(5) Attitudes Towards Imperialism

Question 1

Disraeli

Answer 1

Imperialist
- Annexed Transvaal 1877
- Appointed Robert Lytton Viceroy and his display in Dehli 1877 - Launched an invasion into Afghanistan in 1878
- Bought £4 million share in Suez Canal
Conservative Prime Minister
- 1868 and 1874-1880
- Won the 1874 election
- Played the Imperialist Card
- Conservatives 'Party of the Empire'
- Crystal Palace Speech 1872
- Empress of India Title 1876

Question 2

Gladstone

Answer 2

• Became leader of liberal party in 1868
• Served as Prime Minister 1880
• Mahdist Rebellion in Sudan in 1884, Gladstone urged withdrawal of Anglo-Egyptian troops - Sudanese are ‘struggling to be free’
• Egypt 1882 - installed Khedive Twefiq
• First Boer War 1880-81 British Forces defeated at Mujuba Hill February 1881
• Clash with Disreali
• Wanted to improve existing colonies and avoid further acquisitions
• Accused Disraeli of Jingoism
• Help Colonies towards self governance
• Resigned as Prime Minister in June 1885
• Oversaw the 1884 Parliamentary Act that extended the vote to 5.5 million men
• Helped the conservatives as the public liked Imperialism
• Returned in 1886 with the Home Bill for Ireland

Question 3

How did education reforms affect attitudes towards imperialism?

Answer 3

Education act of 1870
Increased literacy rates
This and the 1867 and 1884 Reform Acts made the public more politically aware

Question 4

Imperialist literature

Answer 4

• Haggard - ‘King Solomon’s Mines’ 1885 + ‘She’ 1887
• ‘Boys Brigade’ 1883 offered military training and talked about ‘glorious Empire’
• ‘Boy’s own paper’ 1879 - portrayed soldiers bravery around the globe

Question 5

The press and the Indian Mutiny

Answer 5

1857 - show their influence with the Indian Mutiny
Public horrified by massacres and tortures around Cawnpore
Thrilled by soldiers and Major-General Henry Havelock - recaptured Cawnpore in July 1857
After his death in Nov 1857, public paid for his statue in Trafalgar Square

Question 6

Competition and its effect on attitudes towards imperialism

Answer 6

European and American protectionism tariffs meant that Britain had to look further abroad for its markets

Question 7

Superiority

Answer 7

Charles Darwin’s ‘Origin of Species’ 1859
‘Darwinism’
Spread of the thinking of superior races

Question 8

Imperial Exhibitions

Answer 8

• 1862 Internation Exhibition in South Kensington, featured over 28,000 exhibitors from 36 countries - 7000 exhibits from India
• 1886 Exhibition - Built in India style and ‘living exhibits’ brought Indians to Britain
• 1890 Exhibition - Celebrated explorers and colonisation, showing maps and photographs of British Expansion in Africa.

Question 9

The press and Self-governing colonies

Answer 9

• The Times rejected this and in an editorial in February 1962 asserted that the white colonies were uniformly prosperous and they desired to remain a part of the empire – delayed self governance – Canada self governed dominion in 1867
• Many colonists agreed
• The working class journal ‘The Bee Hive’ collected 100,000 signatures for a petition which asked the Queen to state-funded emigration schemes for the unemployed

Question 10

The Press and the invasion of Egypt?

Answer 10

• 1882 Arabi Pasha’s nationalist revolt occupied reporters
• Pall Mall Gazette wrote of ‘the Moslem mob’
• The Daily Telegraph recounted that the rebels had killed ‘all the Christians they could find’
• By incensing the public the press garnered support for Gladstone. It made it easier for him to intervene in Egypt