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HISTORY OF EUROPEAN COLONIZATION 6

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HISTORY OF EUROPEAN COLONIZATION 6

previously: big metropoles, early modern age (mid 17th Century)

CHAPTER 3: 70 YEARS WAR (1744 - 1815)
(not common naming for this war, but important for colonial history)

  • part of a series of wars, dubbed the second 100 years war (first is medieval Britian-France)
  • So many wars between Spain, Britian and France - conglomorated under a single name
  • decades not hyper important
  • late 17th to mid 18th century
  • fought inland and in colonies

first part (not major for us):

  1. Nine years war (1688-97): weakens Netherlands
  2. Spanish sucession war (1700-13): Britian gets Gibraltar & Minorca (Spain), also Acadia (France)
  3. Austrian sucession war (1740-48): France occupies Madras (India), returns to Britian - important because it happens in India, not just Europe & NA

!! 70 Years War (mic 18th to early 19th Century):

  • Seven Years War (1756-1763): EU, India, America
  • US Independance War (1775-83):
  • Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815): Brit expansion, decolonization of Lat. America
  • settler colonies (Canada, Australia, New Zeland, 19th & 20th century settler colonies) - they came into being via the 70 years war

SEVEN YEARS WAR (eclipsed by other wars, yet important - can be called the first actual World War):

  • France, Austria, Russia VS Britian (navy) & Prussia (land force)
  • 900K / 1.4M deaths
  • change in balance of powers, rise of Britian
  • France fails to invade ingland, defeat of Prussia, Russians entering German lands. Britian wins the war as a result

India: Britian conquers huge Indian territories (no longer mere coastal territories, Britian is now inland)

  • Indian ruler conquers Calcuta from Brits, but Brits re-conquer.
  • Brits engage in local Bengal/Indian conflicts, siding with pro-brit nawab against anti-brit nawab
  • Brits end up taking control over Bengal, one of the richest parts of India
  • French demilitarize their Indian settlements (avoiding conflict with Brits)
  • Brits are the STRONGEST european power in India
  • India is ruled by MOGHULS. Their emperors consider themselves superior to Europeans (dynasty of the Taj Mahal). They almost unite all of the sub-continent.
  • for the Moguls the Europeans are mere trade partners
  • eventual decline of Moghul empire by early 18th Century. Invaded, weakeaning social standing, fragmentation, etc.
  • 1761 Maratha empire (centra India) is defeated by Afghans. They do not plunder India. Exact same period as Britiain’s establishment in Bengal.
  • Basically, internal conflict within the East/India opened up a power vacuum for Britian to expand.

America (mid 18th): conflicts between French & British colonies

  • France let the colonies fight on their own
  • Britian decides to defeat france at their weakest
  • Brits: Louisbourg, Quebec, Montreal
  • French are defeated
  • alongside this Brits are also fighting in India, gaining territory there
  • France looses New France in NA (France chooses Caribbean over New France)
  • ! EVERYTHING east of the Mississipi becomes British. West of it is Spain (compensation for Spanish loss of Mississipi)
  • ! Louisiana and Florida gained by France in 1800
  • ! 1803: Napoleon sells Louisiana to the US (he did not care abt the land)
    Essentialy: France looses its position in NA

! London wins 7 years war. Britian wants to raise taxes, which the colonies are firmly against (no taxation without representation).

  • early US revolution (Boston Tea Party, Bunker Hill battle…)
  • ! 1776: US declares independance
  • !!! 1783 Brits withdraw, BNA becomes USA.

!!! 7 Years war, essentialy: Indian power vacuum lets Britian conquer Inland. Britian gains many territories in America, France is pushed out of America. The BNA colonies dislike Britian’s treatment of them. BNA declares independance, becomes USA.

NAPOLEONIC WARS (1798-1815 / late 19TH, EARLY 20TH):

British expansion: Brits have won 7 years war, continue to expand (important for understanding why they become so powerful later on)

  • Egypt: fascinated Europeans, it was a shortcut to India (briding the Europe-Asia gap)
  • Napoleon travels to Egypt, originally victorious against local rulers in battle of the Pyramids (late 18th)
  • Brits are alarmed by this victory, do not want French presence there.
  • Brits defeat French in the battle of the Nile (same year)
  • French have an expedition (Gaza), but eventually retrieve
  • we see the main tendency of the French: focus on the continent, not focus on the colonies
  • British conquests: Trinidad, Cape Colony (South Africa, resupply point), Ceylon (Sri Lanka, spice island)

Reasons for Brit expansion into India (1767 - 1819):

  • protection of trade relations

  • French (more imagined than real)

  • early modernity: India is a patchwork of settlements across coast

  • by 1767 there’s british expansion mainland

  • by 1805 MUCH of India is already under British rule (by 1803 they conquered Dehli - throne of Indian empire)

  • by 1819 they had conquered almost all of India

  • ! basically: from 1767 to 1819 Brits take over almost all of india

  • Why Britian suceeded: Indian discord, British technological and military superiority (industrial revolution) + british tactic of divide and conquer

  • over late 18th & early 19th Britian colonizes almost all of India

  • ! first is HAITI (slave insurrection) (French, 1804) - very lucrative colony, strongly punished for its slave revolt. France was ruthless, horrifyingly overworking and overusing its slaves.
    [Haiti is the one and only sucessful french insurrection]
    Santo Domingo: Rich, affluent, does well, appears western
    Haiti: MUCH poorer, worse - why?

  1. Geography, not quite (rainfalls, mountains)
  2. Nature, but not fully (earthquakes and storms)
  3. Black emperors, voodoo - no, simple racism
    (voodoo is an entirely normal religion, a mix of various local faiths, racism has turned it into something very different)
  • all of these reasons are only invoked to wipe Europe’s hands clean from the blood on them. Europe is the reason proper.
  1. French deforrestation and errosion (soil is exhausted, the land is robbed)
  2. Debts to France after 1825 (compensation for plantations lost), 50-80% of Haiti’s budget is drained by France. France continues exploiting Haiti.
  3. Money spent on defence in fear of a European invasion that never came
  4. US mingling (Papa Doc & Baby Doc - served US interests only)
  5. International mingling: Haiti recieves support only after acceptance of horrible Neoliberal reforms, well-liked leader is left unable to act to better his people
  6. UN brought diseases, was implicated in major sexual assault scandals
    ! Haiti was used, exploited and brutalized by Europe and the US
    !!! Haiti is a fantastic example of 20th and 21st Century neocolonialism and economic exploitation

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