British Imperialism In India And China During The 1900's

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Imperialism is a policy of extending a country's power and influence through negotiation or military force. England was a major industrializer because they had a prosperous nation, a lot of demand for goods, abundance of food, iron ore to make steel, lots of coal, good harbors, availability of raw materials, and had a fair and stable government which allowed them to expand and influence and take over other countries. The British imperialized China during the 1800’s and India during the 1900’s which led to conflicts within the countries. Although the British imperialized both India and China, the reasons that they imperialized the countries, the way that they treated the natives, the causes of the independence movements, and the effects of the …show more content…

The loathing the Indians had for the segregation and laws the British placed upon them and the way the British exploited China’s materials for their own benefit sparked independence movements in both countries. Throughout the history of India, there was always a foreign force in control and India never had political freedom. The Indian people were subjected to extreme segregation and the British enforcement of the Christian faith. The Indian people were done with not having a say and they began the Indian Independence Movement which took place from 1857 to 1947. This was lead by Mahatma Gandhi, a lawyer who came to India in 1914 and saw the desperate need for a change. The Chinese people were over how the British would use them and their resources for their own gain without doing anything extraordinary for the Chinese people. After the first Opium War, the British government and the Chinese government made a peace treaty to end the war and also the Chinese had to pay the British a large indemnity, give up Hong Kong, and increase the number of treaty ports. In the 1850’s, while the Chinese were dealing with the Taiping Rebellion, a rebellion related to Christianity and religion which resulted in the deaths of approximately 20 million people, the British brought back hatred by trying to expand their trade rights.The Chinese were not happy and burned some of the British’s buildings escalating the anger toward the other. At the end, the Chinese attacked the British and took back Hong Kong but needed Kowloon Peninsula. The methods of gaining independence varied from peaceful rebellions in India to sabotage in China. In India, one of the leaders, Mahatma Gandhi, valued the idea of peaceful protests. Gandhi would explain to the people wanting to take action that the best

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