Scramble for Africa
This 1884-1885 meeting, hosted by Otto von Bismarck, established the "effective occupation" rule for claiming African territory without going to war with other European powers.
What is the Berlin Conference?
This "Jewel in the Crown" of the British Empire was transferred from East India Company rule to direct Crown control following a major 1857 revolt.
What is India?
This Rudyard Kipling poem famously exhorted Europeans to "send forth the best ye breed" to civilize "sullen peoples" in the colonies.
What is "The White Man's Burden"?
This fully automatic weapon, invented in 1884, gave European armies a decisive tactical advantage over indigenous forces.
What is the Maxim Gun?
This newly unified nation, led by Kaiser Wilhelm II, sought its "place in the sun" by aggressively building a navy and acquiring colonies, upsetting the British.
This Belgian monarch personally owned the Congo Free State, extracting rubber through a system of state-sponsored terror and mutilation.
Who is King Leopold II?
These mid-19th-century conflicts between Britain and the Qing Dynasty began over trade imbalances and ended with the "Unequal Treaties" that opened Chinese ports.
What are the Opium Wars?
This pseudo-scientific theory applied "survival of the fittest" to human races to justify European domination as a natural necessity.
What is Social Darwinism?
This medicine, derived from cinchona bark, allowed Europeans to survive malaria and venture into the interior of "The Dark Continent."
Hint: gin and tonic like cocktail called a Pimm's Cup had this in it.
What is Quinine?
This Belgian colony was the primary source of rubber, a resource desperately needed for the tires and hoses of the Second Industrial Revolution.
What is the Congo Free State?
In the "Fashoda Incident," these two European powers nearly went to war over control of the upper Nile, though they eventually reached a diplomatic compromise.
Who are Britain and France?
Unlike China, this Asian nation avoided colonization by rapidly Westernizing its military, economy, and government during the Meiji Restoration.
What is Japan?
This term describes the "new" imperialism of the late 19th century, characterized by direct political control rather than just coastal trading posts.
What is New Imperialism?
This man-made waterway, opened in 1869, drastically shortened the trip from Europe to India, making the "Lifeline of the Empire" vital to British interests.
What is the Suez Canal?
This is the right of British citizens to follow their own laws while in China, exempting them from local Chinese punishment.
What is exterritoriality?
This British imperialist and diamond tycoon dreamed of building a "Cape to Cairo" railway to connect British colonies across the continent.
Who is Cecil Rhodes?
This 1900 uprising in China was led by a secret society (the "Harmonious Fists") aiming to expel all "foreign devils" and Christian missionaries.
What is the Boxer Rebellion?
This Indian practice of a widow immolating herself on her husband’s funeral pyre was banned by the British in 1829, a move they used to justify their "civilizing" presence.
What is Sati?
These two independent African nations remained uncolonized by the end of the 19th century (one by defeating Italy at Adwa).
Who are Ethiopia and Liberia?
In 1853, this U.S. Naval officer arrived in Tokyo harbor with steamships and a "powerful Squadron," delivering a letter that threatened military action if Japan did not abandon its 200-year-old policy of isolation.
Who is Commodore Matthew Perry?
This 1899-1902 conflict in South Africa saw the British use scorched-earth tactics and concentration camps against Dutch-descended settlers.
What is the Boer War?
This 1857 uprising by Indian soldiers was sparked by rumors that new rifle cartridges were greased with cow and pig fat, violating Hindu and Muslim taboos.
What is the Sepoy Mutiny (or Great Rebellion)?
This term describes a region where a European power had exclusive investment and trading rights without necessarily "owning" the government (common in China).
What is a Sphere of Influence?
While the Steamship allowed Europeans to navigate upriver, this specific 1860s technological breakthrough in undersea communication allowed the British Colonial Office to communicate with India in hours rather than months, effectively "shrinking" the empire.
What is the Trans-oceanic (or Submarine) Telegraph Cable?
This Pan-German League and other ultra-nationalist groups in Europe argued that colonies were essential for "Lebensraum" and this concept of global power.
What is Weltpolitik?