5-Attitudes towards imperialism in Britain

Question 1

Disraeli

Answer 1

Imperialist
-Annexed Transvaal 1877
-Appointed Robert Lytton Viceroy and his display in Delhi 1877 - Launched an invasion into Afghanistan in 1878
-Bought £4 million share in Suez Canal
Conservative
-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
• Clashed with Disraeli
• 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 November 1857, public paid for his stature 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 loop 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 time rejected this and in an editorial in February 1862 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

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