Expansion And Empire Flashcards
Why was India a valuable source of people
Were used as soldiers to fight for Britain
What was the East India Company
A company that ran British trading stations started in 1600
How did EIC make a profit
Traded their cheap goods in exchange for other countries goods (China + Japan)
-> India became the base for trading
Warren Hastings
- dominated Indian affairs from 1772 and 1785
Robert Clive
- helped secure an Indian empire for Britain
Sepoy Rebellion
- the grease used to make cartridges in the Enfield rifle came from pigs and cows which offended Muslims and Hindu
- in 1857, at the first uprising, Mangal Pandey was shot
Cawnpore Massacre
210 British women and children killed
Causes of the Sepoy Rebellion
LT
- the sepoys weren’t rested well + some were pressured into converting to Christianity
ST
- in 1857, the Enfield rifle was introduced containing pork and beef
Aftermath of the Sepoy Rebellion
- took away the power EIC and replaced it with direct rule by the British governor
-> Indian Act 1773 - interfered less with religious matters and let Indians have a say by letting them have jobs in the local government
- a new Indian middle class emerged who could speak English and had access to new technology
Impact of the empire on India’s economic resources
- British businessmen made fortunes in India by taking raw materials + selling them for profit in Britain -> in the mid 1800s, tea trade was worth £30 million a year
- trade created jobs for Brits and Indians (shipping + transport)
- British introduced irrigation programme which increased the land available by 8x
- introduced coal mining
What the impact of the empire on India’s health
- Britain introduce a vaccine to treat diseases like malaria and smallpox
- improved sewage system + water supplies
-> despite life expectancy increasing, millions died of starvation during the famines that hit India in the 1800s
What was the impact of the empire on India’s transport
- British built over 30,000km of railways and 130,000 bridges
- total British investment in India was more than £400 million in 1914
What was the impact of the empire on India’s society and education
- high courts were set up places like Bombay
- Brits opened 1000s of colleges
Why hadn’t Africa been previously colonised
- far away
- danger of malaria
David Livingstone
Explorer and missionary who brought back stories of African gold and cash crops
What made it easier to colonise Africa
- steamships (1802)
- railways (1811)
- maxim gun developed
- Quinine (1850) -> malaria medication
Justifications for colonising Africa
- to get rid of slavery once and for all
- David Livingstone thought the only way to liberate Africa was to introduce: commerce, Christianity, civilisation
- Social Darwinism
- the construction of the Suez canal promoted a trade link between Europe and Asia making Egypt important to Europeans
The Berlin Conference
1884-85
- set up to discuss the future of Africa
- Berlin Act of 1885 was signed by 14 European powers
Britain in Africa
- 16 colonies + 32% of Africa by 1900
-> include Kenya and Egypt
African Resistance
- the Maxim Gun threatened Africans but some African tribes had major victories over European countries like in the Zulu War of 1829
Cecil Rhodes
- 1888: founded ‘De Beers Consolidated Mines’
- 1890: became the PM of Cape Colony
- renamed Zimbabwe + Zambia to Rhodesia
- tried to take Transvaal which causes the Boer War
Fact about Cecil Rhodes’ mines
By the end of the 1800s, he controlled 90% of the global diamond mines
What did Cecil Rhodes believe in
Social Darwinism
LT significance of Cecil Rhodes
- Zambia and Zimbabwe were called Rhodesia until 1980
- in 2015, there were campaigns to remove statues of Rhodes outside the University of Cape Town and Oxford University
Why was the Suez Canal important
It reduced the journey they would have to take to get to India
How did Britain get control of the Suez Canal
- in 1875, the Egyptians were financially strained so British PM Disraeli borrowed £4 million to buy a share in the canal
- in 1882, the Egyptians rebelled but the navy bombed the city of Alexandria after British people were killed
Who were Boers
People who lived in the Cape Colony
How many Boer soliders were there compared to British soldiers
60,000 Boer
250,000 British
Great Trek
1837-1844
A resettlement plan that moved Boers from Cape Colony to Transvaal and Orange Free State
Battle of Majuba Hill
1881
- boers refused to unite with the British so the British sent troops in but were defeated
The Second Boer War
1899-1902
- initially the Boers were having victories but from 1900 the British sent 500,000 soldiers to fight 60,000 Boer soldiers
Causes of the Second Boer War
- huge amount of gold were discovered in Transvaal in 1886
- Kruger imported artillery from Germany (British enemy)
- South Africa was essential to protect the British empire
What happened to Boer women and children
- took them to refugee camps that became concentration camps
- 26,000 died -> 80% were under 16
Impact of the 2nd Boer War in Britain
- solider unfit to fight
- cost £20 billion
- free school meals for all children
- free doctor visits
Why did the Irish migrate
- to escape poverty -> many stayed in cities like Liverpool + men worked as navvies
- in 1846 there was a potato blight and 1 million died of starvation -> more than 1.5 million Irish fled
British reaction Irish migration
- some dislikes them because the Irish were Catholics
- blamed for causing Typhus (called it the irish fever)
- were blamed for high crime rates
- people didn’t give them fair job opportunities so they were seen as lazy
- had to rent homes in the worst parts of towns-> slogans like ‘no blacks, no dogs, no irish’ were popular
Impact of Irish migration on Britain
- in the 1800s, almost 40% of British army were Irish
- ## in 2001, 1 in 10 of the British population were of close irish descent
Jewish migration out of Britain
1290: Edward 1 expelled all the Jews
Jewish migration to Britain
- wrongly blamed for the assassination of the Russian Tsar Alexander II in 1881 -> between 1881 and 1914 120,000 Jews arrived in Britain to flee pogroms
-> 2.5 Jews left Russia
Reaction to Jewish migrations
- accused of taking jobs
- 1905: Aliens Act limited the number of Jewish immigrants
Impact of Jewish migration
- michael marks created Marks and Spencer’s in 1894 -> had 36 outlets by 1900
- 1874: Benjamin Disraeli became Britains first Jewish PM
How many Indians moved to Kenya and Uganda to build railways bridges and roads
30,000
Forced migration
- after Australia was discovered in 1770, 20,000 criminals were sent there over 20 years
- 30,000 Indians went to Kenya and Uganda to build railways, bridges and roads
- in the 17th century 2/3 of immigrants to the new world came as indentured servants
Migration from Britain
- 22 million people left Britain between 1815-1914
- gov created schemes to get poorest to migrate
Migrations within Britain
- during the Industrial Revolution in 1750 80% lived and worked in the countryside but by 1901 this was 25%
- population rise from 10m in 1801 to 37m in 1901 -> better medical treatment, sanitation, food production
By 1939 what had Britain practically made independent
Australia, Canada and New Zealand
