4.1) (1900-19) first world war, race riots and immigration control

Question 1

why were immigration controls introduced?

Answer 1

• it was a time of economic crisis and industrial unrest
• there were high levels of poverty for british workers and they feared that the foreigners were undercutting their jobs and causing poor health and housing conditions

Question 2

what was the 1905 aliens act?

Answer 2

restricted immigration to immigrants unless they could prove that:
- they had to have enough money to support themselves
- immigrants had to show that they could earn a living
- they were not allowed entry if they had a criminal record, a mental illness or a comtagious disease
- if they could prove that they were refugees for politcal or religious reasons - they were allowed entry

Question 3

how did people respond to the 1905 act?

Answer 3

• the act was seen as a turning point because it no longer had an ‘open door’ policy
• manchester evening chronicle 1905: it was pleased that the ‘dirty, destitute, verminous and criminal foreigner who dumps humself on our soil and rate (local taxes) simultaneously, shall be forbidden to land’ (positive)
• MP josiah wedgewood: ‘i have never been so ashamed of the house of commons as i have been today’ and called it a ‘unanimous spirit of persecution’

Question 4

why did anti-foreigner feeling continue after the 1905 act had been passed?

Answer 4

• there was lots of international tensions in the years before the first world war
• the UK became home to many refugees escaping repressive regimes in europe

Question 5

why had there been such little restriction on immigration before 1905?

Answer 5

• more people were leaving the UK than coming in so they needed immigrants
• employers wanted cheap labour
• between 1905 and 1910, there were 400,000 immigrants and 2 million emigrants

Question 6

why did the siege of sideney street happen? and what was its outcome?

Answer 6

• in 1911, policeman surprised some latvians robbing a jeweller’s store
• after killing the three policemen, the latvians fled to sidney street where a siege developed
• it ended a battle and a fire in which all the latvians died
• there was then dramatic press coverage of the incidents which stirred up public feeling against those portrayed as ‘aliens’

Question 7

what is an anti-colonial activist and what did they do?

Answer 7

black intellectuals and politicians whose work together would lay the foundations for the independence of several nations when they broke free from british activist

Question 8

what were the aims of the pan african conference?

Answer 8

• “to achieve civil and political rights for africans and their descendants throughout the war”
• “to encourage friendly relations between caucasian and african races”
• “to approach governments and to influence legislation in the interests of the black races”
• “to ameliorate (improve) the conditions of the oppressed [] people in all parts of the world”

Question 9

what was the 1914 alien registration and british nationality act?

Answer 9

brought further restrictions on top of the 1905 act
- all ‘aliens’ had to register at the police stations and show good character and a knowledge of english
- there were restrictions on where aliens could live and the could be deported

Question 10

why was the 1914 act established?

Answer 10

it was aimed at german and austrian refugees who had been living in britain

Question 11

how was anti-german feeling stirred up by the press?

Answer 11

• through wartime propaganda, especially after the sinking of the lusitania by a german submarine
• this lead to 2000 german properties being attcaked and £40,000 in damage

Question 11

how was anti-german feeling stirred up by the press?

Answer 11

• through wartime propaganda, especially after the sinking of the lusitania by a german submarine
• this lead to 2000 german properties being attcaked and £40,000 in damage

Question 12

which countries contributed to the war effort in WW1?

Answer 12

colonies of the british empire such as: india, west indies, canada. australia etc.

Question 13

who/what are merchant seamen?

Answer 13

men who worked on trading ships

Question 14

how did merchant seamen contribute to the war effort?

Answer 14

• many were drafted into the royal navy when there was a labour shortage on cargo ships
• many more lascars were hired (17.5% of all in 1919) but in 1914 they received 1/5 of what their white counterparts were getting
• in 1919 pay for white workers was 14 times as high

Question 15

what was the 1919 alien registration amendment act?

Answer 15

• a continuation of the 1914 act but an amended version
• aliens could only do certain jobs and were not allowed to strike
• indian seamen were not classified as aliens because they were citizens of the empire

Question 16

why was the 1919 act established?

Answer 16

the government wanted to make sure that british soldiers would have jobs to return to so they decided to extend the 1914 act

Question 17

why were tensions so high in port cities in 1919?

Answer 17

• white workers were told by the national union of seamen that ‘coloured’ seamen were taking their jobs
• mobs of rioters turned on indian, chinese, arab and african sailors