Age of Empire

European descended African famers: Afrikaners or derogatorily Boers sought indep from Br.
They had gold and diamonds.Unpopular war for the Br led to abandon splendid Isolation after the war looking for allies.
Whilem II supported the Boers (love hate relationship with Br country of his grandmother Queen Victoria.
Though military victors the Br lost a moral war. Policy of apartheid: racial segregation legalized after WWI

On the Crimean Peninsula on the Black sea. Against Russia VS Br. France and Turkey one of the wars to keep the Emipre
with France and Ottoman Empire as Allies. After this war GB adopted the policy of SPLENDID ISOLATION BR SHUNNED FROM FORMAL CONTINENTAL ALLIANCES that may draw her into war with European great powers. She devoted military budget this to only a small army and most to the dominant navy.
Ottoman Empire had been decaying but BR supported it to prevent Russians from advancing into PD Afghanistan and threaten. British India. Russia wanted free control of the straits that joined the Black sea to the Mediterranean.
Straits closed to warships during times of peace, Danube and black sea open to merchant vessels of all nations

Prussia won and Prussia unified the whole of the GErman Empire(very advanced economically, military. Alsace and Lorraine lost to Prussia. Upset of balance of power in central Europe
Rival power of economically and military, they demanded colonies Br and France main competitor
France defeated by a great power plus humiliated. The Prussian empire was proclaimed in the hall of mirrors at the palace of versailles.

HOBSBAWM: COUNTRIES DOMINANT: ECONOMIC DIMENSION OF IMPERIALISM
a world economy, a single global one (NEW PHASE OF CAPITALIST DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC ROOTS OF IMPERIALISM-NATIONAL OVERSEAS ECONOMIC EXPANSION)of the capitalist core of the world (countries)=set the pace of economy, fixed the conditions for economy to function, the rest followed suit turned into a world=Advanced dominated the backward=leading countries had total control and ruled over underdeveloped ones (in terms of industry and economy)= a world of empire.
IMPERIALISM: personal sovereignty of a powerful ruler over vast territories (Erupoe or overseas)
Old fashion: the number of rulers calling themselves emperors was at its maximum: Kaizer (Germany), Czar (Russia), Sultan (Turkey), Japan, Austria
New Type of Empire: COLONIAL
The economic and military supremacy of the capitalist countries had bee without challenge and it translated into a systematic attempt of formal conquest, annexation and administration.
About 1/4 of the globe's land surface was distributed or redistributed as formal and informal colonies and spheres of influence among CAPITALIST POWERS. Britain at its peak.(most of the world was formally partitioned into territories under a formal or informal political domination of greatest powers (GB, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, USA, Japan)RIVALRIES ENGENDERED WWI
Imperialism classical political theory: expansion of a nation states beyond its own borders for the purpose of acquiring overseas dependencies and uniting them in a worldwide empire TO enhance the prestige of the state by ruling over underdeveloped territories regardless of the wished of its people.
Nationalist Imperialism= enlarging the territory of the nation state creating overseas empire to preserve and strengthen the national spirit. Has biological racism variants.
USA: only direct annexations: Puerto Rico (Cuba was allowed a nominal independence) Panama Canal
(outside the) Americas: only major region where there was no serious rivalry between great powers.
Tightening of web transport=drew everyone into the world economy and created a new interest among the powers in remote areas as potential extensions of the developed world. Industrial civilization in need of the exotic-technological development relied on raw materials found in remote placed (tin Asia South Am, gold, copper Chile Peru Zaire Zambia, oil; rubber Congo-Amazon, diamonds Africa)
Mass consumption-foodstuffs.
New branches of big business fortunes tied to particular parts of the globe thus they transformed the rest of the world into complex colonial and semicolonial territories=specialized producers of primary products for export in the word market. (thus they failed to industrialize)
Carving up of the world into colonies and spheres of influence: places to invest capital, search for markets simultaneously by great powers to monopolize business.
New imperialism by product of an international economy based on the rivalry of several competing industrial economies.Child of an era of competition between rival industrial capitalist national economies who wanted to secure ad safeguard markets in a period of business uncertainty.

New kind of Imperialism developed (result of the world-leading industrial economy and unrivaled navy and legacy of British victories against France)
Egypt (part of Ottoman Empire). Built by the French connects Mediterranean to red sea and from re seas to Indian ocean (joined seas)
Maritime strategic and economic interests.(India was the core of British strategy that required control over the short seas routes (Egypt, Middle East, Red Sea, Persian gulf, South Arabia) and long sea routes (Cape of good hope, Singapore), Indian Ocean
Strategic motive for colonization, control of points of access to zone of land and sea
Britain wanted to defend against others encroaching upon territories dominated by Br trade and capital.
Reduced cost of freight carriage bye sea to Australia and New Zealand
Better communications with India and Far East and improved Br's military capacity in these areas
Plus economic interest bec they had come to own 40 % of the canal

To consolidate its position in the area. A Bosnian patriot shoot the Archduke Franz Ferdinand heir to the throne of Austria. Made plans to build the Berlin Baghdad railway unacceptable for the Br. This drove the Br closer to the Fr.