Chapter 17: Nations and Empires, 1850–1914
Chapter Summary
As Cuban and Puerto Rican nationalists discovered, by the latter half of the nineteenth century, new world powers embracing the nation-state system and territorial expansion had begun to emerge. Using the ideals of popular sovereignty, capitalism, industrialization, and the new visions of social ordering that these nations championed, revolutionaries began to challenge the power of the old aristocratic elite.
Nation-Building and Expansion
Nation-state advocates asserted that the globe was divided into peoples or nations of common heritage and territory that required a state. Often, however, it was the state that created the nation by imposing standardized laws, time, administration, language, etc., on a diverse population to create a common identity. The Americas, Japan, and parts of Europe provide the best examples. In Europe, states appeared as revolutionaries broke away from multinational empires unable to keep their lands intact. Territorial expansion, however, complicated the needs of the nation-state by introducing a new “people” outside the people defined by the nation. Nevertheless, the alleged benefits were asserted to outweigh the costs. By century’s end, nation-state competition for colonies led to a “scramble” for land that consumed the entire globe and led to goods and people crossing borders like never before.
Expansion and Nation-Building in the Americas
In the Americas, elites moved to build strong nation-states based on inclusive government and territorial expansion. Expansion, however, did not involve colonization so much as conquest and incorporation of frontier territory into the nation-state itself.
THE UNITED STATES
Despite distinct lines of fracture, Americans successfully carved out a strong nation-state. Territorial expansion provided a means of unifying the country as well as bringing prosperity to the white farmer. “Manifest Destiny” ideals also required, however, the suppression of Amerindians and conflict with Britain and Mexico. Despite the unity of territory, divisions over who constituted the “people” ultimately generated the Civil War, which itself ushered in the supremacy of the national government. Economic growth exploded after the Civil War with new technology greatly accelerating agricultural and industrial output. Growth also led to social stratification that compounded tensions as overproduction in the 1890s led to unemployment and calls to restructure the American economic system. Loss of frontier and class unrest stimulated overseas expansion, which climaxed in the U.S. war with Spain and annexation of the Philippines. Although the United States had become a world power on ideals of equality, there was no common agreement on what form that equality should take.
CANADA
Obtaining independence from England peacefully, Canadians quickly had to grapple with differences among themselves. Canada’s French-speaking population wanted to preserve its cultural integrity without being absorbed into the English world. Anxious to preserve unity, the Canadian state used territorial expansion as a means of offering opportunity to Canadians. (Canada also thus kept its western territories from falling into the hands of the Americans.) The government encouraged the construction of westward railways and established treaties with the Native Americans. These changes strengthened the state, but the concept of nation among Canadians remained weak into the twentieth century.
SPANISH AMERICA AND BRAZIL
In Spanish America and Brazil, expansion into the frontier went not to small farmers but to landed elites with huge plantation estates. Wealth and political influence thus remained limited to a few. Fear of rebellion led elites to jealously guard their economic dominance and political power by curbing the rights of the poor and nonpropertied. The nation-state thus excluded large segments of society from both the nation and the state. Brazilian elites suffered when slavery was banned but adapted and kept their plantations intact. Exclusive suffrage laws kept voting rights from the vast population of freed slaves while territorial expansion and railways created economic opportunities to keep the system afloat, at least until the rubber industry went bust. Although nation-states generally sought to build economic prosperity and unity among citizens, some struggled to reach their ideals. All states in the Americas used territorial expansion to assure prosperity, but this also introduced new peoples who were not included in the nation.
Consolidation of Nation-States in Europe
The failed revolutions of 1848 created bitter enemies to Europe’s conservative monarchical elites. They also, however, strengthened the monarchies by aligning them with liberal revolutionaries who recoiled from radicalism. National competition justified uniformity within political constituencies and equated diversity with state weakness. While revolutionaries asserted that the state belonged to the “people,” few could agree on exactly which people were to be included. Liberals, seeking state strength as well as economic opportunity, determined that the “people” did not include the working class, because workers threatened cherished bourgeois values. The union of conservative elites and middle-class liberals led to a nationalism that undercut the radical message.
UNIFICATION IN GERMANY AND IN ITALY
German and Italian leaders seized on radical and liberal nationalist sentiment to form their respective nations. From nationalist movements arose unified states able to compete with the military and economic might of the great monarchical powers. Both Italy and Germany, however, emerged as aristocratic bureaucracies, not republics. Divisions continually hampered integration. Southern Italian elites resisted northern political objectives, and Germany struggled to integrate ethnic minorities through Germanization programs. Despite difficulties, Germany prospered economically and politically.
CONTRADICTIONS OF THE NATION IN EUROPE
As suggested by the name, the Austro-Hungarian state suffered from fragmentation in the form of ethnic division. Slavs, Czechs, Poles, and others sought representation and voice in the new system. As various interests competed for influence, ethnic nationalist sentiment competed with the multinationalism of the state, leading to political paralysis. France and Britain also struggled with division, both class and national, as demonstrated by troubles with France’s Socialist Commune and England’s struggle with the Irish.
Industry, Science, and Technology
Industry, science, and technology greatly enhanced the strength of the Western European, Japanese, and North American nation-states.
NEW MATERIALS, TECHNOLOGIES AND BUSINESS PRACTICES
Changes in the late nineteenth century produced the second industrial revolution, which reordered ties between different parts of the globe. New technologies and materials, such as steel and electricity, greatly enhanced productivity, as did the wedding of science to technological development. Banks and joint stock companies made capital widely available, fueling the rise of huge companies that increased exports overseas.
INTEGRATION OF THE WORLD ECONOMY
Profound appetites for cheap labor and natural materials, especially those unavailable in Europe such as rubber, led corporations to extend their influence overseas. Military, transportation, and communication technology favored European dominance by making the globe smaller and integrating the economies of nations. Scientific understanding expanded as scientists examined all parts of the globe. Darwin introduced ideas about the theory of evolution and concepts such as “survival of the fittest.” Many came to believe these same principles applied to the human realm and justified Western expansion by claiming that Europeans were simply “fit” to expand and dominate other peoples. Social Darwinists also asserted that the poor suffered because they were unfit to do otherwise.
Imperialism
The successes of imperialism convinced Europeans that they were indeed “fittest.” By the end of the nineteenth century, the struggle to compete with other nation-states had driven Europeans to conquer all over the globe.
INDIA AND THE IMPERIAL MODEL
Noting popular discontent with the Rebellion of 1857, the British moved to implement a system that capitalized on desires to make India a working colony. Ending East India Company rule, the British administration moved to modernize India with new infrastructure, irrigation, and public works. Agriculture flourished and contributed to British financial strength, although peasants earned diminished returns on their labor. British efforts to unify India laid the foundation for Indians to create a national identity, particularly when Indians were excluded from full citizenship in the British system.
DUTCH COLONIAL RULE IN INDONESIA
The Dutch sought even more regimented control, setting prices and rents in Indonesia. Forced to grow export staples like coffee, the Indonesian peoples suffered from dropping food production. As starvation ensued, local peoples rebelled, prompting warfare and reform of the government. The Dutch gained economically, but the native people did not enjoy full status as citizens even in their own lands.
COLONIZING AFRICA
The division of Africa into colonies took less than thirty-five years. British penetration and the discovery of gold and diamonds stimulated other European powers to rush for colonial holdings. To avoid conflict, Germany hosted a conference, the participants of which determined to recognize each other’s acquisitions in Africa. European division of the continent divided tribes and threw diverse peoples together. Adventurers and missionaries contributed to European interest in Africa as British and German holdings expanded. King Leopold of Belgium carved out of the Congo his own personal state of terror and slaughter. African leaders either negotiated to reduce the loss of their land or fought, although most fought and were crushed. Only Ethiopia emerged strong enough to resist European expansion by playing the powers off one another and securing arms for its own army. Others fell victim to Europe’s superior weaponry and tactics, or, like Samori Touré, were simply worn down.
COLONIAL ADMINISTRATIONS
Colonial administrations often relied on military might and terror. Most European leaders sought to enrich themselves first and thus skimped by arming native supporters to protect European dominance. With time, European governments intervened to assure more civil administration by putting down revolts, seeking fiscal independence, and attracting missionaries, settlers, and merchants. New agricultural products contributed to economic independence of the colonies, although the producers again got little for their efforts. Mining also produced great profits but disrupted family life for tens of thousands of miners. European power in Africa, although appearing strong, depended on African-based armies and thus remained fragile.
THE AMERICAN EMPIRE
Extending Manifest Destiny, seeking new markets, and offering to civilize the world, Americans also turned to empire building. Taking Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines, the United States disregarded earlier promises of freedom and instead produced new colonies. Like the European powers, the United States had formally entered the realm of imperialism by intervening in the affairs of other countries.
IMPERIALISM AND CULTURE
Social Darwinist ideas combined with ideals of Europe’s civilizing influence to justify imperialist expansion. The popularity of these ventures helped unify the people at home by lifting national pride and creating new images of national triumph. Motherhood was a highly regarded value, both in its ability to produce strong nationals and in the maternal regard Europeans held for their colonial charges. The adventurous European lad became a common image that pitted young men against the enemies of civilization—namely, Africans and Orientals.
Japan, Russia, and China
Other powers also struggled to unify people and expand influence.
JAPANESE TRANSFORMATION AND EXPANSION
Facing the unequal treaties imposed by American Commodore Matthew Perry, Japan determined to modernize and adapt. Led by the Meiji Emperor, reforms in education, the military, local administration, and so forth, quickly produced a strong national identity among Japanese. Economic transformation occurred even as the Meiji government fashioned a modern constitution. Great corporations, like Mitsubishi, dominated the Japanese economy and contributed to impressive growth rates. Like other modernizing powers, Japan turned to territorial expansion. The Ryu¯kyu¯s were taken first, with ventures in Korea following shortly thereafter. Competition with China resulted in the Sino-Japanese War (1895) in which Japan won handily. For their efforts, the Japanese gained Taiwan and, later, the annexation of Korea. As in colonies elsewhere, the colonial masters exploited resources and introduced modernization, but only for their own benefit. Profit from the colonies reverted back to Meiji modernization programs.
RUSSIAN TRANSFORMATION AND EXPANSION
Expanding southwest and east, the Russians utilized the model of territorial integration employed in the Americas. Defeated in the Crimean War, Russian leaders determined to embark on a modernization program to ensure against similar fates in the future. Reforms affected all aspects of Russian life: peasant livelihood, military systems, education, industry, and so forth. Reforms also brought critics of the autocratic regime, however, and fragmented Russian society. Expansion helped redeem the regime by earning the respect of Russia’s people. Conquest was followed by waves of settlers to increase Russia’s influence and prevent Britain from expanding. In East Asia, expansion into the Amur River basin brought Russians in contact with the Chinese. Deciding to concentrate its efforts in Asia, Russia sold Alaska to the United States and proceeded to construct the transcontinental railroad. Expansion helped unify Russians somewhat, but also added over a hundred new nationalities to the mix. Control came by centralized authority as Russia sought to assimilate these peoples. Ultimately, expansionism and requisite national defense stretched Russian resources even as Russia sought to keep its external enemies at bay.
CHINA UNDER PRESSURE
Unlike the Japanese or Russians, the Chinese did not view European expansion as a threat. Worried more about internal conflict, the Qing court repeatedly underestimated the power of European might. The Self-Strengthening Movement sought to arm China with Europe’s superior weaponry, but did not produce the quality of experts or modernized equipment as first hoped. Chinese did expand into frontiers like Taiwan (before Japan took it away) and Xinjiang as population pressures rose, but they did not accompany expansion with modernization. Newspapers were one exception. China’s defeat in the Sino-Japanese War led many to call for widespread reforms. The reform movement, however, failed when the emperor’s aunt arrested the young emperor and executed all reformers taken into custody. China’s system remained too wedded to the traditional Confucian system to adequately respond to the challenges of Western-style modernity.
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