuals or groups with an active interest in colonial acquisition and/or expansion were supported, in the later 19th century, by nationalist newspapers which regarded colonies a national accomplishment. Some political theoreticians in countries like Italy and Germany regarded the figures of emigrants as a loss to the national economy, and believed that if this stream of emigrants could be redirected to an Italian/German colony, this loss could be avoided. Progress in medicine (the usage of quinine to prevent malaria, since 1850) reduced the risks of travelling into / living in the tropics; the discovery of mineral deposits (diamonds in Kimberley 1871, gold at Witwatersrand in the Transvaal 1886), guano, saltpetre, rubber, copper booms made the rest of the world more attractive to Europeans. David Livingstone, a missionary turned explorer, was a celebrity during his time. His reports were printed by newspapers in Europe and North America; when his reports had ceased without explanation, an expedition to find him was organized, headed by Henry Morton Stanley, who not only found Dr. Livingstone, but proceeded to explore the Congo River. He envisioned a plan to develop the Congo River Basin as a colony and proposed to the British Colonial Office to take the country under British protection. His suggestion was refused; Stanley then travelled across the English Channel, met King Leopold II. of Belgium - who, for years, tried to acquire colonies for Belgium, against the will of the Belgian government and the majority of the country's parliament. King Leopold II and H.M. Stanley founded the Congo Free State, with Leopold as its sovereign and Stanley as governor. This event caused European statesmen to question their previous policies regarding colonial acquisition. Otto von Bismarck organized the Berlin Conference (1884-1885, also called Africa or Congo Conference) which established rules for colonial acquisition, as well as the common goals of combatting slave trade in Africa and 'spreading civilization'. The Scramble for Africa began. In the 1880es, the nuclei of new colonies were established, Africa's coast between Dakar and Massawa carved up; Germany and Italy emerged as new colonial powers. In the 1890es, 'white plots' on the map of Africa became scarce, and the colonial powers, greedy for more territory in Africa (and elsewhere) became ready to take on states run by whites / other colonial powers. The Spanish-American War 1898, the Fashoda Crisis 1898, the Boer War 1899-1902, the Congo Crisis 1903-1905, the Morocco Crises of 1906 and 1911, the Italo-Ottoman War 1911-1912 all indicate this readiness, and World War I can be regarded just another event in this chain. In 1898-1900, China was on the verge of being partitioned by the colonial powers. By 1914, only a few countries in Africa and Asia had escaped the fate of being colonized - Liberia (virtually a U.S. protectorate), Abyssinia, the Ottoman Empire, the interior of the Arab peninsula, Persia, Afghanistan, the Chinese Empire, Siam and Japan. As stated above, the acquisition, expansion and administration of colonies was a matter disputed in the parliaments of Europe. The emerging Labour Movement, for instance, rejected imperialism as merely the export of exploitation. Colonialism had a significant impact on Europe. During World War I, Germany found herself under British naval blockade; for 4 years, the Germans had to live with food rationing, as Germany's agricultural production had fallen to c. 30 % of the prewar level. This indicates the degree to which European agriculture had become dependent on fertilizer from overseas. European industries, to varying degrees, had become dependent on imported raw materials or the export of finished products, from/to overseas. Belgium's Union Miniere, which ran the mining industry of the Congo's Katanga province, may be regarded a striking example. In the cities of Europe, the 'Kolonialwarenladen' (German) - a shop offering products from the colonies - appeared. Before World War I, few natives from the colonies made it to the Europan motherland; migration there was a later phenomenon. Tropical diseases from overseas - cholera, dysentery - made it to Europe, as did the consumption of opium. Pandemics, in return, triggered the reshaping of the cityscape of European cities (sewage systems, public waterworks, the broadening of streets etc.). European artists (Gauguin - Tahiti) and novelists discovered the world outside Europe (Jules Verne - in 80 days around the World, Rudyard Kipling, Jungle Book etc.). From the perspective of the governments which administered colonies, in most cases it did not pay; expenses exceeded revenues, and most colonies were subsidized by the motherland. This, hoever, is an incomplete balance, as it does not include the salaries of European administrators paid for by revenues generated from colonies' revenues, the profits of European companies, settlers etc. generated in the colonies. On the other hand, in large parts of Africa the colonial powers established infrastructures (railway lines, roads, government buildings, hospitals, schools) still in use today. |
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