Diamond and gold prospector, imperialist, founder of the British South Africa Company, and Prime Minister of Cape Colony, 1890 � 1896

Cecil John Rhodes

Cecil Rhodes�s vision of British imperial control of the vertical axis of Africa, from South Africa to Egypt

�Cape Town to Cairo�

Domination over subject lands by means of military conquest and political control or informally, through control of trade, investment, and business activity

Imperialism

The colonial expansion adopted by European powers and, later, Japan and the United States, during the 19th and early 20th centuries

Modern Imperialism

Imperialist justification for European (�civilized�) intervention in �backward� areas of the non-Christian world

Mission Civilisatrice

European and American assumptionthat dark-skinned peoples everywhere were in need of guidance and protection bythe �master race�

The White Man�s Burden�

Constructed by Ferdinand de Lesseps (1859 � 1869), controlled by Britain (1875), and nationalized by Nasserof Egypt (1956)

Suez Canal

Begun by Ferdinand de Lesseps, completed by the U.S. under the order of Theodore Roosevelt (1904 � 1914), administered by U.S. until 1999

Panama Canal

First self-powered gun, invented by an American-born Briton in 1884; recoil force used to eject spent cartridge and advance next round (11 X / sec.)

Maxim Gun

Lopsided British and Egyptian victory over Madhist Islamic forces of Sudan (1898); gunboats on the Nile and machine guns kill 10,000 Sudanese (47 Anglo-Egyptians dead)

Omdurman

First commercially successful transatlantic telegraph cable connected Ireland and Newfoundland

1866

Soldiers of the Bengal army revolted against English East India Company control (1857); British success brought India under direct imperial rule (1858)

Sepoy Rebellion

Monarch of the United Kingdom and Empress of India (r. 1837 � 1901); gave her name to an era of British imperial expansion and material progress

Queen Victoria

The period of British imperial rule in South Asia (1858 � 1947)

British Raj

Hindu custom of widows burning themselves to death on their husbands� funeral pyres; suppressed during the British Raj

Sati

Strategically important sea lane between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea, controlled by British Singapore (1819 � 1965)

Strait of Melaka

Modern states of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos; colonized 1859 � 1893

French Indochina

Nationalist ruler of Egypt (1805 � 1848); inspired by Napoleon, he challenged and nearly defeated the Ottoman empire

Muhammad Ali

Agreements that protected Christian missionaries, exempted European visitors from Ottoman law, and provided European trading companies with extraterritoriality

Capitulations

The right of imperial powers to exercise legal jurisdiction over their own citizens in foreign lands

Extraterritoriality

Reorganization era of Ottoman history (1839 � 1876); attempt at staving off European aggression through legal, political, and educational reforms based on the European Enlightenment

Tanzimat

Founded by Ottoman exiles in Paris (1889); advocated universal suffrage, religious freedom, emancipation of women; controlled Ottoman empire (1908 � 1918)

Young Turk Party

Conflict between the United Kingdom and the Qing government over �free trade�; Britain won the right to traffic narcotics; added Hong Kong to their empire (1839 � 1842)

Opium War

Series of diplomatic agreements between China and several imperial powers (including the U.S.); curtailed Chinese sovereignty by placing ninety of their ports under foreign control

Unequal Treaties

Unsuccessful attempt on the part of Chinese peasants led by Hong Xiuquan to establish a messianic, communal kingdom (1850 � 1864); 20 � 30 million killed

Taiping Rebellion

Qing reforms (1860 � 1895) aimed at accelerating Chinese industrialization and scientific progress; failed to prevent further imperialist interventions

Self-Strengthening Movement

Frantic program to modernize China and transform it into a constitutional monarchy; annulled by emperor�s aunt Cixi (1898)

Hundred Days Reforms

Chinese militias supported by Cixi attacked �foreign devils� and besieged their embassies (1899); crushed by European, Japanese, and U.S. soldiers (1900)

Boxer Rebellion

Revolution that ended the Qing dynasty and established the Republic of China (1912)

1911

The partition and colonization of most of the continent by European powers (1875 � 1900)

Scramble for Africa�

Created a personal colony in the Congo River basin (1884 � 1908); exploited its resources and labor for his own and Belgian wealth, at the cost of eight million African lives

King Leopold II

Diplomatic meeting convened by Bismarck; fourteen European powers and the U.S. agreed to carve Africa into imperial colonies, leaving only Ethiopia and Liberia as independent states (1884 � 1885)

Berlin Conference

Dutch immigrants to Cape Colony; their descendants in South Africa and Namibia speak Afrikaans (an expatriate dialect of 17th century Dutch)

Boers

Boer migration from Cape Colony to interior regions to escape British control (1830s)

Great Trek

British defeat of Afrikaners (Boers) in a brutal conflict ignited by diamond and gold rushes (1899 � 1902)

South African War

Colony of transported British convicts established around Sydney harbor in Australia (1788)

New South Wales

Indigenous people of New Zealand, devastated by disease and warfare with British settlers

Maori

American proclamation warning European powers against imperialist interference in the western hemisphere (1823)

Monroe Doctrine

The only Pacific island state not claimed by European powers at the Berlin Conference (1884 � 1885)

Tonga

Purchased from the Russian empire by the U.S. (1867)

Alaska

U.S. protectorate (1875); annexed by U.S. after traditional monarchy overthrown (1898)

Hawai�i

After the accidental sinking of U.S.S. Maine in Havana harbor, U.S. defeated Spain and gained control over Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines (1898 � 1899)

Spanish-Cuban-American War

Leader of Filipino rebellion against U.S. occupation forces (1899 � 1902); over 200,000 Filipinos killed; 4,200 American dead

Emilio Aguinaldo

The expansion of the Monroe Doctrine that claimed the right of the U.S. to interfere with sovereign states that fail to protect American business interests (1904)

Roosevelt Corollary

European theory that claimed the superiority of the European �race� over those of the Africans, the Asians, and the Native Americans (Gobineau, 1855)

Scientific Racism

Misapplying biological concepts from The Origin of Species (1859), Herbert Spencer and others argued that European global preeminence resulted from innate superiority

Social Darwinists