The Westerner’s Burden: Imperialism and Nationalism, 1810 to 1918
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Theme
The interaction of imperialism and nationalism vastly increased the exercise of power by Western governments and inevitably led to more wars and conflicts.
Summaries
“New and Improved” Imperialism
The model of the British Empire inspired and new technologies enabled a great wave of Western domination in Asia and Africa.
From Sea to Shining Sea
The United States came to dominate North America and expanded its influence into Latin America and the Pacific.
Nationalism’s Curse
The ideas and practices of nationalism unified some nations but provoked conflicts with and among minority ethinic groups.
The Balkan Cauldron
As the Ottoman Empire slowly dissolved, ethnic groups in the Balkan Peninsula formed new states in the context of rivalries between alliance blocs of European Great Powers.
The Great War
The worst war in human history, up to that point, gravely weakened Western Civilization.
Keywords
“New and Improved” Imperialism
neo-imperialism (1830-1914), theory of neo-mercantilism, spheres of influence, protectorates, Afrikaaners, Partition of Africa (1884-1914), Suez Canal, Boer War (1899-1902), concentration camp, Union of South Africa, Sepoy Mutiny (1857), isolationism, Opium Wars (1839-1842), extraterritoriality, Boxer Rebellion, Siam/Thailand
From Sea to Shining Sea
manifest destiny, Mexican-American War (1846-48), Monroe Doctrine, Indian removals, Plains Indian Wars (1862-1890), Japan, Meiji Restoration (1868), Hawaii, Spanish-American War (1898), American exceptionalism
Nationalism’s Curse
nationalism, Liberation of Latin America (1810-1825), the American Civil War (1861-1865), Realpolitik, Risorgemento, Italy, Cavour (d. 1861), Garibaldi, Germany, Bismarck, Austria-Hungary, Franco-Prussian War, Dreyfus Affair (1894-1906), Zionism (1897)
The Balkan Cauldron
Greek Revolt (1821-1829), pan-slavism, yugo-slavism, Crimean War (1853-1856), Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, "Young Turks," pan-turkism, Albania, Franz Ferdinand (d. 1914)
The Great War
World War I (1914-1918), Triple Alliance, Triple Entente, mobilization, Allies vs. Central Powers, trench warfare, Armenian Massacres (1915-1916), genocide, Balfour Declaration, war socialism, propaganda
Review Questions
- How did the Europeans come to dominate Africa and Asia?
- How did the United States of America become a world power?
- How did various nationalisms unify and divide Western nations?
- How did nationalism and the decline of the Ottoman Empire create instability in the Balkans?
- What made World War I more destructive and transformative than all previous wars?
Other Questions
- What criteria apply to the basic principle that “the greatest difficulty for nationalists was how to define exactly who belonged or not?”
- How is the imperialism of the United States of America similar to or different from that of other Western countries?
- How did Western countries deal with the tension between promoting nationalism at home yet imperialism abroad?
- What changed in Western Society during the Nineteenth Century (1815-1914)? You might consider the following questions: What were the competing political ideologies, and what changed in the relations both between European states after 1815 and then Europe and the rest of the world? How did the economy and social status change as a result of industrial revolutions? What new cultural developments provided new ways to look at life? What new developments in science made people question their position in the world?
- Discuss imperialism as a major force in the world at the beginning of the century. What forces encouraged the expansion of imperialism? How did imperialism affect the people and governments of the Western Great Powers and subjected peoples of Asia, Africa and the Pacific? How did imperialist powers try to control China? How did Japan differ from other imperialist targets?
- Explain the origins of World War One. How did industrialization, economic and political expansion, European national and international problems provide long term causes? How did the Balkans create further tensions? What immediate events caused the outbreak of fighting and its expansion to include so many countries in 1914?
- How were issues of modernity important to the expansion of both imperialism and nationalism?
