Empire Flashcards
Peter Salhins on citizenship and Empire
we base our identity “in reference to who we are not” and this idea was particularly prominent in Britain as a “one time great power influencing and being influenced by every continent in the world”
military intervention from ordinary Brits in Empire
1 in 5 of Britain’s adult men were in uniform by 1815 and including the militia and EIC’s army this was over 1 million men. this furthered Britishness as these men shared in experiences and Colley argues it “heightened sense of solidarity with their own tribe, a sharpened awareness of us against them”
John Burris on the Crystal palace
“it was Britain itself that was for sale inside the crystal palace… It was a Briton that could assert its cultural superiority over other nations through an exhibition that… was largely Anglocentric in nature”
Crystal Palace according to Kriegel
showcased materials found in colonies and goods produced eg in India which were of high quality and so showed Britain’s reliance on the colonies for raw material- “the future prosperity of the nation depended on Britain’s overseas relations as much as its domestic affairs”
literature in response to the Crystal palace
poem ‘exhibition lay’, celebrating British values of authority and liberty
‘in recollections and tales of the Crystal Palace- Britannia “speaks peace and freedom to the assembled world”
depiction of britannia in the palace
at palace entrance - “gold enamelled and jewelled vase by Watherston & Brogden of Covent Garden which depicted Britannia as part of a group emblematical of Great Britain surmounting a depiction of the Battle of Hastings and reliefs and busts of celebrated men, including Nelson, Wellington, Shakespeare”
the Times on Empire
1849-necessity of Empire: “Our position, our mineral wealth, our machinery, our commerce… enable us to carry all markets before us, and to force our commodities on the world; “
the inferiority of other nations particularly colonies in. the exhibition
Caribbean section of the colonial produce included all raw, new manufactured, materials and other country’s sections had a single theme eg the Turkish section was dominated by ornate carpets while Indian contributions came solely from the EIC
number of foreign visitors to the Great Exhibition
58.4k
ABC for baby patriots
1899 published- “Cis for colonies. Rightly we boast that of all the great nations, Great Britain has the most”
Disraeli’s Crystal palace speech
1872- imperialistic- “no minister of this country will do his duty who neglects any opportunity of reconstructing as much as possible of our colonial empire”. Thompson labelled it a “jingoistic celebration of England’s providential destiny”
issues the 1910 election was dominated by
Ireland and tariff reform
which elections were imperially charged
Corpora declares that the 1886, 1900 and 1906 were the only elections with frequent imperial themes and mentions
Conservatives supporting Empire in elections
Corpus based analysis found in the 9 elections from 1880-1910, Conservatives use imperial words with a net score that is 68% higher than Liberals
1895 election and Empire
Grouped with Khaki election but language was least imperial of any of the 9 elections (1880-1910)- only 11% of unionists referred to Empire in election addresses and in the 1895 speaker’s guidebook for the Tories, Empire was chapter 15, after miners and fishermen
1910 election and Empire
Pensions as a single word was used more than any Empire related words by grassroots liberals and Balfour’s promise for a referendum on tariff reform was more frequent than ‘empire’ and ‘imperialism’
Liberals on tariff reform
one major newspaper described it as “gross treachery”- very much opposed by the party + focused on national efficiency- turned away from international focus
Disraeli’s imperial centred actions as PM
“duty of Empire as it spread superior English civilisations to non-Europeans” and bought Suez Canal share in 1875, imposed the Royal Titles Act in 1876 and Occupied Cyprus in 1878
late-Victorian attitudes to Empire eg Gladstone
“if you increase engagement without increasing strength, you diminish strength”
Thompson- imperialism meant “efficient organisation of the existing empire, not it’s further extension” and emigration not conquest was the best form of enlarging British nationality
Seeley’s Expansion of England
sold 80k copies in first 2 years
“the overriding objective of government… Was to reunite the scattered fragments of the English-speaking race”
British migration to Empire
Half of British overseas migrants were in Empire by the early 1900s, so family ties. esp because “40% of those from England and Wales 1860 to 1930 and went to Empire came back and from 1897 the board of trade suggested 10k returned from Aus/NZ yearly
Cricket in Empire
Australian bowler Fred Spofforth was widely credited by the English press and the popularity of cricket in Australia was proof that British society could flourish in the colonies
Rugby in the Empire
NZ all blacks won 31/35 matches
decline in Britain’s stake in the world’s manufacturing output
1880- had 22.9%
1900- fell to 18.5%
opposition among politicians on Empire
Curzon- Empire centred around india
Meath- opposed the narrowness of the imperial federation and wanted “a bond of fellow feeling between the Empire’s citizens”
Imperial federation league
founded 1884, but dissolved in 1893 as divide between those in favour of a defence union and those who favoured a customs union
Tariff reform league
first meeting -1903
600 local branches by 1910
in 1907 Bristol branch had 4k members, Aberdeen had 1000 and East of Scotland branch had a caravan to reach remote areas
funds of the Tariff Reform League
1903-1910, estimated the league raised £160k
literature from the Tariff reform league
38.5k copies of the speaker’s handbook, 120.5k of monthly notes and 6 million leaflets posters and pamphlets in 1908
Navy league
responsible for 4 major schemes of change- scrapping of obsolete warships, reorganisation of the reserve fleet, the redistribution of fleets and squadrons and the introduction of the dreadnought, costing Gladstone £.1 mill on warships and £2.4 mill on naval ordinance and coaling stations in 1 year
Trafalgar day celebrations
in 1905 20k men and women gathered for the celebration which included the national anthem and the queue for Nelson’s column was 3 miles long
Navy League Journal
20k copies circulated a month by 1911
self-help emigration society
5.3k migrants assisted from 1901-1911
British women’s emigration society
7.1k migrants assisted 1901-1911
Charity organisation society
17.6k migrants assisted 1901-1911
Women’s Organising Committee of the Navy League
set up 1895
Tariff Reform League formed a Women’s Association
founded 1903
Violet Brooke-Hunt
1902 returned from medical aid in SA and helped to found 40 female branches of the TRL
Irish migration
- 1820-1920- 1.5 mill Irish went to Britain, 1 million migrated to Canada, NZ and Aus. and between 1788 and 1867, the Irish were ¼ of the 160k convicts transported to Aus.
anti-Irish and anti-Catholicism in Empire
“The Orange Order became a militant forum for the expression of anti-Catholicism wherever Irish Protestants settled, and by the late 1870s there were an estimated 5,000 lodges throughout the British Empire”
Irish imperial education
Queens colleges in Belfast, Cork and Galway est Indian language, history and law courses
Irish in the Indian civil service
1857- Irish +20% of British population but 33% of Indian Civil service recruits and 7 of the 8 provinces had Irish Born governors
Irish in the British army
42% of soldiers were Irish born and the EIC had recruited as much of 50% of its army from Ireland
Imperial soldiers in WW1
140k Irish enlisted
1.4 mill Indian
1 mill from white dominions
Irish famine
1845-51. 1 million died. John Mitchell, an influential Irishman linking 2 generations, stated that “the English created the famine”
the population was 8.5 million in 1851 but was 4.5 million in 1901 (includes deaths and immigration)
advance in technology aiding imperial communication
Cabinet heard of the Majuba Hill incident 8 hours after, prior to 1879 this would have taken 7 weeks
steamships reduced ocean freight rates led to increase in raw materials in Britain
technological advancements in the colonies
Construction of trans-continental railways
new methods of cultivation were extended to Canada, US and other areas of recent settlement
growth of free competition in international trade
freer competition and Commons were rid of economic interest- EIC removed and in 1848-9 navigation laws were abandoned, revenue from customs duties was 32% down to 5% by the 1890s
accessibility to Empire within Britain increasing
1844 railway act introduced a cheap daily train- the parliamentary train which allowed thousands to travel who otherwise could not afford it
German economic positon relative to Britain
German labour productivity in manufacturing was 119% of Britain’s in 1911 and 104% in terms of German utilities
however in 1913, German GDP was only at 76 if we take Britain to be 100
