MOTIVES & METHODS
What is imperialism?
When one country exerts influence or control over another country.
What was the Scramble for Africa?
The rapid competition among European powers to claim and control territory in Africa.
What was the British East India Company?
A British joint-stock company that controlled trade and eventually gained significant political and taxation power in India.
What commodity did Britain illegally sell in China that helped cause the Opium Wars?
Opium.
Name the four types of resistance studied in this unit.
Military, intellectual, adaptation, and sabotage/indirect resistance.
Name three of the five major motives for European imperialism studied in this unit.
Economic, exploratory, political, ideological, and religious.
What was the main purpose of the Berlin Conference?
European powers met to establish rules for dividing/claiming African territory and avoid conflict among themselves.
Give two reasons India was called the “Jewel in the Crown.”
Natural resources/raw cotton, markets for British goods, strategic location, large population that could be taxed, etc.
What happened when Chinese officials confiscated and destroyed British opium in 1839?
Britain went to war with China, beginning the Opium Wars.
Ethiopia's defeat of Italy at the Battle of Adwa is an example of what type of resistance?
Military resistance.
A European power takes control of a territory but allows local leaders to remain in government with limited self-rule. Is this direct or indirect rule?
Indirect rule.
Which African leader defeated a European power at the Battle of Adwa, preserving his country's independence?
Menelik II of Ethiopia.
What event caused Britain to abolish the East India Company and take direct control of India?
The Sepoy Rebellion of 1857.
What did the Treaty of Nanking force China to do?
Open ports to foreign trade, allow opium sales, and pay reparations, among other concessions.
Japan's decision to study Western technology and reform its government and military rather than simply fight Western powers is an example of what type of resistance?
Adaptation.
A European government brings in its own officials, eliminates local self-rule, and attempts to make the local population adopt European culture. What method of control is this?
Direct rule.
Why was the Congo Free State under King Leopold II particularly important as an example of the brutality of imperialism?
Leopold's rule exploited Congolese people for resources, used brutal production quotas and violence, and resulted in enormous loss of life.
Give two causes of the Sepoy Rebellion.
Religious fears surrounding Christian missionaries; cartridges believed to contain pig and cow fat; British seizure of Oudh; fears of forced conversion/interference with Indian customs.
What was the Open Door Policy, and why did the United States support it?
It called for China to remain open to trade with all countries; the U.S. wanted access to Chinese trade and feared being shut out by other imperial powers.
In French Indochina, villagers pretended to cooperate with French officials while secretly choosing powerless “leaders” and running their villages themselves. What type of resistance was this, and why was it effective?
Indirect resistance/sabotage. It undermined French control without requiring direct military confrontation.
A European leader argues that his country needs colonies because its industries need new markets, its navy needs overseas bases, and European nations must compete for global power. Identify at least two motives represented in this argument and explain the connection.
Economic + political motives. Economic: markets for manufactured goods. Political: competition, prestige, territory, and military/security bases.
King Leopold II described European involvement in Africa as a mission to bring “civilization,” while evidence from the Congo reveals exploitation and violence. What does this contrast reveal about the relationship between the ideological and economic motives for imperialism?
European powers could use the language of civilization/“White Man's Burden” to justify imperialism, while economic interests such as extracting resources were a major part of what colonial rule actually accomplished.
How did British rule simultaneously enrich Britain and weaken India's economy? Use specific evidence from the unit.
Britain extracted Indian raw materials such as cotton and then sold British manufactured goods back to India. British goods were favored while Indian textile production was damaged, making India economically dependent on Britain.
Explain how the Opium Wars → Open Door Policy → Boxer Rebellion demonstrate the increasing foreign influence in China and Chinese resistance to it.
The Opium Wars forced China to accept foreign trade and concessions; the Open Door Policy expanded foreign economic access; resentment over foreign influence contributed to the Boxer Rebellion, which attempted to drive out foreigners but was defeated by a multinational force. These events weakened the Qing Dynasty, which fell in 1911.
Which was more effective: resisting imperialism by fighting it directly or adapting to it? Use at least TWO examples from the unit to defend your answer.
Answers will vary. Strong answers should compare examples such as Ethiopia's military resistance with Japan's adaptation and evaluate effectiveness using political independence, cultural autonomy, long-term power, or limiting imperial control.