Ann Kordas; Ryan J. Lynch; Brooke Nelson; Julie Tatlock

A cartoon drawing shows a large white egg labeled “China” lying on its side in the middle of a dirt road. The cartoon includes eight chickens, each with a man’s bearded face and wearing clothes. Underneath the egg, getting rolled over, is a chicken wearing a red and white king’s hat labeled “Russia” and a green coat with white trim. To the left pushing on the egg is a chicken in orange pants, a blue coat and a red hat labeled “France.” Atop the egg there are two chickens - the one on the left wears a white military coat and a helmet with a figure on it, labeled “Germany,” while the one on the right wears a gold and red king’s crown with a red coat with white and black trimmed fur. The belly is labeled “England.” To the bottom right of the egg is another chicken wearing a blue top hat labelled “Austria” and a red coat, sticking its tongue out at the Russian chicken. A chicken stands in the background on the right wearing red striped white pants and a black coat, a hat labelled with ‘Japan.” A chicken that is dressed in a long blue coat, yellow vest and white pants with red stripes and a hat labelled “U.S.” is perched on a fence in the rear right. A man’s head with a black helmet with “Italy” written on it is peeking out from behind the egg on the left. Grass and trees are in the background. — Figure 9.1 “A Troublesome Egg to Hatch.” Eager for wealth, the powerful industrialized nations of the world try to hatch the “troublesome egg” that was China in this 1901 political cartoon by the American artist J. S. Pughe. Britain and Germany settle atop it, Russia is in danger of being crushed beneath, and the United States looks on from afar. (credit: modification of work “A troublesome egg to hatch” by LOC Prints and Photographs Division/Library of Congress)

Chapter Outline

Introduction

In the second half of the nineteenth century, Britain, France, Belgium, Germany, the United States, and a few other countries embarked on the Second Industrial Revolution as they adopted new sources of energy and churned out ever-larger numbers of manufactured goods. In their quest for profit and power, the industrialized nations sought access to new markets and inexpensive sources of raw materials. Their desire for resources led them to seize territory in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific, ignoring the rights of the people there and costing the lives of millions. Even as large and established a nation as China was not inviolable, and the European nations carved spheres of influence from it just as they did in other regions of the world (Figure 9.1).