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).

Figure 9.2 Timeline: Expansion in the Industrial Age. (credit “1811”: modification of work “Modern Egypt, Muhammad Ali by Auguste Couder, lighter colors” by Unknown/Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain; credit “1850s”: modification of work “Steelworks at Barrow-in-Furness, 1877” by Unknown/University of Strathclyde project/Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain; credit “1865”: modification of work “Gatling in US-Army” by Yellowstone National Park Collection/Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain; credit “1867”: modification of work “Conté portrait of the Emperor Meiji” by Eduardo Chiossone in Tenno Yondai No Shozo/Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain; credit “1877”: modification of work “Photograph of the painting ‘Dog looking at and listening to a phonograph,’ by Francis Berraud in 1898” by Library of Congress/Library of Congress; credit “1885”: modification of work “1885 Benz” by Alonso de Mendoza/Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)

Figure 9.3 Locator Map: Expansion in the Industrial Age. (credit: modification of work “World map blank shorelines” by Maciej Jaros/Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)