World History

Unit 5: Industrialism and Nationalism

Chapter 23: The Age of Imperialism

Mon, Mar 3, 2014

48. Tue, Mar 4, 2014

This chapter gives us several variants on the idea of empire. We have the Scramble for Africa, where most of the continent was divided up into outright colonies. We have the protectorates of India, where various local shahs and rajas were kept in place, but the British controlled them. And then there's the sphere of influence. The sidebar on Kipling mentions his novel Kim, which is about Russia and Britain competing for influence in Asia. Both powers were looking to expand their spheres. Perhaps the foremost practitioner of the "sphere of influence" idea was, in fact, the United States, which via growing naval power and the Monroe Doctrine laid claim to the whole Caribbean basin as its sphere.

The United States only ever had a few colonies in the true sense: the Philippines, Hawaii, Samoa, Puerto Rico. The Philippines, though conquered in a war more brutal than is usually reported, were promised independence from an early date, and got it right after World War II. Puerto Rico continues in its odd half-state status by choice. Hawaii, of course, got promoted to statehood. But in Latin America, the influence of the US was heavy. Trade mostly flowed through American hands, American warships kept the British and Germans out, and the US Marine Corps made frequent interventions. An infamous if apocryphal quote from Porfirio Diaz, president of Mexico, sums it up: "Poor Mexico! So far from God and so close to the United States!" (In contrast, a Filipino nationalist once said, "Damn the Americans! Why don't they oppress us more?") Haiti was effectively under the rule of the US Marines for nearly twenty years.

Which leads us to an important question. At what point does the self-interest of a stronger nation, when dealing with a weaker nation, become imperialism? Sometimes US interests aligned neatly with the local inhabitants, such as in Panama. (As a result, the US warship dispatched to back up the Panamanian rebellion actually arrived before the rebellion broke out.) Other times the locals saw a great deal of their agricultural or mineral wealth shipped away to American markets, and when they attempted to do something about this, they were frequently shut down, perhaps by the Marines again. So the United States no doubt had enormous influence in, say, Cuba. But could Cuba be said to be a part of the American empire?

• So, formally: when does a powerful nation looking after itself, and perhaps intruding on the affairs of a weaker nation, become imperialism?
• It's worth noting what became protectorates and what became colonies. Egypt was a protectorate, for example, while Rhodesia was a colony. What differences might have led to this differing status?
• What allowed China, Siam, and Ethiopia to remain independent?

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