7. Decolonization
1945-1970s
New states established in former
colonial areas. In some cases,
transition to independence is forced
and violent (France – Algeria); in
other cases, the handover is peaceful
(GB – Ghana).
8. Empires and Colonies
Major League – Great Britain, France
First Division – Germany, USA, Japan
Minor League – Russia, Ottomans, Italy,
Austria-Hungary
9. Types of Imperial Control
Sphere of Protectorate Colony
Influence
European Power had Europeans manage · Settler Colonies –
economic as opposed to external affairs and Existed primarily for
political control (e.g. strongly influence “white” settlement
Germany in Shantung, internal affairs “on (Australia)
China. behalf” of a native · Commercial
ruler (e.g., France and Colonies – Existed
Morocco). ostensibly for
economic gain (India)
12. Colonial Management
• Direct Control (e.g., France and
Cochinchina).
• Indirect Control – local political
representation, but w/o “real power” (e.g., GB
and Palestine).
• Colonial Autonomy – local pol. rep. have
significant authority (e.g., USA and Philippine
“Commonwealth”)
13. The New Imperialism
From 1870-1900, GB adds
4.5m. sq. miles and 150m.
people; France adds 3.5m. sq.
miles and 26m. people. (mostly
in Africa)
16. Antecedents to the New
Imperialism
a)Demographic – European population rise
from 266m. (1850) to 468m. (1914).
b) Economic – Second Industrial
Revolution: 50,000 miles of new railroad
built 1850-1870; new production processes;
fall in prices and increased credit services.
c) Political –Defeat of France in Franco-
Prussian War; German Unification (1871)
18. Economic Explanations
Hobson (1902) – “Excess Profit” or “surplus
capital” is the “economic taproot of imperialism”.
Although colonies are not particularly great sources of
gov’t revenue, financiers influence politicians to acquire
colonies so that they can invest there.
ii. V.I. Lenin (1916) – In Imperialism, the Highest
Stage of Capitalism, he claims that capitalists sought to
monopolize sources of raw materials and export
markets in the colonial areas, thus intensifying global
economic rivalry amongst nation states, the final
prelude to a global war and capitalist collapse.
21. Criticism of Economic Theories
i. Most European overseas investment in the
1870-1914 period did not go to the “new”
colonies. GB’s investments went to the USA;
France’s to Russia. As for colonies as markets,
most were operated at a loss and provided poor
markets for the products of major European
industry.
25. Social and Political Context
• French Defeat in Franco-Prussian War
(1870-71)
• Establishment of Third Republic (1870-
1941)
• Loss of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany
• The Commune
30. La Mission Civilisatrice
• French propagated myth that GB only
exploited her colonies with the aid of local
elites (Association); France, in contrast,
exported her culture, including religion,
politics, and language with the objective of
making “Frenchmen” out of non-European
peoples (Assimilation). This has a parallel
in America’s Wilsonianism
31. Social Safety Valve
• Although France’s demographic growth
was one of the poorest in Western
Europe, politicians did think of the
colonies as a “dumping grounds” for
excess people and dangerous radicals.
Victor Hugo wrote: “Go peoples! Spill
out your excessive numbers into Africa…
resolve your social questions…change
your proletarians into landowners.”
32. DECOLONIZATION
• 1945-1970s
• Process by which colonial peoples gained
independence
• Wars of National Liberation (e.g., Vietnam)
• Negotiated Transfer (e.g., India, Ghana)
33. Process Complete?
• Collapse of Soviet Union – final
decolonization phase?
• Persistence of Economic and Cultural
Imperialism (North-South / West- East)
• Neo-colonialism
• Dependency Theory
• Globalization
34. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS
• World War I and Wilsonian Principles:
– National Self Determination
– Freedom of the Seas
• World War II
– Atlantic Charter (Churchill-Roosevelt 1941 agreement on
post-war world: territorial adjustments, democracy, etc.)
– Participation of Colonial Forces in War
• Expectations of Indigenous Elites
– Education / Experience of Self Rule
– Integration into World Economy
35. Negotiated Independence –The GB
Experience
• British imperial administration adapted itself to
local circumstance
• “Association” preferred to “Assimilation”
• “Devolution” or gradual relinquishment of control
from center to periphery begun after WW1
(Canada, Australia, NZ, S. Africa achieve
“Dominion” status)
• Montagu-Chelmsford “Dyarchy” in India
indicative of GB willingness to share power
36. Violent National Liberation – The
French Experience
• La Mission Civilisatrice
• Assimilation Preferred to Association
• French Empire Not open to Free Trade
• Presence of Two French Gov’ts (Petain’s
Vichy and De Gaulle’s Free France)
weaken authority
• Blockage of avenues of legitimate protest
lead to open rebellion
