Imperialism: Crash Course World History #35

In which John Green teaches you about European Imperialism in the 19th century. European powers started to create colonial empires way back in the 16th century, but businesses really took off in the 19th century, especially in Asia and Africa. During the 1800s, European powers carved out spheres of influence in China, India, and pretty much all of Africa. While all of the major (and some minor) powers in Europe participated in this new imperialism, England was by far the most dominant, once able to claim that the "sun never set on the British Empire." Also, they went to war for the right to continue to sell opium to the people of China. Twice. John will teach you how these empires managed to leverage the advances of the Industrial Revolution to build vast, wealth-generating empires. As it turns out, improved medicine, steam engines, and better guns were crucial in the 19th-century conquests. Also, the willingness to exploit and abuse the people and resources of so-called "primitive" nations was very helpful in the whole enterprise.

Chapters:
Introduction 00:00
Opium in China 0:23
The Treaty of Nanjing and British Control of Hong Kong 2:38
The Scramble for Africa 3:22
Why Europeans Previously Failed to Conquer Africa 4:39
How Technology Enabled European Colonization of Africa 5:41
An Open Letter to Hiram Maxim 6:22
African Resistance to European Invasion 7:16
European Domination Through Indirect Rule 8:16
Why Native Rulers Cooperated with Indirect Rule 9:52
Native Resistance to Imperialism Around the World 10:26
Khedive Ismail of Egypt & Business Imperialism 11:21
Credits 12:54

Want to find Crash Course elsewhere on the internet?

[ti]

Rest of the world: Exist.
European:It's free real estate.

[cattrickie]

*me trying to complete my homework:* ok pay attention to the video


*also me:* wait so did the fish get high

[gamzeaalden]

Remind me to use the phrase, “Heirim Maxim is known for his invention of the Maxim machine gun, as well as a successful amusement park ride, The Captive Flying Machine. One is a horrific death machine. The other is a gun.” in a history paper at some point.

[leo-vryr]

It's only possible to watch crash course and understand what John (or Hank) is saying IF you've already fully learned everything covered in the video. Otherwise you're screwed. At least for me, crash course is only for review and reinforcing information

[marthamichals]

My AP test is in two days and I count binge watching every crash course episode while crying over my ice cream as studying for right now. You really are AP culture John Green.

[mauramcnulty]

Hi John,
I know there's a big chance you wont see this, but i just wanted to thank you for making these videos. I just took AP World History final today, and for the first time this semester, i feel extremely confident with my test. My teacher is very specific with her questions, and along with the dense wording of my history textbook, history hasn't been a fun experience for me lately. But you made me excited to learn again. Thank you.
P.S. Good luck for those of you studying for your finals!

[nextmuffin]

"Selling drugs is super lucrative!" ~ John Green

[royzhu]

You'll do fine on the WHAP test. Now get some sleep :)

[lionsfinest]

1.5 speed because AP exam is 13 hours and 20 minutes

[UltraMegaSquirrel]

I'm really glad you mentioned the importance of local collaborators. That's really underrepresented in descriptions of imperialism. From my high school education I assumed Mighty Whitey rolled in and conquered everything. It took me years to understand that native rulers decided to side with the winners and work out the best deals to maintain the local status quo under foreign domination, and in doing so have an effect on that foreign domination.

[seedubhuntx]

Queen Victoria: History's largest drug dealer.

[kathleensutherland]

I just wanted to say thank you. I'm thoroughly enjoying this course. I'm 53, but never studied history beyond high school (despite the fact that my father was a renowned historian - Donald Sutherland of U of Iowa). Your series is giving me a great overview, and I'll be able to hone in on areas of interest later. Thank you John Green and to all the production crew!

[epsilon]

as the older sibling of a hearing-impaired person, I really appreciate that you've captioned your videos! :D it's especially great cuz you hide little easter eggs in the captions. this has made you even more awesome in my eyes.

[sirsybbgummy]

Waiting for him to make a video about COVID-19 when all of this is over lmao

[dismicrowavetechsupport]

Alright fellow 2020 WHAP AP Exam takers I hope you do well and I hope I do well as well

[benm]

I'd love to see you explore Irish history! it's fascinating but often not talked about in a non-biased way

[mallry]

Let me just tell you that you taught me way more in 5 hours on Youtube than I have been taught by 23 teachers over 9 years of school.

[Phili]

I had no idea this guy wrote "The Fault In Our Stars"

[fluxstandard]

Dear John Green,


I have my final university exam of my degree in Historical Sociology on Monday at three o clock. I would like to thank you for your videos for allowing me to get a further conceptual idea of what I am reading. Even though most of it for me doesn't apply too much to what I want you always feature a few sentence that coherently express the topic at heart.

Much Appreciated

FLUX

Imperialism is the true form of capitalism. Modern capitalism would never have been possible without it. Even though most of the world's imperialist expansion came about in the 19th century, imperialism still exists. The only thing which has changed is the language used to describe imperial conquest: expanding markets, collateral damage, spreading democracy, opening new markets, foreign aid loans, etc.