Change in Navy Flashcards
The retention of Gibraltar 1783
- Situated between Mediterranean and Atlantic oceans - straits seperate Africa and Europe by 13km
- Spain formally ceded Malta (captured in 1704), Minorca (captured by Britain in 1708) and Gibraltar to Britain in 1714 treaty after war of Spanish succession
- Spain tried to recapture Gibraltar in 1727
- Outnumbered French fleet slipped past Gibraltar and distrupted Britain duirng AWOI
- 1779 Gibraltar surrounded for 4 years with Royal Navy sending supply convoys annually -> Garrison held out until end of AWOI in 1783
- Gibraltar served as a line of defence against rivals often tying down large numbers of men and ships
- 1792 and 1805 it provided perfect staging post for attacking French
Acquisition of Malta, Ceylon, Cape Town 1815
Ceylon:
- one of only places in world Cinamon could be acquired -> valuable commodity and EIC became interested in 1767
- originally Dutch but when Holland conquered by France in 1794 it’s government fled to England and ceded colony to Britain for protection. New French back Dutch government ceded them to France.
- HMS Suffolk (frigate) arrived first, yielding £300,000 (£23m) of goods
- After war ended Britain regarded Ceylon as valuable and kept it after Treaty of Amens in 1802
Cape Town:
- No significance economically for British
- Originally Dutch
- In 1795, after conquest of Netherlands, Britian seized the Cape to protect shipping
- 1802 was returned to Dutch. Seized again in 1802 and then ceded to Britain in 1814
Malta:
- Captured 1704
Acquisition of Falkland Islands 1833
- Established original in 1766 -> abandoned because of American War of Independence
- 1828 United Provinces (Spansih South America) claimed them
- Only valuable commodities was seals
- Luis Vernet set up Spanish friendly colony and arrested British and American sealer ships
- Britain asserted control by sending a ship in 1833 -> remained under British control ever since (bar 4 months in 1982)
Acquisition of Aden 1839
- Although mosy trade went round the Cape, people starting to believe that steaming to Egpytian port of Suez was long term future of trade
- To assert British presence in the area the EICpurchased two steamers and sailed them past Aden and up to Suez regularly every year after 1837
- In 1837 the Duria Dowlat ran aground and was looted by the Sultan
- Gave the EIC the pretext to seize Aden from a ruler they regarded as little more than a pirate anyway
- 1839 700 men and two frigates sent to seize the port
- Aden not a successful colony and by 1854 was £28,000 (£2.4m) in debt
- Shows the start of new thinking in terms of seizing territory to protect other territories and interests as opposed to just pure economic interest
- Became more relevant as other countries began to expand their empires - like Russia
Acquisition of Cyprus 1878
- Russia considered threat as it was out of reach of Royal Navy and was expanding south into the Balkans and Central Asia (towards Suez and India) after conquest of Tashkent 1865, Samrkand 1868 and Bukhara 1868.
- Disraeli won 1874 election and supported the sense of imperial destiny in the previous Conservative government and supported increased naval power and expansion -> he brought Suez Canal shares in 1875, 1876 proclaimed Victoria ‘Empress of India’ (to match title of Russian Tsar)
- Disraeli wanted to limit Russian expansion by supporting powers on her borders like the Ottomans and Afghanistan -> at peace conference between Ottomans and Russia Disraeli sided with Bismarck to pressure Russians into giving independence to Blakan countries after Russo-Turkish war of 1877 led to Russians occupying most of the Balkans
- Under Cyrpus convention land was technically leased to Britain for £92,000 p/a (£6m) -> used Cypriots taxes to pay -> never went to Turkey as Britain said they were owed for Crimean war 1850-52
- Important as it showed that imperial policy was no longer shaped purely by economic interests and protecting trade routes but to limit power of it’s rivals
Other British acquisition of foreign territories (taken for the sake of it)
- Annexed the Transvaal (South Africa) in 1877
- Afghanistan in 1878
- Zululand in 1879 (1300 British soldiers were massacred at Battle of Isandwhana) -> led to Disraeli defeat in the 1880 election to Gladstone
