attitudes to empire Flashcards
how did gov view empire in first half of 1800s?
Before the mid-1800s the British government did not peruse a very active or interventionist role in Empire
* This was partly because of slow communications, lack of institutions to deal with Empire and from a general
lack of commitment to intervention itself
* The Empire was bound up with a sense of nationalist prestige and identity but it was the freedom to trade and
access markets that concerned Britain most
* Successive governments had resisted calls to secure new territories by, for example, withholding charters from
commercial colonising companies that they didn’t think were viable
* Both Disraeli and Gladstone were against Empire at this point believing it unnecessary and financially counter and believed it was a drain on Britain’s resources and priorities should lie in Britain.
why did gov attitudes shift from 1860s?
-Primarily due to a concern regarding the intention of other European powers.
Other nations grew stronger industrially and Britain now found greater economic competition. Britain’s
economy was relatively unsophisticated as it was based on earlier industrialisation than its rivals
- European and American protective tariffs made it harder to flood the western hemisphere with British
manufactured goods
- The industrialisation in Britain had generated an enormous amount of surplus capital which could not find
investments within the country, therefore, sought outlets overseas
who was Benjamin Disreali
Conservative party leader and Prime Minister in 1868 and between 1874-1880
* He maintained a friendship with Queen Victoria, flattering her with the Empress of India title in 1876. In the
same year, she bestowed upon him the Earldom of Beaconsfield
who was William Gladstone?
Gladstone served as both Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer on four occasions
* He attended Oxford University before being elected to Parliament in 1831
* He served as colonial secretary (1845-46) in a conservative government before becoming the leader of the
newly formed Liberal Party from 1868
* He was influenced by his other’s commitment to Scottish non-conformism
* It was argued that Gladstone was, at heart, a domestic politician whose views were anti-imperialist and noninterventionalist – he had little enthusiasm for colonial expansion
Disraelis attitudes to empire from 1860s
Disraeli began to assert that the conservatives were the party of Empire and that the liberals would allow it to crumble
- He presented this new perspective in his Crystal Palace speech in 1872 – arguing that it was the government’s
duty to reconstruct the colonial Empire
-His new-found enthusiasm was partly to try to win support from the enlarged electorate (1867 reform act) The
conservatives hadn’t won an election since 1841 and this was a sure way to win support – he won in 1874
His aim was specifically to develop the commercial and strategic empire with the focus on the east rather than
in Africa, where most of Gladstone’s’ annexations occurred
Disraelis actions in empire
As PM, Disraeli established the conservative party’s imperial attitudes and agenda by buying £4 m worth of Suez Canal shares in 1875. This gave Britain a permanent strategic interest in the area.
Disraeli steered the Royal Titles Act through the House of Commons in order to bestow the title of ‘Empress
of India’ on Queen Victoria in 1877 which was a means to establish British control over India
Disraeli and his Viceroy sought to consolidate and expand the Raj and respond to the Russian threat, by
attempting to turn Afghanistan into a client state. Lytton launched an invasion of Afghanistan in November
1878. A conflict followed which as British-Indian troops suffer a series of setbacks, and almost 10 000 losses,
before eventual victory secured British control over Afghanistan and the strategically significant north-west
frontier. Disraeli also supported the Ottoman Empire against the Russian threat
Disraeli’s government annexed the Boer republic of the Transvaal in 1877 and launched a war on the Zulu and
Pedi tribes in the hope of establishing a British confederation over southern Africa
The initial invasion of Zululand proved a failure, with British troops humiliated as Isandlwana in January 1879 before belatedly securing victory at Ulundi, six months later
His government actually annexed relatively few areas but he was largely responsible for the profound long-term alteration in the way Empire was viewed. There were no new administrative or economic policies for the Empire enacted by Disraeli’s government and he completely ignored colonies of settlement
The setbacks in the Afghan and Zulu campaigns contributed to the conservative’ resounding defeated in the April 1880 general election and the return of a liberal government under Gladstone
gladstones opinions towards empire
Believed Britain should concentrate on developing existing colonies, helping them towards self-government. He distinguished between ‘imperialism’ which he opposed and ‘empire’ which he supported
-Gladstone developed a way of looking at Empire positively as having the potential for a larger community of
sovereign states. He became aware of the importance of Empire and managed to line it with his principles
* He saw the Empire in largely economic terms – as a trading Empire This may explain why he admitted self-governing colonies
gladstones actions in empire
Gladstone had been highly critical of Disraeli’s foreign and imperial policies and he had to pick up the pieces of the conservative actions in South Africa when the Transvaal Boers mobilised the throw off British control
and declare their independence in December 1880
* The Boer’s civilian militia besieged British garrisons across the Transvaal – starting the first Boer war of 1880-
1881 which was now like a series of half-hearted skirmishes. Following the British forces’ defeat at Majuba
Hill in February 1881, Gladstone declined to commit further troops, lives or money to British hegemony over
Southern Africa
* During the Mahdist Rebellion in the Sudan in 1884, Gladstone urged the withdrawal of Anglo-Egyptian troops
and reflected that the Sudanese were ‘rightly struggling to be free’
* Despite his principles, Gladstone became embroiled in Egypt, not for its own sake but for the sake of safe
passage to India but also as a result of public and press pressure. Arabi Pasha’s uprising of 1881 threatened the
security of the Suez Canal, European lives and British investments (he himself had a large personal investment
there) in Egypt. Once order was restored in 1882, Khedive Tewfiq was installed as a ruler in Britain’s newest
occupies territory
* Gladstone broke the link Disraeli had established with Turkey and instead became more involved in Africa
* Gladstone also became more involved after the Berlin Conference of 1884-5 which officially started formal
land-grabbing across Africa. This resulted in the conversion of Somaliland and Bechuanaland into
protectorates. However, the local Tswana rulers were left in power in Bechuanaland which suggested that
Gladstone was reluctant to take on further management or costs
* The same hesitancy was evident when Germany claimed the Pacific Island of New Guinea in 1884, renaming
it Kaiser Wilhelmsland: Gladstone resisted intervention and the prospect of direct confrontation with Germany.
Instead, the Premier of Queensland ordered the occupation of the island’s south-eastern zone to establish
British control there. Australia subsequently financed the development of British New Guinea
* An off-shoot of Gladstone’s support for colonial self-government was his sympathy for the cause of Irish
nationalist who had long campaigned for Irish independenceGladstone resigned as Prime Minister in June 1885 having overseen the 1884 Parliamentary Reform act which
further extended the vote to 5.5 million men. Promoting imperialism for popular support returned under the
conservative Lord Salisbury
* Gladstone returned as Prime Minister in 1886, he introduced a Home Rule Bill for Ireland, confirming his
reluctant imperialistic status and ignited further debate in parliament and across Britain
similarities between gladstone and disraeli
- Although the most extensive acquisitions came under Gladstone, they were often the result of actions by
Disraeli. Both reacted to local threats in a way which would protect Britain’s key trade routes and strategic
interests
influence of press on attitudes towards empire
Reporting in the growing popular press saw the value of stories of the exotic and of heroism. Press became especially crucial after 1870 education act.
* The Times – suffered in the period 1857-1890 as circulation declined, almost to the point of collapse but then
revived. It tended to represent traditional wealthy views and promoted an imperialist agenda
Punch – A magazine which influenced the middle classes, cartoons did create an impact and it tended to
feature lots of imperial news, especially linked to India
* The Daily Mail – Began in 1896 and tended to be a cheap paper appealing to current issues. It tended to have a jingoistic approach to many foreign and Empire issues. It appealed to a new class of reader – the lower middle class
After the fiasco at Khartoum, newspapers such as the Times, the Daily Telegraph and Punch turned sharply
away from Gladstonian liberalism
education, enfranchisement and attitudes towards empire
The Education Act of 1870 had increased national literacy rates so more people had access to stories of Empire
Enfranchisement:
The extension of the vote in the 1867 and 1884 reform acts made the public more politically aware
imperial heroes and attitudes towards empire
The British were horrified by stories of massacres and tortures at Cawnpore during the Indian mutiny Major General Henry Havelock recaptured Cawnpore in July and Lucknow in September 1857. He was considered a
national hero and after his death, the public paid for a statue of him to be erected in Trafalgar Square
* General Gordon was also considered a national hero
* The reporting of Arabi Pasha’s revolt in Egypt told the tale in such florid tones that Gladstone’s decision to
intervene was well supported
youth organisations and attitudes towards empire
The Boy’s Own Paper first appeared in 1879 and featured storied portraying soldiers and bravery across the
globe. It had a circulation of more than half a million
* Clubs and associations such as the Boys’ Brigade (1883) reinforced imperialistic values by offering military
training and by reminding young men what it meant to be part of the ‘glorious’ British Empire. These all promoted pro imperialist and positive views of the empire to young children
exhibitions and attitudes towards empire
Exhibitions reinforced the British sense of physical and social superiority. They had originally been intended as
international and educational but were, by the 1880s, becoming more imperial and entertaining
* The Great Exhibition of 1851 received 6 million visitors
* The International Exhibition of 1862 was held in South Kensington and received 6 million visitors. It featured
over 28 000 exhibitors from 36 countries. It represented a wide range of industry, technology, and the arts and
displayed 7000 exhibits from India alone
* In 1877, a Nubian Village collected in the Sudan (including both animals and humans) was put on display at
London’s Alexandria Palace
* London also hosted an African Exhibition in 1890. This was to showcase Stanley’s Africa travels. It celebrated
explorer and colonisation and provided a display of photographs and maps showing colonial expansion in
Africa and the routes of famous British explorers. There was also a trophy display of shields, spears, axes,
throwing knives, an African hut and two boys from Bechuanaland. The exhibition stimulated scientific and
anthropological interest and appeared to justify the British presence in Africa.
social darwinism and attitudes towards empire
Darwins origin of the species promoted pro imperialist ideas which reinforced the view that the British were morally superior to native people. It reinforced the idea that British intervention in the empire was correct and British morals, views and livelihood needed to intervene in these countries.
