THE SCRAMBLE FOR
EMPIRE
As industrialization and scramble for markets
intensified, many European states began to be outward looking in their desire
to expand their markets and acquire raw materials for their industries.
Dramatic improvements in shipping and naval capabilities
meant that armies and military forces could be extended overseas in the search and
scramble for areas of domination and colonization as had been the trend with
the big powers for the previous one and half centuries.
As the individual European nations became more powerful
and prosperous, the instinct was to shift the power play to bases beyond the
continental shelf. As new technologies allowing the steam engine, machine guns
and new techniques in advancement of drug production became more available, the
capacity and desire for territorial expansion surged ahead.
At this time, the emergence of Germany and Italy as
united and powerful nations heated up the power tussle in Europe which before
then was exclusively an Anglo-French affair. The scramble for Africa was so
intense that to avoid war and conflict, the German statesman and Chancellor Otto
von Bismarck called for a conference of the major colonial powers in Berlin in
1884 in November to February 1885 in order to peacefully demarcate areas of
influence, control and colonization in Africa.
This process led to the complete partitioning of Africa
among the major European nations with the notable exception of Abyssinia, the
only African country to escape colonization in the traditional sense. The major
Colonial Powers; Britain, France, Germany, Portugal, Belgium, and Holland partitioned
major portions of Asia, the Pacific Islands and Africa amongst themselves.
They saw the new colonies
as a veritable investment in territories, raw materials, markets and
recruitment grounds for man power in military, economic and political frontiers.
Many governments were involved in the scramble for colonies more for the prestige
and honor that came with having colonies; in so much so that many small
European states acquired the status of empires and dominions on account of
their colonial holdings.
While Portugal
gained control over Angola and Mozambique, Belgium took over the huge area in
mid equatorial Africa called the Congo region. Germany conquered the present day
Namibia, the Cameroons and Togo land. Britain on the other hand, held much of
the prized possession in West Africa, southern Africa and the Horn of Africa
and together with France accounted for more than two thirds of the colonial
holdings. The scramble generated tensions and territorial issues among the
colonial powers which often drew them close to war and conflict.
This led to the
major European powers creating a system of military alliances principally
designed to rein in, and maintain effective control over these newly won lands
and territories. The British colonial holdings in Africa for instance stretched
all the way from South Africa to Egypt and a good portion of the Middle East.
EVOLVING SOCIAL PATTERNS
IN EUROPE AND THE EFFECT OF THE NEW WORLD
As the average European family grew more prosperous ,
smaller and more educated, social trends and patterns began to change as more people moved to new regions: and if
necessary to even new countries and the New world in search of a new social,
political and economic order.
The reduction in family size saw a new direction in
sexual behavior; for instance, the use of contraceptives like condoms and even
abortions became more available and socially acceptable. Families became
smaller, more integrated and more mobile in search of better opportunities and
lifestyles. The fall in infant mortality also helped to change the demographic
balance.
The pressure for regulated and shorter working hours and
holidays became more sustained as workers formed unions, labor groups and began
to mount pressure as independent politically active pressure groups as distinct
from the organized political parties. The desire for leisure and vacation led
to the pressure for reduced working hours which declined to about 10-12 hours
working day by the turn of the century.
Leisure activities and usage of time became more defined
as sports; recreation and travel were beginning to be accepted as facets of the
new modernity. In the 1860s, Ireland went through a difficult time after the
potato harvest of that season failed, leading to wide spread hunger and
starvation.
Due to this
development, many people in their quest to avoid famine, chose to relocate to
the United States, leading to a period of mass migration that started in
Ireland and soon spread to Germany, Italy and Eastern Europe as many began to
see the Americas as the new world of freedom and opportunities.
The middle 19th
century leading up to the 20th century saw a period of great
population shift and movement towards the new world and colonies as people began
to see a shift in physical location and mobility as a veritable tool for
personal and family emancipation and chance for new opportunities.
The trans-Atlantic movement of people created a new
demographic structure in Europe as nations literally were emptied in the
millions due to the exodus in search of better opportunities. This trend opened
new markets and new opportunities for the European nations overseas leading to
great expansion in trade, increase in business and better opportunities for all
concerned.
The economies of the European states together with that
of the nations of the New world increased by leaps and bounds as each side
quickly moved to take advantage of the large pool of skilled workers available
and the easy access to raw materials and emerging markets.
The demographic shift eased the pressure on the “Old World”
and provided great opportunities for the ‘New World’ to grow and take root. Soon
families in Europe were beginning to have relations and kinsmen in the new world
opening a whole new opportunity for trade and investment on both sides of the
Atlantic.
THE TRANSITION
FROM MONARCHY TO REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY
The French Revolution of 1789 just like the Industrial
Revolution was a turning point in the affairs of Europe. The overthrow of the
French monarchy in the people-led revolt and the subsequent ascension to power
of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799 was an unprecedented development in 18th
century Europe which started a chain of events that would soon rock the whole
continent and leave Europe with a different face politically.
For the first time, the masses of the European nations
decided that sovereignty belonged to the people and that individual liberties
and equality must be guaranteed by law. The revolt which started in 1789 soon
saw the complete overthrow of Louis XVI and his dynasty. After the French
revolution, Europe was never the same again.
The idea of sovereignty belonging to the masses,
individual liberties, representative government and elected
parliament/assemblies had taken root. The acceptance of the declaration of the
rights of man coupled with the events happening on the other side of the ocean
in the American war of Independence had begun to fuel agitations in the
European states for representative rule and the devolution of power to elected assemblies
and parliaments that were accountable to the people.
By the time of the end of the Revolutions and agitations
that swept across Europe in 1848, the idea of peoples’ sovereignty, democracy
and accountability were spreading across Europe inexhorably. The agitation for
reform and entrenchment of democratic rights began to grow so much so that it
became inevitable for changes to take place.
Napoleon Bonaparte taught and exposed the French people
to the reality of Republicanism, which gained ground rapidly and soon different
schools of thought, shades of opinion and political groupings began to emerge demanding
for the enforcement of the rights and liberties of the middle class in
particular.
It was during this period that Fredrick Engels and Karl
Max founded a newspaper company and began to write and publish their communist
ideas. Soon the idea of the revolt of the working class began to take root, and
revolutionary ideas that basically threatened the foundations of autocratic and
dynastic rule began to flourish all over Europe, bringing in its wake
repressive moves to suppress and if possible eliminate these thoughts and
philosophies.
From the United Kingdom, to Ireland, France, Prussia now
Germany, Austria, Italy, the peoples’ revolt and pressure of the middle class
caused such a rise of tension and upheavals that dynastic rule began to be seen
as an idea that was anti- people, anti-democratic that needed to be swept away.
In discerning
monarchies, the popular revolt led to major reforms, the establishment of a
parliament and peoples’ assemblies as in France, Germany, Russia and Britain.
THE DOMINANT
POLITICAL STRUCTURES
Europe in the
middle 19th century was basically dominated by two political
structures and ideologies. On the one hand was the shift to Republicanism that
was evident in the ascension to power of Napoleon Bonaparte leading to the
beginning of Republican rule in France which soon became identified with
repressive and arbitrary rule which
was often accompanied by military control and domination of the institutions of
the state
On the other side of the divide was hereditary or
dynastic rule where kings and queens ruled and established a hereditary
hegemony characterized by father to son and sometimes daughter succession. For
a thousand years previously, Europe had known nothing but dynastic rule
dominated by ruling houses and families alongside the aristocratic and upper
class often known as the nobility.
This setting met its first big challenge in the French Revolution
of 1789-1799 which led to the
establishment of the first Republic under Napoleon Bonaparte. The defeat of
Napoleon in 1814 at the battle of Waterloo and the terms of the peace
settlement of the Congress of Vienna briefly led to the restoration of the monarchy
under Philippe Louis as king.
Even then, this period was brief because the defeat of
France in 1870 at the hands of Germany under Otto von Bismarck soon led to a
popular agitation for the abdication of the king who was personally held
responsible for the military defeat and the loss of Alsace Lorraine.
The success of
people’s democracy as evidenced in the emergence of the United States of
America in 1776 as the world’s only genuine experiment in democratic and
representative rule soon fuelled popular agitation in many countries for a
return to true Republicanism and devolution of power to popularly elected
parliaments and national assemblies.
In Italy, Garibaldi Giuseppe played a major role in
establishing the short lived Mazzini’s Roman Republic. Although he was to be
instrumental in the uniting of the Italian city states into the United Italian
kingdom under king Victor Emmanuel, his experiments and contributions to Republicanism
led to the rise of Republicanism in Europe.
The wave of popular discontent that swept through Europe
at this time was fueled largely by the idea that power belonged to the people
and not an autocracy or oligarchy. People became aware that they are entitled
to electing a parliament of their choice which will attend to issues affecting
their welfare, particularly the working class and to whom the ruling class was
accountable and ultimately responsible for good governance.
The agitation and social discontent led to waves of
popular revolts, workers strikes, insurrection and sometimes regicide as kings
of Russia and Austria suffered multiple assassination attempts. This inevitably
led to crackdown and repressive measures that were known to fuel further
revolts and prepare ground for later Revolutions. France in particular led the
way in paving the path for Republican rule.
In German though Wilhelm I held sway as Emperor, real
power lay with Otto Von Bismarck the Prime Minister and Chancellor of Germany.
The power play and struggles between the king and Chancellor became reminiscent
of the growing struggles between autocracy and democracy.
Emperor Wilhelm 1 had acknowledged the peculiar place
Bismarck had as an arbiter of German and European affairs but the significance
of Bismarck as a stabilizer of the polity was completely lost on his young and
willful son Wilhelm 11, who was soon to succeed him.
The State of
Europe in 1850
Europe in 1850 was truly a continent on the move, on the
boil, in ferment and constantly evolving. The mid-19th century was a
time when most of the great ideas that rule the world today were new, embryonic
and fermenting. That era could also be called the era of “the philosopher” as
some of the great thinkers we know in the world today began to emerge and
traditional norms and ethos came under increasing pressure for change and
reform
The seeds of the great conflict of ideologies that
pervaded the world in the 20th century were also sown at this time
when Karl Max and Friedrich Engels began to publish their largely contentious
beliefs about the emerging class war in their pamphlet; “the communist
manifesto”.
Truly, the working class came into being following the
Industrial Revolution. The growth of the industrial age and the prosperity that
followed strengthened the working class immeasurably and like all other trends,
the growing power of the working class who later became known as the middle
class led to the beginning of a class and power struggle in society between the
working class and aristocracy.
This struggle soon became evident on the political scene
as the workers began to form and join labor unions that soon became platforms
for the emergence of labor parties and other political groups that basically
pressed for improvement in the conditions of life and service of the working
class. The beginning of the class, ideological, racial and nationalistic
tendencies that were to engulf the 20th century was basically laid
then.
The 1850s was also a time of technological, scientific,
philosophical and economic advances. The London exhibitions of 1851 that held
in the Crystal palace in London, highlighted the growing technological and
scientific changes going on in the world and also highlighted the growing power
of Great Britain as an imperial power.
The 1850s also saw a shift in the balance of power in the
European continent that had earlier been dominated by the British holding the
upper stake on the high seas in their powerful navy, and France holding the stake
on land in their powerful army. The rivalry between these two great powers had
led to many wars on the continent that climaxed in the Napoleonic wars.
The battle of Waterloo in 1814 interestingly enough, was
the last major war to be fought between Britain and France. Republican France
ultimately shifted ground particularly after the Franco-Prussian war to become
a major ally of the United Kingdom. It is interesting to note that the path to
peace and ultimately alliance between Britain, France and ultimately Russia lay
in the emergence of Prussia later known as Germany as a major power in Europe.
1840-1871 saw the rise of Prussia, the union of the
German states, the ascension of Prince Otto von Bismarck as the force behind
the emergence of modern day Germany, the ascension of Wilhelm 1, as Emperor of
Germany and the defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870.
The loss of Alsace Lorraine, defeat on the battlefield,
the capture of Napoleon III and the brief occupation of Paris by the Prussian
army was a humiliation that not only shook France but shocked the world into
the realization that a great power had emerged on the scene of Europe. The appearance
of Germany alongside the Austro Hungarian Empire frightened Russia and started
the process that led to the triple alliance between Britain, France and Russia.
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