European Imperialism

The world today is very different to the world at the beginning of the twentieth century. The rise of many different ideals and values would emerge which would change the lives of so many as well as change the world forever. New technologies and medicines would be invented; countries such as Africa and Asia were under the control of foreign nations, in particular European countries, due to a system called Imperialism, and the First World War would break out.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the world’s population was around 1.6 billion and rapidly increasing. The world was full of authoritarian regimes at this time such as the Russian Csar, the German Kaiser, The British Royal Family and the Regimes in Asia and Africa. Globally, there

Navel technology was improving and electricity was being used as the new power source for factories and tramcars. In the United States, 1 in 50 people owned and used a telephone. Edison invented the gramophone which allowed people to listen to music, movie theatres started showing silent movies, steam trains were replaced by electric ones, as well as the inventions of the mechanical carpet sweeper, the Gillette safety razor and the typewriter. In terms of transport, horses were important for pulling carts, wagons, carriages, fire engines etc. There were electric tramcars in the big cities, as well as the use of bicycles, trains and boats to get around. In 1903, the first successful plane flight was recorded at a time of 59 seconds, and the Ford Model T was introduced. By 1904, there were around 1,000,000 cars on American roads alone. Health care was drastically improving with surgery now common for removing tumours, tonsils and appendixes. In 1900, the leading causes of death in the US were pneumonia, tuberculosis, and diarrhoea; and life expectancy was around 45 years old compared to today’s life expectancy of around 80. Women everywhere were considered as second class citizens and were seen as their husband’s property. By 1910 only three countries allowed women to vote: Australia, New Zealand, and Finland. In 1918 the vote was granted to women over 30 in Britain. Demands for the vote and women’s rights helped to expand

Between the years of 1894 and 1914, lone assassins had taken out six national leaders under the belief that if there was no government or laws, people would be free and happy. This ideology was known as anarchism. Anarchism was the political movement aiming to overthrow government power and replace it with voluntary cooperation of groups and individuals working for the common good. They hated the efforts of socialists and believed that the only answer was violence, as the ruling class would never give up its rights and privileges. Anarchists frequently used acts of terrorism in their attempts to achieve their aims. Society was terrified by anarchists as they were known to commit random acts of violence such as bombing public places or pulling out a knife or gun on anyone passing by. In an act to discourage and prevent anarchism, courts in Europe imprisoned people for announcing anarchism, and the US Congress decided to ban immigrants from encouraging and teaching the disbelief or opposition to organised government. Anarchism first emerged around 1848. Pierre Proudhon of France and Michael Bakunin, a Russian exile, were regarded as the first two self-proclaimed anarchist. Proudhon said, “Government of man by man is slavery” and its laws are “cobwebs for the rich and chains of steel for the