Attitudes towards imperialism in Britain 1857-1890 Flashcards
attitudes to empire: the british government
in the first half of the 19th century, disraeli regarded the colonies as ‘mill-stone around our neck’ whilst Gladstone promised to’ abstain from any territorial gains’
they withheld charters from colonies they did not think were viable and in 1865 a parliamentary committee recommended withdrawal from west africa colonies due to cost
the 1870s saw a shift with attitude due to strategic rivalry with european powers. Britain found itself getting greater economic competition and European and American protective tariffs made it harder to flood the western hemisphere with British manufactured goods
Benjamin Disraeli
conservative short lived prime minister in 1868
served a second term between 1874 and 1880
William Gladstone
Colonial Secretary in a conservative government until leading the newly formed Liberal party from 1868
party political conflict: disraeli and the conservatives
in the 1870s, Disraeli began to assert the conservatives were the party of empire which was enlarged by the 1867 reform act. playing the imperial card secured an electoral victory in 1874. Attitudes towards empire produced intense party rivalry as Gladstone wanted to avoid new acqusitions and focus on existing colonies whilst Disraeli had been accused of jingoism ( extreme empire related patriotism)
Disreali bought £4 million worth of shares in the Suez Canal in 1875 and steered the Royal Titles Act in 1877 as a means to embed British rule over India
attempted to turn Afghanistan into a client state - a protracted conflict followed which saw the British-Indian troops suffer almost 10,000 losses before eventual victory - this became the North-West Frontier province in 1901
annexed the Transvaal and launched war on the Zulus and Pedi which initially proved a failure until victory.
The setbacks in the Afghan and Zulu campaigns contributed to the Conservatives resounding defeat in 1880
party political conflict: Gladstone and the Liberals
had been highly critical of Disraelis government but was forced to pick up the pieces of Conservative adventurism when the Boers mobilised to throw off British control, launching the first Anglo-Boer war in 1880 but after defeat at Majuba Hill, Gladstone declined to commit further troops
In the Mahdist rebellion in 1884, Gladstone urged the withdrawal of Anglo-Egyptian troops and reflected that the Sudanese were ‘rightly struggling to be free’ but Gladstone became embroiled in Egypt for the sake of a safe passaged to India. Pashas uprising in 1881 threatened the security of the Suez Canal and European lives
the berlin conference of 1884-85 resulted in the conversion of Somaliland and Bechuanaland into british protectorates but local Tswana rulers were left in power in Bechuanaland
Gladstone was reluctant to take on further managment or cost associated with Empire - Germany claimed New Guinea in 1884 and Gladstone resisted intervention until Queensland Prime minister ordered the occupation of the South Eastern Zone and Australia subsequently financed the development of British New Guinea
Gladstone resigned in 1885 after overseeing the 1884 parliamentary reform act (extended the vote to 5.5 million) and was replaced by Conservative Sailsbury
loss of Gladstones support came from his sympathy for the Irish nationalists who campaigned for independence
attitudes to empire: the British public
from the 1860s Empire began to fire public imagination as a result of growing popular press which saw the stories of ‘heroism’. The education act of 1870 increased literacy rates whilst the extending of the vote in the 1867 and 1884 reform acts made the public more politically aware.
the british were horrified by the massacres and tortures in the 1857 Indian mutiny and thrilled by the stories of brave soldiers. Not mentioned in the press were the attrocities committed by the British
Imperialist literature appeared in bookshops whilst younger victorians were regaled with tales of adventure in the new comic genre
clubs and associations like the boys brigade sprang up, reinforcing imperialist values by offering military training and reminding young men of what it means to be part of the glorious British Empire
the impact of empire at home
19th century British held widely accepted attitudes which today would be condemned as racist. The British saw their empire as the ‘empire of races’ and believed themselves infinitely superior to other races in everything from their religion and morals to their laws and political institutions.
this was accompanied by a belief that bringing these people into the Empire could somehow civilise them, leading them away from their heathen and turning them into law-abiding citizens
imperial exhibitions
the sense of Britons moral rights was encouraged by the publication of Darwins ‘On the Origin of Species’ whose theories of natural selection were soon applied to human races
this insistence on Victorians superiority was reinforced by exhibitions. the 1862 International Exhibition featured over 28,000 exhibitors from 36 countries and represented a wide range of industry, technology and arts
in 1877, a nubian village, featuring both animals and people from the Sudan was put on display in London and in 1886 the Colonial and Indian Exhibition was held
These exhibitions are now referred to as human zoos and demonstrates the ways in which colonial peoples were paraded in Europe for the purpose of entertainment and self-congratulations
London also hosted an African Exhibition in 1890 which was the works of traders, government officials and missionaries. Trophy displays of shields and axes, an African hut and two boys from Bechuanaland - appeared to justify British presence in Africa
social Darwinism
Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution was applied to a wider context through his cousin, Herbet Spencer. He came up with the phrase ‘survival of the fittest’ in 2864 and applied it to the human races
Social Darwinists believed that societies and peoples competed for dominance and only the strongest societies could survive. This concept was used to justify the colonisation of ‘weaker’ peoples.
