History 400
Modern European imperialism
Prof. Getz
History 400, Spring 2016: Modern “European” Imperialism
Meets T/Th, 11-12:15
A propaganda painting showing U.S. Marine Colonel Smedley Butler and two marines capturing
Fort Riviere, Haiti in 1915.
Mutilated Congolese subjects of King Leopold II's Congo "Free" State.
1
History 400
Modern European imperialism
Prof. Getz
Trevor R. Getz
Professor, History
222 Science Building
[email protected]
I.
What is this class?
History 400 is a class about 16th-20th century imperialism. Loosely defined,
imperialism centers around the act of political subjugation of one peoples by
another. However, imperialism by definition never entails complete assimilation
culturally, economically, or (it turns out) politically. Thus it is more a give-andtake relationship than total domination; resistance to and subversion of the
imperial mission is commonplace.
This class is about conquest and domination, but it is also about gender, race,
class, and culture. We will discuss ‘imperialism’ as an internalized ideology
amongst Europeans and to a lesser extent American and Japanese societies.
We will also look at imperialism’s partner – colonialism – in terms of the
relationship between metropole and colony.
The first part of this class will center upon a discussion of the origins and context
from which modern imperialism arose. We will then look closely at the reasons
for, and events of, imperial expansion. We will spend much of this course
seeking to understand the reciprocity of the colonial relationship, as well as its
ultimate oppression, and finally we will look at decolonization, and ask whether
colonialism has actually met its end.
Course objectives
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
• Engage the discourse on the origins of modern imperialism.
• Discuss imperialism as a constituent element of 19th and 20th century
European societies, cultural constructs, military, and economic
considerations.
• Understand the roles of the ‘metropoles’ and ‘periphery’ in jointly
constructing the operations of the colonial state.
• Demostrate various models for the functioning of colonial states.
• Investigate the roles of colonized peoples in the functioning and
undermining of the colonial system.
• Compare imperial and colonial systems globally
• Define and discuss various approaches to and understandings of modern
imperialism.
2
History 400
Modern European imperialism
Prof. Getz
General Rules
1. Instructor reserves the right not to admit students more than 10 minutes
after class officially starts.
2. Instructor will periodically take roll, and reserves the right to penalize
students up to 10% of Final grade for missing classes. Student WILL be
given a warning first.
3. Instructor does not normally accept late papers or assignments, unless an
agreement is individually reached with instructor PRIOR TO submission of
materials or as specified by university rules.
4. Testing and evaluation will be conducted on the basis of materials from
text and lecture. Failure to complete readings or to attend lectures will
probably cause low grades!
5. This is a sensitive topic and students are advised to show sensitivity to
their classmates.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is a form of cheating or fraud; it occurs when a student
misrepresents the work of another as his or her own. Plagiarism may consist
of using the ideas, sentences, paragraphs, or the whole text of another
without appropriate acknowledgment, but it also includes employing or
allowing another person to write or substantially alter work that a student
then submits as his or her own. Any assignment found to be plagiarized will
be given an "F" grade. All instances of plagiarism in the College of
Humanities will be reported to the Dean of the College, and may be reported
to the University Judicial Affairs Officer for further action.
Schedule
Part I: The origins of Imperialism 1400-1800, and the British Empire 1814-1860s
Th, Jan
28
Introduction ,definitions: empire, imperialism,
and colonialism
T, Feb 2
The early modern state system (globally)
Thu, Feb
4
Early modern “empires” and “colonialisms”
T, Feb 9
Imperialism and international law (*Professor
Harris)
Thu, Feb
11
T, Feb
16
Th, Feb
18
T, Feb
23
Th, Feb
25
T, March
1
Streets-Salter and Getz, “introduction”
Streets-Salter and Getz, Chapters 1 - 2
The first overseas imperial era 1500-1750
Streets-Salter and Getz, 3-4
England and France: Napoleonic Wars and the
struggle in the Caribbean and Americas
Streets-Salter and Getz 5
England’s informal Empire
Streets-Salter and Getz 6-7
Colonies of Settlement: South Africa, Canada,
New Zealand and Australia
Gets and Streets 8
The Indian ‘model’ of colonialism
Streets-Salter and Getz 9
The Industrial Revolution: Cause or Effect?
Part II: The Expansion of Empires as seen from the ‘metropole’ 1870-1914
3
History 400
Th,
March 3
T, March
8
Th,
March 10
T, March
15
Th,
March 17
T, March
29
Th,
March 31
Modern European imperialism
th
Europe in the 19 century (*Professor Harris)
Paper 1 due
The ‘New’ Imperialism
Streets-Salter and Getz 10,
Prof. Getz
Ideologies of Imperialism
Europe under the New Imperialism
Streets-Salter and Getz 11
Gentlemanly Capitalism
Colonization and informal influence in Asia and
the Middle East
Streets-Salter and Getz 12
The scramble for Africa
T, April 5
From ‘balance of power’ to ‘World War I’:
Imperialism in European politics
Th, April
7
MIDTERM
MIDTERM
Part III: Cultural Contact and the imperial ‘periphery’
T, April
12
Th, April
14
T, April
19
Th, April
21
T, April
26
Th, April
28
Policies of rule: exploitation governments
Streets-Salter and Getz 13
Economics of Empire revisited
Theories of resistance, accommodation,
negotiation, and collaboration
Domestic Imperialism (*Professor Harris)
Missionaries & missionism
Gender and Empire/Empire’s impact on Europe
Part IV: Decolonization and neo-colonialism
T, May 3
World events and decolonization
Streets-Salter and Getz 14
Th, May
5
Concepts of Decolonization
Streets-Salter and Getz 15
T May 10
Independence in Asia & Middle East
May 12
Independence in Africa
May 15
Discussion: Are there Empires today? Is
America an Empire?
17
Prep for final exam
Streets-Salter and Getz 16-17 Research
project due!
*Note that Professor Steve Harris, who is an historian of modern Europe, will give
several guest lectures in this course.
4
History 400
II.
Modern European imperialism
Prof. Getz
CONCEPTS
Pre-colonial local context
Existing polities/politics
‘ethnicity’ and ‘identity’
religion
class and caste
Key Agents
Metropolitan ministry
Independent European merchant
houses/agents
Colonial officials
Missionaries
Métis communities
Local religious leaders
‘intelligentsia’
‘bourgeoisie’
chiefs/aristocrats
urban proletariat
rural peasant class
Colonial theory
Marxist
Conservative
Historical/Political/Strategic
‘Gentlemen Capitalists’
Psychological
Liberal
Stages (not necessarily in this order)
Partition
Pacification
Intensification
Compromise/Contraction
Decolonization
‘World’ events/trends
Brussels conference
Berlin conference
Franco-Prussian War
Great depression
WWI
WWII
Cold War
Strategies of rule
Indirect
Direct
Association
Assimilation
Gunpowder Empires
Russian Central Asian Empire
Ottoman Empire
Ming Dynasty China
Habsburg Empire
Portuguese overseas empire
Indigenous agency (categories)
Resistance
Accommodation
Subversion
Collaboration
Survival
‘New Style’ Empires
American Pacific ‘territories’
Japanese Far East Empire
British Empire
Belgium (Congo)
Dutch Indies
Portuguese (Africa and Indonesia)
French d’outre mer and Empire
German Empire -1918
Places
Metropole
Regional amalgam
Dominion
Colony
Protectorate
Colonial capital
Urban zone of interaction
Rural district/cercle
Frontier
Plantation/mine
5
History 400
III.
Modern European imperialism
Prof. Getz
Basic Theories
Conservative Theories
Examples: Disraeli, Rhodes, Kipling
Imperialism is necessary to preserve the existing social order in the more developed
countries. It is necessary to secure trade, markets, to maintain employment and capital
exports, and to channel the energies and social conflicts of the metropolitan populations
into foreign countries. There is a very strong ideological and racial assumption of
Western superiority within this body of thought.
Liberal Theories
Examples: Hobson, Angell
Imperialism is a policy choice, not an inevitable consequence of capitalism. Increasing
concentration of wealth within the richer countries leads to underconsumption for the
mass of people. Overseas expansion is a way to reduce costs (and thereby increase or
maintain profit levels) and to secure new consumption. Overseas expansion is not
inevitable, however. A state can solve the problem of underconsumption by increasing
the income levels of the majority of the population either through legislation concerning
wage levels (minimum wage laws, legalization of unions, child labor laws) or through
income transfers (unemployment compensation, welfare).
Marxist Theories
Example: Lenin
Imperialism also arises because increased concentration of wealth leads to
undeconsumption. However, since the state represents the capitalist interest it is not
possible to reduce underconsumption effectively through liberal strategies. Both
strategies involve taking away money from the bourgeoisie and Marx and Lenin did not
view this strategy as possible. Ultimately, according to Lenin, the world would be
completely divided up and the rich countries would then fight over the redivision of the
world. This analysis served as his explanation for World War I.
Political Theories
Examples: Morgenthau, Cohen
Imperialism is simply a manifestation of the balance of power and is the process by
which nations try to achieve a favorable change in the status quo. The purpose of
imperialism is to decrease the strategic and political vulnerability of a nation.
Social-Psychological Theories
Example: Schumpeter
Imperialism is objectless expansion, a pattern simply learned from the behavior of other
nations and institutionalized into the domestic political processes of a state by a "warrior"
class. This warrior class is created because of the need for defense, but, over time, the
class will manufacture reasons to perpetuate its existence, usually through manipulation
of crises.
6
History 400
IV.
Modern European imperialism
Prof. Getz
Texts
Required texts (with prices at Amazon.com)
Heather Streets-Salter and Trevor Getz, Empires and Colonies in the Modern World: A Global
Perspective, (Oxford U Press, 2015),
Primary source reader available at ilearn.sfsu.edu. You must have a copy of this reader
available to you every day in class – either digital or printed
V.
Assignments
Paper 1
Midterm
Research paper
Final
2 pages
Essays
4-5 pages
Essays
10%
25%
25%
40%
Paper 1
Answer one of the questions on the worksheet (available on ilearn) in 400-600
words, typed, handed in on March 1 (late papers not generally accepted)
Midterm
Will likely consist of one source-based analysis (based on a source you have
seen in class) and one argumentative essay, covering Streets-Salter & Getz
chapters 1-9. Will take place April 5.
Research Paper
Research papers are due May 10. They must be 4-5 pages long (about 20002500 words). Based on your selection (below), your paper may cover pretty
much any part of the world, on the basis of which History majors may use this
course as a ‘World’ (region) or U.S. course counting towards your major
requirements. This assignment requires you to (a) develop a plan for acquiring
and recording information employing advanced search strategies to examine a
wide variety of potential sources, including library resources; (b) apply advanced
criteria in evaluating information and sources, including distinguishing
scholarly/non-scholarly information and primary/secondary sources; (c) properly
use and cite this information in assignments; and (d) formulate arguments and/or
theories supported by information from multiple sources.
More specific details will be forthcoming, but the topics are as follow:
Topic 1: Research the culture of one imperial power during a specific time period
(10-30 years) during the era covered by the course, and explain how and to what
7
History 400
Modern European imperialism
Prof. Getz
degree there was a ‘culture of imperialism’ supporting the expansion and
maintenance of empire in that era.
Topic 2: Research the acquisition of a particular colony by one imperial power in
this period and explain the processes, events, and motives that caused this
acquisition to occur. Be sure to explore competing and complementary
explanations.
Topic 3: Is the United States today (1994-present) an ‘empire’? Be sure to
explore competing responses to this question and to base your answer in
evidence and a firm definition of empire, rather than solely your political or
personal beliefs.
Final exam
Multiple essays. Date to be announced and is available on university calendar.
8