BRITISH EXPANSION IN AFRICA

Question 1

economic motives for British expansion in West Africa

Answer 1

• in 1887, Johnston attempted to settle with JaJa of Opobo to convince him to stop taxing the British on palm oil - he was extradited in 1888 to St Vincent due to his refusal todo so
• 50% of Nigerian revenue was given back to the British government - opportunity for profit to create a European stronghold
• Goldie signed 450 treaties with local palm oil production companies to make significant margins on palm oil products and force them to only trade with the National African Company, or through their merchants to decrease competition
• Goldie purchased all of the African Association’s assets to decrease competition and create an area of sole British influence in 1884 - monopolisation over African industry
• Goldie establishes 30 trading posts across the Niger river - importance of diverse trade and maximising profits
• in 1900, when the company was sold to the royals for 850,000 pounds - idea of being too valuable to lose money
• Goldie buys Liverpool Merchant companies to prevent competition and monopolise British interests

Question 2

economic motives for British expansion in East Africa

Answer 2

-1896 - Anglo-Zanzibar war, forced Zanzibar to pay 300,000 rupees - use being in debt as an excuse to exert more control
- Kenya was viewed as an economic revolution by the Leeds Merarry in 1885
- 2 million acres of land were occupied for white farmers in the Equator Ranch under Delamere to maximise profits and exploitation of the land
- Eliot and Lord Delamre requested to have control of 100,000 acres of land to maximise profits and the production of wheat, which forced the migration of the Maasai
- a railway was formed in Mombassa, in which the British were willing to pay 2.8 million pounds and gain 60,000 pounds a year by 1903
- British introduction of the hut tax and the wife tax - idea of indirect taxation which will fuel economic prosperity
- 23,000 Indian workers were sent to Kenya to work to create a sense of British dominance over the economy
- by 1891, the IBEAC was verging on bankruptcy, they were desperate to expand into Uganda in 1894 and Kenya under the violation of the Heligoland-Zanzibar treaty
- in 1857, livingstone raised over 5000 pounds to lead a trading expedition into the Zambezi - recognition of valuable trade routes + economic gains

Question 3

economic motives for British expansion in North Africa

Answer 3

• British invest 4 million pounds into the Suez Canal due to its potential to fuel economic growth in 1858 - greater control over shipping
• 40% of Egyptian imports were British - consolidate their economic relationship
• 50% of Egyptian revenue went to British bondholders - want to secure more of their revenue in their rich cotton supplies
• 70 million debt of Ismail in Egypt - Britain have an opportunity to reform Egyptian finances and seize the cotton industry
• exports of cotton and sugar tripled with the British presence - the Aswan Dam which irrigated over 500,000 acres allowed for the year round growth of cotton
• British become involved in the Caisse De La Dette in 1906
• 93% of the Egyptian economy was for cotton - would help British industrialisation during American Civil War

Question 4

economic motives for British expansion in South Africa

Answer 4

1867 - diamonds are discovered in the Orange River, South Africa would later supply 25% of gold worldwide
- the British invested 74 million pounds into gold mining
- British trade with South Africa doubled after the Second Boer War
1886 - Rhodes founds gold and diamond mines, as there is competition Dutch miners in the Kimberly area
1888 - De Beers mining company was consolidated - the population of Kimberly exponentially increases from 50,000 to another 50,000 in 5 years
- British form the Diamond Syndicate membership with Rhodes in 1890 - partnerships established in London to consolidate trading prosperity
- British South Africa company was formed in 1881

Question 5

strategic motives for British expansion in West Africa

Answer 5

• Goldie used 20 gunboats to seize the Niger River from the French - strategic interest in establishing sole control in the Niger River
• Goldie signed 450 treaties in the Niger River to maximise and gain river control

Question 6

strategic motives for British expansion in North Africa

Answer 6

• occupation of the Suez Canal would decrease the route to India by 6000 miles to suppress Russian expansion and Indian nationalism
• Fashoda Incident and Battle of Omdurman - justifies the British presence in Egypt, but also, Egypt was controlling Sudan - double gain of territory
• creation of the Cape to Cairo railway going through key British colonies - easy access to all colonies
• remove Muhammad Ali as a key threat, and assert Tewfiq as the Egyptian leader
• British presence would allow a level of trust to be reached between the Egyptian and British government

Question 7

strategic motives for British expansion in East Africa

Answer 7

• 1858 - Disraeli invests 4 million into the Suez Canal, which would decrease the route to India by 6000 miles
• Fashoda Incident and Battle of Omdurman are examples of the British using violence to protect the upper, white Nile - killed 11,000 in 1898
• Creation of the Cape to Cairo railway - more effective transport between colonies - effective movement of products
• 1890 railway which was 600 miles long from Kenya to Uganda (Mombassa to Busia)
• 1903 - a railway is created from Mombassa to the Indian Ocean shores - idea of easy communication to India

Question 8

strategic motives for British expansion in South Africa

Answer 8

• 1888 - British annex Bechuanaland and Bastuoland which would mean that 3/4 sides of the Transvaal were protected from German expansion in the West, to create a buffer zone
• Battle of Majuba Hill in 1882 was triggered by a British desire to unite the Cape Colony and Natal with the Transvaal
• British wanted to conquest the Zulu Kingdom in the Battle of Rorke’s drift in 1879 to establish majority British control against the Boers
• British established a naval base at Simonstown which would fuel boats and trading to establish British military dominance in South Africa
• British wanted to establish the Fort Sailsbury railway which would go from the Cape to Bechuanaland

Question 9

imperial rivalry being the motive for British expansion in North Africa

Answer 9

1898 - Fashoda incident to seize French land and control the source of the Nile (ie the White Nile) to prevent a French alliance with Sudan under Marchand (led by Kitchner)
- 1500 soliders killed in this event
1868 - Disraeli invests 4 million pounds of shares in the Suez Canal to create a sole British sphere of influence and limit French influence
1898 - battle of Omdurman which killed 11,000 soliders
1904 - British and French soliders sign the Entente Cordiale which allows French to respect British rights in Egypt, for exchange of the British accepting French influence in Morocco - sole influence / carve out

Question 10

imperial rivalry being the motive for British expansion in East Africa

Answer 10

1. Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty of 1890, in which the agreement that Peters had with Mwanga became null and void - British intergect and prevent foreign alliances being made between local tribes and their rivals by seizing Uganda and Zanzibar from Peters in 1894
2. immense competition between the British and Germans after the Anglo-Zanzibar war in 1896 - Germans protect the old Khalid
3. Battle of Sokoto in 1903 within Nigeria to prevent increasing French influence

Question 11

imperial rivalry being the motive for British expansion in South Africa

Answer 11

1899-1902 - Second Boer War, led by Milner an Chamberlain against Kruger due to German relations with the Boers - the British were willing to invest 450,000 troops, cost 230 million and ignore the advice of the cabinet to limit German influence

British occupy Bechuanaland in 1888, which would cover 3/4 sides of the Transvaal and limit German westward expansion - willing to invest 700,000 pounds into doing this

Rhodes makes treaties in Damaraland and Narmara to prevent the Germans forming alliances with local tribes

1896 Jameson Raid - attempt for the British to stage an uprising, which would encourage Uitlanders to rise with the British, forcing Kruger and the Germans to recognise their weaknesses and leave South Africa

Question 12

imperial rivalry being the motive for British expansion in West Africa

Answer 12

1897 - Lugard establishes the WAAF force - a paramilitary force to limit French military threats
1879 - the Royal Niger Company is established to create a sole British sphere of influence
- establishment of the General Acts from the Berlin Conference of 1884 + 1885 and Brussels conference in 1876 which stated that when land was taken, the coloniser must make it clear that they have seized this land in the Congo River Basin
1889 - Akassa Uprising - the Kirk Plan was implemented to make the nation isolated and immune to foreign political influence
- King Jaja of Opobo was extradited to St Vincent in 1888 due to his receptive nature to other countries purchasing palm oil - British want to limit the presence of foreign nations to establish dominance

Question 13

civilising motive being the motive for British expansion in North Africa

Answer 13

• Battle of Omdurman and Fashoda in 1898 were to compensate for the death of General Gordon by Sudanese peoples’ - act of vengance
• British used the defeat of the Italians at Adowa in 1896 to uphold European civilising values
• British take part in 33 expeditions to convince Sudanese individuals after Fashoda and Omdurman to accept British order and adopt British values
• Denshawai Massacre of 1906 - the British force their local customs onto locals
• Livingstone makes a speech in 1857 at the Cambridge Union claiming that the civilising mission is the key motivation for Empire OR Stanley supporting a civilising mission in “through the dark continent”
• Livingstone condemns the massacre at Nyangwe after the slaughter of many Arabs
• Establishment of a University in Egypt in 1909 and 1906 - idea of providing prosperity in Egypt, and creation of the Egyptian Advisory Council in 1911 - later in 1913 followed by the Legislative Assembly with over 66 elected members being established
• British allow Pasha to become the Minister for Education
• establishment of the Aswan Dam for 2 million pounds, which irrigated over 500,000 aces of land, and was over a mile long
• Britain created mixed courts in Egypt to promote a more thorough judicial system
• Britain felt the need to intergect in Egypt against Arabi, by justifying it claiming that Egypt was on the verge of anarchy, xenophobia - 31,000 troops

Question 14

civilising motive being the motive for British expansion in South Africa

Answer 14

• British expand into Xhosa tribe areas after the 1857 incident, in which the Xhosa tribe killed cattle to remove imperialists
• Formation of the Rhodes Scholarship Education Programme
• Declared self-government in 1906 and 1907 - British are still overlooking the situation in South Africa
• 1850’s - George Grey annexes local tribes to teach foreign British ideas
• Rhodes using his platform and De Beers mining company to claim that it is an honour to be British - confession from his book of faith

Question 15

civilising motive being the motive for British expansion in East Africa

Answer 15

1. the East African Scottish Mission was launched, the British settled in Kibwezi, but it was decided there were not enough people so they migrated to more populous areas
2. Queen Victoria claiming that an “empire without religion is like building a house on sand”
3. the British solved disputes between the Maasai and Kikuyu tribes
4. British saved 300 Maasai from the incident at Fort Smith in 1893
5. British construct the McKinnon-Scalter Road in 1890, which was 600 miles from Mombassa to Busia
6. East African Kikuyu Mission - converted 17 pastors into teaching christianity with the Tumutumuk Kirk session
7. British build a 16 mile strip of communication in Uganda after 1894 - similarly, Grey makes a speech in Uganda in 1894, which claimed that if Britain had not taken Uganda, the slave trade would have returned
8. Livingstone is the first non-African to see Lake Nyasa in 1859
9. Livingstone publishes Missionary Travels in 1857

Question 16

civilising motive being the motive for British expansion in West Africa

Answer 16

1. Lugard gives a speech in Nigeria, regarding those under the empire was inferior and animals, claiming they “lack the power of organisation”
2. Lugard used 700 African Soliders to take over from the Fulani Emirates - civilising them to ideas of rebellion
3. when Lugard stopped invading Sokoto after 1903, it was agreed that slavery would be banned
4. Clause 10 of the British Charter claims that there is no interference of religion, only that the British promise to implement policies which will ‘teach’ those it ruled
5. Livingstone establishes the Universities Mission to Central Africa
6. British condemned Stanley being associated with Tippu Tib
7. British do not support the explorations of Stanley due to Leopold wanting to kill the opposition

Question 17

how it may be challenged that Britain did not civilise African territories

Answer 17

• introduction of the rhino whip as a method of physical pain and torment against Kenyan’s
• displaced the Maasai tribe from their local lands, in order to create the equator ranch
• use of concentration camps in the second boer war, in which over 115,000 people were killed
• in 1857, Livingstone resigned from the London Missionary Society - less emphasis on a civilising mission

Question 18

outline the process of British interference in Egypt

Answer 18

• the British supported the Ottoman Empire in ensuring that Ali did not detach Egypt from the Ottoman Empire
• Lesseps obtains a concession from Egypt, promising to create a company for international shipping in the canal
• Britain later support the modernising programme of Ismail Pasha in order to obtain key cotton exports in 1863
• the British invest in the Suez Canal in 1875 to relieve Pasha’s debt and increase trade efficiency
• in 1879, Ottoman Sultan replaced Ismail and Tewfiq became the new leader (Lord Dufferin indirectly ruled)
• there was an uprising by Arabi Pasha and Tewfiq appoints them into government positions
• the government soon broke down, leading to the 1882 Alexandria Massacre, which forces Gladstone to send in British troops
• Arabi Pasha declared war, but British troops secured the canal in 1882, and installed Tewfiq as the puppet ruler again
• 30,000 British troops place Egypt under temporary occupation
• Tewfiq is forced to create a government with important British presence
• 1885 Convention of London secures Egypt as under British administrative control

Question 19

outline the process of British involvement in Sudan

Answer 19

• Gordon is sent from Britain to be governor-general in Sudan, given Egypt controlled Sudan in 1877
• Ahmad declared himself as the Mahdi in 1881 against Gordon and the British
• Ahmad expands his army into a Jihadist army and in 1882 has control over Khartoum
• in 1883, the British attempt to retaliate under Hicks, and Hicks is killed
• in 1884, Gladstone forces British and Egyptian troops to withdraw from Sudan and Gordon is killed
• Sailsbury uses the 1896 defeat of the Italians at Adowa to re-enter Sudan against ‘barbarism’
• this angered the French, leading to Fashoda in 1898
• the French are poorly organised and back out, leading to Sudan becoming a British sphere of influence

Question 20

examples of european missionaries in africa / their work

Answer 20

• henry stanley (in Through the Dark Continent) - portraying Africans as cannibals
• King Leopold - builds a 250 mile road between Matadi and Leopoldville