Rise and governance of empires Notes

Why Empires Expanded (19th–20th Century)

1. Empires shaped the modern world by creating today’s borders, economies, and global power imbalances.
2. They left lasting legacies in culture, language, identity, and political systems, which still influence countries today.
3. Competition and expansion by empires drove major global conflicts and nationalist movements, setting the stage for WWI, WWII, and decolonisation.

1. Technological Advantages

1. Steamships = fast travel → Europe goes from waiting for wind to basically running an early Amazon Prime delivery system across oceans.
2. Railways = control → Like building a subway under your whole empire so you can move soldiers wherever things get messy.
3. Telegraphs = instant communication → Victorian WhatsApp.
4. Guns + machine guns → A few hundred Europeans defeat thousands with spears.
5. Refrigeration + medical advances → Europeans stop dying the moment they step into the tropics.

2. Explorers and Missionaries

1. Explorers “discover” places already full of people → maps → justification → conquest.
2. Missionaries believed they were saving souls but often undermined local cultures.
3. When they got into trouble, European powers swooped in, claiming to “protect their citizens” → cue annexation.

3. Economic Motives

1. Factories needed raw materials (rubber, cotton, tea, cocoa, minerals).
2. Home markets were saturated → needed new consumers.
3. Colonies provided cheap labour, guaranteed markets, and no tariffs.

4. Nationalism & Rivalries

1. People felt proud of empire → national identity tied to expansion.
2. Governments feared being left behind by rivals.
3. Some colonies were useless economically but vital symbolically.

5. Strategic / Military Reasons

1. Steam navies needed coaling stations everywhere.
2. India provided troops and a strategic centre for British power in Asia.
3. Controlling ports meant controlling trade.

6. Population Growth

1. Europe’s population grew from about 200 million (c. 1750) to around 600 million (c. 1900).
2. People sought land, work, and opportunities abroad.
3. Governments used colonies as a pressure valve.

Perspectives on Empire-Building

Cecil Rhodes

1. Believed the British were superior and destined to rule globally.
2. Wanted an unbroken British Africa (“Cape to Cairo”).
3. Saw empire as his personal mission.

Edward Wakefield

1. Wanted organised emigration for Britain's surplus population.
2. Saw colonies as extensions of British society.

J. A. Hobson

1. Claimed imperialism benefited the rich, not the nation.
2. Said the working class paid the costs while elites profited.

Vladimir Lenin

1. Saw imperialism as capitalism’s final stage.
2. Predicted rival empires would eventually fight → World War-like conflicts.
3. Imperialism = exploitation + global instability.

Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles

1. Advocated expanding British influence in SE Asia.
2. Founded Singapore as a strategic trading centre.

Rudyard Kipling

1. “White Man’s Burden” → empire as a moral duty.
2. Justified domination as “civilising.”

How Empires Actually Ruled

1. Direct Rule
   1. Imperial officials in charge.
   2. Used where Europeans didn’t trust local leaders.
2. Indirect Rule
   1. Kept local rulers but controlled them from behind the scenes.
   2. Cheap and culturally safer for Europeans.
3. Economic Domination
   1. Taxes, forced labour, and cash-crop systems forced colonies into dependency.
4. Cultural Control
   1. Schools, missions, and language policies reshaped identity.

Why Did the USA & USSR Become Superpowers?

1. Military Reasons
   1. Both built huge militaries to defeat Germany/Japan.
   2. USA: biggest air force + nuclear weapons (1945).
   3. USSR: largest land army; no strong neighbours.
2. Economic Reasons
   1. USA economy strengthened (industrial + agricultural boom).
   2. USSR devastated but still had huge manpower + resources.
   3. Old European powers weakened → power vacuum.
3. Ideological Reasons
   1. USA: capitalism + democracy seen as victorious over fascism.
   2. USSR: communism claimed victory + appealed to post-war reconstruction.
   3. Each wanted to shape the post-war world in their ideological image.

Why Did Superpowers Create Spheres of Influence?

1. USA feared communism spreading; USSR feared capitalism encircling them.
2. Both used economic pressure, political influence, and military presence to secure friendly governments.
3. Cold War tensions made both suspicious → control became security.

Why Did the Cold War Become Global?

1. 1949: USSR develops nuclear weapons → balance of power shifts.
2. 1949: China becomes communist → “bamboo curtain.”
3. 1950: Korean War → USA commits to containing communism in Asia.
4. Superpower rivalry spreads to Africa, Asia, Latin America through proxy wars, aid, coups, espionage.

China’s Role

1. 1949: PRC established under Mao → initially aligned with USSR.
2. 1950s–60s: Sino-Soviet split → China pursues its own communist path.
3. 1960s: Develops nuclear weapons; becomes a third superpower.
4. China’s unpredictability reshaped global Cold War dynamics.

NATO (1949)

1. Why founded?
   1. Response to Soviet pressure in Berlin + fear of communist expansion.
   2. USA needed a permanent military presence in Europe.
2. Key features
   1. Attack on one member = attack on all.
   2. Joint command structure under U.S. leadership.
   3. Nuclear protection guaranteed by USA (later UK/France too).

Warsaw Pact (1955)

1. Why founded?
   1. USSR response to NATO + rearmament of West Germany.
2. Key features
   1. Soviet-controlled alliance of Eastern Europe.
   2. USSR dominated military command.
   3. Claimed “mutual defence” but mainly ensured Soviet control.

Impact of Alliance Systems

1. Europe split into two armed camps.
2. Massive arms race (nuclear + conventional).
3. Increased global tension; risk of accidental war.
4. NATO survived after Cold War; Warsaw Pact dissolved 1991.