Nationalism & Development (Edexcel A Level Geography)

Nationalism & the Development of Empires

• Nationalism is a political ideology that emphasises the loyalty and devotion of a group of people to their nation, often defined by a common culture, language, history, or territory

• The development of empires is the process of expanding the political, economic, military, and cultural influence of a state or a civilisation over other regions or peoples

• 19th-century nationalism was important in the development of empires, as well as a source of conflict in Europe and beyond, as other nations became part of larger empires such as the British Raj in India

• Nationalism can motivate imperial expansion of a nation by creating a sense of pride, superiority, and destiny among its citizens, as well as a desire to spread their values and civilisation to other parts of the world

  • Although, expansion of the British Empire was initially through trade rather than nationalism, over time, many British people became to believe their large empire was a result of Britain being superior. This led to a national unity of pride in British achievements overseas

• Nationalism can also challenge the imperial domination of a nation by inspiring resistance movements and independence struggles among the colonised or oppressed peoples, who seek to assert their own identity and sovereignty

  • Many countries in Africa sought independence during the mid 20th century as a resistance to colonial rule

• Nationalism and the development of empires have had significant impacts on world history, culture, politics, and economy, as well as on the issues of human rights, diversity, and globalisation

• Various wars and revolutions in Europe, changed dynastic rule and formed many of today's nations 

  • War with France in 1871 united the small states of German speaking people to form Germany

• Industrialisation allowed European nations to expand their empires:

  • Spain and Portugal acquired huge areas across South America

  • France expanded its empire to include:

    • Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos in Asia

    • French Polynesia in the South Pacific

    • Much of north west and central Africa and Madagascar

• The competition by European nations to take over as many colonies as possible led to the 'Scramble for Africa'

  • A term used to refer to the expansion of European empires into Africa during the Age of Imperialism

  • Called a 'scramble' because of the way European nations raced to capture as much territory as possible, in order to expand to their empires

• This competition also created tension and conflict between the nations, adding to a sense of nationalism

  • On October 11 1899, following a Boer ultimatum that the British should stop building their forces in the region, the South African War, sometimes called the Boer War or Anglo-Boer War, began

  • It raged between Britain and the self-governing Afrikaner (Boer) colonies of the South African Republic (the Transvaal) and the Orange Free State for 2 years (1901), a final agreement was reached in May 1902

  • At the outbreak of war, Britain ruled the South African colonies of the Cape and Natal

  • The Boers (Dutch origin) had refused political rights to non-Boer settlers, known as Uitlanders (outlanders), most of whom were British, or to give civil rights to Africans

  • However, gold had been discovered in the Transvaal and the international financial system, including the British pound, was based on the gold standard and it was to British advantage to gain control of the Transvaal and eventually the whole of South Africa in order to maintain its 'power' status

Empires and their colonies

• Indigenous people of the colonies often resented being controlled by another nation

• This helped to push a sense of nationalism within the colony, that perhaps wasn't there before colonial rule

  • Before India became part of the British Empire, it was divided into several kingdoms

  • Opposition to rule of the British Raj in India led to uniting many Indians together despite cultural and ethnic differences

• Independence movements rose, as people felt they had a common goal and were based on:

  • The recognition and promotion of a shared history 

  • Identification of particular qualities of a people

  • Promotion of an independent nation state for people to build together, once free of colonial rule

• This was known as the 'wind of change', as many colonies began to seek independence 

New Nation States

Decolonisation and 'Wind of Change'

• Since 1945, new nation states emerged as empires disintegrated

• The USA and USSR both opposed the idea of empires and used their influence to assist subjugated people to liberate themselves from colonial rule

• From the 1960s, African states began seeking independence from their colonial masters in a term coined by the British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan as the 'wind of change’

• Some of this change occurred as Germany, Italy, Spain and Japan lost territory after the Second World War, in others it was due to hatred of colonial rule or because of the sheer costs involved in overseeing a colony

  • Britain and France could not afford the administrative and security costs of running their empires after the war and returned rule to many of their nation's people

  • Despite this, a number of new nation states were content to remain within the newly formed 'Commonwealth', keeping the British sovereign as head of the new state

• Any independence conflicts that did arise, were costly in terms of the environment, economy and human life

  • Vietnam, had been under French colonial rule since the 19th century

  • During WWII, the Japanese occupied Vietnam but withdrew after its defeat in 1945, leaving the French educated Emperor Bao Dai in control

  • Inspired by Chinese and Soviet communism, Ho Chi Minh formed the League for the Independence of Vietnam and took over the northern city of Hanoi and declared a Democratic Republic of Vietnam with Ho as its president

  • France, wanting to regain control, backed Emperor Bao and set up the state of Vietnam in 1949, with Saigon as the capital, effectively dividing Vietnam

  • Yet both sides wanted a unified Vietnam, but Bao was more aligned with western ideologies, as opposed to Ho's communist model 

  • Eventually in May 1954, the French lost control and withdrew, ending French colonial rule and splitting Vietnam along the 17th Parallel thereby, forming South Vietnam 

  • With the Cold War ongoing, the US strongly opposed any nation allied to communist USSR and China and pledged support to South Vietnam to remove any communist sympathisers

  • As a result, war between the communist (USSR and China) supported north and democratic south Vietnam (aided by the USA) broke out 

  • By the spring of 1975, the North Vietnamese army conquered all of South Vietnam, and the following year North and South were formally united in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam

  • More than 3 million people (including over 58,000 Americans) were killed in the Vietnam War, and more than half of the dead were Vietnamese civilians 

  • US chemical weapons caused severe environmental damage

  • 7 million tons of US bombs were dropped which destroyed vast areas of land and infrastructure 

• Other reasons included:

  • Many young Europeans became concerned about the injustice of colonial rule

  • Rapid population growth and an increase in education within colonies

  • Dependence on raw materials from colonies lessened as nations deindustrialised 

Outcomes of independence

• In many instances, rapid decolonisation left a lack of economic stability, corruption and a power vacuum

• Economies that were set up to supply raw materials and not industrialised struggled

• Power was usually seized by the army or by the ethnic groups who had worked alongside the colonial rulers

  • During Belgian rule of Rwanda, the minority Tutsi tribe had been elevated above the majority Hutus', bringing resentment and eventually genocide by the Hutus against the Tutsis in the coming years

• Interference by other countries such as the USA, Russia and China, increased instability and started proxy wars such as those in the Sudan, Korea and Vietnam during the 1950s and 60s

Former Colonies & Patterns of Migration

• Patterns of migration between former colonies and the imperial core country have always been strong and has continued after independence

• A key connection is often language and culture

  • Migration from Jamaica and India to the UK

  • Northwest Africa (Maghreb region) to France

• These patterns are still evident and important in changing the ethnic composition and cultural heterogeneity within countries of destination

Britain and former colonies

• After WWII, there was a general shortage of workers, and many people migrated from past colonies, to fill those gaps in employment 

• People from Jamaica (Windrush generation) travelled to the UK to work in transport and healthcare

• Some migrants were directly recruited for their skills (London Underground recruited bus drivers from Kingston in Jamaica)

• Manufacturing of textiles was still ongoing in Lancashire and Yorkshire, and as the population of many ex-British colonies spoke English and had an affinity with British values, they were particularly targeted during recruitment of workers

• Many migrants were excited to move to Britain from countries where an education in schools that promoted British history and culture were taught

• The newly established National Health Service, lacked trained doctors after the war and many doctors travelled from India, Pakistan and parts of Africa to Britain

  • Medical schools in India used the same textbooks as British teaching hospitals allowing Indian doctors to fit in with the way medicine was conducted in the UK

• Other people simply migrated, as was their legal right, as British citizens

• All these movements have increased British cultural heterogeneity, particularly in London, Liverpool and Bristol

• This pattern of migration occurred all across Europe after the war and in some instances remains today