Churchill + Hobhouse Report Flashcards
When did Winston Churchill become involved in the Boer War?
- He got a job with the Morning Post when war broke out
- He sailed for South Africa on the ship carrying Buller
What accounts of adventure did Churchill bring that made him a minor hero in Britain?
- He helped rescue an ambushed armoured train, he was captured by the Boers but managed to escape
What did Churchill do when he rejoined the army?
- One of the first British soldiers into Ladysmith and Pretoria
- After returning to Britain in 1900 he was elected MP for Oldham in the ‘khaki election’
What did Churchills report reveal about his attitudes to war?
- He believed in the British Empire, he supported the ar
- His dispatches were uncensored, revealing deficiencies in the army but also recognising skill of the Boers
- His lively journalism made the readers at home feel close to the action
- This sort of press coverage informed opinion back at home
What was the public attitude like at the relief of Mafeking, after black week?
- Relief of Mafeking sparked flag-waving jubilation in streets, theatres and music halls
- Public opinion had swung back into support and Mafeking became a short lived new word for street celebrations
What was a popular supportive song of the Boer War?
music hall song ‘Tararaboomdeeay’
When was the Daily Mail launched and what did it promote?
- Launched in 1896
- Took a fiercely imperialist tone §
When was the Daily Express launched and what did it promote?
- Launched in 1900
- Echoed a jingoistic tone - belief that your countries always right
How did the press change as the war dragged on?
- Became less supportive
- Questions about Spion Kop, why sieges took so long and why the army were shit
- Questions about concentration camps, politicians began using newspapers and letter columns to argue their case
What did Journalist W.T Stead find?
- ‘Stop the War Committee’ in 1899
- (Jan 1902) Stead launched a scathing attack on the plight of children in the camps, claiming the authorities were effectively murdering them
- He called it a ‘cold blodded deed of state policy’ against people whom Britain could not defeat
What were some of Emily Hobhouse’s contributions to the Boer War?
- She joined the South African Conciliation Committee
- She spoke against the war at protest meetings and rallies in London June 1900
- September 1900 founded the South African Women and Children dishes Fund to collect money for Boer families
When did Hobhouse leave for South Africa?
- 7th December 1900 with a letter of introduction to Alfred Milner
- This was the British high commissioner who offered to help
What did Hobhouse find in South Africa about concentration camps?
- She had only hear of one concentration camp at Port Elizabeth but found over 40 camps
- Milner provided a railway wagon and Hobhouse packed it with medicine, blankets and equipment
What did Hobhouse find at Bloemfontein camp?
- The conditions were appalling
- She had expected to bring comforts such as soap but rather they need food
What did Hobhouse find about the food ration in the camps?
- Food ration was inadequate and selective
- Meat was not given to women or children if their men were not fighting
- Few to no vegetables, no fresh milk and many children dying of malnutrition
What did Hobhouse find about the conditions of the camps?
- Insanitary conditions without adequate toilets or clean water
- ## Diseases such as whooping cough, measles, typhoid fever, diphtheria, diarrhoea and dysnetry were spreading
What did Hobhouse find when she returned to Bloemfontein camp after helping others?
- She found the conditions were worse
- New military operation had brought extra families to the camp
- Nobody in authority listened and she returned to Britain
- The reported to the Distress fund committee and her report reached the gov June 1901
What was the reaction of Liberal MP’s to Hobhouse’s report?
Extracts were published in Liberal newspapers such as the ‘Manchester Guardian’
What did the Govt. do in response to the Hobhouse report?
- Sent a committee of inquiry to South Africa - Hobhouse not allowed to go with
- This was led by Millicent Fawcett
- the Fawcett Committee inspected the camps and its reports echoed what Hobhouse had said
What was the public reaction to the Hobhouse report + Fawcett commission?
- Shock and demand for action
- The Gov took away responsibility for the camps from army and passed it down to civilian administration
- End of the war, camp death rate had alien to 2%
