Key Concept 5.2: Imperialism and Nation-State Formation
I. Industrializing powers established transoceanic empires.
A. States with existing colonies strengthened their control over those colonies.
- British in India
- Dutch in Indonesia
B. European states, as well as the Americans and the Japanese, established empires throughout Asia and the Pacific, while Spanish and Portuguese influence declined.
- British
- Dutch
- French
- German
- Russian
C. Many European states used both warfare and diplomacy to establish empires in Africa.
- Britain in West Africa
- Belgium in the Congo
D. In some parts of their empires, Europeans established settler colonies.
- The British in southern Africa, Australia, and New Zealand
- The French in Algeria
E. In other parts of the world, industrialized states practiced economic imperialism.
- The British and French expanding their influence in China through the Opium Wars
- The British and the United States investing heavily in Latin America
II. Imperialism influenced state formation and contraction around the world.
A. The expansion of U.S. and European influence over Tokugawa Japan led to the emergence of Meiji Japan.
B. The United States and Russia emulated European transoceanic imperialism by expanding their land borders and conquering neighboring territories.
C. Anti-imperial resistance led to the contraction of the Ottoman Empire.
- The establishment of independent states in the Balkans
- Semi-independence in Egypt, French and Italian colonies in North Africa
- Later British influence in Egypt
D. New states developed on the edges of existing empires..
- The Cherokee Nation
- Siam
- Hawai’i
- The Zulu Kingdom
E. The development and spread of nationalism as an ideology fostered new communal identities.
- The German nation
- Filipino nationalism
- Liberian nationalism
III. New racial ideologies, especially Social Darwinism, facilitated and justified imperialism.