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CHAPTER
20 Mass Politics and Imperialism
IN THIS CHAPTER
Summary: Among the factors leading to the development of European imperialism
in the nineteenth century were economic needs created by industrialization, tradi-
tional competition between European nations, and the need for European politi-
cal elites to find ways to win the support of a new political force: the masses. This
chapter reviews the growth of European empires beyond Europe, chiefly in Africa,
where European powers quickly staked out claims to virtually the entire continent,
and Asia, where European control was generally exerted through local elites.Key Terms:
✪ New Imperialism The expansion of European influence and control in the last
decades of the nineteenth century. It was characterized by a shift from indirect
commercial influence to active conquest and the establishment of direct politi-
cal control of foreign lands around the globe, particularly in Africa and Asia.
✪ Scramble for Africa The rush of European powers to claim interest in and sov-
ereignty over portions of Africa in the first half of the 1880s. It culminated in
the Berlin Conference of 1885, at which European powers laid down rules for
the official claiming of African territories. As a result, by the end of the 1880s,
only Liberia and Ethiopia remained independent African countries.
✪ Suez Canal A canal opened in 1869, built by a French company with Egyptian
labor, that connects the Mediterranean Sea through Egypt to the Red Sea
and the Indian Ocean. In 1875, Great Britain took advantage of the Egyptian
ruler’s financial distress and purchased a controlling interest in the canal.
Control of the canal led to British occupation and the annexation of Egypt.KEY IDEA20_Bartolini_Ch20_165-170.indd 165 27/04/18 1:55 PM