The Great Powers
Also known as Second Wave Imperialism or the “New Imperialism,” this event is linked to the rapid expansion of direct European colonial control over the vast majority of the globe, notably in Africa.
What is the "Scramble for Africa"?
This slave army originated in the 14th century as a levy of Christian children from the Balkans. This fearsome military was once the strongest in Europe, but was ineffectual by the 18th century. In 1826, it was abolished in what was known as “the Auspicious Incident” as part of campaign to reform the military along French lines. The new military that replaced this old army was modeled on Selim III’s “New Order Army” and French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Armies
Who are the Janissaries?
He was a Chinese political philosopher, politician, and a Top Qing official, who was sent by the Qing Emperor from Beijing to Canton to end the addiction/illegal trade of opium.
Who is Lin Zexu?
A catastrophic war between Mexico and America (1846-1848). This war led to the surrender of Mexico City in 1848 to American forces, compelling Mexico to accept a harsh treaty. For $15 million, Mexico was compelled to cede over half its territories [present-day Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California] to the US. As an outcome, the US became a great power and Mexico [and other Latin American states] turned to defensive development.
What is the Mexican-American War (1846-1848)?
By 1880, the highpoint of global mass migration, governments increasingly made distinctions between their own citizens/imperial subjects and foreigners/aliens. Because the US and British settler colonies were among the most desired destinations for immigration, the state played a major role in the shift towards regulating migration through these two documents.
What is a passport and visa?
In this German Chancellor’s famous “Blood and Iron” speech (1862), he argued that a strong state could only be made through war and industrialization - not liberal parliamentary politics. Indeed, he united Germany - a collection of principalities – under Prussian leadership through war with the Habsburg Empire (1866) and France (1870-71). After unification, he bought expanded the suffrage to all German men and imposed high tariffs on manufactured goods and grain. He also oversaw the creation of a welfare system that provided medical insurance, unemployment & disability insurance, as well as old age pensions to all German citizens.
Who was Otto von Bismarck (1815 - 1898)?
Grants that were bestowed by a particular sultan on Europeans. This system, which began in the 16th century, gave privileges to foreigners trading in the Ottoman Empire: 1) rights and conditions of residence, 2) exemptions from some taxes, 3) criminal and civil cases among foreigners were to be judges by the foreign representative or his appointee. The purpose of these grants was to facilitate trade. Ottoman subjects were to be granted reciprocal privileges in Europe.
What are the Ottoman Capitulations?
In 1839, Britain invaded China in order to defend its right to “free trade,” which meant continuing to smuggle opium, a banned drug, into China. In 1838, the Qing Emperor tried to enforce the 1729 ban by sending Lin Zexu to Canton to end addiction and the illegal trade in opium. Lin rounded up drug addicts – they were forcibly treated - and punished Chinese drug dealers severely. He also confiscated 2.66 million pounds of opium held by Europeans in Canton without compensation, which led to this war.
What was The First Opium War (1839-1842)?
A doctrine that argued that 1) the Western Hemisphere was closed to further European colonization and 2) that the US would abstain from involvement in Europe. The meaning of this doctrine changed over time and was not a legal guaranteed of Latin American sovereignty, but rather a policy to be ignored or defended as suited US interests.
What is the Monroe Doctrine?
Railroads and steamships transformed this yearly pilgrimage from a small-scale ritual performed by elites into a mass annual event dominated by the rural poor. By 1900, 300,000 Muslim pilgrims arrived in Mecca each year. Cheap steamship and rail travel coincided with a series of Cholera pandemics to break out in Mecca, which cause this event to fall increasing medical and political scrutiny by European imperial powers – who by the 1860s had more Muslims in their respective empires than the Ottoman Empire. For European imperial powers – this event represented a “twin threat” to their empire – cholera and Pan-Islamic ideas.
What was the Colonial Era Hajj?
A principle in 19th-century international law that determined membership in international society. It was never an explicit set of requirements and was always vague in order to benefit the European powers. Western powers justified diminished sovereignty by arguing that only states capable of providing a certain level of justice were entitled to full sovereign rights. This principle served to justify the unequal treaties between Europe and China, Japan, and the Ottoman Empire.
What is the "Standard of Civilization"?
This term refers to the reform of Ottoman legal, political and administrative institutions – all of which were modeled after Europe. The term comes from the Arabic root that means “to string pearls”, “tune an instrument” & “put in proper order.” It also marks the most intense phase of Ottoman modernization, Westernization, bureaucratization and standardization.
What is the Tanzimat (Imperial Reordering)?
This system refers to the restricted method of trade between China and the West from the mid 18th –– mid 19th century. Foreigners were barred from entering this main walled city and instead inhabited “factories” owned by Chinese merchants, or Hongs, on the Peal River.
What is the Canton System?
Private citizens organized armed expeditions to Mexico, Central America, and Cuba for American expansion. Private invasions of Latin American republic with the goal of territorial annexations - i.e. colonies. It was unsuccessful and incited antagonism against US actions in the region.
Who are American Filibusters (Filibusteros)?
They served under contracts—worked for a period in exchange for free passage, lodging, and a small salary. Labor-intensive industries—cotton and sugar plantations, mining and railway construction— required a cheap source of manpower, which these individuals filled.
Who are indentured labor recruits?
An ad hoc meeting of the Great Powers to settle international disputes -- a fundamentally conservative order. It was the forerunner to the League of Nations during the Interwar Years and later the United Nations after World War II. This institution was a diplomatic apparatus and one that was far less formalized than those institutions that would succeed it. Around 1900, the members of this institution were Great Britain, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, Russia [official members] Japan, and the Ottoman Empire [less official members], and the US [an occasional member].
What is the Congress System or Concert of Europe?
What is the Clothing Law (1829)?
This document created a constitutional monarchy in Japan, with the separation of powers including a bicameral parliament. Like the Ottoman and Prussian constitutions, Japan reserved almost unrestricted power for the Emperor while still permitting the creation of democratic institutions. This document might be seen as part of a larger Japanese effort at “defensive developmentalism” to keep Europe at bay.
What is the Meiji Constitution of 1868?
This document limited the power of the Catholic Church and military. It was designed to centralize power and extend the reach of the state. This document proclaimed Mexico a democratic, secular republic and fully abolished slavery, debt servitude, and the death penalty; allowing the government to expropriate Church lands and sell them to private investors. Mexican Liberals wanted to attract foreign investment to develop infrastructure, exploit the natural resources, to stave off the threat of further U.S. annexations.
What is La Reforma and the Constitution of 1857?
This engineering “wonder of the age” transformed oceanic travel and shipping. It reduced the distance and cost of transporting goods and people between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean World – for instance, it cut the distance between London and Bombay in half. This engineering marvel opened in 1869 with festivities attended by European royalty (Verdi’s opera, Aida, was commissioned for the opening celebrations). Despite the fact that this major waterway was located in the Ottoman Empire, a multi-national corporation controlled this vital piece of infrastructure until 1956.
What was the Suez Canal? (The Suez Canal Company controlled it)
A distillation of the law of war for the age of democracy, nations, and mass armies. It consisted of 157 Articles and covered a wide range of issues that arise in armed conflict: procedures for flags of truce and safe-conducts, prohibited injury to men “who were wholly disabled,” regulated the exchange of ambassadors, authorized the execution of spies, rules for prisoner exchanges, banned assassination, treatment of irregulars.
Christians and Jews were "people of the book" by Muslim Empires and were protected within the state. In exchange for protection, non-Muslims paid a poll tax, the jizya (Arabic) / cizye (Turkish), and were exempted from military service. Called protected ones, dhimmi (Arabic), zimmi (Turkish). Not equal to Muslims, but generally had legal autonomy over religious affairs and courts.
What is the Status and Management of Non-Muslims in the Ottoman Empire?
These treaties were modeled on the Ottoman Capitulations and were forced on China in 1842 at the conclusion of the First Opium War. Foreign residents were exempted from taxation, but also from the Chinese laws. European and American residents in China were tried by Consular courts.
What are the Extraterritorial Treaties?
(First imposed by the Treaty of Nanking (1842), which ended the First Opium War. In addition to extraterritoriality, China was forced to expand the number of treaty ports, the island of Hong Kong became a British colony, China was forced to pay a massive war indemnity, the Qing government was forced to set a low tariff on imports.)
A peasant insurgency in response to the expropriation of public land for private agricultural estates—known as haciendas—as well as high taxes. Mayan peasants, many who were subsistence farmers, rebelled against the state. By 1901, the Mexican military ended this war, through violence and forcible incorporation.
What were the Caste Wars of the Yucatán (1847-1901)?
This group determined an immigrant’s eligibility to enter the United States. Anyone suspected of traveling with false documents or was considered a “likely public charge” would be questioned by this group. These individuals also examined claims involving sons or daughters of someone in the US