Chapter 5 - Attitudes Towards Imperialism In Britain Flashcards
Why did the British government not have an active or interventionalist role in the empire before the mid-nineteenth century?
Slow communications
Lack of institutions to deal with the empire
Lack of commitment to intervention
What concerned politicians the most?
Freedom to trade and access markets
What was the communication limited to?
Telegraph + Letters
What economists theory did the government follow?
The invisible hand by Adam Smith
Who was Benjamin Disraeli?
Conservative Party leader + Prime minister 1868
what did Disraeli say about the colonies?
“Those wretched colonies will all be independent in a few years and they are a mill-stone around our necks”
Who was William Ewart Gladstone?
Prime minister + Exchequer 4 time
Leader of Liberal Party 1868
What did Gladstone promise?
“to abstain from any territorial acquisitions and from contracting any new obligations”
Why did in 1865 the Parliamentary Select Committee recommend withdrawing from Britain’s West African settlements?
It was too costly
Who was an exception to this?
Goldie was allowed a charter for Niger in 1884
Why did the British government adopt more imperialist policies from 1870 onwards?
- Economic competition with France + Germany
- Long depression made export markets more attractive
- Difficulty with European + American export tariffs
- Charted companies increasingly needing intervention
What did Disraeli now claim the Conservative party to be?
The ‘party of empire’
What did the Liberals say about Disraeli’s imperialism?
It was dangerous and he was accused of stirring up jingoism
What’s jingoism?
Encouraging and celebrating British imperial gains, boasting about Britain’s power
What action did D do in 1875 to support his pro-imperialist stance?
Got a private loan from the Rothschild family to buy £4 million worth of Suez Canal shares
What three events did he do in 1877?
- Named Queen Victoria Empress of India
- Annexed the Boer Republic
- Sent General Gordon into Sudan
What country did he annex in 1878?
Afghanistan
What did Gladstone claim he had to do after D’s policies?
‘Pick up the pieces’
What caused the Boers to be independent in 1880?
Boers moved to throw off B control
How long did the First Boer war last?
1 year
(1880 - 1881)
What event stopped G from sending more troops, time or money in SA?
The defeat at Majuba Hill
What did G think about withdrawing Anglo-Egyptian troops from the Mahdist Rebellion in Sudan?
The Sudanese are ‘rightly struggling to be free’
What did this clearly show?
The difference between Liberal and Conservative colonial policy
But what place was G especially interested in?
Egypt
Why?
Needed it for a safe passage to India
Arabi Pasha’s uprising threatened security of Suez + investment
What did the Berlin Conference 1884 -1885 do?
Somaliland + Bechuanaland become protectorates
Who were left in power in Bechuanaland?
The local Tswana rulers
(suggests G was reluctant to take more management + costs of empire)
Where else was G hesitant to intervene?
New Guinea
Taken over by Germany 1884
Who instead took part of it back?
Thomas MacIlwraith - Premier of Queensland
Took south-eastern zone
Australia financed the development of B New Guinea
When did G resign?
1885
What Act did he oversee?
1884 Parliamentary Reform Act
(it extended the vote to 5.5 million men)
What then returned under Lord Sailsbury’s conserv govt?
Imperialism
Who did G also have sympathy for?
Irish independence
What did he make when he returned as PM in 1886?
Home Rule Bill for Ireland
Was it successful in going through parliament?
No
Attempted 1886 + 1893
Why had the public had more opinions of the empire between 1860s +70s?
Growing of popular press
What did the stories emphasise?
Heroism, exoticness, national one-upmanship
What act increased national literacy?
The Education Act of 1870
What acts made the public more politically aware and extended the vote?
1867 and 1884 Reform Acts
What PM used this imperialist fantasy for their own gain?
Disraeli
What was the earliest influence the media had when reporting about the empire?
1857 Indian Mutiny
What was another influential event?
Cawnpore
What happened in Cawnpore?
When B troops approached rebel-held Cawnpore 1857, the people killed 200 captive women + children then threw them into the river
Who was seen as a national hero in the media?
Major-General Henry Havelock
He recaptured Cawnpore + Lucknow
When he died a statue was put in Trafalgar square
What event was supported by reporters and praised G for intervention?
Arabi Pashas Revolt
What author wrote about imperialist themes?
H. Rider Haggard
What novel was put in a magazine between 1886 and 1887?
She - HRH
About man + woman who go into Africa find a lost kingdom ruled by Queen Ayesha
Where were children exposed to imperialist literature?
The Boys own paper - had stories of bravery across the globe
School books
What club was made for boys?
The Boys’ Brigade - offered military training + reminded boys what it meant to be part of the ‘glorious’ empire
What did the B see the empire as?
‘Empire of races’ where B people were superior
What did the B think extending the empire would do?
It would ‘civilise’ indigenous peoples
What reinforced the idea that B had an ‘imperial duty’ to control overseas territories?
Publication of Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species 1859
What did quasi-scientists view it as?
They applied it to humans and justified it by using examples of North American indigenous people disappearing, and the Maoris and Aborigines
What also enforced the B Victorian superiority?
Exhibitions
What were successful exhibitions in London?
The Great Exhibition of 1851
1862 International Exhibition
Africa Exhibition 1890
What did they have in them?
28,000 exhibitors from 36 countries
Displayed arts, industry and technology
What were ‘living exhibits’?
People from the colonies displayed in the exhibits
Where was an example of ‘living exhibits’ being used?
The 1886 exhibition
‘Indian craftsmen’ were probably prisoners who were trained as part of a project to ‘reform the criminal castes’
What did the Africa Exhibition show?
Celebrated explorers + colonisation
Showed trophy cases of axes, shields + spears
It stimulated scientific + anthropological interest and justified B presence
How did Missionaries contribute to the spreading of imperialism?
Talked about their conversion stories at Sunday schools and in pamphlets
David Livingstone was famous for this work
