Imperialism and World War I: Impact and Legacy
Berlin Conference (‘Scramble for Africa’):
1884-1885 it changed (for the worse) political boundaries of Africa. It led to a ‘scramble’ for Africa in which major European powers would colonize the continent without the threat of potentially going to war with each other over a territorial dispute. Best understood as the formalization of the Scramble for Africa
‘New imperialism’:
The period featured an unprecedented pursuit of overseas territorial acquisitions. During the era of New Imperialism, the Western powers (and Japan) individually conquered almost all of Africa and parts of Asia. The new wave of imperialism reflected ongoing rivalries among the great powers, the economic desire for new resources and markets, and a ‘civilizing mission’ ethos.
Social Darwinism:
Is a loose set of ideologies that emerged in the late 1800s in which Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection was used to justify certain political, social, or economic views.
Herero and Nama peoples:
The Herero and Nama genocide was the first genocide of the 20th century, waged by the German Empire against the Herero, the Nama, and the San in German South West Africa. It occurred between 1904 and 1908.
Lothar von Trotha:
Ordered his troops to poison water holes, erect guard posts along a 150-mile line and shoot on sight any Herero, be they man, woman or child, who attempted to escape. Ordered the genocide of the Herero and Nama people.
Cecil Rhodes:
The English businessman and financier Cecil Rhodes founded the modern diamond industry and controlled the British South Africa Company, which acquired Rhodesia and Zambia as British territories. Was a strong imperialist.
dumdum bullets:
The British authorities argued that its use, especially against ‘semicivilized or barbarous races who practice no humanity in their warfare’ was not contrary to the spirit of any convention or custom of war.
‘White Man’s Burden’:
The White Man’s Burden: The United States and the Philippine Islands, by Rudyard Kipling, is a poem about the Philippine, is a racist poem.
Rudyard Kipling:
Author of the racist poem, ‘White Man’s Burden’.
US-Filipino War:
The basic causes of the Philippine-American War can be found in the U.S. government’s quest for an overseas empire and the desire of the Filipino people for freedom. In other words, this war was a clash between the forces of imperialism and nationalism.
The Boxers:
The Boxers officially supported peasant uprising of 1900 that attempted to drive all foreigners from China. ‘Boxers’ was a name that foreigners gave to a Chinese rebellion.
‘Open Door Policy’:
Open Door policy was rooted in the desire of U.S. businesses to trade with Chinese markets. Is a term in foreign affairs initially used to refer to the United States policy that would allow for a system of trade in China open to all countries equally.
American Anti-Imperialist League:
Was founded with the object of preventing the Spanish American War ‘from being perverted into a war for colonial spoils’. Throughout the history of the League its essential goal was to protest imperialism overseas.
Mark Twain:
Was a major American writer. Twain was critical of imperialism, such as Cecil Rhodes, who greatly expanded the British Empire, and Leopold II, King of the Belgians. Was vice-president of the American Anti-Imperialist League.
Suffragettes:
A suffragette was a member of militant women’s organizations, under the banner ‘Votes for Women’, fought for the right to vote in public elections, known as women’s suffrage.
Emmeline Pankhurst:
Was a British political activist and organizer of the British suffragette movement who helped women win the right to vote. Used militant tactics.
The First World War:
Total war:
World War I was a ‘total war’ that involved the governments, economies and populations of participating nations to an extent never seen before in history.
Hindenburg:
Was a German general and statesman who commanded the Imperial German Army during World War I and later became President of Germany from 1925 until his death, during the Weimar Republic
Trench warfare:
Trench warfare is a type of land warfare using occupied fighting lines largely comprising military trenches, in which troops are well-protected from the enemy’s small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from artillery.
‘No-man’s land’:
Is land that is unoccupied or is under dispute between parties who leave it unoccupied due to fear or uncertainty.
U-Boot:
By 1915, the North Sea was declared a war zone and U-boats adopted a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare. Germany publicly declared its submarines would destroy all enemy merchant vessels in the waters around Great Britain.
Shellshock:
It is a reaction to the intensity of the bombardment and fighting that produced a helplessness appearing variously as panic and being scared, flight, or an inability to reason, sleep, walk or talk. During the War, the concept of shell shock was ill-defined. Discovered form of PTSD.
Edith Cavell:
Was a British nurse. She is celebrated for saving the lives of soldiers from both sides without discrimination and in helping some 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium during the First World War, for which she was arrested.
Homefront:
The Home Front saw a massive change in the role of women, rationing, the bombing of parts of Britain by the Germans (the first time civilians were targeted in war), conscientious objectors and strikes by discontented workers
Blockade of Germany:
Occurred from 1914 to 1919. It was a prolonged naval operation conducted by the Allied Powers, especially Great Britain, during and after World War I to restrict the maritime supply of goods to the Central Powers, which included Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey.
Rationing:
Is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one’s allowed portion of the resources being distributed on a particular day or at a particular time.
Black market:
Was a response to rationing that was introduced during World War Two. While illegal, the black market became a driving force in the Home Front especially in the cities – for those who could afford the prices
Conscientious Objectors (COs):
Is an ‘individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service’ on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. Conscientious objectors became the targets of abuse.
Wilfred Owen:
Was an English poet and soldier. He was one of the leading poets of the First World War.
Erich Maria Remarque:
Was a 20th-century German novelist. His landmark novel All Quiet on the Western Front, about the German military experience of World War I, and was subsequently made into the cinema film All Quiet on the Western Front.
‘les gueules cassées’:
Gueules cassées is a French expression for facially disfigured servicemen which originated in World War I.
Armistice:
The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was the armistice signed at Le Francport near Compiègne that ended fighting on land, sea and air in World War I between the Allies and their opponent, Germany.
‘Lost generation’:
A group of American writers who came of age during World War I and established their literary reputations in the 1920s. The term is also used more generally to refer to the post-World War I generation.
The Cenotaph:
Is a war memorial on Whitehall in London, England. Its origin is in a temporary structure erected for a peace parade following the end of the First World War, and after an outpouring of national sentiment it was replaced in 1920 by a permanent structure and designated the United Kingdom’s official national war memorial.