WHAP Chapter 27 Study Guide

1. When the Suez Canal opened in 1869, it triggered a wave of European

domination over Asia and Africa.

2. Historian’s use the term New Imperialism to refer to the West’s use of
industrial technology to improve its will on the nonindustrial world.

3. Although imperialism was not new to Europeans, this period was uniquely
characterized by being a land grab of unprecedented speed.

4. Besides conquering large amounts of territory, the New Imperialism was

most significant for creating a global economy of suppliers and consumers.

5. The French government’s political motive for participating in the New

Imperialism was to reestablish national prestige through territory overseas.

6. Often colonial territory was seized without the consent of the home
government by colonial officers deciding on their claim to a piece of
territory.

7. Among the cultural motives was a desire to:

a. spread Christianity

b. abolish slavery

c. “civilize” people of the colonies by bringing them Western education,

medicine, and customs

d. end oppressive treatment of women, like sati

8. The colonies offered European women job opportunities such as missionaries,

teachers, and nurses.

9. The power of Western technology convinced many Euro-Americans that

Western ideas, customs, and culture were superior to non-Western
lifestyles.
10. The most harmful aspect of the Western sense of cultural superiority were
the racist ideas that deemed non-Europeans inferior.

11. The economic motives for imperialism were:

a. European merchants needed to secure new markets for their goods

b. European businesses were motivated to look for new opportunities in Asia

and Africa

c. High demand for raw materials for industrialization

d. They needed to protect their home markets

12. Technological innovations of the Industrial Revolution made the colonization

of distant regions cost-effective.

13. One of the greatest barriers to the European invasion of inland African
territories was Falciparum malaria.

14. Technological advances of the late 19th century were:

a. the breechloading rifle

b. the machine gun

c. smokeless powder

d. quinine

15. The better the European weapons became, the more the “firepower gap”
widened.

16. The 1898 battle at Omdurman resulted in 11,000 Sudanese deaths, with
British deaths totaling 48.

17. The system of administering and exploiting the colonies for the benefit of
the home country is considered “colonialism”.

18. Colonies that were called protectorates retained their traditional

governments.
19. New Zealand elected its own parliament and ruled itself in large part
because European settlers there were in the majority.

20. Since the colonies were governed with small numbers of European officials,
they relied upon the cooperation of indigenous elites.

21. When western women arrived in the colonies it created a more racist and
segregated environment.

22. Until the 1870s, Africans ruled 90% of Africa, however within a decade
Europeans invaded Africa referred to as the “scramble for Africa”.

23. Egyptian modernization brought an accumulation of foreign debt, which

caused:

a. the government to sell its shares in the Suez Canal to the British

b. The Ottoman Empire to depose Ismail

c. the Egypt to borrow money from Europeans at high interest rates

24. British efforts to increase Egyptian agriculture resulted in the construction

of the Aswan Dam.

25. The French initially planned to open the interior trade of Senegal by
building a railroad to connect with river traffic.

26. With King Leopold’s money, Henry Morton Stanley “opened” and occupied
the Congo Basin.

27. The major decision of the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885 was that
Europeans could only colonize Africa by “effective occupation”.

28. Europeans controlled equatorial Africa by selling monopolies on resources

and trade to private companies.

29. The companies brutally forced Africans to produce crops or gather

resources. The worst abuses occurred when Africans were forced to gather
latex for the rubber boom.
30. The British wanted to expand to Southern Africa because of discoveries of
gold and diamonds.

31. The British invasion of southern Africa was driven by the ambitions of Cecil
Rhodes.

32. South Africa’s 1913 Natives Land Act was intended to forbid Africans from
owning land and to keep Africans on reservations.

33. The most successful African resistance against Europeans took place in
Ethiopia.

34. The Ethiopian victory over Italy at Adowa was due to the Ethiopians being
armed with rifles, machine guns, and artillery.

35. The presence of European colonial officials meant that land rights,
commercial transactions and legal disputes were handled differently.

36. With the flood of Christian missionaries into Africa, Islam spread even
farther than before.

37. Russians occupied the territory of Kazakhstan because the agricultural land
was being “wasted”.

38. The last independent state in Southeast Asia in the late nineteenth century
was Siam.

39. Southeast Asia had great economic potential because of its fertile soil,
constant warmth and heavy rains.

40. Europeans transformed the environment of Southeast Asian dependencies

by increasing agricultural production by introducing cinchona and rubber.

41. The leader of the Filipino movement for independence was Emilio Aguinaldo.

42. The United States annexed Hawaii for strategic reasons.

43. The United States purchased the Philippines after the Spanish-American
War in large part to keep out other ambitious colonialist powers.
44. Free-trade imperialism in Latin America meant economic dependence
instead of direct colonization.

45. To better exploit the economic potential of Latin America, extensive

railroad systems were built.

46. Europeans avoided taking formal colonies in Latin America because:

a. They were overextended in Africa and Asia.

b. The Monroe Doctrine

c. Latin American governments were cooperative with the Europeans.

d. Latin American proved they could successfully resist invasion.

47. The Monroe Doctrine was an attempt by the United States to defend the
entire Western Hemisphere from outside invasion.

48. Results from the Spanish-American War are:

a. United States purchased the Philippines

b. United States took Puerto Rico

c. Unites States took Guam

d. United States interfered heavily in Cuba

49. The Platt Amendment gave the United States the right to intervene to
maintain “order” in the Caribbean.

50. In order to build the Panama Canal, the United States supported a
Panamanian rebellion against Columbia.

51. Hevea trees that were transplanted around the world produced rubber for
tires and rainwear.