CHAPTER ONE: EFFECTS OF
IMPERIAL EXPANSION OTTOMAN EMPIRE AND INDIA
NEW
IMPERIALISM
‘New Imperialism’
refers to the period of expansion and conflicts occurring throughout the globe
from the 1840's until 1914. This was a period of renewed colonial
expansion, undertaken by powerful industrializing countries in search of
resources and markets. Colonizing states, dominantly from Europe,
consolidated control of existing colonial territories and moved deep
into new regions; such aggressive movement was made possible by the vastly
increased wealth and military might provided by industrial mass
production. (see table of
imperial empires)
Societies in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific which had remained independent up
until the 19th century were now confronted by powerful and aggressive
invaders with steam ships, machine guns, and massive economic power. In a
survey course, we cannot do justice to all the societies impacted during this
period, however, we can look at a few prominent examples to glimpse the dynamic
and disruptive changes impacting societies all over the world. In this chapter,
we discuss New Imperialism and its consequences in the Ottoman Empire and India.
OTTOMAN DECLINE
None of the
once-powerful Islamic states participated in the industrial revolution, and
thus they were incapable of effectively confronting aggressive Western
imperialism in the 19th century. Mughal and Persian leaders found
themselves increasingly vulnerable to outside pressures and intrusion from
countries such as Britain.
A dramatic shift in power also occurred in the Mediterranean.
Power relations in the 1800's and the 1900's were transformed by the decline
and contraction of the Ottoman Empire, an erosion set in motion by the imperial
ambitions and pressures of Britain
and France.
For centuries, the Ottoman state was a "Great Power", based primarily
on its military and naval capabilities, and wealth derived from control of
strategic territory. However in the 19th century this
sprawling empire which had not kept pace with scientific and industrial
developments eroded and fragmented.
The "beginning of the end" for the Ottoman
Empire was the Crimean War. This war started out as a minor
conflict between two non-industrial dinosaurs: the Ottoman state and Tzarist
Russia. These two powers were at odds for centuries for several reasons,
for example, both empires desired control of the Balkan region; there was also
long standing religious conflict between the Islamic Ottoman state and Orthodox
Christian Russia. Russia
and the Ottoman Empire came to blows in the Crimean War (1853-1856),
a battle between two non-industrialized land giants.
The war broadened, however,
when Britain and France joined as allies; interestingly, they
supported not Christian Russia but rather were allied with the Ottoman Empire. Britain
and France
joined the Ottoman forces to stop Russian expansion into the Balkans - a
foreign policy decision based on balance of power calculations. The long
term agenda was for the British and French to get a foothold in Ottoman
territory. Britain and
France
sent troops and funds to the Turkish sultan, acting as "allies". With
the aid of this industrial support, the Ottoman Empire
did win the war. However, the Ottoman leaders then found themselves with
powerful British/ French troops stationed in their territories - troops that
had no intention of leaving. The Britain
and France
used troops now stationed in Ottoman territory to take over swaths of territory
formerly controlled by or influenced by Ottoman leaders. France moved into North
Africa (Morocco and Algeria). Great
Britain secured control of Egypt
- and ultimately control of the strategically invaluable Suez
Canal being built there.
The Ottoman
Empire also found itself deeply in debt to these two powers as a
result of the war, a debt that simply could not be repaid. Debt means vulnerability
and submission. Using their power as the Ottoman Empire's creditors, Britain and France demanded economic and territorial
concessions, for example the Ottoman state was forced to open its borders
to virtually unrestricted Western goods. Mass produced goods flooded Ottoman
markets, completely swamping local, hand-crafted industries. The Ottoman Empire continued to suffer from this debt and
increasing weakness throughout the rest of the century.
Finally, by so vividly
demonstrating the fundamental weakness of the Ottoman Empire, Britain and France helped to spark internal
rebellions of subject peoples against the Sultan. Those under Ottoman rule who
had long resented Turkish control, now saw the chance to overthrow this
repressive imperial control. Fueled by the passions of nationalism,
several independent movements initiated or intensified existing
struggles. In the Balkans, several independence movements successfully
ended Ottoman control. Greece
had already broken free of Ottoman control in 1830; after the Crimean War,
nationalist groups in Albania,
Bulgaria and Serbia fought and successfully ended control by
the Ottoman Empire. By the end of the 19th
century, Ottoman control was virtually eliminated in the Balkans, and
resulting in a complicated jumble of several new, small states. In the Near East, Arab leaders initiated rebellion against
Ottoman rule that continued into the 20th century - expanding into a full-scale
"Arab revolt" during World War I. (see description)
The immediate result of
Ottoman collapse and expulsion from the Balkans was long term instability in
this region. We come back to this in Unit 9; the power vacuum created in this
region by the collapse of Ottoman power was an important contributing cause of
World War I. And in fact shifting borders and violent conflict in the Balkan
region continues to the present day!
By the end of the 19th
century it was clear that the Ottoman Empire was fading; it became known as the
"sick man" of Europe. Ultimately,
the Sultans completely lost power. In 1908, a group of nationalist Turks (the
"Young Turks"), disgusted by the erosion of Ottoman power, overthrew
the Sultanate. These Young Turks, however, could not restore the power of the Ottoman Empire. The cataclysmic violence of World War I
finished off what was left of this empire in 1918; however, the critical damage
done to Ottoman presence in the Mediterranean
was a direct result of New Imperialism. Through the Mediterranean and the
Near East, industrialized Britain
and France
moved in as the new imperial powers, replacing Ottoman influence.
INDIA
Another region
undergoing dramatic changes in the 19th century was the
sub-continent of India.
Although European control of Indian territories dated back to the 1500's,
European control in this region was for centuries limited to coastal areas and
in most cases small trading post footholds. Driven by industrial demands
and empowered by greater military/naval power, however, the British
dramatically expanded control during the late 1700's and early 1800's.
Recognize,
the British presence during these years was not directly under the British
government; rather, it was the British East India Company (BEIC) which used its
private military force to slowly consolidate control of resources and
markets. The BEIC took advantage of political divisions in India, playing
Indian states off against each other and stepping in as a needed
"ally". Many Indian rulers who sought the wealth and military
support of the BEIC ultimately found themselves in debt and with BEIC
troops on their soil - they were powerless to oust this "ally."
Over a period of decades, the BEIC built up a remarkable degree of private
control over most of the continent. By 1848, the BEIC secured control of
the last independent state in this region, thus completing the loss of
political and economic control by Indians; during the ensuing decades, deeper
cultural impacts became clear.
The BEIC, with only a
limited number of British soldiers and officials, relied on Indian workers to
run things, for example employing the Indian educated elite to work as
bureaucratic civil servants, and Indians served in the military as native
soldiers (sepoys). At the top level of leadership, however, power was always
monopolized by British officers and bureaucrats. Indians subjects
were permanently relegated to lower levels of power by their colonial
overlords.
This privately built
control of India greatly
benefited the country and economy of Great Britain. Control of India rapidly
became a critical component of British global trade. India supplied necessary raw
materials such as cotton, indigo, tea, and later opium. India also
bought an estimated one quarter (1/4) of all British goods such as
textiles. Its economic importance to the British
empire was absolute and clear to British leaders. Then, the
BEIC almost lost India.
Due to company mismanagement and egregious cultural/religious insensitivity, a
rebellion broke out amongst some of the Indian troops, the sepoys. The rebellion
spread. Between 1857-1859, British control over India was seriously threatened. It
required the concentrated colonial military force of Great Britain to subdue this
uprising; this episode is called the Great Rebellion or Sepoy
Mutiny. After repressing this rebellion, the British government took
control of India
away from the BEIC, which had proven itself inadequate to the task of running
this valuable colony.
Great Britain consolidated control of India
in the 1860's; the royal Viceroy of India ruled India on behalf of Parliament and
the Crown. India's
economy was completely directed towards serving Britain's
economic needs - the agricultural sector focused on cash crops grown for
export. Local industry was suppressed since Indians were supposed to buy
British goods. It in fact became illegal for Indians to even spin cloth
at home; clothing HAD TO BE purchased from the British. Long term
economic direction of India
created a lopsided economy based on production of cash crops and needed
resources to Britain,
and serving as a non-industrialized market for British goods.
In order to prevent another
uprising, the British concentrated on extensive cultural measures to
ensure loyal and obedient subjects. In fact, the continued use of the sepoy
system and the Indian Civil Service required training these Indian servants to
be "British" in education and loyalty. Thus, after 1859, more
intensive cultural imposition by Britain was evident. Education of
Indian subjects took place in English - in fact English became the required
language of trade and governance in India. In school, the
educated Indian elite studied Western history and culture, not Indian heritage.
Christian missionaries traveled throughout India, seriously antagonizing
Muslims and Hindus. Ignoring the deeply rooted traditions of Hinduism and
the caste system and the religious intensity of Islam (the two major
traditions in India), Great Britain
established political rule and a legal system based on British common law. Many
Hindu and caste traditions were ignored, others were expressly forbidden.
Traditions that the British found abhorrent, for example treatment of
outcastes, and the practice of sati (whereby a widow threw herself on
her dead husbands funeral pyre) were outlawed. (see
discussion of this practice) Islamic law was also pushed aside to be
replaced by Western legal principles.
The British hold, greatly strengthened
after 1859, continued in India
for almost a century. In fact, Britain expanded its control of
what it called "India" into an enormous territory which included
India as well as several surrounding regions such as, what is today Pakistan,
Afghanistan and Burma (Myanmar). (see map)
Recognize - in terms of current instability in Central Asia - the British
Empire was yet another historical intruder, following a long line of conquerors
moving into the hills of Afghanistan
and Pakistan.
This period of imperial aggression became another complex part of the history
of invasion, cultural clashes and long term tensions in this region.
The British viewed India as a
critical part of their global holdings, the "jewel in the crown" of
the empire. It took the destructive effects of two world wars to shake the
British grip and enable successful decolonization in this region in the 1940's.
The long term consequences of over a century of colonial rule in economics,
political and cultural changes are still being confronted in India.
CULTURAL
LEGACIES OF NEW IMPERIALISM
An interesting question is
raised when looking at the British in India
(and we see the same issue when looking at Africa
in the next chapter). The debate rages over whether, in the final
analysis, the imposed presence of the West in traditional societies such as India, or the Ibo society in Africa,
was beneficial. There are some who argue that the British and other New
Imperial powers did bring with them progressive ideas such as rule under
the law, greater equality under the law, as well as the benefits of Western
technology in areas such as medicine and agricultural knowledge. The argument
is that in essence the West did have advances to share, and that New
Imperialism did result in further spread of scientific abilities and technology
(thus improved standard of living) and certainly progressive ideas of law and
political/ human rights.
Other historians and
commentators passionately disagree. They claim that even if actions such as the
outlawing of sati is seen as specifically good, the general
impact of overall disruption of traditional structures and societies by outside
powers and forces was destructive and unjustified. Despite the fact that
Indians benefited from the greater protection of some rights, the medicine,
sanitation technology and transportation systems brought in, the costs in terms
of destroying native developments in cultural, political and economic areas -
costs still evident - were too great. (see interesting
evaluation of the effect of the British in India that looks at both sides)
This is something you need
to think about and decide for yourself as an historian. Recognize,
though, that this kind of debate had to be directly confronted - then and now -
by all colonized societies. The cultural presence of Europeans in areas such as
Africa, India,
Asian and Pacific cultures left deep and permanent marks. Christianity
spread, European languages became the primary spoken language of native
peoples, capitalist economic structures took root, and in many parts of the
world, Western based political and legal systems remain to today.
Colonial subjects, after
they gained independence in the 20th century, have had to confront the legacies
of the imposed culture of the colonizer - what should be kept, what is valuable
and embraced - and what needs to be rejected? How much can and should the
older, native traditions be revived? What kind of hybrid is possible of imposed
(but beneficial) Western ideas, and the reassertion of native/national
traditions?
These prove to be very
complex and divisive issues, and this kind of dilemma has proven to be one of
the most enduring legacies of the cultural imposition and changes that took
place during New Imperialism. India and the Islamic world are two
examples of this forced fusion of cultures. In the following
chapters we look at three more glimpses of the effects of New Imperialism.
INTERESTING
WEB SITES
IMPERIALISM :
INTERNET SOURCES
INDIAN HISTORY
INTERNET SOURCEBOOK
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