British Attitudes Towards Imperialism 1890-1914 Flashcards
When was Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee?
June 1897.
What was the significance of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee?
It encapsulated the imperialist fervour of the 1890s, with a huge military display of over 50,000 soldiers. It is seen as the zenith of imperialism.
What was the Khaki election in 1900?
The British became known as the ‘khakis’ during the Second Anglo-Boer War due to the colour of their uniform. During the war in 1900, the Conservative Party government of Lord Salisbury remained in office, using the sentiment of the war to gain support.
How did the British public justify Empire (2)?
1) The Empire was a ‘burden’ or ‘responsibility’ that God had placed on the British to bring stability and order to the world.
2) The Empire was a force for ‘civilisation’, freeing colonial peoples from supposed law oppression, and providing welfare and law.
What were the Liberal Party’s imperial ideals?
The Liberals aimed at the ‘education’ and improvement of the colonies and their people, with the ultimate objective of self-rule. Despite this, they were reluctant to bring an end to Empire, instead advocating in freedom through Empire, rather than from it.
Who was Robert Gascoyne-Cecil (Lord Salisbury)?
3x Conservative Prime Minister (1885-86), (1886-92), and (1895-1902). He was an imperialist, and believed British rule crucial for colonial development.
What did imperialists in Britain argue for in the late 1890s?
Most wanted a closer and stronger Empire, meaning territorial expansion and support for schemes that would bind Empire together in trade and in government - imperial preference.
Name 3 ‘high imperialists’.
1) Alfred Milner.
2) Joseph Chamberlain.
3) Viceroy Curzon.
What is a pooling of sovereignty?
Shared authority, so that Britain no longer had supreme power over the Empire.
What did Joseph Chamberlain advocate in the early 1890s, and why?
Fearing a national crisis due to the military and industrial development of other nations, Chamberlain advocated imperial preference, aiming to enable industrial recovery and raise employment.
What was the Royal Colonial Institute?
A society founded in 1870, to provide a meeting place for those involved in colonial and Indian affairs.
What was the Victoria League?
A non-political organisation, founded in 1901 by women, to promote a closer union between different parts of the Empire through ‘hospitality, fundraising, friendship, and education.’
What was the Round Table movement?
A movement founded in 1909 on an idea of Milner, to promote a closer union between Britain and its self-governing colonies. In 1910-11, Round table groups were formed in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
Who was Leo Amery?
Conservative Colonial Secretary (1924-29), Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs (1925-29), Secretary of State for India and Burma (1940-45). He was originally a correspondent for ‘The Times’, and was a strong advocate for imperial unity, and later the transition to the Commonwealth.
What was the purpose of the Empire Day movement (early 1900s)?
Aimed to reinforce imperial identity and celebrate Queen Victoria as a motherly figure in order to promote Empire to the public. Empire Day was first celebrated in 1902, but not officially recognised by Parliament until 1916.
What is rhetoric?
Effective or persuasive writing or speaking.
How did John A. Hobson criticise Empire in the early 1900s (3)?
In his book ‘Imperialism’ in 1902, Hobson argued:
1) Imperial expansion was driven by a search for new markets/opportunities for the rich British capitalists to make profits. Imperial expansion was a capitalist plot.
2) Believed a small group of Jewish financiers made use of political influence, connections, and ‘press conspiracy’ to shape imperial policy to benefit men ‘whom are foreigners by origin, their trade is finance, and whose trade interests are chiefly British.’
3) Believed the Second Anglo-Boer War was fought to secure the gold resources of South Africa for the ‘Jew-Imperialist’ entrepreneurs and mining interests.
Who was Emily Hobhouse?
A British welfare campaigner and activist, most known for her ‘Report of a Visit to the camps of Women and Children in the Cape and Orange River Colonies’ of 1901.
What was Emily Hobhouse’s ‘Report of a Visit to the camps of Women and Children in the Cape and Orange River Colonies’ of 1901 (2)?
1) A detailed report, by Emily Hobhouse in 1901, of conditions in the Second Anglo-Boer War caused by Kitchener’s scorched earth policy, where crops, homes and livestock of Boer farmers were destroyed, and inhabitants moved to concentration camps.
2) Hobhouse visited the camps, finding many dying of starvation, accusing the government of a ‘policy of extermination’.
What was the Fawcett Commission 1901, and what was the significance for the British government?
1) The 1901 Fawcett Commission corroborated Hobhouse’s report, and concluded 27,927 Boer men, women and children had died in the British camps.
2) This caused great criticism of the Conservative government from the Liberals, Irish MPs, Church figures, and Europe.
What were the black concentration camps (4)?
1) In December 1900, Kitchener ordered black workers on Boer farms should be separated from the whites in concentration camps.
2) White camps at least had tents and water rations, whilst black camps were expected to build their own shelters on arid land, work for their food and drink and had no medical care. They became known as ‘forced labour camps’.
3) The black camps did not receive any humanitarian concern received from campaigners such as Hobhouse.
4) Of the 130,000 black civilians placed in these camps, around 20,000 died.
Name some critics of Empire in the early 1900s (6 possible).
1) John A. Hobson, an economist and author, criticised imperial expansion, believing it a capitalist-Jew conspiracy.
2) Wilfred Scawen Blunt, a diplomat and poet.
3) Herbert Spencer, a philosopher who coined the term ‘survival of the fittest’, criticised Victorian enthusiasm for territorial acquisition.
4) Frederic Harrison, a radical left wing lawyer and historian, criticised the ethics of Empire.
5) William Digby, a writer and propagandist, criticised the British government in India.
6) Walter Crane, an arts and crafts designer, children’s author and socialist, criticised war.
What was national efficiency?
Concerns, raised by the Second Anglo-Boer War where 30,000 Boers held out for 2.5 years against the British army, over Britain’s economy, industry, army, etc. The British feared a British decline, relative to the rise of USA and Germany, and without national efficiency, Britain would fall behind these powers.
What measures did Britain take to improve national efficiency in the early 1900s (4)?
1) The 1902 Education Act aimed to raise school standards, and opened 1000 secondary schools over the following decade.
2) The modernisation of the Royal Navy, committing to a new battleship, the Dreadnought, first launched in 1906. This was in the wake of German naval laws, and the expansion of the German fleet.
3) The establishment of Imperial College London in 1907, a centre of technology, medicine and science.
4) A number of Liberal social reforms, including free school meals (1906), school medical inspections (1907), a children’s welfare charter (1908), old age pensions (1908), a trade boards act (1909) and unemployment and health insurance (1911) giving the right to free medical treatment.
