Read more
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, colonial powers clashed over much of Central and East Asia: Great Britain and Germany fought over New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, Fiji, and Samoa; France and Great Britain competed over control of continental Southwest Asia; and the United States annexed the Philippines and Hawaii. Meanwhile, the possible disintegration of China and Japan's growing nationalism added new dimensions to the rivalries. Surveying these and other international developments in the Pacific basin during the three decades preceding World War I, Kees van Dijk traces the emergence of superpowers during the colonial race and analyzes their conduct as they struggled for territory. Extensive in scope,
Pacific Strife is a fascinating look at a volatile moment in history.
List of contents
Foreword, Chapter one STEAM AND CANALS, Chapter two RIVALRIES IN THE PACIFIC, Chapter three PLANTERS, TRADERS AND SLAVERS IN THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC, Chapter four FIJI: THE START OF ANGLO-GERMAN RIVALRY IN THE PACIFIC, Chapter five THE SAMOA CONFLICT, Chapter six GERMANY ENTERS THE COLONIAL RAC,E Chapter seven THE NEW GUINEA PROTECTORATES, Chapter eight GREAT BRITAIN, RUSSIA AND THE CENTRAL ASIAN QUESTION, Chapter nine SAMOAN REMAINS A SOURCE OF INTERNATIONAL TENSION, Chapter ten THE EMERGING ECONOMIC WORLD POWERS, Chapter eleven GREAT BRITAIN, FRANCE AND SOUTHEAST ASIA, Chapter twelve THE FRENCH EXPANSION WESTWARDS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA, Chapter thirteen RUSSIA, JAPAN AND THE CHINESE EMPIRE, Chapter fourteen THAILAND AND BEYOND, Chapter fifteen THE SCRAMBLE FOR CHINA: JIOAZHOU AND PORT ARTHUR, Chapter sixteen THE BRITISH REACTION: WEI-HAI-WEI, Chapter seventeen THE SCRAMBLE FOR CHINA CONTINUES: GUANGZHOUWAN AND TIBET, Chapter eighteen THE FAILED ANNEXATION OF HAWAII, Chapter nineteen THE UNITED STATES BECOMES A COLONIAL EMPIRE, Chapter twenty THE PARTITION OF SAMOA, Chapter twenty-one THE RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR, Chapter twenty-two GREAT BRITAIN'S SEARCH FOR SECURE COLONIAL FRONTIERS, Chapter twenty-three THE UNITED STATES, JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC OCEAN, Chapter twenty-four, EPILOGUE
About the author
Kees van Dijk is emeritus professor of the history of modern Islam in Indonesia at Leiden University.
