Misplaced Pages

#456543

195-540: The policies perpetuating American imperialism and expansionism are usually considered to have begun with " New Imperialism " in the late 19th century, though some consider American territorial expansion and settler colonialism at the expense of Indigenous Americans to be similar enough in nature to be identified with the same term. While the United States has never officially identified itself and its territorial possessions as an empire, some commentators have referred to

390-586: A 10-day state visit to the US . President Eisenhower pledged his continued support, and a parade was held in Diệm's honor. But Secretary of State Dulles privately conceded Diệm had to be backed because they could find no better alternative. Between 1954 and 1957, the Diệm government succeeded in preventing large-scale organized unrest in the countryside. In April 1957, insurgents launched an assassination campaign, referred to as "extermination of traitors". 17 people were killed in

585-648: A Marxist–Leninist political organization which operated primarily in Hong Kong and the Soviet Union . The party aimed to overthrow French rule and establish an independent communist state in Vietnam. In September 1940, Japan invaded French Indochina, following France's capitulation to Nazi Germany . French influence was suppressed by the Japanese, and in 1941 Cung, now known as Ho Chi Minh , returned to Vietnam to establish

780-607: A Military Assistance and Advisory Group (MAAG) to screen French requests for aid, advise on strategy, and train Vietnamese soldiers. By 1954, the US had spent $ 1 billion in support of the French military effort, shouldering 80% of the cost of the war. During the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954, US carriers sailed to the Gulf of Tonkin and the US conducted reconnaissance flights. France and

975-554: A psychological warfare campaign which exaggerated anti-Catholic sentiment among the Viet Minh and distributed propaganda attributed to Viet Minh threatening an American attack on Hanoi with atomic bombs. During the 300-day period, up to one million northerners, mainly minority Catholics, moved south, fearing persecution by the Communists. The exodus was coordinated by a U.S.-funded $ 93 million relocation program, which involved

1170-501: A "defensive ideology" to counter the "disruptive effects of industrialization on the social and economic structure of Germany". In Wehler's opinion, social imperialism was a device that allowed the German government to distract public attention from domestic problems and preserve the existing social and political order. The dominant elites used social imperialism as the glue to hold together a fractured society and to maintain popular support for

1365-622: A "grand opportunity" for the U.S. to emerge as "the premier power in the world." This vision of empire assumed the necessity of the US to "police the world" in the aftermath of the war. This was not done primarily out of altruism, but out of economic interest. Isaiah Bowman , a key liaison between the CFR and the State Department, proposed an "American economic Lebensraum ." This built upon the ideas of Time-Life publisher Henry Luce , who (in his " American Century " essay) wrote, "Tyrannies may require

1560-464: A ceasefire with the Viet Minh, and independence was granted to Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. At the 1954 Geneva Conference, Vietnam was temporarily partitioned at the 17th parallel . Ho Chi Minh wished to continue war in the south, but was restrained by Chinese allies who convinced him he could win control by electoral means. Under the Geneva Accords, civilians were allowed to move freely between

1755-630: A coordinated uprising in South Vietnam against the government and a third of the population was soon living in areas of communist control. In December 1960, North Vietnam formally created the Viet Cong (VC) with the intent of uniting all anti-GVN insurgents, including non-communists. It was formed in Memot, Cambodia , and directed through COSVN. The VC "placed heavy emphasis on the withdrawal of American advisors and influence, on land reform and liberalization of

1950-523: A decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street ... Looking back on it, I feel that I could have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents. Following World War I, the British maintained occupation of

2145-660: A dispute over regional suzerainty, war broke out between China and Japan, resulting in another humiliating defeat for the Chinese. By the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895, China was forced to recognize Korea 's exit from the Imperial Chinese tributary system , leading to the proclamation of the Korean Empire , and the island of Taiwan was ceded to Japan. In 1897, taking advantage of the murder of two missionaries , Germany demanded and

SECTION 10

#1733093800457

2340-457: A joint resolution with Alaska. Stuart Creighton Miller says that the public's sense of innocence about Realpolitik impairs popular recognition of U.S. imperial conduct. The resistance to actively occupying foreign territory has led to policies of exerting influence via other means, including governing other countries via surrogates or puppet regimes , where domestically unpopular governments survive only through U.S. support. The Philippines

2535-583: A large amount of living space [but] freedom requires and will require far greater living space than Tyranny." According to Bowman's biographer, Neil Smith : Better than the American Century or the Pax Americana, the notion of an American Lebensraum captures the specific and global historical geography of U.S. ascension to power. After World War II, global power would no longer be measured in terms of colonized land or power over territory. Rather, global power

2730-582: A large share of the manufactured goods consumed by such nations as the German states, France, Belgium, and the United States. The erosion of British hegemony after the Franco-Prussian War , in which a coalition of German states led by Prussia soundly defeated the Second French Empire , was occasioned by changes in the European and world economies and in the continental balance of power following

2925-511: A market for textiles from Britain. In addition, the British collected huge revenues from land rent and taxes on its acquired monopoly on salt production. Indian weavers were replaced by new spinning and weaving machines and Indian food crops were replaced by cash crops like cotton and tea. The British also began connecting Indian cities by railroad and telegraph to make travel and communication easier as well as building an irrigation system for increasing agricultural production. When Western education

3120-512: A more "modest" winning margin of "60 to 70 percent." Diệm, however, viewed the election as a test of authority. He declared South Vietnam to be an independent state under the name Republic of Vietnam (ROV), with him as president. Likewise, Ho Chi Minh and other communists won at least 99% of the vote in North Vietnamese "elections". The domino theory , which argued that if a country fell to communism, all surrounding countries would follow,

3315-645: A neutral buffer between British and French-ruled lands. The United States laid claim to the Philippines, and after the Spanish–American War , took control of the archipelago as one of its overseas possessions. Formal colonization of the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia ) commenced at the dawn of the 19th century when the Dutch state took possession of all Dutch East India Company (VOC) assets. Before that time

3510-905: A nuclear-armed global superpower. Through the Truman Doctrine and Reagan Doctrine the United States framed the mission as protecting free peoples against an undemocratic system, anti-Soviet foreign policy became coercive and occasionally covert. United States involvement in regime change included overthrowing the democratically elected government of Iran , the Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba, occupation of Grenada , and interference in various foreign elections. The long and bloody Vietnam War led to widespread criticism of an " arrogance of power " and violations of international law emerging from an " imperial presidency ," with Martin Luther King Jr. , among others, accusing

3705-457: A period of colonial expansion by European powers , the United States , and Japan during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The period featured an unprecedented pursuit of overseas territorial acquisitions. At the time, states focused on building their empires with new technological advances and developments, expanding their territory through conquest , and exploiting the resources of

3900-542: A person knowledgeable in Indochinese affairs who did not agree that had elections been held as of the time of the fighting, possibly 80% of the population would have voted for the Communist Ho Chi Minh as their leader rather than Chief of State Bảo Đại. Indeed, the lack of leadership and drive on the part of Bảo Đại was a factor in the feeling prevalent among Vietnamese that they had nothing to fight for. According to

4095-463: A policy of " Vietnamization " from 1969, which saw the conflict fought by an expanded ARVN, while US forces withdrew. A 1970 coup in Cambodia resulted in a PAVN invasion and a US–ARVN counter-invasion , escalating its civil war. US troops had mostly withdrawn from Vietnam by 1972, and the 1973 Paris Peace Accords saw the rest leave. The accords were broken almost immediately and fighting continued until

SECTION 20

#1733093800457

4290-527: A quarter of the banking industry. Industry and trade were two of the most prevalent justifications of imperialism. American intervention in both Latin America and Hawaii resulted in multiple industrial investments, including the popular industry of Dole bananas. If the United States was able to annex a territory, in turn they were granted access to the trade and capital of those territories. In 1898, Senator Albert Beveridge proclaimed that an expansion of markets

4485-804: A result of the Franco-Prussian War, and Germany's mounting imperialist ambitions would keep the two nations constantly poised for conflict. This competition was sharpened by the Long Depression of 1873–1896, a prolonged period of price deflation punctuated by severe business downturns, which put pressure on governments to promote home industry, leading to the widespread abandonment of free trade among Europe's powers (in Germany from 1879 and in France from 1881). The Berlin Conference of 1884–1885 sought to destroy

4680-610: A secret agent to China to collect intelligence on the reform and modernization of the Qing dynasty. The task was given to Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim , at the time a colonel in the Russian army, who travelled to China with French Sinologist Paul Pelliot . Mannerheim was disguised as an ethnographic collector, using a Finnish passport. Finland was, at the time, a Grand Duchy. For two years, Mannerheim proceeded through Xinjiang , Gansu , Shaanxi , Henan , Shanxi and Inner Mongolia to Beijing . At

4875-455: A serious military threat. Mass media in the west during this era portrayed China as a rising military power due to its modernization programs and as major threat to the western world, invoking fears that China would successfully conquer western colonies like Australia. Russian sinologists, the Russian media, threat of internal rebellion, the pariah status inflicted by the Congress of Berlin , and

5070-399: A small English county. With each Regent is placed a Dutch Resident, or Assistant Resident, who is considered to be his "elder brother," and whose "orders" take the form of "recommendations," which are, however, implicitly obeyed. Along with each Assistant, Resident is a Controller, a kind of inspector of all the lower native rulers, who periodically visits every village in the district, examines

5265-679: A spectacular anti-foreign outbreak in June 1900, when the " Boxers " (properly the society of the "righteous and harmonious fists") attacked foreign legations in Beijing . This Boxer Rebellion provoked a rare display of unity among the colonial powers, who formed the Eight-Nation Alliance . Troops landed at Tianjin and marched on the capital, which they took on 14 August; the foreign soldiers then looted and occupied Beijing for several months. German forces were particularly severe in exacting revenge for

5460-586: A wide sense, commerce is the mother of all wars." In 1942 this economic globalism was articulated as the "Grand Area" concept in secret documents. The US would have to have control over the "Western Hemisphere, Continental Europe and Mediterranean Basin (excluding Russia), the Pacific Area and the Far East, and the British Empire (excluding Canada)." The Grand Area encompassed all known major oil-bearing areas outside

5655-682: Is sometimes cited as an example. After Philippine independence, the US continued to direct the country through Central Intelligence Agency operatives like Edward Lansdale . As Raymond Bonner and other historians note, Lansdale controlled the career of President Ramon Magsaysay , going so far as to physically beat him when the Philippine leader attempted to reject a speech the CIA had written for him. American agents also drugged sitting President Elpidio Quirino and prepared to assassinate Senator Claro Recto . Prominent Filipino historian Roland G. Simbulan has called

5850-634: Is the most commonly used title in English . It has been called the Second Indochina War since it spread to Laos and Cambodia , the Vietnam Conflict , and Nam (colloquially 'Nam). In Vietnam it is commonly known as Kháng chiến chống Mỹ ( lit.   ' Resistance War against America ' ). The Government of Vietnam officially refers to it as the Resistance War against America to Save

6045-657: Is typically called a representative expression of Manifest destiny with the added factor of trying to expand slavery into Central America. Walker failed in all his escapades and never had official U.S. backing. Historian Michel Gobat, however, presents a strongly revisionist interpretation. He argues that Walker was invited in by Nicaraguan liberals who were trying to force economic modernization and political liberalism. Walker's government comprised those liberals, as well as Yankee colonizers, and European radicals. Walker even included some local Catholics as well as indigenous peoples, Cuban revolutionaries, and local peasants. His coalition

American imperialism - Misplaced Pages Continue

6240-516: The 1975 spring offensive and fall of Saigon to the PAVN, marking the war's end. North and South Vietnam were reunified in 1976. The war exacted enormous human cost : estimates of Vietnamese soldiers and civilians killed range from 970,000 to 3 million. Some 275,000–310,000 Cambodians , 20,000–62,000 Laotians , and 58,220 US service members died. Its end would precipitate the Vietnamese boat people and

6435-757: The Battle of Manila Bay , began again in earnest, culminating in the Philippine Declaration of Independence and the establishment of the First Philippine Republic . The Philippine–American War ensued, with extensive damage and death, ultimately resulting in the defeat of the Philippine Republic. The United States' interests in Hawaii began in the 1800s with the United States becoming concerned that Great Britain or France might have colonial ambitions on

6630-839: The Camp Grant Massacre of 1871 where up to 144 Apache were killed, most being women and children. Up to 27 Apache children were captured and sold into slavery in Mexico . In the 1860s, the Navajo faced deportation in an attempted act of ethnic cleansing under the Long Walk of the Navajo . The "Long Walk" started at the beginning of spring 1864. Bands of Navajo led by the Army were relocated from their traditional lands in eastern Arizona Territory and western New Mexico Territory to Fort Sumner. Around 200 died during

6825-661: The Central Powers at the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk . This separate peace led to Allied disdain for the Soviets, since it left the Western Allies to fight Germany without a strong Eastern partner. The Secret Intelligence Service , supported by US diplomat Dewitt C. Poole, sponsored an attempted coup in Moscow involving Bruce Lockhart and Sidney Reilly , which involved an attempted assassination of Lenin. The Bolsheviks proceeded to shut down

7020-597: The Châu Đốc massacre at a bar in July, and in September a district chief was killed with his family. By early 1959, Diệm had come to regard the violence as an organized campaign and implemented Law 10/59, which made political violence punishable by death and property confiscation. There had been division among former Viet Minh, whose main goal was to hold elections promised in the Geneva Accords, leading to " wildcat " activities separate from

7215-645: The Cold War between the Soviet Union and US. Direct US military involvement greatly escalated from 1965 until its withdrawal in 1973. The fighting spilled over into the Laotian and Cambodian Civil Wars , which ended with all three countries becoming communist in 1975. After the defeat of French Indochina in the First Indochina War that began in 1946, Vietnam gained independence in the 1954 Geneva Conference but

7410-732: The Cuban Missile Crisis (October 1962) played out on television worldwide. It was the closest the Cold War came to nuclear war . The Kennedy administration remained committed to the Cold War foreign policy inherited from the Truman and Eisenhower administrations. In 1961, the US had 50,000 troops based in South Korea, and Kennedy faced four crisis situations: the failure of the Bay of Pigs Invasion he had approved in April, settlement negotiations between

7605-555: The French Navy and the US Seventh Fleet to ferry refugees. The northern refugees gave the later Ngô Đình Diệm regime a strong anti-communist constituency. Over 100,000 Viet Minh fighters went to the north for "regroupment", expecting to return south within two years. The Viet Minh left roughly 5,000 to 10,000 cadres in the south as a base for future insurgency. The last French soldiers left South Vietnam in April 1956 and

7800-651: The Ho Chi Minh trail to supply and reinforce the VC. By 1963, the north had covertly sent 40,000 soldiers of its own People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), armed with Soviet and Chinese weapons, to fight in the insurgency in the south. President John F. Kennedy increased US involvement from 900 military advisors in 1960 to 16,300 in 1963 and sent more aid to the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), which failed to produce results. In 1963, Diem

7995-439: The Indian Rebellion . After this revolt was suppressed by the British, India came under the direct control of the British crown. After the British had gained more control over India, they began changing around the financial state of India. Previously, Europe had to pay for Indian textiles and spices in bullion; with political control, Britain directed farmers to grow cash crops for the company for exports to Europe while India became

American imperialism - Misplaced Pages Continue

8190-408: The Indo Eurasian population as an intermediary buffer. In 1869, British anthropologist Alfred Russel Wallace described the colonial governing structure in his book " The Malay Archipelago ": "The mode of government now adopted in Java is to retain the whole series of native rulers, from the village chief up to princes, who, under the name of Regents, are the heads of districts about the size of

8385-429: The Korean War in June convinced Washington policymakers that the war in Indochina was another example of communist expansionism, directed by the Soviet Union. Military advisors from China began assisting the Viet Minh in July 1950. Chinese weapons, expertise, and laborers transformed the Viet Minh from a guerrilla force into a regular army. In September 1950, the US further enforced the Truman Doctrine by creating

8580-450: The Maji Maji Rebellion in German East Africa from 1905 to 1907. One of the goals of the conference was to reach agreements over trade, navigation, and boundaries of Central Africa . However, of all of the 15 nations in attendance of the Berlin Conference, none of the countries represented were African. The main dominating powers of the conference were France , Germany , Britain , and Portugal . They remapped Africa without considering

8775-521: The Monroe Doctrine in 1823, in order to stop further European colonialism in the Latin America. Desire for territorial expansion to the Pacific Ocean was explicit in the idea of manifest destiny . The giant Louisiana Purchase was peaceful, but the annexation of 525,000 square miles (1,360,000 km) of Mexican territory was the result of the Mexican–American War of 1846. The Cold War reoriented American foreign policy towards opposing communism, and prevailing U.S. foreign policy embraced its role as

8970-431: The Northwest Indian War . Subsequent treaties such as the Treaty of Greenville and the Treaty of Fort Wayne (1809) resulted in a rise of Anti-American sentiment among the Native Americans in the Great Lakes region, which helped to create Tecumseh's Confederacy which was defeated by the end of the War of 1812 . The Indian Removal Act of 1830 culminated in the deportation of 60,000 Native Americans in an event known as

9165-477: The Pentagon Papers , which commented on Eisenhower's observation, Diệm would have been a more popular candidate than Bảo Đại against Hồ, stating that "It is almost certain that by 1956 the proportion which might have voted for Ho - in a free election against Diem - would have been much smaller than 80%." In 1957, independent observers from India, Poland, and Canada representing the International Control Commission (ICC) stated that fair elections were impossible, with

9360-485: The Second World War , it began planning for the post-war world from the conflict's outset. This postwar vision originated in the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), an economic elite-led organization that became integrated into the government leadership. CFR's War and Peace Studies group offered its services to the State Department in 1939 and a secret partnership for post-war planning developed. CFR leaders Hamilton Fish Armstrong and Walter H. Mallory saw World War II as

9555-419: The Trail of Tears , where up to 16,700 people died in an act of ethnic cleansing . The deportation of Natives West of the Mississippi, resulted in significant economic gains for settlers. For example, the Arkansas firm, Byrd and Belding earned up to $ 27,000 in two years through supplying food. The policy of Manifest Destiny would continue to be realized with the Mexican–American War of 1846, which resulted in

9750-429: The Treaty of Fort Laramie was signed, which gave the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes territory from the North Platte River in present-day Wyoming and Nebraska southward to the Arkansas River in present-day Colorado and Kansas. The land was initially not wanted by White settlers, but following the discovery of gold in the region, settlers began to pour into the territory. In 1861, six chiefs of the Southern Cheyenne and four of

9945-476: The United States Virgin Islands , American Samoa , and the Northern Mariana Islands . (The federal government officially apologized for the overthrow of the Hawaiian government in 1993.) The remainder of acquired territories have become independent with varying degrees of cooperation, ranging from three freely associated states which participate in federal government programs in exchange for military basing rights, to Cuba which severed diplomatic relations during

SECTION 50

#1733093800457

10140-436: The Viet Minh , an anti-Japanese resistance movement that advocated for independence. The Viet Minh received aid from the Allies , namely the US, Soviet Union, and Republic of China . Beginning in 1944, the US Office of Strategic Services (O.S.S.) provided the Viet Minh with weapons, ammunition, and training to fight the occupying Japanese and Vichy French forces. Throughout the war, Vietnamese guerrilla resistance against

10335-423: The aftermath of World War II , in the period after the surrender and occupations of Germany and Austria in May and later Japan and Korea in September 1945 and before the United States granted the Philippines independence on July 4, 1946 . In an October 1940 report to Franklin Roosevelt, Bowman wrote that "the US government is interested in any solution anywhere in the world that affects American trade. In

10530-647: The cession of 525,000 square miles (1,360,000 km) of Mexican territory to the United States , stretching up to the Pacific coast. The Whig Party strongly opposed this war and expansionism generally. Following the American victory over Mexico, colonization and settlement of California would begin which would soon lead to the California genocide . Estimates of total deaths in the genocide vary greatly from 2,000 to 100,000 dead. The discovery of Gold in California resulted in an influx of settlers, who formed militias to kill and displace Indigenous peoples. The government of California supported expansion and settlement through

10725-518: The " New Imperialism " of the late 19th century, when the United States and the other great powers rapidly expanded their overseas territorial possessions. One of these factors was the prevalence of overt racism, notably John Fiske 's conception of " Anglo-Saxon " racial superiority and Josiah Strong 's call to "civilize and Christianize." The concepts were manifestations of a growing Social Darwinism and racism in some schools of American political thought. Early in his career, as Assistant Secretary of

10920-417: The 1815 Congress of Vienna after the defeat of Napoleonic France and Imperial Germany's victory in the Franco-Prussian War in 1871, Great Britain reaped the benefits of being Europe's dominant military and economic power. As the "workshop of the world", Britain could produce finished goods so efficiently that they could usually undersell comparable, locally manufactured goods in foreign markets, supplying

11115-403: The 19th century, with its goals to Christianize and Americanize the peasant masses. In the following conflict, the USA oversaw a large bombing campaign over North Korea . A total of 635,000 tons of bombs, including 32,557 tons of napalm, were dropped on Korea. New Imperialism This is an accepted version of this page In historical contexts, New Imperialism characterizes

11310-562: The American people fighting them to give them liberty. The two peoples are fighting on parallel lines for the same object." However, from 1898 until the Cuban revolution , The United States of America had significant influence over the economy of Cuba. By 1950, US investors owned 44 of the 161 sugar mills in Cuba, and slightly over 47% of total sugar output. By 1906, up to 15% of Cuba was owned by American landowners. This consisted of 632,000 acres of sugar lands, 225,000 acres of tobacco, 700,000 of fruits and 2,750,000 acres of mining land, along with

11505-462: The American public of the justice in intervening, the United States government used paternalist propaganda, depicting the Haitian political process as uncivilized. The Haitian government would come to agree to U.S. terms, including American overseeing of the Haitian economy. This direct supervision of the Haitian economy would reinforce U.S. propaganda and further entrench the perception of Haitians' being incompetent of self-governance. In World War I,

11700-413: The Arapaho signed the Treaty of Fort Wise which saw the loss of 90% of their land. The refusal of various warriors to recognise the treaty resulted in white settlers starting to believe that war was coming. The subsequent Colorado War would result in the Sand Creek Massacre in which up to 600 Cheyenne were killed, most of whom were children and women. On October 14, 1865, the chiefs of what remained of

11895-412: The Black Hills resulted in a surge of White settlement in the region. The gold rush was very profitable for the White settlers and the American government, with just one of the Black Hill Mines yielding $ 500 Million in gold. Attempts to purchase the land failed, and the Great Sioux War began as a result. Despite initial success by Native Americans in the war's first few battles, most notably the Battle of

SECTION 60

#1733093800457

12090-483: The British and U.S. embassies. Tensions between Russia (including its allies) and the West turned intensely ideological. Horrified by mass executions of White forces, land expropriations, and widespread repression, the Allied military expedition now assisted the anti-Bolshevik Whites in the Russian Civil War , with the US covertly giving support to the autocratic and antisemitic General Alexander Kolchak . Over 30,000 Western troops were deployed in Russia overall. This

12285-450: The British controlled most of the Indian subcontinent and began imposing their ideas and ways on its residents, including different succession laws that allowed the British to take over a state with no successor and gain its land and armies, new taxes, and monopolistic control of industry. The British also collaborated with Indian officials to increase their influence in the region. Some Hindu and Muslim sepoys rebelled in 1857, resulting in

12480-404: The British expanded further into Burma , Malaya , Singapore and Borneo , with these colonies becoming further sources of trade and raw materials for British goods. France annexed all of Vietnam and Cambodia in the 1880s; in the following decade, France completed its Indochinese empire with the annexation of Laos , leaving the kingdom of Siam (now Thailand ) with an uneasy independence as

12675-432: The British government began talks to try and keep them in the war effort. British diplomat Bruce Lockhart cultivated a relationship with several Soviet officials, including Leon Trotsky , and the latter approved the initial Allied military mission to secure the Eastern Front , which was collapsing in the revolutionary upheaval. Ultimately, Soviet head of state V.I. Lenin decided the Bolsheviks would settle peacefully with

12870-647: The British officer Charles George Gordon was sent to China by Britain to advise China on military options against Russia should a potential war break out between China and Russia. The Russians observed the Chinese building up their arsenal of modern weapons during the Ili crisis, the Chinese bought thousands of rifles from Germany. In 1880 massive amounts of military equipment and rifles were shipped via boats to China from Antwerp as China purchased torpedoes, artillery, and 260,260 modern rifles from Europe. The Russian military observer D. V. Putiatia visited China in 1888 and found that in Northeastern China (Manchuria) along

13065-402: The British were opposed. Eisenhower, wary of involving the US in an Asian land war, decided against intervention. Throughout the conflict, US intelligence estimates remained skeptical of France's chance of success. On 7 May 1954, the French garrison at Dien Bien Phu surrendered. The defeat marked the end of French military involvement in Indochina. At the Geneva Conference , they negotiated

13260-457: The CIA "US imperialism's clandestine apparatus in the Philippines ". The U.S. retained dozens of military bases, including a few major ones. In addition, Philippine independence was qualified by legislation passed by the U.S. Congress . For example, the Bell Trade Act provided a mechanism whereby U.S. import quotas might be established on Philippine articles which "are coming, or are likely to come, into substantial competition with like articles

13455-399: The CIA launched Operation Ajax with support by the United Kingdom to overthrow Mosaddegh. The coup saw an increase in power of the monarchy, which went from a constitutional monarchy to an authoritarian nation. In the aftermath of the coup, the Shah agreed to replace the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company with a consortium—British Petroleum and eight European and American oil companies. In August 2013,

13650-408: The Chinese-Russian border, the Chinese soldiers were potentially able to become adept at "European tactics" under certain circumstances, and the Chinese soldiers were armed with modern weapons like Krupp artillery, Winchester carbines, and Mauser rifles. Compared to Russian controlled areas, more benefits were given to the Muslim Kirghiz on the Chinese controlled areas. Russian settlers fought against

13845-511: The Chinese: extraterritoriality (meaning that in a dispute with a Chinese person, a Westerner had the right to be tried in a court under the laws of his own country), customs regulation, and the right to station foreign warships in Chinese waters. In 1904, the British invaded Tibet , a pre-emptive strike against Russian intrigues and secret meetings between the 13th Dalai Lama 's envoy and Tsar Nicholas II . The Dalai Lama fled into exile to China and Mongolia. The British were greatly concerned at

14040-773: The Cold War saw increased US interest in Latin America . Since the Guatemalan Revolution , Guatemala saw the expansion of labour rights and land reforms which granted property to landless peasants. Lobbying by the United Fruit Company , whose profits were affected by these policies, as well as fear of Communist influence in Guatemala culminated in the USA supporting Operation PBFortune to overthrow Guatemalan President Jacobo Árbenz in 1952. The plan involved providing weapons to

14235-614: The Cold War. The United States was a public advocate for European decolonization after World War II (having started a ten-year independence transition for the Philippines in 1934 with the Tydings–McDuffie Act ). Even so, the US desire for an informal system of global primacy in an " American Century " often brought them into conflict with national liberation movements . The United States has now granted citizenship to Native Americans and recognizes some degree of tribal sovereignty . Yale historian Paul Kennedy has asserted, "From

14430-436: The European continent held some danger for Britain's security. Britain worried that the expansionist powers would cause the breakdown of international stability; as such, British foreign policy attempted to protect the stability in a rapidly changing world. With its stability and holdings threatened, Britain decided to adopt a policy of concession rather than resistance, a policy that became known as appeasement . In Britain,

14625-624: The French forces of Napoleon . The Dutch government-in-exile in England ceded rule of all its colonies to Great Britain. However, Jan Willem Janssens , the governor of the Dutch East Indies at the time, fought the British before surrendering the colony; he was eventually replaced by Stamford Raffles . The Dutch East Indies became the prize possession of the Dutch Empire . It was not the typical settler colony founded through massive emigration from

14820-452: The GVN, on coalition government and the neutralization of Vietnam." The identities of the leaders of the organization were often kept secret. Support for the VC was driven by resentment of Diem's reversal of Viet Minh land reforms in the countryside. The Viet Minh had confiscated large private landholdings, reduced rents and debts, and leased communal lands, mostly to poorer peasants. Diem brought

15015-536: The Great Powers easily carved out trade and territorial concessions. These were humiliating submissions for the once-powerful China. Still, the central lesson of the war with Japan was not lost on the Russian General Staff: an Asian country using Western technology and industrial production methods could defeat a great European power. Jane E. Elliott criticized the allegation that China refused to modernize or

15210-460: The Haiti expedition and the highest-decorated Marine of that time, considered virtually all of the operations to have been economically motivated. In a 1933 speech he said: I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I suspected I was just part of a racket at the time. Now I am sure of it...I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba

15405-541: The Hawaiian Kingdom. In 1849 the United States and The Kingdom of Hawaii signed a treaty of friendship removing any colonial ambitions Great Britain or France might have had. In 1885, King David Kalākaua, last king of Hawaii, signed a trade reciprocity treaty with the United States allowing for tariff free trade of sugar to the United States. The treaty was renewed in 1887 and with it came the overrunning of Hawaiian politics by rich, white, plantation owners. On July 6, 1887,

15600-557: The Hawaiian League, a non-native political group, threatened the king and forced him to sign a new constitution stripping him of much of his power. King Kalākaua would die in 1891 and be succeeded by his sister Lili'uokalani. In 1893 with support from marines from the USS Boston Queen Lili'uokalani would be deposed in a bloodless coup. Hawaii has been under US control ever since and became the 50th US state on August 21, 1959 in

15795-576: The ICC reporting that neither South nor North Vietnam had honored the armistice agreement. From April to June 1955, Diệm eliminated political opposition in the south by launching operations against religious groups: the Cao Đài and Hòa Hảo of Ba Cụt . The campaign also attacked the Bình Xuyên organized crime group, which was allied with members of the communist party secret police and had military elements. The group

15990-464: The Japanese grew dramatically, and by the end of 1944 the Viet Minh had grown to over 500,000 members. US President Franklin D. Roosevelt was an ardent supporter of Vietnamese resistance, and proposed that Vietnam's independence be granted under an international trusteeship following the war. Following the surrender of Japan in 1945, the Viet Minh launched the August Revolution , overthrowing

16185-494: The Japanese which retook both allied territory as well as took over Japanese territories. In October 1944 American started their plan to retake the Philippine islands. Japanese troops on the island ended up surrendering in August 1945. After the Japanese surrender on September 2, 1945, the United States occupied and reformed Japan up until 1952. The maximum geographical extension of American direct political and military control happened in

16380-649: The Japanese-backed Empire of Vietnam and seizing weapons from the surrendering Japanese forces. On 2 September, Ho Chi Minh proclaimed the Declaration of independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV). However, on 23 September, French forces overthrew the DRV and reinstated French rule. American support for the Viet Minh promptly ended, and O.S.S. forces left as the French sought to reassert control of

16575-561: The Little Bighorn , the United States eventually won and ended the reservation, carving it up into smaller reservations. The reservation system did not just serve as a way to facilitate American settlement and expansion of land, but also enriched local merchants and businesses who held significant economic power over the Native tribes. Traders would often accept payment for goods via annuity money from land sales contributing to further poverty. In

16770-662: The Man that invents new Trades, Arts or Manufactures, or new Improvements in Husbandry, may be properly called Fathers of their Nation, as they are the Cause of the Generation of Multitudes, by the Encouragement they afford to Marriage." Thomas Jefferson asserted in 1786 that the United States "must be viewed as the nest from which all America, North & South is to be peopled. [...] The navigation of

16965-678: The Middle East, most notably Turkey and portions of formerly Ottoman territory following the empire's collapse. The occupation led to rapid industrialization, which resulted in the discovery of crude oil in Persia in 1908, sparking a boom in the Middle Eastern economy. By the 1930s, the United States had cemented itself in the Middle East via a series of acquisitions through the Standard Oil of California (SOCAL) , which saw US control over Saudi oil. It

17160-470: The Mississippi we must have. This is all we are as yet ready to receive.". From the left Noam Chomsky writes that "the United States is the one country that exists, as far as I know, and ever has, that was founded as an empire explicitly". A national drive for territorial acquisition across the continent was popularized in the 19th century as the ideology of manifest destiny. The policy of settlement of land

17355-658: The Muslim nomadic Kirghiz, which led the Russians to believe that the Kirghiz would be a liability in any conflict against China. The Muslim Kirghiz were sure that in an upcoming war, that China would defeat Russia. The Qing dynasty forced Russia to hand over disputed territory in Ili in the Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1881) , in what was widely seen by the west as a diplomatic victory for the Qing. Russia acknowledged that Qing China potentially posed

17550-575: The Nation. It is sometimes called the American War . Vietnam had been under French control as part of French Indochina since the mid-19th century. Under French rule, Vietnamese nationalism was suppressed, so revolutionary groups conducted their activities abroad, particularly in France and China. One such nationalist, Nguyen Sinh Cung , established the Indochinese Communist Party in 1930,

17745-487: The Native Americans continued intermittently after independence , and an ethnic cleansing campaign known as Indian removal gained for European American settlers more valuable territory on the eastern side of the continent. George Washington , a founding father and first president of the United States, began a policy of United States non-interventionism which lasted into the 1800s. The United States promulgated

17940-453: The Navy, Theodore Roosevelt was instrumental in preparing the Navy for the Spanish–American War and was an enthusiastic proponent of testing the U.S. military in battle, at one point stating "I should welcome almost any war, for I think this country needs one." Roosevelt claimed that he rejected imperialism, but he embraced the near-identical doctrine of expansionism . When Rudyard Kipling wrote

18135-455: The PRC also completed its withdrawal from North Vietnam. Between 1953 and 1956, the North Vietnamese government instituted agrarian reforms, including "rent reduction" and "land reform", which resulted in political oppression. During land reform, North Vietnamese witnesses suggested a ratio of one execution for every 160 village residents, which extrapolates to 100,000 executions. Because the campaign

18330-470: The Pacific. The majority of these territories were military bases like Midway, Guam, Wake Island and Hawaii. Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor was what ended up bringing the United States into the war. Japan also launched multiple attacks on other American Territories like Guam and Wake Island. By early 1942 Japan also was able to take over the Philippine islands. At the end of the Philippine island campaign

18525-655: The Philippines genuine independence." When World War I broke out in Europe, President Woodrow Wilson promised American neutrality throughout the war. This promise was broken when the United States entered the war after the Zimmermann Telegram . This was "a war for empire" to control vast raw materials in Africa and other colonized areas, according to the contemporary historian and civil rights leader W. E. B. Du Bois . More recently historian Howard Zinn argues that Wilson entered

18720-609: The Socialist People's Republic of Korea . After which, the USA quickly allied with Syngman Rhee , leader of the fight against the People's Republic of Korea that proclaimed a provisional government. There was a lot of opposition to the division of Korea , including rebellions by communists such as the Jeju uprising in 1948 and further Communist partisans in the Korean War . The Jeju Uprising

18915-645: The South-West, various settlements and communities had been established thanks to profits from the American Civil War . In order to maintain revenue and profit, settlers often waged war against native tribes. By 1871, the settlement of Tucson for example had a population of three thousand, including saloon-keepers, traders and contractors who had made fortunes during the Civil War and were hopeful of continuing their profits with an Indian war. Desire to fight resulted in

19110-736: The Southern Cheyennes and Arapahos agreed to live south of the Arkansas, sharing land that belonged to the Kiowas, and thereby relinquish all claims in the Colorado territory. Following the victory of Red Cloud in Red Cloud's War over the United States, the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) was signed. This treaty led to the creation of the Great Sioux Reservation . However, the discovery of gold in

19305-622: The Soviet Union was an expansionary dictatorship that threatened American interests. In their theory, Moscow's weakness was that it had to keep expanding to survive; and that, by containing or stopping its growth, stability could be achieved in Europe. The result was the Truman Doctrine (1947). Initially regarding only Greece and Turkey, the NSC-68 (1951) extended the Truman Doctrine to the whole non-Communist world. The United States could no longer distinguish between national and global security. Hence,

19500-553: The Soviet Union, largely at the behest of corporate partners like the Foreign Oil Committee and the Petroleum Industry War Council. The US thus avoided overt territorial acquisition, like that of the European colonial empires, as being too costly, choosing the cheaper option of forcing countries to open their door to American business interests. Although the United States was the last major belligerent to join

19695-516: The State of Vietnam, with Bảo Đại as Emperor, and Ngô Đình Diệm as prime minister. Neither the US, nor Diệm's State of Vietnam, signed anything at the Geneva Conference. The non-communist Vietnamese delegation objected strenuously to any division of Vietnam, but lost when the French accepted the proposal of Viet Minh delegate Phạm Văn Đồng , who proposed Vietnam eventually be united by elections under

19890-615: The Truman Doctrine was described as "globalizing" the Monroe Doctrine. A second equally important consideration was the need to restore the world economy, which required the rebuilding and reorganizing of Europe for growth. This matter, more than the Soviet threat, was the main impetus behind the Marshall Plan of 1948. A third factor was the realization, especially by Britain and the three Benelux nations, that American military involvement

20085-470: The U.S. government formally acknowledged the U.S. role in the coup by releasing a bulk of previously classified government documents that show it was in charge of both the planning and the execution of the coup, including the bribing of Iranian politicians, security and army high-ranking officials, as well as pro-coup propaganda. In Korea, the U.S. occupied the Southern half of the peninsula in 1945 and dissolved

20280-508: The US discussed the use of tactical nuclear weapons , though reports of how seriously this was considered and by whom, are vague. According to then-Vice President Richard Nixon , the Joint Chiefs of Staff drew up plans to use nuclear weapons to support the French. Nixon, a so-called " hawk ", suggested the US might have to "put American boys in". President Dwight D. Eisenhower made American participation contingent on British support, but

20475-463: The US of a new form of colonialism . In terms of territorial acquisition, the United States has integrated (with voting rights) all of its acquisitions on the North American continent, including the non-contiguous Alaska . Hawaii has also become a state with equal representation to the mainland, but other island jurisdictions acquired during wartime remain territories, namely Guam , Puerto Rico ,

20670-471: The US's actions mentioned within it. Historian Jay Sexton notes that the tactics used to implement the doctrine were modeled after those employed by European imperial powers during the 17th and 18th centuries. From the left historian William Appleman Williams described it as "imperial anti-colonialism." In the older historiography William Walker's filibustering represented the high tide of antebellum American imperialism. His brief seizure of Nicaragua in 1855

20865-854: The US, Britain, and Russia had been allies for seven months, from April 1917 until the Bolsheviks seized power in Russia in November. Active distrust surfaced immediately, as even before the October Revolution British officers had been involved in the Kornilov Affair , an attempted coup d'état by the Russian Army against the Provisional Government. Nonetheless, once the Bolsheviks took Moscow,

21060-451: The United States claimed to colonize in the name of anti-colonialism: "We are coming, Cuba, coming; we are bound to set you free! We are coming from the mountains, from the plains and inland sea! We are coming with the wrath of God to make the Spaniards flee! We are coming, Cuba, coming; coming now!" Filipino revolutionary General Emilio Aguinaldo wondered: "The Filipinos fighting for Liberty,

21255-742: The United States should intervene in the affairs of foreign countries has been a much-debated topic in domestic politics for the country's entire history. Opponents of interventionism have pointed to the country's origin as a former colony that rebelled against an overseas king , as well as the American values of democracy, freedom, and independence. Conversely, supporters of interventionism and of American presidents who have been labelled as “imperialists” — most notably Andrew Jackson , James K. Polk , William McKinley , Woodrow Wilson , Theodore Roosevelt , and William Howard Taft — have justified their interventions in (or whole seizures of) various countries by citing

21450-563: The VOC merchants were in principle just another trading power among many, establishing trading posts and settlements (colonies) in strategic places around the archipelago. The Dutch gradually extended their sovereignty over most of the islands in the East Indies. Dutch expansion paused for several years during an interregnum of British rule between 1806 and 1816, when the Dutch Republic was occupied by

21645-522: The Vienna summit with Khrushchev, "Now we have a problem making our power credible and Vietnam looks like the place." Kennedy's policy toward South Vietnam assumed Diệm and his forces had to defeat the guerrillas on their own. He was against the deployment of American combat troops and observed "to introduce U.S. forces in large numbers there today, while it might have an initially favorable military impact, would almost certainly lead to adverse political and, in

21840-742: The border. About 500 of the "regroupees" of 1954 were sent south on the trail during its first year of operation. The first arms delivery via the trail was completed in August 1959. In April 1960, North Vietnam imposed universal military conscription for men. About 40,000 communist soldiers infiltrated the south from 1961 to 1963. In the 1960 U.S. presidential election , Senator John F. Kennedy defeated incumbent Vice President Richard Nixon. Although Eisenhower warned Kennedy about Laos and Vietnam, Europe and Latin America "loomed larger than Asia on his sights." In June 1961, he bitterly disagreed with Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev when they met in Vienna to discuss key U.S.–Soviet issues. Only 16 months later,

22035-578: The breakdown of the Concert of Europe , established by the Congress of Vienna. The establishment of nation-states in Germany and Italy resolved territorial issues that had kept potential rivals embroiled in internal affairs at the heart of Europe to Britain's advantage. The years from 1871 to 1914 would be marked by an extremely unstable peace . France's determination to recover Alsace-Lorraine , annexed by Germany as

22230-509: The collapse of the Mughal Empire in India and the death of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb and increased British forces in India because of colonial conflicts with France. The invention of clipper ships in the early 1800s cut the trip to India from Europe in half from 6 months to 3 months; the British also laid cables on the floor of the ocean allowing telegrams to be sent from India and China. In 1818,

22425-572: The colony of Liberia , which became independent in 1847. By 1857, Liberia had merged with other colonies formed by state societies, including the Republic of Maryland , Mississippi-in-Africa , and Kentucky in Africa . President James Monroe presented his famous doctrine for the western hemisphere in 1823. Historians have observed that while the Monroe Doctrine contained a commitment to resist colonialism from Europe, it had some aggressive implications for American policy, since there were no limitations on

22620-575: The competition between the powers by defining "effective occupation" as the criterion for international recognition of a territory claim, specifically in Africa. The imposition of direct rule in terms of "effective occupation" necessitated routine recourse to armed force against indigenous states and peoples. Uprisings against imperial rule were put down ruthlessly, most brutally in the Herero Wars in German South-West Africa from 1904 to 1907 and

22815-436: The country . Tensions between the Viet Minh and French authorities had erupted into full-scale war by 1946, a conflict which soon became entwined with the wider Cold War . On 12 March1947, US president Harry S. Truman announced the Truman Doctrine , an anticommunist foreign policy which pledged US support to nations resisting "attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures". In Indochina, this doctrine

23010-441: The country as such, including Max Boot , Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. , and Niall Ferguson . Other commentators have accused the United States of practicing neocolonialism —sometimes defined as a modern form of hegemony —which leverages economic power rather than military force in an informal empire ; the term "neocolonialism" has occasionally been used as a contemporary synonym for modern-day imperialism . The question of whether

23205-491: The country to the Virgin Mary . In the summer of 1955, Diệm launched the "Denounce the Communists" campaign, during which suspected communists and other anti-government elements were arrested, imprisoned, tortured, or executed. He instituted the death penalty in August 1956 against activity deemed communist. The North Vietnamese government claimed that, by November 1957, over 65,000 individuals were imprisoned and 2,148 killed in

23400-564: The coup, American enterprises saw a return of influence in the country, in both the public level of government but also in the economy. On the March 15, 1951 the Iranian parliament, passed legislation that was proposed by Mohammad Mosaddegh to nationalize the Anglo-Persian Oil Company , which gained significant revenues from Iranian oil, more so than the Iranian government itself. Mosaddegh

23595-409: The cultural and linguistic borders that were already established. At the end of the conference, Africa was divided into 50 different colonies. The attendants established who was in control of each of these newly divided colonies. They also planned, noncommittally, to end the slave trade in Africa. In Britain, the age of new imperialism marked a time for significant economic changes. Because the country

23790-438: The deficiencies of mercantilism , the doctrine of economic competition for finite wealth which had supported earlier imperial expansion. In 1846, the Corn Laws were repealed and manufacturers grew, as the regulations enforced by the Corn Laws had slowed their businesses. With the repeal in place, the manufacturers were able to trade more freely. Thus, Britain began to adopt the concept of free trade. During this period, between

23985-418: The demilitarized zone, between North and South Vietnam. The North Vietnamese Communist Party approved a "people's war" on the South at a session in January 1959, and, in May, Group 559 was established to maintain and upgrade the Ho Chi Minh trail , at this time a six-month mountain trek through Laos. On 28 July, North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao forces invaded Laos, fighting the Royal Lao Army all along

24180-421: The economic infrastructure of the postwar American Lebensraum. FDR promised: Hitler will get lebensraum, a global American one. Prior to his death in 1945, President Roosevelt was planning to withdraw all U.S. forces from Europe as soon as possible. Soviet actions in Poland and Czechoslovakia led his successor Harry Truman to reconsider. Heavily influenced by George Kennan , Washington policymakers believed that

24375-415: The end of 1965, and to 536,000 by the end of 1968. US forces relied on air supremacy and overwhelming firepower to conduct search and destroy operations in rural areas. In 1968, North Vietnam launched the Tet Offensive , which was a tactical defeat but convinced many in the US that the war could not be won. The PAVN began engaging in more conventional warfare . Johnson's successor, Richard Nixon , began

24570-468: The era of decolonization that followed World War II . The qualifier "new" is used to differentiate modern imperialism from earlier imperial activity, such as the formation of ancient empires and the first wave of European colonization . The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) and the collapse of the Spanish Empire in Latin America in the 1820s ended the first era of European imperialism. Especially in Great Britain these revolutions helped show

24765-472: The era of new imperialism affected public attitudes toward the idea of imperialism itself. Most of the public believed that if imperialism was going to exist, it was best if Britain was the driving force behind it. The same people further thought that British imperialism was a force for good in the world. In 1940, the Fabian Colonial Research Bureau argued that Africa could be developed both economically and socially, but until this development could happen, Africa

24960-454: The exiled Guatemalan military officer Carlos Castillo Armas , who was to lead an invasion from Nicaragua. This culminated in the 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état . The subsequent military junta assumed dictatorial powers, banned opposition parties and reversed the social reforms of the revolution. The USA would continue to support Guatemala through the Cold War, including during the Guatemalan Genocide in which up to 200,000 people were killed. After

25155-446: The general MacArthur stated "I came through and I shall return" in response to the Americans losing the island to the Japanese. The loss of American territories ended the decisive Battle of Midway . The Battle of Midway was the American offensive to stop Midway Island from falling into Japanese control. This led to the pushback of American forces and the recapturing of American territories. There were many battles that were fought against

25350-407: The homeland, the sizeable indigenous populations were controlled through effective political manipulation supported by military force. The servitude of the indigenous masses was enabled through a structure of indirect governance, keeping existing indigenous rulers in place. This strategy was already established by the VOC, which independently acted as a semi-sovereign state within the Dutch state, using

25545-511: The imperialist poem " The White Man's Burden " for Roosevelt, the politician told colleagues that it was "rather poor poetry, but good sense from the expansion point of view." Roosevelt proclaimed his own corollary to the Monroe Doctrine as justification, although his ambitions extended even further, into the Far East. Scholars have noted the resemblance between U.S. policies in the Philippines and European actions in their colonies in Asia and Africa during this period. By one contrast, however,

25740-454: The insurgency entitled "The Road to the South" to the Politburo in Hanoi. However, as China and the Soviets opposed confrontation, his plan was rejected. Despite this, the North Vietnamese leadership approved tentative measures to revive southern insurgency in December 1956. Communist forces were under a single command structure set up in 1958. In May 1958, North Vietnamese forces seized the transportation hub at Tchepone in Southern Laos near

25935-911: The killing of their ambassador , while Russia tightened its hold on Manchuria in the northeast until its crushing defeat by Japan in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. Extraterritorial jurisdiction was abandoned by the United Kingdom and the United States in 1943. Mainland Chinese historians refer to this period as the century of humiliation . Vietnam War ≈860,000 (1967) ≈1,420,000 (1968) Total military dead/missing: ≈1,100,000 Total military wounded: ≈604,200 (excluding GRUNK / Khmer Rouge and Pathet Lao ) Second Third American intervention 1965 1966 1967 Tet Offensive and aftermath Vietnamization 1969–1971 1972 Post- Paris Peace Accords (1973–1974) Spring 1975 Air operations Naval operations Lists of allied operations The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975)

26130-402: The landlords back, people who had been farming land for years had to return it to landlords and pay years of back rent. Marilyn B. Young wrote that "The divisions within villages reproduced those that had existed against the French: 75% support for the NLF, 20% trying to remain neutral and 5% firmly pro-government". In March 1956, southern communist leader Lê Duẩn presented a plan to revive

26325-416: The larger Indochina refugee crisis , which saw millions leave Indochina, an estimated 250,000 perished at sea. The US destroyed 20% of South Vietnam's jungle and 20–50% of the mangrove forests, by spraying over 20 million U.S. gallons (75 million liters) of toxic herbicides; a notable example of ecocide . The Khmer Rouge carried out the Cambodian genocide , while conflict between them and

26520-435: The march. During the march, New Mexican slavers, assisted by the Ute often attacked isolated bands, killing the men, taking the women and children captive, and capturing horses and livestock. As part of these raids, a large number of slaves were taken and sold throughout the region. Starting in 1820, the American Colonization Society began subsidizing free black people to colonize the west coast of Africa. In 1822, it declared

26715-446: The midcentury rebellions, bluffed Russia into a peaceful settlement of disputed frontiers in Central Asia, and defeated the French forces on land in the Sino-French War (1884–1885). But the defeat of the fleet, and the resulting threat to steamship traffic to Taiwan, forced China to conclude peace on unfavorable terms." The British and Russian consuls schemed and plotted against each other at Kashgar. In 1906, Tsar Nicholas II sent

26910-451: The mother countries (such as the USA or Australia) and hardly involved displacement of the indigenous islanders, with a notable and dramatic exception in the island of Banda during the VOC era. Neither was it a plantation colony built on the import of slaves (such as Haiti or Jamaica) or a pure trade post colony (such as Singapore or Macau). It was more of an expansion of the existing chain of VOC trading posts. Instead of mass emigration from

27105-479: The necessity of advancing American economic interests, such as trade and debt management; preventing European intervention (colonial or otherwise) in the Western Hemisphere , manifested in the anti-European Monroe Doctrine of 1823; and the benefits of keeping "good order" around the world. Despite periods of peaceful co-existence, wars with Native Americans resulted in substantial territorial gains for American colonists who were expanding into native land. Wars with

27300-514: The negative state of the Russian economy all led Russia to concede and negotiate with China in St Petersburg, and return most of Ili to China. Historians have judged the Qing dynasty's vulnerability and weakness to foreign imperialism in the 19th century to be based mainly on its maritime naval weakness while it achieved military success against westerners on land, the historian Edward L. Dreyer said that "China’s nineteenth-century humiliations were strongly related to her weakness and failure at sea. At

27495-968: The notion of the "White Man's Burden", the unintended consequences of imperialism might have greatly outweighed the potential benefits. Governments became increasingly paternalistic at home and neglected the individual liberties of their citizens. Military spending expanded, usually leading to an " imperial overreach ", and imperialism created clients of ruling elites abroad that were brutal and corrupt, consolidating power through imperial rents and impeding social change and economic development that ran against their ambitions. Furthermore, "nation building" oftentimes created cultural sentiments of racism and xenophobia . Many of Europe's major elites also found advantages in formal, overseas expansion: large financial and industrial monopolies wanted imperial support to protect their overseas investments against competition and domestic political tensions abroad, bureaucrats sought government offices, military officers desired promotion, and

27690-446: The other communists and anti-GVN activists. Douglas Pike estimated that insurgents carried out 2,000 abductions, and 1,700 assassinations of government officials, village chiefs, hospital workers and teachers from 1957 to 1960. Violence between insurgents and government forces increased drastically from 180 clashes in January 1960, to 545 clashes in September. In September 1960, COSVN , North Vietnam's southern headquarters, ordered

27885-400: The passage of the Act for the Government and Protection of Indians which legalized the enslavement of Native Americans and allowed settlers to capture and force them into labor. California further offered and paid bounties for the killing of Native Americans. American expansion in the Great Plains resulted in conflict between many tribes West of the Mississippi and the United States. In 1851,

28080-399: The pinnacle of social imperialism. In the 17th century, the British businessmen arrived in India and, after taking a small portion of land, formed the East India Company . The British East India Company annexed most of the subcontinent of India, starting with Bengal in 1757 and ending with Punjab in 1849. Many princely states remained independent. This was aided by a power vacuum formed by

28275-408: The population at that time) living outside the concessions continued about their daily lives, uninterrupted and without any feeling of "humiliation". The British observer Demetrius Charles de Kavanagh Boulger suggested a British-Chinese alliance to check Russian expansion in Central Asia. During the Ili crisis when Qing China threatened to go to war against Russia over the Russian occupation of Ili,

28470-414: The pro-Western government of Laos and the Pathet Lao communist movement in May, construction of the Berlin Wall in August, and the Cuban Missile Crisis in October. Kennedy believed another failure to stop communist expansion would irreparably damage US credibility. He was determined to "draw a line in the sand" and prevent a communist victory in Vietnam. He told James Reston of The New York Times after

28665-427: The proceedings of the native courts, hears complaints against the head-men or other native chiefs, and superintends the Government plantations." In 1839, China found itself fighting the First Opium War with Great Britain after the governor-general of Hunan and Hubei , Lin Zexu , seized the illegally traded opium. China was defeated, and in 1842 agreed to the provisions of the Treaty of Nanking . Hong Kong Island

28860-412: The process. According to Gabriel Kolko , 40,000 political prisoners had been jailed by the end of 1958. In October 1956, Diệm launched a land reform program limiting the size of rice farms per owner. 1.8m acres of farm land became available for purchase by landless people. By 1960, the process had stalled because many of Diem's biggest supporters were large landowners. In May 1957, Diệm undertook

29055-445: The product of the United States". It further required U.S. citizens and corporations be granted equal access to Philippine minerals, forests, and other natural resources. In hearings before the Senate Committee on Finance, Assistant Secretary of State for Economic Affairs William L. Clayton described the law as "clearly inconsistent with the basic foreign economic policy of this country" and "clearly inconsistent with our promise to grant

29250-428: The prospect of a Russian invasion of the Crown colony of India, though Russia – badly defeated by Japan in the Russo-Japanese War and weakened by internal revolution – could not realistically afford a military conflict against Britain. China under the Qing dynasty , however, was another matter. Natural disasters, famine and internal rebellions had enfeebled China in the late Qing. In the late 19th century, Japan and

29445-428: The right to propagate Christianity, another means of Western penetration. The United States and Russia obtained the same prerogatives in separate treaties . Towards the end of the 19th century, China appeared on the way to territorial dismemberment and economic vassalage, the fate of India's rulers that had played out much earlier. Several provisions of these treaties caused long-standing bitterness and humiliation among

29640-417: The rule of a monopolistic enterprise with that of a trained civil service headed by graduates of Britain's top universities. The administration retained and increased the monopolies held by the company. The India Salt Act of 1882 included regulations enforcing a government monopoly on the collection and manufacture of salt; in 1923 a bill was passed doubling the salt tax. After taking control of much of India,

29835-458: The sacred Buddhist mountain of Wutai Shan he even met the 13th Dalai Lama. However, while Mannerheim was in China in 1907, Russia and Britain brokered the Anglo-Russian Agreement , ending the classical period of the Great Game. The correspondent Douglas Story observed Chinese troops in 1907 and praised their abilities and military skill. The rise of Japan as an imperial power after the Meiji Restoration led to further subjugation of China. In

30030-460: The social status quo . According to Wehler, German colonial policy in the 1880s was the first example of social imperialism in action, and was followed up by the 1897 Tirpitz Plan for expanding the German Navy. In this point of view, groups such as the Colonial Society and the Navy League are seen as instruments for the government to mobilize public support. The demands for annexing most of Europe and Africa in World War I are seen by Wehler as

30225-428: The start of the Opium War, China had no unified navy and no sense of how vulnerable she was to attack from the sea; British forces sailed and steamed wherever they wanted to go. ... In the Arrow War (1856–60), the Chinese had no way to prevent the Anglo-French expedition of 1860 from sailing into the Gulf of Zhili and landing as near as possible to Beijing. Meanwhile, new but not exactly modern Chinese armies suppressed

30420-403: The stillness to yelp at the English Flag! These lines show Kipling's belief that the British who actively took part in imperialism knew more about British national identity than the ones whose entire lives were spent solely in the imperial metropolis. While there were pockets of anti-imperialist opposition in Britain in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, resistance to imperialism

30615-406: The subjugated countries. During the era of New Imperialism, the European powers (and Japan) individually conquered almost all of Africa and parts of Asia . The new wave of imperialism reflected ongoing rivalries among the great powers , the economic desire for new resources and markets, and a " civilizing mission " ethos. Many of the colonies established during this era gained independence during

30810-630: The supervision of "local commissions". The US countered with what became known as the "American Plan", with the support of South Vietnam and the UK. It provided for unification elections under the supervision of the UN, but was rejected by the Soviet delegation. The US said, "With respect to the statement made by the representative of the State of Vietnam, the United States reiterates its traditional position that peoples are entitled to determine their own future and that it will not join in any arrangement which would hinder this". US President Eisenhower wrote in 1954: I have never talked or corresponded with

31005-419: The support of part of the industrial working class. The new mass media promoted jingoism in the Spanish–American War (1898), the Second Boer War (1899–1902), and the Boxer Rebellion (1900). The left-wing German historian Hans-Ulrich Wehler has defined social imperialism as "the diversions outwards of internal tensions and forces of change in order to preserve the social and political status quo", and as

31200-403: The time can be viewed as imperialism to stop the advance of democracy in countries such as Haiti . The United States invaded Haiti on July 28, 1915, and American rule continued until August 1, 1934. The historian Mary Renda in her book, Taking Haiti , talks about the American invasion of Haiti to bring about political stability through U.S. control. The American government did not believe Haiti

31395-578: The time the first settlers arrived in Virginia from England and started moving westward, this was an imperial nation, a conquering nation." Expanding on George Washington's description of the early United States as an "infant empire", Benjamin Franklin wrote: "Hence the Prince that acquires new Territory, if he finds it vacant, or removes the Natives to give his own People Room; the Legislator that makes effectual Laws for promoting of Trade, increasing Employment, improving Land by more or better Tillage; providing more Food by Fisheries; securing Property, etc. and

31590-525: The traditional but waning landed gentries sought increased profits for their investments, formal titles, and high office. Such special interests have perpetuated empire-building throughout history. The enforcement of mercantilist policies played a role in sustaining New Imperialism. This restricted colonies to trade only with respective metropoles, which strengthened home-country economies. At first through growing chartered companies and later through imperial states themselves, New Imperialism shifted towards

31785-442: The two provisional states for a 300-day period. Elections throughout the country were to be held in 1956 to establish a unified government. However, the US, represented at the conference by Secretary of State John Foster Dulles , objected to the resolution; Dulles' objection was supported only by the representative of Bảo Đại. John Foster's brother, Allen Dulles , who was director of the Central Intelligence Agency , then initiated

31980-470: The unified Vietnam escalated into the Cambodian–Vietnamese War . In response, China invaded Vietnam , with border conflicts lasting until 1991. Within the US, the war gave rise to Vietnam syndrome , a public aversion to American overseas military involvement, which, with the Watergate scandal , contributed to the crisis of confidence that affected America throughout the 1970s. Various names have been applied and have shifted over time, though Vietnam War

32175-420: The use of free trade , the reduction of market restrictions and tariffs , and the coercion of foreign markets to open up, often through gunboat diplomacy or concerted interventionism , such as police actions . Observing the rise of trade unionism, socialism, and other protest movements during an era of mass society both in Europe and later in North America, elites sought to use imperial jingoism to co-opt

32370-568: The volume of British trade and investment overseas. Britain further faced strained international relations with three expansionist powers (Japan, Germany, and Italy) during the early twentieth century. Before 1939, these three powers never directly threatened Britain itself, but the dangers to the Empire were clear. By the 1930s, Britain was worried that Japan would threaten its holdings in the Far East as well as territories in India, Australia and New Zealand. Italy held an interest in North Africa, which threatened British Egypt, and German dominance of

32565-426: The war in order to open international markets to surplus US production. He quotes Wilson's own declaration that Concessions obtained by financiers must be safeguarded by ministers of state, even if the sovereignty of unwilling nations be outraged in the process... the doors of the nations which are closed must be battered down. In a memo to Secretary of State Bryan, the president described his aim as "an open door to

32760-420: The world". Lloyd Gardner notes that Wilson's original avoidance of world war was not motivated by anti-imperialism; his fear was that " white civilization and its domination in the world " were threatened by "the great white nations" destroying each other in endless battle. Despite President Wilson's official doctrine of moral diplomacy seeking to "make the world safe for democracy," some of his activities at

32955-426: The world's manufacturing capacity while the United States contained 23.3% and Germany contained 13.2%. By 1910, Britain's manufacturing capacity had dropped to 14.7%, while that of the United States had risen to 35.3% and that of Germany to 15.9%. As countries like Germany and America became more economically successful, they began to become more involved with imperialism, resulting in the British struggling to maintain

33150-433: Was a foundational goal of the United States of America, with one of the driving factors of discontent with British rule originating from the Royal Proclamation of 1763 , which barred settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains . As part of the desire of Manifest Destiny to open up land for American settlement came campaigns in the Great Lakes region which saw the United States fight the Northwestern Confederacy resulting in

33345-399: Was absolutely necessary, "American factories are making more than the American people can use; American soil is producing more than they can consume. Fate has written our policy for us; the trade of the world must and shall be ours." American rule of ceded Spanish territory was not uncontested. The Philippine Revolution had begun in August 1896 against Spain, and after the defeat of Spain in

33540-417: Was an armed conflict in Vietnam , Laos , and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union and China , while South Vietnam was supported by the United States and other anti-communist nations. The conflict was the second of the Indochina Wars and a major proxy war of

33735-509: Was best off remaining with the British Empire . Rudyard Kipling's 1891 poem, "The English Flag," contains the stanza:      Winds of the World, give answer! They are whimpering to and fro--         And what should they know of England who only England know?--      The poor little street-bred people that vapour and fume and brag,         They are lifting their heads in

33930-400: Was ceded to Britain, and certain ports , including Shanghai and Guangzhou , were opened to British trade and residence. In 1856, the Second Opium War broke out; the Chinese were again defeated and forced to the terms of the 1858 Treaty of Tientsin and the 1860 Convention of Peking . The treaty opened new ports to trade and allowed foreigners to travel in the interior. Missionaries gained

34125-408: Was clear to the US that further expansion in Middle Eastern oil would not be possible without diplomatic representation. In 1939, CASOC appealed to the US State Department about increasing political relations with Saudi Arabia . This appeal was ignored until Germany and Japan made similar attempts following the start of World War II . At the start of World War II , the US had multiple territories in

34320-402: Was defeated in April following a battle in Saigon . As broad-based opposition to his harsh tactics mounted, Diệm increasingly sought to blame the communists. In a referendum on the future of the State of Vietnam in October 1955, Diệm rigged the poll supervised by his brother Ngô Đình Nhu and was credited with 98% of the vote, including 133% in Saigon. His American advisors had recommended

34515-433: Was divided into two parts at the 17th parallel : the Viet Minh , led by Ho Chi Minh , took control of North Vietnam, while the US assumed financial and military support for South Vietnam, led by Ngo Dinh Diem . The North Vietnamese began supplying and directing the Viet Cong (VC), a common front of dissidents in the south, which intensified a guerrilla war from 1957. In 1958, North Vietnam invaded Laos , establishing

34710-444: Was elected Prime Minister by the Majlis later in 1952. Mosadeggh's support by the Tudeh as well as a boycott by various businesses against the nationalised industry resulted in fears by the United Kingdom and the United States that Iran would turn to Communism. America would officially remain neutral, but the CIA supported various candidates in the 1952 Iranian legislative election . In late 1952, with Mosaddegh remaining in power,

34905-642: Was first proposed by the Eisenhower administration . John F. Kennedy , then a senator , said in a speech to the American Friends of Vietnam : "Burma, Thailand, India, Japan, the Philippines and obviously Laos and Cambodia are among those whose security would be threatened if the Red Tide of Communism overflowed into Vietnam." A devout Catholic, Diệm was fervently anti-communist, nationalist, and socially conservative. Historian Luu Doan Huynh notes "Diệm represented narrow and extremist nationalism coupled with autocracy and nepotism ." Most Vietnamese were Buddhist , and alarmed by Diệm's actions, like his dedication of

35100-434: Was first put into practice in February 1950, when the United States recognized the French-backed State of Vietnam in Saigon , led by former Emperor Bảo Đại, as the legitimate government of Vietnam, after the communist states of the Soviet Union and People's Republic of China recognized the Democratic Republic of Vietnam , led by Ho Chi Minh, as the legitimate Vietnamese government the previous month. The outbreak of

35295-433: Was given a set of mining and railroad rights around Jiaozhou Bay in Shandong province. In 1898, Russia obtained access to Dairen and Port Arthur and the right to build a railroad across Manchuria , thereby achieving complete domination over a large portion of northeast China. The United Kingdom, France, and Japan also received a number of concessions later that year. The erosion of Chinese sovereignty contributed to

35490-426: Was introduced in India, Indians were quite influenced by it, but the inequalities between the British ideals of governance and their treatment of Indians became clear. In response to this discriminatory treatment, a group of educated Indians established the Indian National Congress , demanding equal treatment and self-governance . John Robert Seeley , a Cambridge Professor of History, said, "Our acquisition of India

35685-414: Was killed in a US-backed military coup , which added to the south's instability. Following the Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964, the US Congress passed a resolution that gave President Lyndon B. Johnson authority to increase military presence without a declaration of war. Johnson launched a bombing campaign of the north and began sending combat troops, dramatically increasing deployment to 184,000 by

35880-399: Was made blindly. Nothing great that has ever been done by Englishmen was done so unintentionally or accidentally as the conquest of India". According to him, the political control of India was not a conquest in the usual sense because it was not an act of a state. The new administrative arrangement, crowned with Queen Victoria's proclamation as Empress of India in 1876, effectively replaced

36075-406: Was mainly in the Red River Delta area, 50,000 executions became accepted by scholars. However, declassified documents from Vietnamese and Hungarian archives indicate executions were much lower, though likely greater than 13,500. In 1956, leaders in Hanoi admitted to "excesses" in implementing this program and restored much of the land to the original owners. The south, meanwhile, constituted

36270-400: Was measured in directly economic terms. Trade and markets now figured as the economic nexuses of global power, a shift confirmed in the 1944 Bretton Woods agreement, which not only inaugurated an international currency system but also established two central banking institutions—the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank—to oversee the global economy. These represented the first planks of

36465-524: Was much too complex and diverse to survive long, but it was not the attempted projection of American power, concludes Gobat. The Indian Wars against the indigenous peoples of the Americas began in the colonial era . Their escalation under the federal republic allowed the US to dominate North America and carve out the 48 contiguous states . This can be considered to be an explicitly colonial process in light of arguments that Native American nations were sovereign entities prior to annexation. Their sovereignty

36660-551: Was nearly nonexistent in the country as a whole. In many ways, this new form of imperialism formed a part of the British identity until the end of the era of new imperialism with the Second World War. While Social Darwinism became popular throughout Western Europe and the United States , the paternalistic French and Portuguese " civilizing mission " (in French: mission civilisatrice ; in Portuguese: Missão civilizadora ) appealed to many European statesmen both in and outside France. Despite apparent benevolence existing in

36855-420: Was needed. Geir Lundestad has commented on the importance of "the eagerness with which America's friendship was sought and its leadership welcomed.... In Western Europe, America built an empire 'by invitation'" According to Lundestad, the U.S. interfered in Italian and French politics in order to purge elected communist officials who might oppose such invitations. The end of the Second World War and start of

37050-465: Was ready for self-government or democracy, according to Renda. In order to bring about political stability in Haiti, the United States secured control and integrated the country into the international capitalist economy, while preventing Haiti from practicing self-governance or democracy. While Haiti had been running their own government for many years before American intervention, the U.S. government regarded Haiti as unfit for self-rule. In order to convince

37245-418: Was systematically undermined by US state policy (usually involving unequal or broken treaties ) and white settler-colonialism . Furthermore, following the Dawes Act of 1887 native american systems of land tenure and communal ownership were ended, in favour of private property and capitalism . This resulted in the loss of around 100 Million acres of land from 1887 to 1934. A variety of factors converged during

37440-403: Was the first event that made Russian–American relations a matter of major, long-term concern to the leaders in each country. Some historians, including William Appleman Williams and Ronald Powaski , trace the origins of the Cold War to this conflict. Wilson launched seven armed interventions, more than any other president. Looking back on the Wilson era, General Smedley Butler , a leader of

37635-511: Was the first to industrialize, Britain was technologically ahead of many other countries throughout the majority of the nineteenth century. By the end of the nineteenth century, however, other countries, chiefly Germany and the United States, began to challenge Britain's technological and economic power. After several decades of monopoly, the country was battling to maintain a dominant economic position while other powers became more involved in international markets. In 1870, Britain contained 31.8% of

37830-431: Was unable to defeat Western armies as simplistic, noting that China embarked on a massive military modernization in the late 1800s after several defeats, buying weapons from Western countries and manufacturing their own at arsenals, such as the Hanyang Arsenal during the Boxer Rebellion . In addition, Elliott questioned the claim that Chinese society was traumatized by the Western victories, as many Chinese peasants (90% of

38025-457: Was violently suppressed and led to the deaths of 30,000 people, the majority of them civilians. North Korea invaded South Korea in June 1950, starting the Korean War . With National Security Council document 68 and the subsequent Korean War, the U.S. adopted a policy of " rollback " against communism in Asia. John Tirman , an American political theorist has claimed that this policy was heavily influenced by America's imperialistic policy in Asia in

#456543