#MAP OF THE WORLD AFTER WW1 SERIES#

Other countries on the continent also see commodity booms and economic expansion. This country sees its economy expand and its population increase due to immigration. The same is true for Argentina, in South America.

#MAP OF THE WORLD AFTER WW1 SERIES#

Australia’s colonization is boosted by a series of gold rushes. Their economies are greatly stimulated by the advent of refrigerated cargo ships, which allows them to ship their produce (meat, wool and dairy products) to Britain. In South East Asia only Thailand succeeds in keeping a semblance of independence in the Pacific, Tonga remains under the rule of its monarchs, but only as a protectorate of the British Empire.Īustralia and New Zealand continue to be settled by people of European (mostly British) extraction. South East Asia and the Pacific, like Africa, see Western powers take control of most territories. Since then things have only gone from bad to worse with the country becoming fragmented amongst regional warlords. Japan’s defeat of China further undermined the prestige of the Qing regime, and has helped lead to the end of the long succession of imperial dynasties in China. This has allowed it to defeat, first China, then Russia (one of the leading powers of Europe), in war, and to annex Korea. Japan has responded by meeting like with like: it has undergone the most startling modernization in the history of the world. The contrasting fates of the different countries of East Asia could not be more different from one another – results dependent upon the effectiveness of their responses to the Western challenge. In the Indian sub-continent, this period sees the high water mark of British rule. The Ottoman Empire, meanwhile, has succeeded in tightening its grip on its territories – while losing most of its lands in the Balkans. Much of the Middle East has fallen under Western influence, though of a less direct kind than in Africa. The British only succeed in bringing the Boer territories under control after a long, tough fight. South Africa sees a major challenge to British imperial rule as the Boers rebel in 1899. In all of European-ruled Africa, local societies are drawn forcibly into the modern world, with railways, roads, western education and missionary activity all beginning to alter them for ever. In other parts, it is followed by shocking brutality (as in the Belgian Congo). In some parts of Africa, the arrival of European powers is met by fierce resistance (as in German South West Africa). Over the past couple of decades, most of Africa has been parceled out amongst European powers, with British and French empires taking the lion’s share. It will not take much of a spark to set these nations against each other, and this year that spark is lit. The resulting tensions have divided much of Europe into two camps – Germany, Austro-Hungary and Italy on one side, Britain, France and Russia on the other. Politically, Germany‘s rise has destabilized Europe. The USA and Germany have drawn ahead of Britain as industrial powers. New inventions such as the lightbulb, gramophones, the telephone, cameras, the car, airplanes and artificial fertilizers – continue to change the lives of Westerners. The middle classes continue to increase in numbers, and the working classes benefit from a rising standard of living. Within Western societies, relentless industrial advance has occurred. Many of these are then shipped back out to worldwide markets, which are financed and controlled by Western capital. A global economy has arrived by which the commodities of the planet are shipped to Western nations, there to be consumed, or turned into manufactured goods. The oceans are linked by an ever-intensifying network of sea routes, all converging on Western ports. Railways start appearing in all corners of the world – in Western-ruled colonies, such as in India and Africa, and in countries as yet beyond direct Western control, such as China and the countries of Latin America. The conquests are followed by economic exploitation. As a result, Western Empires, with the British Empire in the lead, rule much of the world. The same process has been at work in South East Asia and the Pacific. The centerpiece of this process is an episode labelled the “ Scramble for Africa“, in which European powers compete to annex as much of the continent as they can. In what must be the most audacious land-grab in history, Western nations divide much of the globe between them. World history in 1914 - the West in command Overview Western Imperialism

Map of the world after ww1