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1HIST 125 – Introduction to World History: Lecture 7

I. Asia & Africa on the eve of the Imperial Age

II. A trip north to Russia
III Charles Darwin’s global impact
IV. Social Darwinism
V. Imperialism
VI. The “scramble” for Africa
VII. Imperialism in Asia
VIII. Staring into the abyss
IX. Suffragists & Suffragettes

Film clips, illustrations, etc

1. Map – Portuguese contacts with Africa & Asia

2. Map — voyages of Zhen He
3. Map – colonial empires, 1815
4. Russian expansion map
5. Mongol invasion of Russia map
6. Ivan the Terrible
7. Peter the Great
8. Russian empire map 1613-1914
9. Charles Darwin portrait
10. Cartoon – Darwin & monkey
11. Woodrow Wilson
12. Herbert Spencer
13. Rhodes Colossus cartoon
14. Maxim gun photo
15. Senegalese soldier
16. French Indochina soldier
17. Map – African imperialism
18. Belgian Congo forced laborers
19. Map – Asian imperialism
20. Carving up China – French cartoon
19. Map – Capetown to Cairo
20. Boer republics map
21. Boer commandos photo
22. Boer concentration camp
23. Boer concentration camp victim
24. South Africa map
25. Map – Asian imperialism
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26. Carving up China – French cartoon
27. Russo-Japanese War map

28. Russian soldiers, Russo-Japanese War

29. Painting – Russian warship sunk by Japanese navy
30. US empire map, 1900
31. Judge cartoon
32. Mark Twain
33. Roger Casement
34. End of empire map
35. German soldiers march to war with young woman, 1914
36. Factory workers, circa 1900
37. Child coal mine workers
38. British Labour Party poster
39. Immigrants, Ellis Island
40. Photo – 4 Ellis Island immigrants
41. Anti-immigrant cartoon
42. “Little Italy”, New York City
43. Lynching of Italians in New Orleans
44. Chinese immigrant workers
45. The Suffragette magazine cover
46. The Pankhursts
47. Anti-forced feeding poster
48. Women workers, Woolwich Arsenal

Watch segment from The Great War, Episode 1,

START: 17.36 minute mark – END: 21.12 minute mark

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRtdSoeYQYk&list=PL038996EE01A51D5E
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Map – Portuguese contacts with Africa & Asia

I. Asia & Africa on the eve of the Imperial Age

NOT MUCH HAS BEEN SAID ABOUT AFRICA & ASIA SO FAR IN THIS COURSE

THAT’S NOT BECAUSE THESE PLACES & THE PEOPLE WHO LIVED THERE ARE

UNIMPORTANT … FAR FROM IT

IF YOU HAVE READ THE EARLY CHAPTERS OF DUIKER & SPIELVOGEL’S

WORLD HISTORY, YOU’LL KNOW THAT THE CULTURES & SOCIETIES

FOUND ON BOTH CONTINENTS ARE RICH IN THEIR HISTORY &

ACHIEVEMENTS

I MUST SAY I AM A LITTLE DOUBTFUL, THOUGH, WHEN THE AUTHORS OF

THIS BOOK TALKS ABOUT “SEEDS OF INDUSTRIALIZATION” (p 487) IN

CHINA IN THE 1500s — OR “SEEDS OF CAPITALISM” (p 497) IN JAPAN

OVER ROUGHLY THE SAME TIME PERIOD

THERE CERTAINLY WAS AN EXPANSION IN THE CREATION OF PRODUCTS LIKE

PORCELAIN & SILK, & TRADING OF CASH CROPS … TIED TO THESE

DEVELOPMENTS WAS THE RISE OF CLASSES OF MERCHANTS & TRADERS

IN ALL OF THESE COUNTRIES

BUT APPLYING THESE TERMS — INDUSTRIALIZATTION & CAPITALISM —

AS WE WOULD UNDERSTAND THEM, TODAY — TO CONDITIONS IN THESE

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SOCIETIES IS A BIT OF A STRETCH

IN ANY CASE, WHEN LOOKING AT THE PERIOD COVERED BY THIS COURSE –

1500 TO THE PRESENT — THE FACT IS THAT, INCREASINGLY, EUROPE &,

EVENTUALLY THE AMERICAS, PLAYED AN EVER MORE INFLUENTIAL ROLE

IN ALL OF THESE PLACES

AS YOUR BOOK POINTS OUT (p 413-414) WHEN TALKING ABOUT CHANGES IN

AFRICA … EVEN BEFORE 1500, THE EUROPEANS WERE AFFECTING THE LIVES

OF AFRICANS ON THE CONTINENT’S WEST COAST … THE ASHANTI

KINGDOM ACTIVELY TRADED WITH THE EUROPEANS WHILE OTHERS IN THE

NIGER RIVER DELTA ACTIVELY PARTICIPATED IN THE SLAVE TRADE

BOTH THERE, & ON AFRICA’S EAST COAST, THERE WAS A RISE IN CONFLICT

BETWEEN AFRICAN TRIBES & KINGDOMS — BETWEEN THOSE WHO ALLIED

THEMSELVES WITH THE EUROPEANS & THOSE WHO ACTIVELY OPPOSED

THEIR PRESENCE
Map - voyages of Zhen He

ONE OF THE IRONIC ASPECTS OF THE PORTUGUESE EXPLORATIONS &

TRADE IN AFRICA & ASIA IS HOW CLOSELY THEIR TRADE ROUTES – AS YOU

SEE IN THIS MAP – MIRRORED THE EARLIER VOYAGES OF ZHEN HE

REINFORCING A POINT I MADE IN A PREVIOUS SESSION – NAMELY, THAT

THE EUROPEN EXPANSION MIGHT VERY WELL HAVE BEEN STOPPED

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BEFORE IT HAD EVEN STARTED IF CHINA HAD CARREIED ON WITH THESE

EARLIER VOYAGES

Map – colonial empires, 1815

AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THIS MAP, AS LATE AS 1815, EUROPEAN CONTROL OF

OF AFRICAN & ASIAN TERRITORY WAS RELATIVELY MODEST

ONE EXCEPTION WAS THE BRITISH IN INDIA - WHICH I’LL GET TO

LATER … THE OTHER WAS RUSSIA

AND BECAUSE I HAVEN’T SAID A WORD ABOUT THE RUSSIANS, LET ME

TAKE A LITTLE DETOUR NORTH FOR A FEW MINUTES

Russian expansion map

II. A trip north to Russia

I’M THROWING A LOT OF MAPS AT YOU, I KNOW, BUT IF YOU’RE GOING TO

UNDERSTAND IMPERIALISM – IF YOU’RE GOING TO UNDERSTAND THE

PAST, REALLY – IT HELPS TO KNOW WHERE PLACES HAPPEN TO BE

I BRIEFLY MENTIOND RUSSIA AT THE START OF THIS COURSE AS ONE OF

THE WORLD’S “POWER CENTERS” IN 1500 … KNOWN AT THE TIME AS

MUSCOVY BECAUSE ITS CAPITAL WAS THE CITY OF MOSCOW

THERE’S LONG BEEN A DEBATE OVER WHETHER RUSSIA SHOULD BE

CONSIDERED A EUROPEAN POWER BECAUSE, AS YOU CAN SEE FROM

THIS MAP, THE RUSSIANS EXPANDED INTO THE EAST … IT MAY BE MORE
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ACCURATE TO CALL IT A EURASIAN NATION

NOR IS THIS THE ONLY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RUSSIA & THE REST OF

EUROPE

RUSSIA - LIKE MOST OF ITS EUROPEAN NEIGHBORS - WAS A CHRISTIAN

STATE ... HOWEVER - RUSSIANS ADHERED TO ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY

THE BRANCH OF THE CHURCH THAT CAN BE TRACED TO THE BYZANTINE

EMPIRE & WHICH HAD FORMALLY SPLIT WITH WESTERN CHURCH IN

1054 ... AMONG OTHER THINGS, THIS MEANT THAT THE ORTHODOX
CHURCH HAD NO EXPERIENCE LIKE THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION

THAT MAY SOUND LIKE A GOOD THING - ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS - & THE

RUSSIANS, IN PARTICULAR - DID NOT EXPERIENCE THE RELIGIOUS WARS

THAT SWEPT ACROSS LARGE PARTS OF EUROPE BETWEEN ROMAN

CATHOLICS & PROTESTANTS IN THE WAKE OF THE REFORMATION

BUT - THIS ALSO MEANT THAT RUSSIANS MISSED OUT ON THE

INTELLECTUAL IMPACT OF THE REFORMATION ... AN IMPACT THAT

WAS ENORMOUS & THAT EVENTUALLY BROUGHT ON THE SCIENTIFIC

REVOLUTION &, LATER, THE ENLIGHTENTMENT

Mongol invasion of Russia map

EQUALLY IMPORTANT - FOR ALL INTENTS & PURPOSES - RUSSIA WAS

CUT OFF FROM THE REST OF EUROPE FROM THE mid-13th TO THE
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mid-15th CENTURIES - WHEN THE COUNTRY WAS INVADED BY THE

MONGOLS - ASIAN WARRIORS WHO CONQUERED RUSSIA FROM EAST

MANY HISTORIANS AGREE THAT WHAT IS CALLED THE MONGOL

DOMINATION OF SET RUSSIA BACK SEVERAL CENTURIES BEHIND THE REST

OF EUROPE - A GAP THAT THE RUSSIANS HAVE BEEN TRYING TO CLOSE

EVER SINCE

THE MONGOL DOMINATION WAS THROWN OFF BY IVAN III - A GRAND

DUKE, WHOSE LANDS WERE CENTERED ON MOSCOW ... IVAN III

PROCLAIMED HIMSELF TSAR - RUSSIAN FOR CAESAR

BUT - RUSSIANS WERE NOT REALLY FREED FROM THE MONGOLS UNTIL

REIGN OF IVAN III's GRANDSON - IVAN IV - BETTER KNOWN AS

IVAN THE TERRIBLE ... HERE IS A MUCH LATER PORTRAIT OF IVAN ...

NOT A HAPPY CHAPPY, AS YOU CAN SEE

Ivan the Terrible portrait

IN FACT, HE WAS A PSYCHOPATH … AS YOUR BOOK MENTIONS ON p 441

IVAN THE TERRIBLE KILLED HIS OWN SON IN A VIOLENT RAGE

HIS WAY OF DEALING WITH THE ANY NOBLES WAS SIMPLY TO KILL OFF

MOST OF THEM … HE WAS - TO PUT IT BLUNTLY -- A TYRANT IN EVERY

SENSE OF THE WORD

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AS WELL AS GETTING RID OF THE MONGOLS & IMPOSING HIS WILL ON

RUSSIA'S NOBILITY - OR BOYARS - AS THEY WERE CALLED ...

IVAN LEFT 1 OTHER LEGACY ... DURING HIS REIGN RUSSIAN PEASANTS

BECAME TIED THE LAND - IN OTHER WORDS, THEY BECAME SERFS

WHICH HIS IRONIC - BECAUSE HE IMPOSED FEUDALISM ON RUSSIA JUST

AS IT WAS BEGINNING TO DIE OUT IN THE REST OF EUROPE

AS YOUR BOOK ALSO TELLS YOU ON p 441 - IN 1613 - A NEW FAMILY - THE

ROMANOVS - ESTABLISHED THEMSELVES AS RUSSIA’S RULING DYNASTY

A POSITION THEY WOULD HOLD UNTIL 1917 ... THE MOST IMPORTANT OF

THESE EARLY ROMANOVS WAS THE MAN WE KNOW AS PETER THE GREAT

Peter the Great portrait

PETER THE GREAT RULED RUSSIA FOR 36 YEARS UNTIL HIS DEATH IN

1725 - A FAIRLY LONG STRETCH - HE’S IMPORTANT FOR 2 REASONS

1ST - PETER WAS DETERMINED TO WESTERNIZE RUSSIA

2ND - HE WAS EQUALLY DETERMINED TO - HAS HE PUT IT - GAIN A

“WINDOW ON THE WEST" - IN PRACTICAL TERMS, THIS MEANT HE WAS

DETERMINED TO GAIN ACCESS TO THE BALTIC & BLACK SEAS

SHORTLY AFTER BECOMING TSAR - PETER DID AN EXTRAORDINARY THING

HE TRAVELED AROUND WESTERN EUROPE SOMETIMES IN DISGUISE

TO LEARN AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE ABOUT WESTERN CUSTOMS &

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TECHNOLOGY WHICH HE THEN PLANNED TO INTRODUCE -

BY FORCE IF NECESSARY --- TO RUSSIA

IN PRUSSIA, HE STUDIED MILITARY ORGANISATION

IN BOTH THE NETHERLANDS & BRITAIN -- HE STUDIED SHIPBUILDING

ALSO IN BRITAIN - HE STUDIED THAT COUNTRY'S METHODS OF

COMMERCE & FINANCE

HIS TRIP WAS CUT SHORT - HOWEVER - WHEN A REVOLT AGAINST HIM WAS

MOUNTED IN RUSSIA - LED BY HIS OWN BODYGUARDS ... PETER RETURNED &

RUTHLESSLY PUT DOWN THE REBELLION ... HE EVEN EXECUTED SOME OF

THE REBELS HIMSELF ... THE UPSHOT OF THESE EXPERIENCES WAS THAT

PETER THEN ESTABLISHED A MONARCHY AS ABSOLUTE AS ANY FOUND

ANYWHERE IN EUROPE

PETER’S ATTEMPTS TO WESTERNIZE RUSSIA ACHIEVED SOME SUCCESS

HE SET UP NEW INDUSTRIES - FOR EXAMPLE ... THOUGH HE HAD TO

IMPORT TECHNICIANS FROM WESTERN EUROPE TO SUPERVISE THEM

HE ALSO INTRODUCED WESTERN SOCIAL CUSTOMS TO RUSSIA

WOMEN - FOR EXAMPLE - WHO WERE EXCLUDED FROM SOCIETY - WERE

BROUGHT OUT OF SECLUSION

PETER ALSO INSISTED THAT NOBLES ADOPT WESTERN CLOTHES STYLES

& THAT THE MEN SHOULD CUT OFF THEIR TRADITIONAL LONG-FLOWING
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BEARDS ... WHEN SOME REFUSED, PETER WAS KNOWN TO WALK AROUND

HIS PALACES WITH A PAIR OF SCISSORS & CUT THEM OFF HIMSELF

HE ALSO INSISTED ON IMPOSING A NEW ETIQUETTE AT COURT ...

NOBLES WERE FORBIDDEN FROM SPITTING ON THE FLOOR, SCRATCHING

THEMSELVES - OR GNAWING ON BONES AT THE DINNER TABLE

PERHAPS HIS MOST PERMANENT ACHIEVEMENT WAS THE BUILDING OF A

NEW CAPITAL CITY ... ONE OF HIS "WINDOWS ON THE WEST" - THE CITY

OF ST PETERSBURG

BUT FOR ALL THESE ACHIEVEMENTS, PETER'S REFORMS DID LITTLE TO

HELP MOST RUSSIANS ... HE FURTHER TIED THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX

CHURCH TO HIS GOVERNMENT ... IN EFFECT, CHURCH & STATE BECAME

ONE & THE SAME

INSTEAD OF GETTING RID OF SERFDOM, PETER ACTUALLY DID HIS BEST TO

FURTHER TIE PEASANTS TO THE LAND … THIS MIDEVAL PRACTICE WAS

NOT ABOLISHED IN RUSSIA IN 1861

Russian empire map 1613-1914

IN ANY EVENT, UNDER PETER & HIS SUCCESSORS, RUSSIA EXPANDED INTO
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BOTH EUROPE & ASIA … BY 1900 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE STRETCHED FROM

POLAND IN THE WEST TO VERY EDGE OF ASIA IN THE EAST

FOR OVER 125 YEARS – BETWEEN 1741 & 1867 - THE RUSSIANS LAID

CLAIM TO ALASKA, UNTIL THEY UNWISELY SOLD IT TO THE UNITED

STATES

EVEN WITHOUT ALASKA, AT THE DAWN OF THE 20TH CENTURY, RUSSIA

WAS A POWER TO BE RECKONED WITH

IN 1900 RUSSIA WAS THE 4TH LARGEST INDUSTRIAL POWER IN THE WORLD

& WAS DETERMINED TO EXPAND EVEN FURTHER INTO ASIA, MAKING IT

AN IMPERIAL POWER

FROM THE RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE, THIS WAS ONLY “NATURAL”

LIKE THOSE FROM OTHER IMPERIAL NATIONS, THEY BELIEVED THEY WERE

MEANT TO RULE THE WORLD … TO UNDERSTAND HOW THEY COULD HAVE

COME TO SUCH A CONCLUSION, IT’S NECESSARY TO DELVE INTO THE

19TH CENTURY WAY OF THINKING & TO DO THAT, IT’S NECESSARY TO

TALK ABOUT ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL FIGURES IN HISTORY

Charles Darwin portrait

III. Charles Darwin’s global impact

THE MAN I’M TALKING ABOUT WAS THIS MAN - CHARLES DARWIN
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THIS IS NOT THE PLACE TO GET INTO A DETAILED DISCUSSION OF ISSUES

LIKE EVOLUTION & NATURAL SELECTION ... INSTEAD - LET ME

CONCENTRATE ON THE IMPACT OF THESE IDEAS

IN A BRIEF SUMMARY OF DARWIN’S CAREER ON p 596 OF THEIR BOOK,

DUIKER & SPIELVOGEL HINT AT DARWIN’S IMPACT ON THE WORLD

IT’S IMPORTANT TO BEAR IN MIND THAT DARWIN WAS NOT THE 1ST PERSON

WHO CHALLENGED THE CREATION STORY FOUND IN THE BIBLE ... NOR

WAS HE THE 1ST PERSON WHO CAME UP WITH THE THEORY OF

EVOLUTION ... THE IDEA THAT SPECIES HAD EVOLVED OVER

TIME HAD BEEN ADVANCED BY A NUMBER OF SCIENTISTS

DARWIN’S DISTINCT CONTRIBUTION TO THE DEBATE WAS HIS THEORY

NATURAL SELECTION
ACCORDING TO NATURAL SELECTION INDIVIDUALS WITHIN SPECIES

WHICH HAVE FAVORABLE CHARACTERISTICS WILL PREVAIL &

PROCREATE ... WHILE THOSE WITH CHARACTERISTICS THAT DO NOT

ENABLE IT TO ADAPT TO ITS ENVIRONMENT DIE OUT

DARWIN FINALLY PUBLISHED HIS FINDINGS IN 1859 IN A BOOK CALLED

ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES BY MEANS OF NATURAL SELECTION, OR

THE PRESERVATION OF FAVOURED RACES IN THE STRUGGLE FOR

LIFE ... HOW’S THAT FOR A LONG-WINDED TITLE ??? MOST PEOPLE
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SIMPLY KNOW THE BOOK AS ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES

GIVEN THAT DARWIN HAD NO KNOWLEDGE OF HOW INHERITANCE

WORKED - OR OF GENETICS & DNA - THIS WAS A REMARKABLE

ACHIEVEMENT - SOMETHING THAT SCIENTISTS MARVEL AT - TODAY

HOWEVER - IT’S WORTH NOTING ... THAT DARWIN AVOIDED ANY DIRECT

DISCUSSION OF THE ORIGINS OF HUMAN BEINGS IN THIS ORIGINAL WORK

HE WOULD ONLY DO THAT IN HIS LATER THE DESCENT OF MAN ...

WHICH LED TO A STORM OF ABUSE AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THIS CARTOON

Darwin & monkey cartoon

AS YOU LIKELY KNOW, DARWIN’S THEORY SET OFF A FIRESTORM

WHILE SOME ARGUED THAT TO ACCEPT DARWIN’S THEORY WAS TO REJECT

GOD - OTHERS WERE QUITE ABLE TO FIT EVOLUTION AS PART OF THEIR

RELIGIOUS WORLD VIEW ... THE ANSWER TO THIS QUANDARY DEPENDED

AS MUCH ON THE READER’S EXISTING BELIEFS & AGENDA AS ON

THEORY ITSELF
Woodrow Wilson photo

THE FUTURE AMERICAN PRESIDENT WOODROW WILSON FOUND

NATURAL SELECTION TO BE PERFECTLY COMPATIBLE WITH HIS BELIEFS

AS A DEVOUT CHRISTIAN {Judis, Folly of Empire, 77}

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DARWIN CONTINUES TO BE CONTROVERSIAL - NOT LEAST IN AMERICAN

SCHOOLS WHERE THE MERE MENTION OF HIS NAME AROUSES PASSIONS

IF YOU ASK MOST PEOPLE TO SUMMARIZE DARWIN’S THEORY OF NATURAL

SELECTION THEY WILL SUM IT UP AS SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST

IN FACT, DARWIN NEVER USED THOSE WORDS …

WHY THE AUTHORS OF YOUR BOOK USE IT IN THEIR SUMMARY ABOUT

DARWIN’S WORK I CANNOT UNDERSTAND

Herbert Spencer photo

THE PHRASE WAS, INSTEAD, COINED BY ANOTHER ENGLISHMAN - THIS MAN

HERBERT SPENCER - & HIS IDEA KNOWN AS SOCIAL DARWINISM

AGAIN, WHY DUIKER & SPIELVOGEL FAIL TO MENTION SPENCER IS

PERPLEXING

IV. Social Darwinism

IT’S NOT THE LEAST OF IRONIES OF CHARLES DARWIN’S CAREER THAT HIS

HIS NAME CAME TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH A SOCIAL THEORY THAT HE

ABHORRED - SOCIAL DARWINISM ... A TOPIC COVERED BY YOUR BOOK

ON p 599 ... AS I SAY, THE FATHER OF SOCIAL DARWINISM -WAS

HERBERT SPENCER

SPENCER PROJECTED DARWINIAN EVOLUTION ONTO THE SOCIAL

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PLANE ... OTHERS USED THIS IDEA TO JUSTIFY COMPETITION

BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS & COMPETITION BETWEEN NATIONS

AS WELL AS COINING THE PHRASE "SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST"

SPENCER ALSO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR PHRASES LIKE THE “LAW OF THE

JUNGLE” TO EXPLAIN THIS COMPETITION

SOCIAL DARWINISM WAS USED TO JUSTIFY LAISSEZ-FAIRE CAPITALISM

AT HOME ... & IMPERIALISM ABROAD ... RELATED TO BOTH OF THESE

POLICIES WAS THE SOCIAL DARWINIST NOTION OF “RACES” ...

IN THIS WORLD VIEW -EVEN WHITE EUROPEANS WERE DIFFERENTIATED

SO ... THE ENGLISH - & MANY AMERICANS - BEGAN TO CALL

THEMSELVES THE ANGLO-SAXON RACE

THE IRISH WERE THE GAELIC RACE

THE GERMANS - THE TEUTONIC RACE

THE RUSIANS - THE SLAVIC RACE

FROM THESE IDEAS IT WAS A SMALL STEP TO THE THEORY OF EUGENICS ...

THE NOTION THAT UNDESIRABLE TRAITS COULD BE BRED OUT OF THE

HUMAN RACE ... EUGENICS BECAME VERY POPULAR AMONG SOME UPPER-

CLASS EUROPEANS & AMERICANS WELL INTO THE 1920s & 30s
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ULTIMATELY - THE LOGIC OF THESE PERNICIOUS IDEAS FOUND

EXPRESSION IN THE RACIAL THEORIES OF THE NAZIS & RESULTED IN

THE HOLOCAUST

SPENCER WAS INITIALLY OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THE SORT OF SOCIETY HE

SOUGHT TO IDENTIFY WITH THESE IDEAS ... OVER TIME, HOWEVER, HIS

OPTIMISM COLLAPSED & IN HIS LAST YEARS - HE BECAME PESSIMISTIC

ABOUT THE FUTURE OF MANKIND

BY THE TIME SPENCER DIED IN 1903 - DARWIN HAD BEEN DEAD FOR

OVER 2 DECADES - BUT BOTH LIVED LONG ENOUGH TO SEE SPENCER’S

INTERPRETATION OF DARWINISM USED TO JUSTIFY ONE OF THE MOST

CONTROVERSIAL LEGACIES OF THE WEST - IMPERIALISM

Rhodes Colossus cartoon

V. Imperialism

THERE ARE FEW SUBJECTS THAT CONJURE UP AS MUCH ANGER &

MISUNDERSTANDING IN EQUAL AMOUNTS AS IMPERIALISM ... THE

IMPERIAL LEGACY GOES A LONG WAY TOWARD EXPLAINING THE ANTI-

WESTERN &, NOW, ANTI-AMERICAN FEELING & HAS CAST A LONG

SHADOW ACROSS THE 20TH - NOW INTO THE 21ST CENTURY

DUIKER & SPIELVOGEL SPEND AN ENTIRE CHAPTER ON THIS SUBJECT

& YOU WOULD DO WELL TO READ IT

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NOTHING BETTER ILLUSTRATES THIS PERIOD, OR THE ATTITUDES AT THE

ROOT OF IT, THAN THIS CARTOON … THE MAN IN IT IS CECIL RHODES

WHO MADE ONE OF THE LARGEST FORTUNES IN HISTORY IN THE GOLD &

DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA … THE RHODES SCHOLARSHIPS TO

BRITAIN’S OXFORD UNIVERSITY ARE A PRODUCT OF THIS FORTUNE

RHODES, AS YOU CAN ALSO SEE FROM THIS ILLUSTRATION, WAS AN ARDENT

IMPERIALIST … HE WANTED NOTHING LESS THAN FOR BRITAIN TO CONTROL

ALL OF AFRICA FROM CAIRO IN EGYPT TO CAPETOWN IN THE SOUTH

SO ... WHAT IS IMPERIALISM???

ACCORDING TO 1 DEFINITION - IMPERIALISM IS "THE EXTENSION OF THE

CONTROL, DOMINION, OR EMPIRE OF ONE NATION OVER ANOTHER

NATION OR REGION OF THE WORLD"

THAT MAY MEAN DIRECT CONTROL (p 628) - IN THE FORM OF COLONIES

GENERALLY SPEAKING, THE IMPERIAL POWER WOULD TAKE OVER A REGION

RUN UP ITS FLAG & CLAIM THE LAND, THE PEOPLE, & THE RESOURCES AS

THEIR OWN

BUT IT MIGHT ALSO MEAN INDIRECT CONTROL (pp 627-628)

THE IMPERIAL POWER MIGHT TEMPORARILY TAKE CONTROL OF A REGION

TO ETABLISH OR PROP UP A FRIENDLY GOVERNMENT ... OR - IT

MIGHT MEAN THAT THE IMPERIAL POWER DOMINATES THE WEAKER STATE

OR REGION ECONOMICALLY OR MILITARILY

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DURING THE PERIOD THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT ... FROM 1871 TO 1914

THE MAJOR POWERS OF EUROPE -- & EVEN A FEW THAT WEREN'T – USUALLY

OPTED FOR THE 1ST METHOD - DIRECT CONTROL ... THE ESTABLISHMENT

OF COLONIAL EMPIRES

THE EUROPEANS COULD DO SO BECAUSE DURING THIS PERIOD THEY WERE

AT THE ZENITH OF THEIR POWER ... DURING THE LAST DECADES OF

OF THE 19TH CENTURY THERE WAS A MASSIVE NEW OUTBURST OF

EUROPEAN EXPANSION

BY THE END OF THIS ERA, ALMOST ALL OF AFRICA & MUCH THE FAR EAST

WERE STAKED OUT & ANNEXED BY THE Gt BRITAIN, FRANCE, GERMANY,

PORTUGAL, ITALY &, EVEN, BELGIUM

BEFORE THE END, THE UNITED STATES, RUSSIA, & JAPAN BECAME

INVOLVED IN THIS IMPERIAL EXPANSION IN ASIA

THESE NATIONS WERE ABLE TO DOMINATE THE REST OF THE WORLD

BECAUSE - BY THE LATE 19TH CENTURY - THEIR TECHNOLOGICAL

SUPERIORITY GAVE THEM A MILITARY ADVANTAGE THAT

TRADITIONAL SOCIETIES SIMPLY COULD NOT COMPETE WITH

Maxim Gun photo

THIS MILITARY ADVANTAGE WAS BEST SUMMED UP BY A LITTLE DITTY

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ABOUT THE MAXIM GUN --- AN EARLY MACHINE GUN ... THE DITTY RAN

WHATEVER HAPPENS ... WE HAVE GOT

THE MAXIM GUN ... AND THEY HAVE NOT

THE QUESTION THAT HISTORIANS HAVE ASKED ... ARE STILL ASKING

IS WHY THIS SPURT OF IMPERIAL ACTIVITY HAPPENED WHEN IT DID

THERE ARE SEVERAL EXPLANATIONS

(1) SOME HISTORIANS STRESS ECONOMIC CAUSES ... ACCORDING TO THIS

VIEW, THE RAPID EXPANSION OF INDUSTRY IN EUROPE & THE U.S.

CREATED THE NEED FOR NEW MARKETS - & FOR RAW MATERIALS

AT THE SAME TIME, THESE HISTORIANS ARGUE, THE COLONIES PROVIDED A

PLACE FOR THE EUROPEANS & AMERICANS TO INVEST SURPLUS CAPITAL

AS WELL NEW LANDS FOR THEIR SURPLUS POPULATIONS TO SETTLE

(2) A 2ND EXPLANATION FOCUSES ON NATIONALISM

HISTORIANS WHO EMPHASIZE THIS FACTOR POINT OUT THAT MUCH OF THE

TERRITORY CONQUERED BY THE GREAT POWERS HAD LITTLE OBVIOUS

ECONOMIC VALUE ... HOWEVER ACQUIRING THESE NEW LANDS - THE

FLATTERED NATIONAL EGOS - ESPECIALLY ... IN THE NEWLY CREATED

STATES OF GERMANY & ITALY

AT THE SAME TIME, THESE NEW POSSESSIONS PROVIDED MILITARY &

NAVAL BASES - AS WELL AS SOLDIERS TO FIGHT FOR THE COLONIAL

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POWERS - WHICH IS PRECISELY WHAT HAPPENED

DURING BOTH WORLD WARS

World War I soldiers photos
Senegal
Vietnam

(3) A 3RD EXPLANATION FOR IMPERIALISM IS A STRANGE MIX OF

HUMANITARIANISM - RELIGIOUS EVANGELISM - BUT ALSO RACISM

THERE WAS GENUINE DESIRE AMONG SOME EUROPEANS & AMERICANS TO

SPREAD - WHAT THEY FELT - WERE THE BENEFITS OF CIVILIZATION AS

WELL AS THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION TO OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

BUT - AT THE BOTTOM OF THESE DESIRES WAS WHAT YOU CAN ONLY CALL

RACISM TOWARD THE PEOPLE OF AFRICA & ASIA ... & LATIN AMERICA,
FOR THAT MATTER -- IN THE CASE OF THE UNITED STATES

AT THE ROOT OF THESE ATTITUDES WAS THE BELIEF THAT THESE PEOPLE

WERE INFERIOR, THAT THEIR CULTURES & SOCIETIES WERE INFERIOR

& THAT THEY, THEREFORE NEEDED TO BE CONQUERED & RULED BY THE

SUPPOSEDLY SUPERIOR WEST

CENTRAL TO THIS LAST POINT IS SOCIAL DARWINISM

SOCIAL DARWINISM WAS 1ST APPLIED TO JUSTIFY LAISSEZ-FAIRE

CAPITALISM ... THEN, IT WSA USED TO JUSTIFY IMPERIALISM

IMPERIALISTS ARGUED THAT THEIR SUCCESS WAS NATURAL - THAT IT

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PROVED THEY WERE FIT TO RULE ... & THAT THE PEOPLES THEY HAD

CONQUERED WERE NOT {Hayes, 90-92}

African imperialism map

VI. The “scramble” for Africa

AS A RESULT OF THE ALL THESE FACTORS - AFTER 1871 - EUROPE EXPLODED

IN A BURST OF IMPERIAL EXPANSION ... TARGETING, AMONG OTHER

PLACES - AFRICA

THERE, A MAD "SCRAMBLE" AS IT WAS CALLED TOOK PLACE – THE MAIN

PLAYERS IN THIS SO-CALLED “SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA" – DISCUSSED IN

YOUR BOOK ON pp 625-627 - WERE Gt BRITAIN, FRANCE, & GERMANY

THEY WERE SO SUCCESSFUL THAT BY 1914 - ONLY 2 INDEPENDENT STATES

WERE LEFT IN THE ENTIRE AFRICAN CONTINENT ETHIOPIA & LIBERIA

ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS - THIS SCRAMBLE ALMOST LED TO WARS

BETWEEN THE CONTENDING EUROPEAN POWERS - WHICH, IN TURN -

INCREASED TENSIONS - & WOULD, EVENTUALLY, HELP TO BRING

ABOUT THE FIRST WORLD WAR

Belgian Congo forced laborers

THE DRIVE FOR PROFITS IN THESE EMPIRES WAS RUTHLESS …

ESPECIALLY IN PLACES LIKE THE CONGO, WHERE BELGIUM – A

COUNTRY OFTEN OVERLOOKED IN DISCUSSIONS ABOUT IMPERIALISM

ESTABLISHED RUBBER PLANTATIONS & WHERE THE LOCAL

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POPULATION WAS FORCED TO WORK AS VIRTUAL SLAVES, AS YOU CAN

SEE FROM THIS PHOTOGRAPH

Map – Capetown to Cairo

IT MAY BE TEMPTING TO THINK THAT BRUTALITY OF ANY SORT WAS

RESERVED ONLY FOR AFRICANS OR ASIANS … BUT THE TRUTH IS, THE

IMPERIAL POWERS WERE JUST AS RUTHLESS WHEN WHITE POPULATIONS

STOOD IN THEIR WAY

I STARTED OFF THIS SECTION ABOUT IMPERIALISM BY MENTIONING CECIL

RHODES & HIS DREAM OF A BRITISH CONTROLLED AFRICA … A GOAL

ILLUSTRATED BY THIS MAP

THERE WAS, HOWEVER, A GROUP OF PEOPLE STANDING IN THEIR WAY

THESE AFRIKANERS – AS THEY WERE KNOWN – WERE THE

DESCENDANTS OF DUTCH SETTLERS & HAD MOVED INLAND TO CREATE

2 REPUBLICS – THE TRANSVAAL & THE ORANGE FREE STATE

BECAUSE SO MANY OF THESE AFRIKANERS WERE FARMERS, THEY WERE

KNOWN BY THE AFRIKAANS NAME FOR FARMER – THE BOERS

Boer republics map

IN 1899, THE BRITISH PROVOKED A WAR WITH THE BOERS WHICH

DESCENDED INTO A VICIOUS GUERRILLA CONFLICT WAGED BY THE BRITISH

ARMY ON ONE SIDE & BOER COMMANDOS – AS THEY WERE KNOWN – ON

23

THE OTHER

THE BRITISH SOON DISCOVERED THEY COULDN’T DEFEAT THESE HIT-&-RUN

FIGHTER BECAUSE THEY COULD DEPEND ON OTHER BOER FARMERS FOR

FOOD, HORSES, & INFORMATION ABOUT THE BRITISH ARMY

SO, IT WAS DECIDED TO ROUND UP ALL BOER FARM FAMILIES &

“CONCENTRATE” THEM IN CAMPS TO STOP THEM FROM AIDING THE BOER

COMMANDOS … HENCE, THE TERM CONCENTRATION CAMP

Boer concentration camp

THE AIM OF THESE CAMPS WAS NOT TO MURDER THE BOERS, AS WOULD BE

THE CASE WITH THE NAZI CONCENTRATION CAMPS OF THE WORLD WAR II

BUT, AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THE CHILD IN THIS PHOTO – THIS WAS A

TRAGEDY WAITING TO HAPPEN

QUITE SIMPLY, THE BRITISH MILITARY WEREN’T EQUIPPED FOR THE JOB

OF CARING FOR SO MANY CIVILIANS … DISEASE & HUNGER SWEPT THROUGH

THESE CAMPS & THE RESULTS, AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THIS PHOTO, WERE

HORRIFIIC
Boer concentration camp victim

IN THE END, THE BRITH WON THEIR WAR AGAINST THE BOERS &, WITHIN

A MATTER OF YEARS ESTABLISHED A SELF-GOVERNING DOMINION IN

SOUTH AFRICA
South Africa map
24

BUT THE POINT IS THAT WHEN IT CAME TO IMPERIAL CONQUEST, IT DID

NOT MATTER WHO STOOD IN THE WAY – THE TREATMENT WOULD BE

BRUTAL, ALL THE SAME … THAT INCLUDED BLACK SOUTH AFRICANS

EVEN THOUGH MOST SIDED WITH THE BRITISH AGAINST THE BOERS

THEY WERE FROZEN OUT OF THE FINAL PEACE SETTLEMENT & DENIED

THE RIGHT TO VOTE IN SOUTH AFRICA, SETTING UP YEARS OF

STRUGGLE & FURTHER CONFLICT IN THAT PART OF THE WORLD

Asian imperialism map

VII. Imperialism in Asia

THE OTHER MAJOR THEATER OF THE NEW IMPERIALISM WAS ASIA

THERE, THE MAJOR POWERS INCLUDING NOT ONLY THE BRITISH, THE

FRENCH, & THE GERMANS ... BUT ALSO, AS I SAID EARLIER, THE RUSSIANS,

& THE UNITED STATES ... & JAPAN

Carving up China – French cartoon

THE MAIN OBJECT OF ALL THESE IMPERIAL NATIONS WAS CONTROL OF

CHINA – AS ILLUSTRATED BY THIS FRENCH CARTOON … THIS IS A

LEGACY THAT THE WEST & JAPAN IS STILL DEALING WITH BECAUSE THE
25

CHINESE HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN NOR FORGIVEN THESE NATIONS

FOR THIS HUMILIATING PERIOD IN THEIR HISTORY

WHILE THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA LED TO SEVERAL CONFRONTATIONS

THERE WERE NO WARS BETWEEN THE IMPERIAL POWERS IN AFRICA

Russo-Japanese War map

THIS WAS NOT TRUE IN ASIA – WHERE RIVALRY BETWEEN JAPAN &
TSARIST RUSSIA OVER KOREA & MANCHURIA LED TO THE
RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR - 1904-05

AS YOUR TEXT TELLS YOU, BEGINNING ON p 657 - UNLIKE OTHER ASIAN

NATIONS, THE JAPANESE HAD THEMSEVLES BECOME AN IMPERIAL POWER

HERE - SUFFICE TO SAY THAT JAPAN WISHED TO CONQUER KOREA &

MANCHURIA - THIS PUT IT IN DIRECT CONFLICT WITH THE AMBITIONS OF

THE TSAR’S REGIME ... WHICH ALSO WISHED TO TAKE OVER THESE SAME

TERRITORIES & THE RIVALRY LED TO THE WAR OF 1904-05

Russian soldiers, Russo-Japanese War

THE RUSSIANS CONFIDENTLY MARCHED OFF TO VICTORY ... BECAUSE – AS

WHITE EUROPEANS – THEY ASSUMED THEMSELVES TO BE FAR, FAR

SUPERIOR TO THE ASIAN JAPANESE

26
IT DIDN’T QUITE WORK OUT THAT WAY

INSTEAD THE JAPANESE HANDED THE RUSSIANS A STUNNING

DEFEAT - 1ST THE JAPANESE SURPRISED THE RUSSIAN PACIFIC FLEET

& SANK MOST OF IT - A LITTLE TRICK THEY WOULD REPEAT ON THE

UNITED STATES LESS THAN 40 YEARS LATER

Painting – Russian warship sunk by Japanese navy

WHEN THE RUSSIANS SENT THEIR EUROPEAN - OR BALTIC FLEET -

LITERALLY AROUND THE WORLD TO DO BATTLE THE JAPANESE

SANK THE SHIPS IN THAT FLEET, TOO

RUSSIA’S DEFEAT EXPOSED THE WEAKNESS & CORRUPTION OF

THE RUSSIAN STATE THAT WOULD LEAD TO REVOLUTION

BUT – EVEN MORE THAN THAT – JAPAN’S SUPRSISE VICTORY IN THIS WAR

TURNED WESTERN, WHITE RACISM ON ITS HEAD

THE JAPANESE - THEMSELVES BEING ASIANS - WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO BEAT

THE RUSSIANS -- FOR THE 1st TIME A NATION FROM ASIA OR AFRICA HAD

SHOWN THAT IT COULD COMPETE WITH THE EUROPEANS & THE

AMERICANS - & THAT IT COULD DO SO ON THEIR OWN TERMS

US empire map, 1900

THE UNITED STATES – AS A MATTER OF FACT - WAS ALSO ACQUIRING AN

27
OVERSEAS EMPIRE TO FULFILL WHAT WAS CALLED THE NEW MANIFEST

DESTINY AS AMERICANS EXPANDED BEYOND NORTH AMERICA

AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THIS MAP, EVEN BEFORE THE 1890s, THE UNITED

STATES HAD ACQURIED ISLANDS IN THE PACIFIC, MAINLY AS COALING

STATIONS FOR ITS MILITARY & CIVILIAN FLEETS

BUT THE DECISION TO BECOME INVOLVED IN THE 1895 REBELLION OF THE

CUBAN PEOPLE AGAINST THE RULE OF SPAIN SET THE AMERICANS ON

AN ENTIRELY NEW COURSE AS AN IMPERIAL POWER

AS THE RESULT OF A WAR IN 1898 THAT LASTED ONLY 10 WEEKS,

AMERICAN FORCES DEFEATED THE SPANISH … CUBA WAS LIBERATED

ONLY TO BE GRANTED A FORM OF SEMI-INDEPENDENCE - NOT REAL

INDEPENDENCE & WOULD BE UNDER US DOMINATION UNTIL 1959

SUCH INDIRECT CONTROL BY THE UNITED STATES WOULD BECOME THE

NORM IN MUCH OF LATIN AMERICA FOR THE REST OF THE 20TH CENTURY

THE AMERICANS ALSO HELPED THEMSELVES TO - AMONG OTHER PLACES

PUERTO RICO ... TODAY, I HOPE YOU KNOW, PUERTO RICANS ARE

US CITIZENS - BUT, BECAUSE THE ISLAND IS NOT A STATE, THEY DO NOT

HAVE VOTING MEMBERS IN CONGRESS, NOR DO THEY HAVE THE RIGHT TO

VOTE FOR PRESIDENT - UNLESS THEY MOVE TO THE AMERICAN MAINLAND

Judge cartoon
28

THE UNITED STATES ALSO HELPED ITSELF TO ISLAND OF GUAM IN THE

PACIFIC, AS WELL AS THE PHILIPPINES - WHICH AMERICAN

IMPERIALISTS SAW AS THEIR SPRINGBOARD TO MARKETS IN CHINA

THE PHILIPPINES BECAME INDEPENDENT AFTER WORLD WAR II - IN 1946

BY THE EARLY 1900s THIS BURST OF IMPERIALISM BEGAN TO BURN OUT

FOR ONE THING ALL THE BEST TERRITORY - & A GOOD DEAL THAT WAS

NOT - HAD ALREADY BEEN TAKEN

ALSO - THERE WAS A GROWING REALIZATION THAT THE COMPETITION

GENERATED BY THESE IMPERIALIST ADVENTURES HAD INCREASED

TENSIONS WITHIN EUROPE ITSELF

Mark Twain photo

MEANWHILE THERE WERE SOME IN EUROPE & IN AMERICA WHO WERE

BECOMING VOCAL OPPONENTS OF IMPERIALISM ... PERHAPS THE BEST

KNOWN OF THE AMERICAN ANTI-IMPERIALISTS WAS MARK TWAIN

SOMEONE YOU DON'T NORMALLY ASSOCIATE WITH POLITICS

Roger Casement photo

OTHERS – SUCH AS THE IRISHMAN, ROGER CASEMENT – EXPOSED THE

TERRIBLE ABUSES TAKING PLACE IN THE BELGIAN CONGO

29
WHAT WAS EVEN MORE IMPORTANT WAS THE FACT THAT AFTER 1900

NON-WESTERN PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THE WORLD BECAME

ACTIVE OPPONENTS & REBELLED AGAINST THE IMPERIAL POWERS

EVENTUALLY, ESPECIALLY AFTER 1945, THE EUROPEANS WD LOSE MOST

OF THEIR OVERSEAS TERRITORIES

End of empire map

TO THIS DAY - IMPERIALISM IS STILL HIGHLY CONTROVERSIAL

TO EVEN SUGGEST ... AS SOME HISTORIANS ARGUE ... THAT IMPERIALISM

HAD GOOD AS WELL AS BAD EFFECTS CAUSES TROUBLE

AS SOME CRITICS RIGHTLY POINT OUT ... THE EXPERIENCE OF

IMPERIALISM WAS ONE OF OPPRESSION & EXPLOITATION FOR THE

PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD WHO EXPERIENCED IT

BUT - IT IS TRUE THAT IMPERIALISM BROUGHT IN ITS WAKE WESTERN

EDUCATION, SANITATION, INDUSTRIALIZATION, & MODERN

MEDICINE ... IN A WORD IT BROUGHT THE MODERN WORLD TO PARTS OF

THE PLANET THAT HAD NOT YET EXPERIENCED MODERNITY

AND - IRONICALLY - IMPERIALISM MADE MANY DIFFERENT AREAS

OF THE WORLD -- MORE ALIKE

AS A RESULT OF THE IMPERIAL EXPERIENCE MOST OF THE WORLD

TODAY IS IN SOME SENSE EUROPEANIZED ... SINCE THE END OF

30

WORLD WAR II YOU MIGHT SAY AMERICANIZED ... & THIS IS TRUE

OF EVERYTHING FROM FROM IDEAS TO PRODUCTS

FROM COMMUNISM TO COCA-COLA

FROM CAPITALISM TO ROCK-N-ROLL

OPTIMISTS ARGUE THAT BY SHARING SO MANY THINGS IN COMMON,

WE WILL UNDERSTAND ONE OTHER ... BUT - THAT'S A POINT OF VIEW YOU

WILL SELDOM FIND IN REGIONS OF THE WORLD THAT EXPERIENCED -

SOME WOULD SAY ARE STILL EXPERIENCING -- IMPERIALISM

IN THOSE PARTS OF THE WORLD THE IMPERIAL EXPERIENCE CREATED AN

INTENSE SUSPICION & HATRED OF THE WEST IN GENERAL - & OF

THE UNITED STATES IN PARTICULAR THAT WE OVERLOOKED

German soldiers march to war with young woman, 1914

VIII. Staring into the abyss

IN 1910 A JOURNALIST NAMED NORMAN ANGELL - WROTE A BOOK

CALLED THE GREAT ILLUSION - IN WHICH HE DESCRIBED A WORLD

THAT WAS MORE INTERCONNECTED THAN AT ANY PREVIOUS TIME IN

HUMAN HISTORY

ANGELL WAS NOT PREDICTING THE WORLD YOU & I LIVE IN … HE WAS
31
TALKING ABOUT THE HIS OWN WORLD … & THE FACT IS THAT, WHILE THOSE

CONNECTIONS MAY SEEM PRIMITIVE BY OUR STANDARDS, BY THE EARLY

1900s WHAT WE CALL GLOBALIZATION WAS A FACT OF LIFE, ESPECIALLY

WHEN IT CAME TO INTERNATIONAL TRADE & FINANCE

ANGELL ARGUED THAT THIS ECONOMIC INTERDEPENDENCE MADE ANY

FUTURE WAR BETWEEN THE WORLD’S LEADING POWERS UNLIKELY … SUCH

A WAR WOULD BE COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE SINCE IT WOULD DESTROY

THIS PROSPERITY ENJOYED BY SO MANY PEOPLE IN SO MANY PLACES

ANGELL’S BOOK WAS HUGELY POPULAR & BECAUSE MORE PEOPLE TALKED

ABOUT IT - THAN ACTUALLY READ IT - THE IDEA SPREAD THAT ANGELL

WAS PREDICTING THAT WAR ITSELF WAS NO LONGER POSSIBLE

THIS IS A GOOD LESSON ON WHAT IS CALLED THE HERD MENTALITY

WHICH HAPPENS ALL THE TIME

YOU MAY BE TOO YOUNG TO RECALL THAT IN 2006, FINANCIAL ANALYSTS &

PROPERTY DEVELOPERS CLAIMED THAT HOUSE PRICES CAN NEVER DROP

WELL, WE KNOW HOW THAT TURNED OUT … WITHIN A SHORT TIME, THAT’S

EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED, & THE RESULT WAS ONE OF THE WORST

ECONOMIC COLLAPSES IN MODERN TIMES

WHENEVER YOU’RE TOLD SOMETHING CAN’T HAPPEN ...

IT USUALLY WILL

IN THE CASE OF ANGELL’S PREDICTION, JUST 4 YEARS AFTER HIS BOOK WAS
32

PUBLISHED THE MAJOR POWERS MARCHED OFF TO WAR- AS YOU SEE

WITH THESE YOUNG GERMANS WHO WERE YOUR AGE WHEN THIS PHOTO

WAS TAKEN IN 1914

IN FACT THAT INTER-CONNECTED WORLD DESCRIBED BY ANGELL WAS A

LOT SHAKIER THAN HE & OTHERS REALIZED … THERE WERE HUGE

FISSURES OR CRACKS, IF YOU PREFER - JUST BENEATH THE SURFACE

IN MANY SOCIETIES & WHILE THERE’S NO TIME TO TALK ABOUT ALL OF

THEM THERE ARE TWO THAT SHOULD BE MENTIONED HERE

Factory workers, circa 1900

THE 1ST OF THESE FISSURES REVOLVED AROUND THE INDUSTRIAL

REVOLUTION WHICH, OF COURSE, WAS STILL TAKING PLACE … ALTHOUGH

INDUSTRIALIZATION WAS STILL CONCENTRATED IN EUROPE, ITS

CENTER OF GRAVITY HAD ALREADY CROSSED THE ATLANTIC

IN 1880 – GREAT BRITAIN WAS STILL THE WORLD’S LEADING

INDUSTRIAL POWER … BY 1900, THAT DISTINCTION BELONGED TO THE

UNITED STATES

BY 1913 - THE LAST FULL YEAR OF PEACE - THE AMERICANS HAD FAR

OUTSTRIPPED THE BRITISH & THEIR NEXT CLOSEST COMPETITOR, THE

GERMANS ... BRITAIN WAS STILL THE WORLD’S NUMBER 1 ECONOMIC

POWER ... IT WAS THE WORLD’S SHIPPER, THE WORLD’S INSURER, THE
33

WORLD’S BANKER ... IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY, THE CURRENCY OF

INTERNATIONAL TRADE WAS NOT THE US DOLLAR - IT WAS THE

BRITISH POUND

I TELL YOU ALL OF THIS TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND LATER WHY THE FIRST

WORLD WAR WAS SUCH AN EARTH-SHATTERING EVENT

IN ALL OF THESE INDUSTRIALIZED COUNTRIES, HOWEVER, THE BURDEN OF

THESE CHANGES FELL ON THE THOSE WHO WORKED IN THE FACTORIES …

MEN, WOMEN &, AS YOU CAN SEE IN THIS PHOTO – CHILDREN

AT THE START OF THE 20TH CENTURY, CHILDREN WORKED IN SOME OF THE

WORLD’S MOST DANGEROUS PLACES, NOT LEAST, IN COAL MINING

Child coal mine workers

ENDING CHILD LABOR WAS ONE OF THE CHIEF DEMANDS OF A GROWING

LABOR MOVEMENT THAT COULD BE FOUND THROUGHOUT THE WORLD

AS YOU MIGHT IMAGINE, THE DEMAND TO END CHILDL LABOR, & FOR

BETTER WORKING CONDITIONS GENERALLY, WAS MET WITH FIERCE

RESISTANCE BY BUSINESS OWNERS — & BY THEIR ALLIES IN GOVERNEMENTS

WHO, FOR MANY YEARS, OUTLAWED EVEN BELONGING TO A LABOR UNION

OR, AS THEY’RE ALSO CALLED, TRADES UNIONS – IT’S THE SAME THING
34

British Labour Party poster

AS A RESULT, IN SOME COUNTRIES WORKERS CREATED THEIR OWN

POLITICAL PARTIES, SOME THAT ARE STILL A MAJOR FORCE IN THEIR

NATIONS TO THIS DAY — SUCH AS GERMANY’S SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC

PARTY (OR SPD, TO GIVE IT ITS GERMN ACRYONYM: Sozialdemokratische

Partei Deutschlands) ... & IN GREAT BRITAIN, THE LABOUR PARTY

EVEN SO, BY THE EVE OF WORLD WAR I THERE WAS A GROWING MILITANCY

IN MANY OF THESE MOVEMENTS AS THEIR DEMANDS WENT UNMET – & AS

VIOLENCE ON BOTH SIDES OF THE CONFLICT BETWEEN EMPLOYERS &

WORKERS INCREASED
Immigrants, Ellis Island

AT THE SAME TIME, IT SEEMED AS IF MUCH OF THE WORLD WAS ON THE

MOVE … THERE WAS A FLOOD OF EMIGRATION FROM MANY COUNTRIES

ESPECIALLY FROM EUROPE BETWEEN 1865 & 1914

AMERCIANS TEND TO THINK THAT THE IMMIGRATION STORY SOLELY

INVOLVES THE UNITED STATES — THAT’S NOT TRUE … LARGE NUMBERS OF

ITALIANS, FOR EXAMPLE, EMIGRATED TO ARGENTINA

AT THE SAME TIME, LARGE NUMBERS OF PEOPLE FROM THE BRITISH ISLES

EMIGRATED TO AUSTALIA

Photo – family at Ellis Island

THIS PHOTO – TAKEN AT NEW YORK’S ELLIS ISLAND — IS THE IMAGE MOST
35

AMERICANS HAVE OF IMMIGRATION AT THAT TIME … i.e., IMMIGRANT

COMING TO THE UNITED STATES MAINLY FROM EUROPE … THAT’S TRUE

WHEN YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT ABSOLUTE NUMBERS … BUT IT’S ALSO

TRUE THAT IMMIGRANTS WERE COMING TO THE UNITED STATES FROM

AROUND WORLD EVEN THEN, AS THESE PHOTOS, ALSO TAKEN AT ELLIS

ISLAND DEMONSTRATE

Ellis Island – 4 immigrants photos

NOR WERE IMMIGRANTS — WHEREVER THEY CAME FROM — USUALLY

WELCOMED IN THEIR NEW HOMELANDS

Anti-immigrant cartoon

FAR FROM IT … WE TEND TO THINK THAT THE CONTROVERSY OVER

IMMIGRATION IS A NEW PHENOMENON … AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THIS

CARTOON, PUBLISHED IN 1896, THAT WAS FAR FROM THE CASE

“Little Italy”, New York City

STICKING WITH THE UNITED STATES FOR A MOMENT, SO MANY OF THESE

IMMIGRANTS CAME TO THE UNITED STATES THAT BY 1910 - FULLY 1/3RD

OF THE POPULATIONS OF AMERICA’S 8 LARGEST CITIES WERE

FOREIGN BORN ... MANY IMMIGRANTS SETTLED IN ETHNIC

NEIGHBORHOODS OR, AS THEY SOON BECAME KNOWN – GHETTOS

36
GHETTO IS AN ITALIAN WORD FOR ANY NEIGHBORHOOD WHERE

PEOPLE OF SAME BACKGROUND LIVE LIKE THIS ONE IN NEW YORK

ALL OF THESE NEW IMMIGRANTS - LIKE THOSE WHO CAME EARLIER –

SUFFERED THE SAME SORT OF DISCRIMINATION NOT LEAST BECAUSE OF

THEIR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS - & BECAUSE THEY CAME FROM DIFFERENT

CULTURES

IMMIGRANTS WERE TOLERATED - IF NOT ACCEPTED - FOR 1 SIMPLE

REASON - THE UNITED STATES NEEDED HUGE NUMBERS OF WORKERS

AS THE COUNTRY WENT THROUGH THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

THOUGH SOMETIMES EVEN THAT WASN’T ENOUGH … IMMIGRANT

COMMUNITIES IN MANY COUNTRIES WERE SUBJECTED TO SPASMS OF

VIOLENCE … THIS IS A PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN IN NEW ORLEANS IN 1891

THE MOB SHOWN HERE IS ABOUT TO LYNCH – THAT IS HANG

11 ITALIAN IMMIGRANTS WHO WERE – FALSELY — ACCUSED OF

KILLING A LOCAL POLICE CHIEF

Lynching of Italians in New Orleans

EVEN THIS ISN’T THE WORST SUCH INCIDENT IN THE UNITED STATES 20

YEARS EARLIER – IN 1871 – BETWEEN 17 & 20 CHINESE MEN & BOYS

WERE LYNCHED IN LOS ANGELES

Chinese immigrant workers

ASIAN IMMIGRANTS WERE HORRIBLY TREATED IN MANY PARTS OF THE

WORLD … IN THE UNITED STATES, AS EARLY AS 1882 CALIFORNIA BECAME

37

THE FIRST STATE TO BAN CHINESE IMMIGRATION ENTIRELY

Suffragette magazine

IX. Suffragists & Suffragettes

THESE FAULT LINES — OVER WORKERS’ RIGHTS &, RELATED TO IT, THE ISSUE

OF IMMIGRATION — WERE ACCOMPANIED IN MANY PLACES BY A GROWING

DEMAND FROM A VERY DIFFERENT DIRECTION – NAMELY, THE DEMAND FOR

FOR EQUAL RIGHTS FOR WOMEN ... IN THE LONG HISTORY OF THE

HUMAN RACE, THE ACHIEVEMENT OF EQUALITY BETWEEN THE SEXES

IN THE 20TH & NOW THE 21ST CENTURY HAS BEEN REMARKABLE ... IF

STILL INCOMPLETE

SINCE WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES GAINED THE RIGHT TO VOTE ONLY

A HUNDRED YEARS AGO – IN 1920 – IT’S WORTH SAYING A FEW WORDS

IN PARTICULAR ABOUT THIS SUBJECT

IN ITS MODERN FORM - THE WOMEN’S RIGHTS MOVEMENT - THAT IS,

THE DEMAND FOR EQUAL CITIZENSHIP - THE RIGHT TO VOTE - CAN BE

TRACED TO THE CAMPAIGNS OF THE NON-VIOLENT SUFFRAGISTS &

THEIR MORE RADICAL SISTERS THE SUFFRAGETTES

ALTHOUGH YOUR BOOK DOESN’T SAY SO, THE 1ST ATTEMPT TO WIN EQUAL
38
RIGHTS FOR WOMEN - SPECIFICALLY, THE RIGHT TO VOTE - OCCURRED IN

1867 - WHEN THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT DEBATED THE IDEA ... THOUGH

THE IDEA WAS REJECTED ... WOMEN WERE GRANTED THE RIGHT TO VOTE

FOR & SERVE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT COUNCILS IN THE 1880s

MEANTIME, WHILE SEVERAL STATES IN THE AMERICAN WEST ALSO

EXTENDED THE FRANCHISE TO WOMEN IN THE LATE 1800s ... WYOMING

WAS THE 1ST TO DO SO IN 1869

ON A NATIONAL LEVEL - WOMEN IN NEW ZEALAND WON THE RIGHT TO

VOTE IN 1893 - AUSTRALIA FOLLOWED SUIT IN 1902

HOWEVER - THE FOCAL POINT FOR THE WOMEN’S MOVEMENT CONTINUED

TO BE BRITAIN - IN PART, BECAUSE IT WAS STILL THE WORLD’S LEADING

POWER ... IN 1897 BOTH BRITISH MEN & WOMEN FORMED THE NATIONAL

UNION OF WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE SOCIETIES - THE SUFFRAGISTS

AS THEY WERE KNOWN - WHO USED LAW-ABIDING - & NON-VIOLENT -

TACTICS TO GAIN WOMEN THE RIGHT TO VOTE ... IN THE EYES OF THEIR

CRITICS THEY WERE ALSO TOTALLY INEFFECTIVE

Pankhurst photos

AND - SO TO THE PANKHURSTS - EMMELINE - & HER DAUGHTERS,

CHRISTABEL & SYLVIA ... THE PANKHURSTS THEY & THEIR FOLLOWERS -

KNOWN AS THE SUFFRAGETTES - ADOPTED A CONFRONTATIONAL

APPROACH - THAT IS VIOLENT PROTEST

39

THEIR TACTICS RANGED FROM HECKLING POLITICIANS AT PUBLIC

MEETINGS & IN PARLIAMENT - ONE OF THEIR FAVORITE TACTICS WAS

DUMPING FLOUR FROM THE GALLERY OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS

ONTO THE HEADS OF UNSUSPECTING MPs ...

TO WINDOW-SMASHING - TO ARSON - BURNING HOMES AS WELL AS

PUBLIC BUILDINGS

THESE TACTICS WERE TAKEN UP BY SUFFRAGETTES IN OTHER

COUNTRIES - INCLUDING HERE IN THE UNITED STATES

THE SUFFRAGETTES’ VIOLENCE ITSELF INSPIRED A BACKLASH ... MOBS

OF ANGRY MEN PELTED SUFFRAGETTES WITH EGGS & ROTTEN TOMATOES AT

RALLIES ... OTHER MOBS ATTACKED THEIR OFFICES - INCLUDING THE

OFFICES OF THE NON-VIOLENT SUFFRAGISTS ... SO FAR AS THEIR

OPPONENTS WERE CONCERNED THE WOMEN’S GROUPS WERE ALL TARRED

WITH THE SAME BRUSH - & THESE WERE THE UNOFFICIAL ASSAULTS

AS THE SUFFRAGETTES BECAME MORE EXTREME - SO DID THE RESPONSE

OF GOVERNMENT & OF LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES - STARTING

WITH POLICE BRUTALITY AT SUFFRAGETTE DEMONSTRATIONS

THE SITUATION WAS WORSE, STILL, WHEN SUFFRAGETTES IN PRISON

40
DEMANDED - & WERE DENIED - POLITICAL PRISONER STATUS ... THE

WOMEN WENT ON HUNGER-STRIKE ... THE GOVERNMENT RESPONDED

WITH THE FORCED-FEEDING OF THE HUNGER-STRIKERS - WHICH ITSELF

BECAME A METHOD OF PUNISHMENT THE FEEDING TUBE BEING THE

INSTRUMENT TO INFLICT THE PAIN

Forced feeding poster

THIS SAME TREATMENT WAS ALSO BEING USED AGAINST AMERICAN WOMEN

IN THEIR CAMPAIGN FOR THE RIGHT TO VOTE

IN BRITAIN, THE GOVERNMENT’S REFUSAL TO TAKE THE WOMEN’S

MOVEMENT SERIOUSLY LED TO WHAT WAS PERHAPS THE MOST

DRAMATIC EPISODE OF PRE-WAR BRITAIN ... THE INCIDENT OCCURRED

ON THE 4TH OF JUNE 1913 ON DERBY DAY –THE NATION’S

PREMIERE HORSE RACE

LET ME SHOW YOU WHAT AUDIENCES AROUND BRITAIN - INDEED AROUND

THE WORLD SAW - IN THE WEEKS FOLLOWING THIS INCIDENT BECAUSE –

INCREDIBLY - IT WAS CAUGHT ON FILM

Watch segment from The Great War, Episode 1,

START: 17.36 minute mark – END: 21.12 minute mark

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRtdSoeYQYk&list=PL038996EE01A51D5E

THE FILM OF A YOUNG MEMBER OF THE WSPU - EMILY DAVISON -

41
STEPPING IN FRONT OF THE KING’S HORSE AS IT CAME ROUND THE BEND

DURING THIS FAMOUS RACE - WAS UNLIKE ANYTHING CINEMA GOERS

HAD SEEN YET THANKS TO THIS NEW MEDIUM OF FILM ... AS YOU SAW,

DAVISON BROUGHT DOWN THE JOCKEY ... IN THE PROCESS, SHE KILLED

HERSELF &, ULTIMATELY, THE HORSE

I DON’T KNOW IF YOU NOTICED BUT, IN THE BRIEF CLIP OF DAVISON’S

FUNERAL, THE SUFFRAGETTE MOURNERS SALUTED HER COFFIN - AS IF

THEY WERE TAKING PART IN A MILITARY FUNERAL

1THAT’S THE LAST POINT I WANT TO MAKE HERE ... WHETHER IT WAS

WOMEN’S RIGHTS, OR WORKERS’ RIGHTS, OR A NUMBER OF OTHER CAUSES

AROUND THE WORLD - THERE WAS A GROWING MILITANCY - INDEED A

GROWN MILITARIZATION OF POLITICS

BY AUGUST 1914 OVER 1,000 BRITISH SUFFRAGETTES WERE IN PRISON...

WITH THEIR CAUSE SEEMINGLY NO CLOSER TO BEING WON

Women workers, Woolwich Arsenal

FAR MORE THAN ANY PROTEST - THE WAR ITSELF PROVED TO BE THE

TURNING POINT IN THE CAMPAIGN FOR WOMEN’S RIGHTS ... BETWEEN

1914 & 1918 WOMEN PLAYED A CRUCIAL ROLE IN THE WAR EFFORTS

OF ALL THE NATIONS INVOLVED IN THE CONFLICT

42

EVEN BEFORE THE WAR ENDED - WOMEN WON THE RIGHT TO VOTE IN
RUSSIA IN 1917 … WOMEN IN BRITAIN, GERMANY, AUSTRIA & THE

UNITED STATES WON THIS RIGHT ONLY AFTER THE WAR WAS OVER

& IN BRITAIN, THE VICTORY WAS A QUALIFIED ONE

EARLY IN 1918 - BRITAIN’S GOVERNMENT FINALLY CONCEDED TO WOMEN

THE RIGHT TO VOTE IN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS ... & TO HOLD SEATS IN

THE COMMONS ... BUT - EVEN THEN - WOMEN WERE DENIED FULL

EQUALITY WITH MEN

WHILE THE 1918 REFORM FINALLY GAVE THE RIGHT TO VOTE TO ALL MEN

21 YEARS OF AGE & OLDER ... THE FRANCHISE WAS EXTENDED

ONLY TO WOMEN 30 YEARS OF AGE & OLDER ... & - AN ADDED CATCH -

THESE WOMEN EITHER HAD TO OWN PROPERTY THEMSELVES - OR BE

MARRIED TO A MAN WHO WAS A HOMEOWNER

ANOTHER DECADE WOULD ELAPSE BEFORE THESE RESTRICTIONS WERE

REMOVED & BRITISH WOMEN ACHIEVED FULL VOTING EQUALITY WITH

MEN IN 1928

OTHER COUNTRIES – NOTABLY FRANCE & ITALY – CONTINTUED TO

HOLD OUT - WOMEN THERE DID NOT WIN THE RIGHT TO VOTE THE END

OF WORLD WAR II
43

ELSEWHERE, WOMEN DID NOT WIN THE RIGHT TO VOTE UNTIL 1947 IN

COUNTRIES SUCH AS MEXICO, JAPAN, ARGENTINA, & PAKISTON – INDIA

FOLLOWED IN 1950 ... CHINA EXTENDE THE RIGHT A YEAR EARLIER, IN 1949

IN YOUR OWN LIFETIMES, WOMEN IN KUWAIT (2005), THE UNITED ARAB

EMIRATES (2006) & SAUDI ARABIA (2015) GAINED THE RIGHT TO VOTE ONLY

IN THE PAST 15 YEARS … & IN OTHER PLACES, WHILE THE RIGHT EXISTS,

WOMEN ARE DISCOURAGED FROM VOTING - SO, THIS STRUGGLE IS FAR

FROM OVER