Chapter 25: 3, 2, 1 Summary

3 Things I Have Learned

Africa was taken over by the Europeans. I hadn't known previously much about the governing system of Africa. It surprised me when I discovered that Africa was basically just an extension of Europe for some time.

The Berlin Conference excluded all African rulers. You would think that the European powers would at least give one or two of the African rulers a say in how their continent would be split up. But no, they actually had the gall to just split it among themselves.

Opium was a major issue in China. I had no idea of the significance of Opium consumption and trade had on China. It significantly impacted quite a bit of anti-drug laws and trade in that area for a very long time, I wonder if it's still an issue today.

2 Things That Interested Me

People are showing no signs in removing racism from their lives. I guess I'll have to wait until after the second world war, but I truly thought that by now we would begin to see some of the discrimination that has haunted the world for so long begin to melt away. But no, racism is worse than ever in this time period.

There was another population boom. This surprised me immensely, I thought the only population boom we had left was the baby boom. But instead, with the rise of industrialization, another population boom took place until the early 20th century. 

1 Question I Still Have

What's the deal with world war one? When will we start to see that rearing its ugly head? Will Africa have anything to do with the war? I don't know very much about the first world war. 

Chapter 25: Suez Canal

Spotlight On: Suez Canal

 The Suez Canal is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows ship transport between Europe and eastern Asia without navigation around Africa. Today, the Suez Canal is operated by the Suez Canal Authority. It begins at the Mediterranean Sea at Point Said flows through Ismailia in Egypt, and ends at Suez on the Gulf of Suez. It also has a railroad running its entire length parallel to its west bank. In addition to dramatically reducing transit time for trade worldwide, the Suez Canal is one of the world's most significant waterways as it supports 8% of the world's shipping traffic and almost 50 ships pass through the canal daily. Because of its narrow width, the canal is also considered a significant geographic choke point as it could easily be blocked and disrupt this flow of trade. Future plans for the Suez Canal include a project to widen and deepen the canal to accommodate the passage of larger and more ships at one time.

Chapter 25: Current Uprising

2014 Ukrainian Revolution (18–23 February 2014)

The Revolution began with a series of violent episodes of civil unrest in Kiev, Ukraine, as part of Ukraine's ongoing Euromaidan protest movement against the government. The conflict escalated rapidly, leading to the downfall of the government of President Viktor Yanukovych and the setting up of a new government to replace it within a few days. Yanukovych fled to Russia, and is wanted in Ukraine for the killing of protesters.The conflict continued with the 2014 Crimean crisis when Pro-Russian forces seized control of the Crimea region. Most of the world treated the events as a revolution, but Russia and Yanukovych denounced it as a coup d’état. A compromise deal was agreed to and signed by both opposition leaders and the president after overnight negotiations. The deal agreed to: a restoration of the Constitution as it was between 2004 and 2010; constitutional reform to be completed by September; early presidential elections no later than December 2014. Aftermaths of this issue include the Russian Invasion that has recently taken place, as the old President Yanukovych is trying to reinstate himself with the help of the Russians.

Chapter 25: Imperialist Uprising

Boer Wars

The Boer Wars were two wars that were fought between the British Empire and the two independent Boer republics, the Oranje Vrijstaat and the Republiek van Transvaal. The first war took place between 1880 to 1881 and it was a rebellion of Boers against British rule in the Transvaal while the second war took place from 1899 to 1902 which ended with the switch of the Boer republics into British colonies. It arose from disputes over British rule and eventually led to marginal independence for the Boers. The first Boer War was marginally successful, ending with the British quietly conducting a settlement that gave the Boers independence with only nominal lip service paid to the authority of the Crown in an effort to allow the British to withdraw "with minimum embarrassment". The second Boer War appeared to have erupted from more British control issues over Transvaal. The Boers would settle for more negotiations this time, but the second phase was most notable for the Boer's desperate use of guerrilla tactics to fend off their enemies. A notable individual would be Herbert Kitchener, the leader of the British army during the second war who pushed the Boers toward negotiations. 

Chapter 25: US Events

Civil War

The Civil War of the United States was a battle between the northern Union and the southern Confederates over a multitude of economic and social issues, most notably that of slavery. The war would be won by the Union and slavery would end up becoming abolished. This war is comparable to the growing discontent of Africa during this time period. Africa suffered from many uprising such as this when the Europeans attempted to take complete control. Most notably the Boer War, which would challenge European superiority. While many of these uprisings wouldn't change much in Africa, it is easy to see the comparison between the two areas. 

Industrialization

The Industrialization of the US marks an important time for the nation. With it will come economic benefits and riches that had previously been untapped. Interestingly enough population increases would also come with the Industrialization of the US. With overcrowding and less and less work becoming available in Europe, many of the native citizens will emigrate to the United States in search of work. This will form a large part of the US population and also speaks to the living conditions of Europe. Things aren't as great in good ol' imperialist Europe as many nationalists seem to think. Perhaps they should consider leaving the Africans alone and deal with their own issues.

Chapter 25: Political Cartoons

This cartoon showcases how the whole of Europe longed for the riches of Africa, showcase by the captions of 'Gold Fields'. The whole of Europe believed that Africa was an untapped gold mine and wanted its hands on every inch possible. The Artist's opinion could be that this land-grabbing was greedy, but this is an unlikely opinion of the time. Most likely the artist is simply making a statement about how the ever-present influence of the European governments is bearing down on Africa, as showcased by the deep shadow that man's hands are leaving. Another important aspect is the wealthy suit that the man is wearing, showing the already large amounts of wealth that Europe had as it bore its greedy fingers down on Africa. If this is indeed his opinion, I completely agree with it. Europe definitely overdid their colonization of Africa both by ruining indigenous people and by enforcing their way of life on those who didn't want it.

This political cartoon showcases the struggles that pervaded Africa especially the aspect of governing it. Here we see multiple personifications of Death all arguing about how the continent should be governed. The artist's opinion is probably that Africa, left to its own devices, is doomed to die a multitude of horrible deaths. Therefore European intervention is necessary to keep these people from killing themselves out of ignorance. This idea exemplifies European nationalism and even the notion of the "White man's burden" to make Africa a suitable place to live. I think that the artist is making a large miscalculation on the continent, and that Africa should be left to its own devices. After all it survived this long without intervention, why would it need intervention now?

Chapter 25: US Imperialism Cartoon/Question

This cartoon is talking about imperialist motives of the US behind the war in Iraq. The artist is using the example of oil being the reason behind our nation's imperialistic attitude. The artist clearly thinks that the government only wanted to go to war in Iraq for economic gains, a motive of an imperialist nation. The artist apparently thinks that the administration at the time is almost lying to the people on this motive, and is freely showing it in this cartoon. I'm not sure how to respond to this cartoon; some think that we really do/did have a responsibility to go to Iraq but the ulterior motives shown here are interesting to say the least.

Question: Do you think the United States is/has been imperialistic? 

There are multiple reasons that I believe the United States has been imperialistic and, at the same time, hasn't been. A lot of people bash the US for it's money grubbing attitude toward countries with oil. Part of me agrees with this assertion. I think that the oil played a big part in the war in Iraq. However I also believe that the US has a very important role in defending itself from people trying to hurt it. So while the oil part could be considered imperialistic, I don't think self-defense counts as imperialism. I do think that for certain the US has been imperialistic in the past though. The state of Hawaii is a testament to this, we did to those people exactly what Europe did to Africa. Another case of the US being Imperialistic is its very founding. We did, after all, take land from innocent natives and basically remove them from it after all. On some aspects the US hasn't been imperialistic though. For instance, a lot of recent wars have been in our own self interest yes, but also a lot of it had to do with self defense. A country that is a threat should be neutralized so it no longer is one. Another defense of the US not being Imperialistic is the aid we give countries. We actually do give quite a lot of aid oversees and this is not in any way what an imperialistic nation would do.