Class 3/5

How did Great Britain finesse China into importing more European goods?

• Previously, China was in fact interacting with other nations but were only really exporting their goods. 

• Merchants smuggle opium(which was legally grown in India) into China. The Chinese become addicted to the drug, but opium is illegal to buy and sell in China. The growing desire for opium forces the Chinese to look to other nations to supply them with the drug. Therefore, Great Britain intentionally hooked the Chinese on opium in order to manipulate China into importing more from Europe than they had been previously. The Opium Wars essentially opened up China to European free trade. 

At this point, imperialism involves more than simply territorial gain. 

• Along with the power that comes with gaining land, economic gain is also a very important source of power in regards to imperialism, beginning during this period.

Imperialism is the byproduct of the industrial revolution... why?

• European markets become oversaturated(thanks for the big word Gill!!) as the Industrial Revolution continues. Eventually, everyone in Europe acquires 10 shirts, for example. Therefore, Europe must look to other nations to consume their surplus of products in order to keep making bank/mula/doe. European markets had the supply, but needed the demand from outside nations. 

Were the situations in China, Japan, and Egypt similar? Different? 

• All three nations were coerced into tradinf more with nations that were very industrialized(GB, France, America)
• What happened in China and Japan were pretty similar. The only main difference is the fact that it took less time for Japan to fall in line than China. 
• "What the British had done in China with two wars, the Americans had achieved in Japan with the threat of one."

• Egypt is different though... Egypt was ruled by an outsider by the name of Muhammad Ali. Great Britain took advantage of the debt that Ismail(Ali's son) put them in by spending all their doe on super expensive projects. The British want their doe that they had invested back during this time when Egypt was in this massive amount of debt. Great Britain took advantage of Egypt and tied their hands when they, along with France, demanded to take control of Egyptian finances in order to ensure that they get their investments back in full. 
• “The British takeover in Egypt provided a new model for European expansion in densely populated lands. Such expansion was based on military force, political domination, and a self-justifying ideology of beneficial reform. This model predominated until 1914. Thus did Europe’s Industrial Revolution lead to tremendous political as well as economic expansion throughout the world after 1880”

24.2 Graph 

• This graph depicts how immigration from Europe spiked around 1914 due to the growing population in Europe. Immigration then declined because Hitler was crazy and kept everyone from escaping to other lands.

24.3 Pie Chart 

• This chart exemplifies the fact that although a large percentage of Europeans immigrated to the United States, many Europeans went to other places, too. It is important to note that the majority of European immigrants temporarily left their homelands to work and make money then return to their origins. 
• 45% of European immigrants came to the US --> US tried to cut down this number by imposing the Immigration Acts