Economic and Trade benefits

Question 1

All Economic and trade benefits of Empire for Britain

Answer 1

• import agricultural produce as Britain was predominantly an industrial society
• British manufacturing industries sourced materials from empire
• Trading companies benefitted massively and many parts of Empire like White Dominion and India were self financing
• Trade with Empire especially tropical trade

Question 2

Importance of empire due to the fact Britain was predominant;y an industrial society ?

Answer 2

• it expected the colonies to supply food for a population which was outgrowing the capacity of domestic agriculture

Question 3

Evidence of food imports from colonies ?

Answer 3

• imported vast quantities of wheat and beef from Canada
• lamb and dairy products from New Zealand
• Empire was the main foreign source of cheese, apples and potatoes

Question 4

Why was trade with colonies for agricultural produce beneficial for British ?

Answer 4

• this trading supply was considered safe and stable
• it was also cheap because production was under British control

Question 5

Why did British manufacturing industries sought materials from colonies

Answer 5

• due to the industrial productivity in Britain

Question 6

What raw materials did British manufacturing industries sought ?

Answer 6

cotton, wool, timber, coal and iron all from the Empire

Question 7

Why was access of these materials so important for the British ?

Answer 7

Britains economy relied on materials like these to fuel the industry s the economy could keep growing

Question 8

How did these raw materials create economic gain ?

Answer 8

these raw material supplied home industries and meant that manufactured goods could be sold for profit

Question 9

Examples of Britain investing heavily into colonies and their infrastructure ?

Answer 9

• railways in India and the Ugandan railway
  Aswan Dam
• improved infrastructure in many countries
  investing in irrigation schemes and land improvements

Question 10

Impact of the British obtaining these raw materials from the empire ?

Answer 10

• consistent supply
• cheap and with no competition
• influx of materials was stable and consistent, preventing any economic crashes

Question 11

Cost of running the Empire ?

Answer 11

Many parts of the Empire e.g. the White Dominions and India were self - financing, being run by taxation

Question 12

Who benefitted massively from the trade with empire ( transport ) ?

Answer 12

• Trading companies benefitted massively due to trade with colonies as they transported goods and materials

Question 13

Why did transport companies gain ?

Answer 13

• ocean steamships were the main carriers of goods and people across the empire
• orders from British ship builders expanded
• railway also gained huge profit from the growth of the empire

Question 14

What was the Empire provide Britain with which was extremely helpful and beneficial due to their industrial productivity ?

Answer 14

colonies provided a secure sales markets.

Question 14

Evidence of trade being beneficial with Empire ?

Answer 14

• relationship between export and import moved abut 10% in Britains favour between 1870- 1914
• As Empire grew British exports increased to empire from 21% to 37.2%. India alone took 20% of British imports

Question 15

Impact of tropical; trade ?

Answer 15

Tropical trade was more lucrative as products were not available in Britain. Thus more profits

Question 16

Trade with the British Empire was also important as they provided what type of products

Answer 16

tropical products like, sugar, coffee, cocoa, palm oil,

Question 17

Was trade with Empire the main source of trade ?

Answer 17

Empire was not the main source of Britain’s trade.

Question 18

Evidence that trade with empire for Britain was not that important ?

Answer 18

• Imperial Federation League which was established to promote closer colonial ties was disbanded.
• Only 24.9 % of British imports came from colonies and 37.2 % went to colonies.

Question 19

Imperial Federation League impact of being disbanded ?

Answer 19

• Showed that Britain’s commercial importance to the colonies was undermined/ not that significant

Question 20

Who did Britain trade with instead of the empire ?

Answer 20

• Instead of reliance on empire, Britain’s trade with the non imperial world - particularly the USA

Question 21

Evidence of Britain’s trade outside the non imperial world/ with the informal empire ?

Answer 21

Empire total trade in 1896 was £896 million, but trade between the countries of the empire was only £ 183 million. Economic benefits from Empire weren’t that significant

Question 22

Did Trade with the British Empire make the country wealthy ?

Answer 22

• Most of the country dud not gain from the economic and trade benefits

Question 23

Impact of trade with Empire for British public ?

Answer 23

• middle classes were facing an increased tax burden because of the maintenance and defence of the empire as well as the costs of the Boer War.
• Poverty in early 20th century

Question 24

Studies done about poverty in 20th century ?

Answer 24

2 studies done in the late 19th century by Seebohm RowntreE AND James Booth showed considerable poverty in parts of Britain.