2. Imperial Consolidation And Liberal Rule c1890-1914 - Imperial And Colonial Policy Flashcards
What happened to the roles and responsibilities of the empire?
The colonial office continued to have overall responsibility for the empire, although the foreign office responsibility grew as the new African protectorates were placed under its jurisdiction, the war office and admiralty were responsible for external defence whilst the treasury controlled the purse
What was the problems of mixed authorities in the empire?
If there were disputes between these different departments, the cabinet had to be consulted high made decision making difficult
What idea did both India and Egypt administration uphold?
They both upheld the Darwinist idea of European racial superiority and self rule was explicitly denied
What was Administration like in India under control of the Raj?
British officials were appointed to maintain unrestrained power in the Indian Raj until 1909, there were strict limitations on the size of the civil service due to costs, india began to modernise and spread of education enabled more Indians to read English, the Indian civil service used a policy of ‘divide and rule’ to emphasise divisions in India and wanted to bring ‘enlightened reform’
How did the British Raj benefit India?
India began to modernise with the expansion of railways and education due to them having more collaboration and economic developments meant more money was raised through taxation
What was the importance of Viceroy Curzon
he supported reform due to growing criticisms of British rule from the Indian National Congress, he improved civil service efficiency, and founded the Imperial Cadet Corps in 1901 to appease Indian princes and elite figures, he lowered taxes and adopted the ‘gold standard’ to ensure a stable currency
What was the impact of the partition of Bengal 1905?
After Curzon decided Bengal should be divided into 2 separate provinces, there was an uproar among the Hindu elite and the partition was seen as a pay-back for their criticisms of British rule and campaigns were led to develop a new strand of trident nationalism - Curzon attempted a counter however resigned in 1905 + the partition was reversed in 1911
Who led the campaigns against the partition of Bengal?
Surendranath Banerjee
What was the gold standard?
A system where the value of currency could be defined in terms of gold for which currency could be exchanged
Who was Surendranath Banerjee?
Twice president of the Indian National Congress
What did Curzon do in response to the nationalism campaigns?
He imposed strict censorship on the press
Who was viceroy minto and what did he do?
He was left to deal with the fall-out of curzon’s plans and so he introduced a limited programme of reforms in 1909 to appease the bengalis
What did the 1909 Indian councils act do and what was the benefit
It enabled 27 Indians to be elected from provincial constituencies to the viceroy council in order to assist them in the making of laws and this ensured greater Indian representation in government
What did further reforms in 1910 do?
What was the impact of viceroy Hardinge?
He used the visit of king-emperor George V to India in 1911 as an opportunity to reunite Bengal, he also moved the Indian capital from Calcutta to Delhi which reaffirmed British control and undermined revolutionary Hindu groups
What was George V’s Durbar?
A spectacular display, covering an area upwards of 20 sq miles and costing £2mn, which was designed to reinforce an anxious empire in India.
What did viceroy hardinge’s declaration of war test?
What was Egypt regarded as?
A ‘veiled protectorate’
What were the different challenges to Britain’s freedom of control in Egypt?
The capitulations, the cause de latte and the mixed courts
What were the capitulations?
They were privileges granted by the sultan to protect Europeans there, which slowed down law making
What was the ‘daises de latte dette’?
It controlled Egypt’s finances, and could prevent the British consul general from spending Egypt’s money on matters they disapproved of
What were the mixed courts?
They were set up to deal with cases involving Egyptians and Europeans and were often unsupportive of the British
What was Evelyn baring’s political role in Egypt?
He was consul-general therefore acting as an advisor to the khedive between 1883 and 1907 and whilst there he appointed lots more Britons to government
What was Evelyn baring’s financial role in Egypt?
He made cutbacks to Egypts military and bureaucracy, he revitalised the economy by improving communications and investing in irrigation, he improved conditions for Indian labourers, provided better sanitation and health services and within 10 years, sugar and cotton exports trebled and population rose from 7mn to 10mn
What did evelyn baring do for the military in Egypt?
He placed 6000 British troops within the army to ensure British interests weren’t jeopardised and the army was placed under control of kitchener
Why did baring not want to extend education opportunities?
He had seen the effects in India that led to growth of nationalist protest, and he had a racial undertone of not wanting them to get too clever
What was the Aswan dam?
A dam built over 6 years by the British in Egypt, that opened in 1902 and enabled 1/2mn acres of former desert to be irrigated with water from its reservoir, enabling year round cultivation
What was the deshawai incident 1906?
It was a confrontation between residents of deshawai and British officers after British officers agitated residents by ‘pigeon shooting’ for sport and pigeons served as a local source of livelihood. A scuffle broke out and an officer wounded the wife of a Muslim prayer leader. The solider fled the scene and died due to heat but when he was discovered, a villager was killed who had stopped to help him, after he was thought to be his assassin
What did British authorities do as a result of the deshawai incident?
They set up a special tribunal for the dead soldier, and implemented harsh punishments from lashing to execution
What was the impact of the deshawai incident and the response of the British authorities?
The events were met with great reproach in Britain and an outpouring of emotion in Egypt, which led to growing nationalism that provoked the resignation of baring
What was a key national party in Egypt?
Al Hizb al watanī
Who was eldon gorst and what did he do?
He was baring’s successor, and he brought more Egyptians into responsible government positions to weaken the Egyptian national party, he tried to impose a tighter censorship of the press in 1909 and he used penal measures to reduce the growing nationalism however this failed because Germany provided funds to the nationalists
Who was Viscount Herbert Kitchener and what did he do?
He was commander in chief of the Egyptian army in 1896 and was later army commander-in-chief during the 2nd Anglo Boer war, and under his consulship from 1911, British dominance increased and in 1913, a new legislative assembly was made (with 66 elected members), and it represented rich landowners rather than the Egyptian people
Why did Britain declare a protectorate over Egypt in 1914?
As the First World War was pending, Britain wanted the secure control of the suez canal
Dominion:
A British settler colony with self-governing powers, albeit with the British monarch as the head of state. Only countries with large white populations were granted dominion status
Where was the most successful form of native role deployed?
In the settler colonies such as Canada, New Zealand and Australia
What dominion colonies became semi-independent and why was this?
Canada from 1867, Australia from 1901, and Newfoundland & New Zealand from 1907 and the South African states were untied in 1910. Britain were in control of neither administration nor the costs of these governments
How were the original inhabitants of these settler colonies viewed and treated?
They were often viewed as paternalistic and associated with the social Darwinist terms as ‘primitive natives’ and were treated as 2nd class citizens
Who were commonly used to facilitate empire rule?
Local elites
How did the local elites facilitate British control?
They were prepared to uphold British interests in exchange for material rewards of being promoted to positions of influence
In Empire, what groups gained influence and what groups struggled?
- Large landowners or hereditary nobles gained titles or privileges while coorperative Indian middle classes were also favoured with administrative position
- however Indian applicants had to travel to England to sit the examinations for entry
In 1890, how many Indian civil service officers were they and how much did it increase by 1914?
There were 30 and this barely doubled by 1914
What else did ‘native policy’ involve and where was this strategy shown?
It involved befriending one group against another, shown in British east Africa as the ‘massi’ group were rewarded with cattle and tokens of office
What is invented tradition?
Why did Britain change their policy of ‘splendid isolation’?
- the second Anglo Boer war (1899-1902) prompted a review of strategy and an improvement of military power in India which had been left vulnerable
- two alliance systems emerged: the first in 1870 with Germany and Austria-Hungary which was joined by Italy in 1882, and the second in 1894 with France and Russia
- Britain had concerns about Russian ambition, particularly in Afghanistan and the Middle East
How did Germany under Kaiser Wilhelm threaten ‘splendid isolation’?
- the kaiser sent a telegram of support to the Transvaal following the Jameson raid and also supplied the Boers with weapons during the 2nd Anglo Boer war
- he established warm relations with the Ottoman Empire in order to better access Africa, Persian gulf and Indian trade markets without relying on the British owned Suez Canal
- mass sums were spent to build up the German navy
What ended Britain’s policy of ‘splendid isolation’?
They signed the entente cordiale with France in 1904, however this didn’t protect Britain against the triple alliance which left its relationship with Russian open
After Russia suffered defeat in Japan in 1905 what happened?
Britain Russia and France came together in a ‘triple entente’ in 1907
What was the significance of the Moroccan crisis’?
Britian’s support for France was tested when the kaiser threatened French interests in Morocco in 1905 however Britain stood by the French in 1906 at the Algeciras conference. However in 1911 a second crisis erupted when the French sent 20000 soldiers to disperse Moroccan rebels & the kaiser sent a warship to agadir, which led the British to prepare the Royal Navy for war
What was the impact of the imperial conference 1911?
Britain accepted that it was no longer in a position to maintain a ‘two power standard’ where it could match the next two strongest naval powers so instead it settled for a 60% margin over Germany however this failed and Britain withdrew the navy from the Mediterranean and had to rely on french support to maintain their Mediterranean interests
By 1914, how did Britain focus away from empire?
They refocused towards the defence of Britain in Europe due to the ambitions and growth of other powers
What led Britain into war in August 1914?
The German invasion of Belgium, as Britain had promised to protect their neutrality since 1839 and the Kairser’s failure to reply to the British ultimatum
