attitudes to empire - 1890 - 1914 Flashcards
chamberlain
social reformer as lord mayor of birmingham
reformed education, cleared slums, improved housing, and municipalization of public utilities
left the liberals in 1886 over home rule
passionate imperialist
colonial secretary 1895-1903 and supported rhodes’s ambition in south africa
added south africa to the dominions - lots of territory and resources to counter new rivals such as usa and sustain popularity and prestige
allow self-rule, with westminster governing universal decisions.
wanted a customs union- imperial preference
ideas of political and economic federation fell through
federal constitution in australia, schools of tropical medicine (researched malaria and sleeping sickness), agricultural department in the west Indies, also funded their steamer service to britain and america
started the uganda railway, sanctioned the annexation of ashantiland in west africa, supervised the acquisition of the territory of the royal niger company - sense of imperial duty – helping lesser peoples
undermined by the backlash against the boer war.
1903 resigned to form the tariff reform league
rhodes
founded the modern diamond industry and controlled the british south africa company, which acquired rhodesia and zambia as british territories
founded the rhodes scholarships the 1870s rhodes developed a moderate fortune by investing in diamond claims, initiating mining techniques and 1880 formed the de beers mining company.
elected to the cape parliament in 1880
succeeded in focusing attention on the transvaal and german expansion so as to secure british control of bechuanaland by 1885
1888 - secured mining grants from lobengula which by highly stretched interpretations gave Rhodes a claim to what became Rhodesia
1895 - organized a plot against the boer government of the transvaal, which was run by the dutch settlers. through his mining company, arms and ammunition were smuggled into johannesburg, to be used for a revolution by “outlanders,” mainly british.
johannesburg plotters did not rebel but jameson, however, rode in on december 27, 1895, and was captured. rhodes had to resign his premiership in january 1896 - concentrated on developing rhodesia and especially in extending the railway, which he dreamed would one day reach Cairo, egypt.
left six million pounds, most of which went to oxford university to establish the rhodes scholarships to provide places at oxford
milner
administrator who had served in egypt and chairman of the board of inland revenue
ardent imperialist and was hand-picked by chamberlain to become britain’s high commissioner for southern africa from 1897
convinced of british superiority over africans and of the need for british regional supremacy
when kruger was re-elected as president of the transvaal in february
1898, milner concluded that there is no way out of the political troubles of south africa except for reform in the transvaal, or war.
founded a series of english-speaking ‘milner schools’ in pretoria and johannesburg
demanded full citizenship rights for the uitlanders after five years residence
when britain annexed the former boer territories of the orange free state and the transvaal in 1901,milner left his post as governor of the cape and took over the administration of these areas
negotiated the peace of vereeniging 1902
milner’s kindergarten’ worked to resettle the boers and promote economic growth, particularly in the gold-mining industry - hoped to attract british settlers and introduced a vigorous english language education programme to try to anglicise the area. more british residents left than arrived during the years of depression that followed the boer war and milner and the british government decided to use chinese labourers on three-year contracts to make up the shortfall in workers in the gold-mining industry.
first batch of chinese reached the rand in june 1904, but public opinion in britain was soon outraged to learn that they were being badly treated and even flogged in breach of the law.
liberal government rejected milner’s plans for the future of the transvaal.
baring
24-year rule in egypt profoundly influenced egypt’s development as a modern state.
in india baring rapidly made his mark - administrative qualities were obvious and highly appreciated by his superiors. yet colleagues, however, dubbed him “over baring ,which clearly bespoke his self-assured efficiency and ability to command
manner was gruff to his equals, condescending and patronizing to his subordinates and to the people he chose to describe as the “subject races.”
strong rule accompanied by reform programs was the only way to help the downtrodden peasant - experiences in egypt strengthened his views on the tyranny of native rulers and the need for reform by the british
made egypt a veiled protectorate, whereby he ruled the rulers of egypt, with the assistance of a group of english administrators trained in india, who were placed in key positions as advisers to the egyptian government.
system worked well during the first 10 years, and after the British forced the egyptian government to give up its attempt to reconquer the Sudan—wrested from its control by the religious rebellion of the mahdī, followed a period of peace and stability that allowed the country to recover from the chaos of the previous decade.
cuts in public spending and his encouragement of public irrigation works and other agricultural projects soon increased prosperity
never attempted to learn arabic and was never able to communicate either with the peasant whom he claimed to know so well or with the middle class that was to produce a new breed of nationalists.
dismissed the young nationalist movement as unimportant
saw himself as a moral reformer just as much as an administrator and was certain that the code of christian morality is the only sure foundation on which the whole of our vast imperial fabric can be built if it is to be durable.
believed that a long occupation of egypt was essential and he
established a new guiding principle - the ‘granville doctrine - allowed baring to dismiss egyptian ministers who refused to accept british directives.
considered the egyptian army to be untrustworthy, owing to its previous mutinies against the khedive, so it was disbanded and a new army organised similar to that created by the british in india.
regarded egypt as something of a battleground between civilised
christianity and islam, which he viewed as a set of outdated arabian customs detrimental to modern egypt - particularly concerned with islamic society’s acceptance of slavery, its antiquated justice system and its treatment of women.
· stop the slave supply into egypt
· discourage slave-ownership in egypt
· abolish forced labour
· outlaw punishment by use of the kurbash (leather whip)
. halt the import of hashish by establishing a camel corps to patrol egypt’s borders
. regulate alcohol sale licence
curzon
very responsive towards indian demands.
mindful of growing criticisms which emanated from professional ‘middle class’ indians and their representative body, the indian national congress, which was established in 1885 to campaign for home rule.
made changes in civil service to improve efficiency and founded imperial cadet corps in 1901, giving native princes and elite figures military training and ‘special’ officer commissions. reformed universities and police, lowered taxes and adopted gold standard to ensure stable currency.
had a focus on defence against international powers at time, russia. In 1901, the north-west frontier province created to protect border from russia fears. merged with north-western areas of pashtun of afghans with punjab with chief commissioner put in place.
decided bengal should be divided into 2 separate provinces: muslim-majority province of east bengal and assam and hindu-majority province of west bengal.
uproar occurred
consequently, the muslim elite, which supported partition, formed the all India muslim league in 1906 to safeguard rights of indian muslims & self-rule. generally favourable to British rule however division used to justify british control as only means of avoiding serious religious conflict. bengal was ultimately reunited in 1911.
lord salisbury
argued in favour for the creation of a stronger, more closely united empire
supported territorial expansion and schemes which would bind the empire together in trade and government
not afraid to use force- kitchener in sudan- 1898 - wanted advancement of backwards races’
opposed home rule for ireland
opposed unnecessary alliances that were dangerous to britain
lord meath
1896 - led empire day movement - officially recognised by government in 1916
aimed to promote empire and educate the public.
the round table movement
founded in 1909 by milner- aimed to promote union between britain and self-governing colonies - australia, new zealand, canada and south africa
leo amery
journalist for the times
supported imperial preference and tarriff reform
lord beaverbrook
newspaper proprietor
owned daily express - wanted to promote empire to the public
hobson
viewed imperial expansion as being driven by rich capitalist who wanted raw materials and new markets
capitalist connections allowed them to influence Imperial policy
his view catalysed the boer war
expansionism was a capitalist plot
small, powerful elites with the right political power and connections had enabled them to shape imperial policy
he provoked debate but had little impact on politics
hobhouse
wrote a report on the concentration camps of the boer war-
really shocked mp’s and helped tarnish the allure of imperialism.
why did the boer war raise such concern in great britain?
30,000 boers held out against britain for 4 years
40% of soldiers who volunteered to fight were physically unfit to do so - 90% in manchester.
concentration camps and scorched earth policies also alarmed some people
what was national efficiency?
britain needed to be more productive and effective if it was to avoid decline or being eclipsed by germany
who was pressuring the government to improve national efficiency?
the media
mp’s realised the need for british people to be fitter and better educated in order to compete with other nations
