CHALLENGES TO BRITISH RULE 1857-1914 Flashcards
inc relations with indigenous people in africa
examples of challenges to British rule in North Africa from 1890-1914 and describe each challenge in detail (3)
- denshawai incident of 1906
- the continued shooting after the british shot the woman and the egyptians retaliated emphasises how it was viewed as an opportunity to challenge British rule and have a reason to remove the british from local towns - 1893 - the Egyptian Nationalist Party was revived to amplify demands for Egyptian self government
- Battle of Omdurman and the Fashoda incident in Sudan in 1898 - French (under marchand) attack at fashoda, and 50,000 tribesmen attacked the British in Omdurman under Abdullah to restore a Khalifa
describe the 1906 denshawai incident causes and consequences
causes:
- british pigeon shooting incident, when the british misfired and killed a woman
- this was mainly a revolt of the middle class, given they felt when cromer took power over the ottomans, the khedives and upper classes were those who socially and economically benefitted - chance to amplify discontent to an entrenched class system which was transferred with a change of government
consequences:
- 52 villagers are arrested
- 26 villagers given terms of hard labour when arrested
- increased anti-british nationalistic sentiment
- the british became aware of such bitterness and extended the time in which the suez canal would be returned to the egyptian state - less willing to make concessions in 1909
- entrenched religious divides - idea of the British preferring the Christians over Muslims
examples of the British appeasing nationalist activity in North Africa
- Cromer appoints Pasha as his minister for education to ensure that local egyptians are found in government - idea of developing a representative executive
- Kitchner enlarges the Advisory Council of Laws in 1911 and in 1913 establishes the Legislative Assembly with 66 elected members and 17 appointees - a much more enlarged and representative electorate to quell nationalist dislike and bitterness
- in 1906, the British construct Port Sudan and begin the Gezira Scheme in 1911, which becomes one of the worlds largest irrigation schemes
examples of the british using repression to control nationalist activity in north africa
- the number of British advisers working in Egypt increased from 100 in 1885 to 1000 in 1905 - if egyptians resisted the advice of a British advisor they would be dismissed
- Baring adds 6000 British troops to egypt to provide military safeguarding to British interests
- Gorst introduces the Press Censorship Act in 1909 and a Relegation Law from when he came into administration in 1907
describe the Fashoda incident and the Battle of Omdurman
fashoda:
- a french attempt to capture the fort of fashoda in western sudan, despite the british having access to sudan, given that they controlled egypt
omdurman:
- the Mahdi (muhammad) declared himself leader in 1881, and wanted to remove foreign influence from sudan, which disrupted the status quo of the British in Sudan - he was succeeded by the Khalifa
- the British also launched the expedition due to the death of Gordon
- the British launch an expedition into overriding the influence of the Khalifa
- in september 1898, 50,000 tribesmen attacked the British in Omdurman under Abdullah
- 11,000 Mahdist soliders died
examples of challenges to British rule in West Africa and describe these challenges in detail (7)
- in 1897, Lugard created the West African Frontier Force due to the threat of the french presence in Western Africa - use military means to protect colonies
- British attempt to introduce local (British) chiefs, but these are rejected by the Nigerian people, who want more local level representation
- in 1902, the Fulani Emirs challenge British power in Kano, Nigeria - lugard sends 700 British soliders to offset their threats – constant threats between 1902 and 1906 due to their dislike of imperialism
- King Jaja was allowed to return to Opobo in 1891 after being extradited by the British - challenged power because he refused to trade with British merchants directly and instead would ship palm oil directly to Liverpool - Jaja imposed heavy taxes on palm oil exports - economic challenge to power
- 1895 - the Nembe of Brass in Akassa attack the port facilities established under Goldie in Niger due to the monopoly he had attained over local palm oil trading and how the Royal Niger Company was excluding local workers
- the Liverpool Merchant group moved into the territory of the Niger Company after being excluded from the river oil protectorate in 1893 - challenging their sole monopoly status and domination over the economic sphere
- in 1898, Cardew attempted to introduce the ‘Hut Tax’ in Sierra Leone which was widely opposed by local individuals, leading to the ‘Hut Tax war’
describe the causes and consequences of the ‘hut tax war’ of 1898
causes:
- cardew attempts to introduce a hut tax in 1898 in order to consolidate british rule in the newly established territory
- a tax would be imposed depending on the size of the hut
- this posed a significant financial burden on the inhabitants of the area, as labour taxes were also introduced
- 24 local rulers launched a petition, giving it to cardew, yet it was ignored
- Bureh, Jah and Mende chiefs led rebellions in the north and south of Sierra Leone against the policy
- over 500 people were killed and 90 African porters were killed
consequences:
- increasing resentment to british imperial policies introduced in sierra leone
- tarnished the image of Cardew
- challenged power dynamics between the British and local individuals - more power of local individuals over economic policy - challenge equilibrium
examples of challenges to British rule in East Africa and describe each in detail (4)
- Hassan (a Somalian warrior) saw it as his duty to resist British authority and their imperial expansion - he employed over 20,000 forces in 1913 in Dul Madoba
- he is the opposition to the British and Ethiopians in the Battle of Dul Madoba in 1913 - Nandi people revolt against the British in 1905, led by Samoei, due to disputes over taxation and the financial burden it was placing on the Nandi people in Kenya
- Anglo-Zanzibar war of 1896 - the Germans support Bargash to become Sultan, instead of Muhammed (who the British preferred) - challenging the overarching authority of the British in this matter
- in August 1896, Barghash leads a 3 day uprising about the British choice for the new Sultan
- forces Khalid and 40 officers to sought refuge - in 1921, the Kenyans favoured the creation of a union with South Africa
examples of challenges to British rule in South Africa (6)
- Ndebele wars of 1893-1894 and 1896
- used over 20,000 soliders to resist Rhode’s British South African Company - Second Boer War of 1899-1902
- establishment of the Afrikaner Bond - an anti-imperialist political party which opposed the occupation of local territory by British missionaries in 1881, but was active mainly from the 1890s
- 1906 Bambatha rebellion caused by the introduction of the 1906 Natal Act which would introduce a poll tax on Zulus in the Natal region caused extreme discontent against the British and their naivety toward imposing a financial burden on those they ruled
- was a response to exploitative policies and financial coercion used by the British - introduction of the Delagoa Bay railway by Kruger in which exports could be made without touching British colonies, and was linked to Pretoria - aiming to avoid British colonies all the way up to Cairo
- Kruger encouraging the presence of Uitlanders in South Africa to challenge overarching British power - 44,000 Uitlanders by 1896
- the failure of the Jameson raid provoked the Matabele and the Mashona people to rebel against Rhodes and capitalists in 1896 - economic challenge to power
consequences of the second boer war
causes of the second boer war (just bullet point them)
- imperial rivalry
- economic competition
- the personalities involved (ie Milner and Chamberlain)
describe the jameson raid 1895
- under jameson, a raid is launched in the transvaal in order to encourage uitlanders to rebel with jameson to display the lack of popularity of the boers, due to bad working conditions etc
- rhodes expected a rebellion from foreign mining companies who had monopolies
- the british employ 500 troops to spark rebellion
- instead, the uitlanders do not rise up and instead side with the boers, and the 500 troops were defeated
- the troops are forced to retreat after 4 days
how did imperial rivalry cause the SBW
- rivalry between the cape and the transvaal to protect india + other interest
- germans refused to concede the transvaal area to the British,
- fear of german interference in transvaal which threatens india
- the germans open delagoa bay in 1895 threatening the cape to cairo railway
- fear of german interference w boers which would undermine british entrenched power in the cape - an alliance in transvaal would threaten imperial commitments (threaten imperial security)
- the british wanted entrenched supremacy and sole power in SA and refused to compromise diplomatically
- kruger + kaiser relations = ie post jameson call etc
- transvaal was economically growing - would threaten economics of cape
- alliance between OFS + transvaal in 1897
how did economic competition cause the SBW
- the transvaal supplied over 25% of gold worldwide, cape = sidelined - British establish majority control over gold exports
- british fear losing a monopoly over gold
- british controlled 2/3 of import trading into South Africa - monopoly which threatens cape
- of the 75 million pounds invested in gold mining, over 50% was invested by the British
- the Transvaal government under Kruger placed charges on British operations in the Transvaal
- britain felt a need to defend their commercial stake in southern africa, and justify such intense amounts of investment - needed to be in T
- securing south african gold mines would provide Britain with economic dominance
how did kruger cause the SBW
- the transvaal government refused to concede voting rights for Uitlanders and refused to compromise with the British government
- kruger instructs the invasion of ladysmith in natal in 1899
- continued arming the transvaal + uniting w germans
- passes the aliens immigration law which would further concede rights for Uitlanders (which violated the Pretoria and London convention agreements)
examples of challenges to power in India from 1890-1914
- 1905 - Swadhesi movement - over 150,000 pieces of Lancashire cotton were burnt, and there was a 40% decline in cotton production, 25% decline in production of cloth
- attempted assassinations
- Curzon Wylie in 1909
- lord Hardringe in 1912
- 1908 = Douglas Kingsford - Tilak uses the Kaal newspaper to support them - Vivekananda publishes the ‘triumph of indian spirituality’ in 1893 after the Shivaji festivals
- protests after the partition of Bengal in 1905 (eventually reunited in 1911) - sparked the Shivaji movement and triggered the All India Muslim league to be established in 1906 - idea of uniting against the British and using collective power to undermine British imperialism
what was the impact of the jameson raid
- jameson is sentenced, rhodes is forced to resign as PM
- increase boer / kruger power = strong german-boer relationship (ie kaiser telegraph to kruger to congratulate) - start of independence talks
- kruger begins to ignore british
- british are presented as greedy, and un-necessarily relying on force
- increase in political tensions - power to local boers - massive polarization between the transvaal and cape colony
- british are incentivised to expand into transvaal as revenge on boers and assert diplomatic power
statistics about the second boer war
- the british spend $230 million on the war, despite only wanting to spend $10 million = short war
- over 22,000 british killed, only 6000 boers killed
- by the end of the war, over 110,000 people were living in concentration camps
- the British employed over 400,000 troops
describe challenges to British power and nationalist actions by Tilak and Gokhale
Tilak:
- Tilak creates the Kesari newspaper and joins it with Kaal in 1898, becoming known as the ‘father of Indian unrest’
- promotes the Swadhesi movement, in which his speeches attain crowds of over 25,000 people
- in 1894, he promoted the use of indian festivals to promote local culture, such as Shivaji festivals
Gokhale:
- in 1907, Gokhale promoted Indian self government at the Surat meeting
- Gokhale was a key voice in the 1909 morley minto reforms which encouraged a decentralisation of power, and more involvement of local indians in politics
- founded the Servants of India Society in 1905
list the organisations in India established from 1890-1914 which challenged British power, and the date they were established (6)
- 1905 establishment of the Indian Home Rule Society
- All Indian Muslim League in 1906
- 1903 - Young India Association by Savakar
- 1905 - Servants of India Society
- 1908 - the Indian Sociologist newspaper is established
- 1898 - the Kaal newspaper is established
*the INC began to dislike its origins of supporting the British in 1885
describe the challenges to power in China from 1890-1914, and describe the event in detail
1899-1901 - Boxer rebellion
- over 100,000 people died,
- the Boxers were a local anti-imperialist group who wanted to remove European influence from China due to local humiliation, and thought they were immune to local ammunition
- the flooding of the yellow river and other events which undermined local control encouraged the Boxers to revolt against imperial forces
- the government and the boxers work together to overthrow foreign, imperialist influences
- European troops in the diplomatic compound are killed, but the Chinese imperial court / emperor flee the city
- the event only tightens British control and foreign influence in China, as foreign troops are now stationed in beijing
what was the impact of / what did they declare
1. the pretoria convention of 1881
2. the london convention 1884
3. the bloemfontein conference of 1899
pretoria:
- peace treaty which ended the FBW
- it restored boer self government in the transvaal region
london:
- the Transvaal would not need permission from the British to form an alliance with the Orange Free State
- stipulated that any other treaty would require the approval of the British that the Transvaal decides to create
bloemfontein:
- the conference whereby Kruger refuses to provide citizenship rights to Uitlanders in 5 years, extending it to 7 years
- british and boers start mobilising for war
- kruger issues an ultimatum to the British, warning them to stand down, but they refuse
how did social dynamics start the second boer war
- the arrival of over 44,000 uitlanders by 1896 challenged the dynamic and is an example of the british directly infringing on self government territory under the transvaal
- the transvaal government actively discriminated against the Uitlanders, causing the British to feel the need to defend them
- the governments were clashing over protecting independent rights and economic efficiency
- these deep and engrained hostilities further provoked violent action, because the government did not want to deal with this anymore
when was gold discovered in the Rand region
1886
xhosa war
1877-1878
- british were challenged by neighbouring tribesmen
- british annex xhosa communities to the cape
xhosa tribe 1857
- xhosa think that killing cows and livestock will also eliminate imperialism
- xhosa people fail and there is widespread starvation
1878 rebellion by griqua people
- caused by unhappy settlements of land
- natives wanted to make claims on diamond fields
- the british crush this rebellion in 1878
anglo-zulu war
- bartle frere wanted to unite and confederate british south african colonies, but underestimates capabilities of the zulus + ignores britian
- king shaka launches an attack against british (aggressive) with zulus against british (zulus adopt methods of short distance stabbings)
- led by bartle frere and lord chelmsford who assumed the zulus lacked military knowledge and skill
- isandlwana defeat
- win at rorke’s drift
- woosely is brought in to save the war
- british defeat zulus at ulundi in 1879
*keep in mind, 2nd AA is happening at the same time so gov want to avoid further war
anglo-zulu war consequences
- zululand is incorporated into natal
- zululand is then broken into different areas, allowing chitchuayo to seize control of specific land and appease them
first boer war and consequences
- the british attempt to declare a protectorate over the boers and fail
- boers adopt guerilla warfare tactics to kill british
consequences:
- british defeat at majuba hill in feb 1881 - 150 british killed
- convention of pretoria signed 1881
- british leave the transvaal and orange free state in 1885 (but want to come back bc of water in witwaterstrand)
battle of isandlwana
- british are defeated here in 1879 by 20,000 zulus, compared to 1000 british troops
- the british are taken by surprise
- the british are forced to confront the fact that the zulu techniques are extremely aggressive and difficult to counter
battle at rorke’s drift
1879
- zulus invade british
- british win and defeat over 400 zulu soldiers
- this battle was attempted justification by the british to ignore what happened at isandlwana
key battles / events during the SBW
- mafeking
- was synonymous with british imperial pride + dominance
- when it was no longer seiged, it was widely celebrated in britain - assault of magersfontein
- embarassing event for british
- wauchope claims the british need to further push forward, but the boers killed most british troops
- younger boer soliders came in to oppose british by 1900 - started fighting again
- used tactic of guerilla warfare, given boers lack an actual army
challenges to power in nyasaland and rhodesia
nyasaland:
- henry johnson launches attacks in 1888-1889 in nyasaland after challenges to british power by portuguese backed arabs
rhodesia:
- ndebele wars - 1893-1894 and 1896-1897 - 50% die
causes of jameson raid 1895
- gold-seeking uitlanders in the transvaal were being denied citizenship and voting rights under kruger
- the 1894 rand rebellion was a revolt by uitlanders against rights being violated by boers
- uitlanders appeal to rhodes for help
- jameson and rhodes therefore attempt to create a confederation and trigger rebellion to alienate the boers and extend british influence in the cape
when does the orange free state create an alliance w transvaal
1897
- boers and germans begin an alliance against british
when do the boers invade ladysmith
1899
- acts as a trigger of the SBW
treaty of vereeniging
1902
- places a stop to the SBW
- the british are forced to pay the boers $3 million in compensation for their farms
- boer and british colonies are brought into a single union
- boers are forced to acknowledge themselves as british subjects
- boer colonies are promised eventual self government
- british agree to let the boers decide voting for themselves - african rights would not be protected (appeasement to boers) in hope voting rights would be implemented later
how did chamberlain and milner cause the SBW
- demand of uitlander rights in 5 years for british concession of suzerainty - british refuse
- refuse to compromise w kruger at 7 years at bloemonfontein
- order the arming of SA after conferences in natal, kruger orders them to stop, they don’t
- reject an international conference and co-operation
- no support from landsdowne for war and aggression - self interest (ie arming and war to distract from jameson inquiry) - too provocative
- repeal alien immigration law - legal interference without consent - act forcibly to reinforce their success
- milner supported aggressive policies to compensate for edgar’s death
impact of SBW on british policy and imperial standing
- british imperial confidence was shaken as they underestimated the boers
- displayed british reliance on other parts of empire (ie india) to help
- britain is paranoid (esp w great game) as they also focus themselves on SA and have no control in india
- increased jingoism and calls for national efficiency
policy:
- 1905, 1906 + 1910 = self government and union of SA formed
ashanti uprising
1900
- fully incorporated into gold coast in 1902
how did:
- attitudes of superiority
- uitlander rights
- capitalists + mine owners cause the SBW
superiority:
- felt it was british territory
- didn’t believe boers would fulfill promises
utilander:
- jameson raid = wanted revenge for embarassment
- britain fail in terms of civilising mission
capitalists:
- kruger places tax on gold mining - no longer obtaining as much as they could
SBW was a turning point in british policy and was not
was a turning point:
- recognition in need to focus on domestic sphere - idea of recruiting departments and physical deterioration - SOCIALLY CHANGE
- british don’t become as isolated (ie 1902 treaty w japan, 1904 entente cordiale, russia triple entente 1907) - diplomatic shift
- displayed international dislike for imperialism - british provide concessions to this - DIPLOMATICALLY CHANGE - end of ‘domination’ attitude
- lack of confidence - splendid isolation - not a world policeman on civilising
was not:
- still obtained their end goal - why should they change? - justifies their increasing interventionist state
- economic trade with empire still is maintained (ie trade with africa doubles after boer war) - ECONOMICALLY STAY SAME
physical impacts of SBW
- humanitarian problems
- scorched earth
- malnutrition - conc camps = 80% kids
- 115,000 people in conc camps
- 16,000 british soliders killed by disease - impact on empire
- predicted war = 3 months, 75,000 troops and 10 million pounds, but needs 400,000 troops, 230 million etc
- colony of south africa doesn’t last long bc of the formation of the union of south africa
- humilating
domestic acts introduced in britain post-SBW
- physical deterioration committee 1904
- education act 1902
- alien act 1904
bambatha rebellion
1906
- zulu people rise against british due to rises in taxation and imposing a hut tax
- executed 12 african rebels to respond
