chapter 10- role and influence of individuals Flashcards
role and influence of Joseph Chamberlain?
Colonial Secretary in the Conservative led coalition between 1895 and 1903. He believed that effective use of the Empire could sustain British prosperity and prestige. He believed that the imperial bonds needed reinforcing if the Empire was to be preserved and Britain maintain its status as a world power. Chamberlain summoned and chaired two further colonial conference (after the failure of the first 1887) in 1897 and 1902 At these he proposed an imperial defence and customs union for the self-governing white colonies but these ideas were both rejected. He conducted a campaign of tariff reform and for imperial preference. A tariff reform league was set p which
distributed leaflets and played messages in public meetings
* He believed imperial preference would benefit Britain and reduce unemployment
* He was a strong advocate for ‘colonial development’ and promoted government investment in the less
profitable areas of Empire both to promote and out of feeling it was an imperial duty
* When the Boer war broke out in 1899, Chamberlain was viewed as a national hero, something which faded as the war dragged on. He initiated the building of the Ugandan Railway, sanctioned the conquest and annexation of Ashantiland and,
in 1900, supervised the acquisition of the territory of Royal Niger Company
* His idea of colonial preference split the conservative party and in 1906 he also failed to persuade the public
meaning the liberals won a majority
role and influence of Rhodes?
Prime Minister of Cape Colony in 1890. Driven by a strong conviction that British civilisation and control was key to the betterment of the world. In 1890, he sent settlers to establish Fort Salisbury in Matabeleland, opening up the territories that from c1895
were to be known as the Rhodesias in his honour
* One of Rhodes’ projects to outflank the Boer Republic of the Transvaal and the Germans in the rush to Central Africa, was the railway line north from the Cape through Bechuanaland. He hoped it would eventually reach
the Nile to ensure British domination of all east-central Africa. This dream of Cape to Chiro was blocked by the German occupation of East Africa from 1891 and never completed
* He resigned after the Jameson Raid in 1896 and dies 6 years later
* He made a great fortune out of enterprises and his funds helped promoted Empire after his death e.g. In his
publicity work of the Round Table, an imperial pressure group established in 1910 by a like-minded ally of
Rhodes – Alfred Milner
role and influence of Curzon?
Lord Salisbury appointed him as Viceroy of India in 1899. Concern about Russian expansion led him to create the North West frontier province in 1901 and dispatch
military expedition into Tibet. He established both commissions and legislation to improve India’s administration and agriculture –making provisions for famine relief and irrigation projects
* He oversaw the re-arming of native regiments, the expansion of provincial police, the promotion of scientific and medical education and the construction of a further 6000 miles of railway track to consolidate British
control of India. He founded the Imperial Cadet Corps to give Indian nobles a military role and the prospect of officer commissions. He lavished hospitality and rewards on its members at his elaborate Delhi durbar of 1903, both this and his costly restoration of the Taj Mahal were his way of honouring colonial India. He was wary of giving Indians too much responsibility, due to nationalism and he had a low opinion of their abilities. He believed dividing the troublesome province of Bengal in 1905 would weaken the Raj’s internal enemies.
Instead partition backfired and Curzon resigned the same year
Role and Influence of Evelyn Baring
Consul-General in Egypt between 1883-1907. He believed the long occupation of Egypt was essential and he established a new guiding principle – the
‘Granville Doctrine’ (named after the Foreign Secretary at the time) which allowed Baring to dismiss Egyptian minister who refused to accept British directives. He placed British officials in key ministries and created the vailed protectorate in which British officials held
the actual power
* Baring thus effectively controlled Egypt until 1907. Baring was particularly concerned with the Islamic society’s acceptance of slavery, its antiquated justice system and its treatment of women
* Baring’s moral mission both echoed and informed public opinion in Britain. He took action to: stop the slave supply into Egypt; discourage slave ownership in Egypt; abolish forced
labour. He was forced to resign after the Denshawai Incident in 1906. Parliament awarded Baring £50 000 in 1907 in recognition of his services in Egypt
role and influence of Milner
Chamberlain picked him to become Britain’s High Commissioner for Southern Africa from 1897. He was convinced of British superiority over Boers and Afrikans
* When Kruger was re-elected as President of the Transvaal in February 1898, Milner thought the only way out of troubles in SA was reform in the Transvaal or war- he took Britain into the Boer War . He founded a series of a English-Speaking ‘Milner Schools’ in Pretoria and Johannesburg
* Milner demanded full citizenship rights for Uitlanders after 5 years of residence – by the time of the Bloemfontein Conference (may-June 1899) he had already decided to use force to get his way- it was actually Kruger, however, who declared war in October 1899
* When Britain annexed territories in the Orange Free State & the Transvaal in 1901, he left his port as Governor of the Cape and took over the Cape and took over the administration of these areas. He negotiated the Peace of Vereening alongside Kitchener
* He was made a baron (1901) and Viscount (1902) for his services
* After the war, he and a group of young administrators and lawyers (known as Milner’s Kindergarten) worked to resettle the Boers & promote economic growth, particularly in the gold mining industry
* He hoped to attract British settlers and introduced a vigorous English language education program
* However, more British left than arrived during the depression in the period after the war
* Milner and the British government decided to use Chinese labourers (coolies) on 3 year contracts to make up
for the shortfall of workers in the mines. The first group arrived in 1904
* Public opinion in Britain was soon outraged to learn that there were being poorly treated and even flogged in
breach of the law
* In March 1906, there was a move to censure Milner, but this backfired and produced a counter-campaign, let
by Sir Bartle Frere, which expressed high appreciation of Milner’s services in SA
* The issue of the Chinese coolies partly contributed to the Conservative election defeated in January 1906 and
the Liberal government rejected Milner’s plans for the future of the Transvaal
* He reigned from SA and returned to England when he wrote ‘The Nation and the Empire’ in 1913
role and influence of Lord Lugard?
He served in East Africa, West Africa, and Hong Kong.
* He is especially associated with Nigeria, where he served as high commissioner (1900–06) and
governor-general (1912–19). He worked for the Imperial British East Africa Company. In 1894–95 Lugard, for the Royal Niger Company, raced the French in a treaty-making exploration on the
Middle Niger. He succeeded in that enterprise
* From the Niger he went to the semidesert of the Bechuanaland Protectorate for the private British West
Charterland Company, which was prospecting for diamonds
* Joseph Chamberlain, offered him his first official government appointment. He was to create a British officered African regiment that he was to employ in a second attempt to fend off the French, who then were
competing with the British right across Africa from the Niger to the Nile. This was to become the famous West African Frontier Force. Lugard’s success in this difficult undertaking led to his appointment as high
commissioner for Northern Nigeria
* Most of this vast region of 300,000 square miles was still unoccupied and unexplored. In three years, by diplomacy or the swift use of his small force, Lugard established British control, though in hastening to take
the major states of Kano and Sokoto he forced the hands of his more cautious home government
* His policy was to support the native states and chieftainships, their laws and their courts, forbidding slave
raiding and cruel punishments and exercising control centrally through the native rulers. This system was
cooperative in spirit and economical in staff and expense
* His method greatly influenced British administration in Africa and beyond
* He moved to the governorship of Hong Kong, which he held from 1907 to 1912. He achieved a surprising
degree of success and, on his own initiative, founded the University of Hong Kong
* Lugard carried through the task of unification of the Nigerian states- officially declared on January 1 1914
* He retired in 1919, but still had a role as the leading authority on colonial government
