General Empire Knowledge Flashcards
Anti-empire quotes
1902 Hobson aid it served the ‘financial capialists’ 1916 Lenin said it served the ‘monopoly capitalists’
Stats about the administration of the Empire
In terms of administration in 1914, fewer than 6000 people were employed to run the whole Empire - with India taking up 3000 of these posts.Best estimate as to the cost of running this administration is 20p per head of the Br population.
Stats about the defence of Empire
It was the army that saw the real cost of the Empire:- Indian army - 340,000 troops - Royal Navy - to maintain its position as largest on the world was expensive - Late Victorian period: UK spent 2x Germany and France and 3x USA, Russia and Austria Hungary on military. Indians contributed 70% cost of the Indian army but nothing towards navy. In 1912:- Indians paid 7p towards cost of their defence - Colonial subject paid 3p toward defence costs - British person paid £1.56 to national defence spending - 54p of this to imperial defence.
Areas where the Empire was the main food supplier
The only areas where Empire was the main food supplier was cheese, apples, potatoes and fresh mutton with the Empire providing less than 10%. In contrast in 1894 Br imported 30.7 million hundred weight of wheat from the USA, 17.2 million from Russia and only 3.6 million from Canada.
Did expansion of Empire guarantee expansion of trade and riches?
No In 1897 the whole of tropical Africa only took 1.2% of British exports.
By 1914 -extent of trade in India
35% of exports went to the Empire - and of this 20% went to India (representing about £150 million).
By 1914 -extent of trade with Canada
By 1914 Canada was supplying over 10% of GB’s beef and 15% of its wheat flour.
What do critics say about the Br Empire being inefficient?
While BE relied on rubber imports from S E Asia, the Fr and Russians had successfully created their pwn synthesised rubber industries by 1910.- some said the reliance on cheap labour from the imperial regions suppressed wages back home.
What was the general assumption in 1890 about the British Empire?
The Empire made Britain wealthy and more empire would make the country wealthier still.
India represented a particularly large market: how much of Britain’s exports did it take?
It took about 20% of Britain’s exports - worth almost £150 million by 1914
How much beef and wheat did Canada supply Britain with?
Upwards of 10% of Britain’s Beef and 15% of its wheat flour by 1914.Between 1900 and 1914, there was a 6 fold increase (to over 45,000 square miles) in Canadian land set aside for wheat production.
How the Imperial Federation League exemplifies that the benefits of trade w the Empire were less significant than imagined?
The Imperial Federation League which was established in 1884 to promote colonial ties was disbanded in 1893 (less than a decade after its inception) partially reflecting a waning interest in the Empire’s colonial importance.
Facts to demonstrate British trade was growing with the non imperial world - particularly the USA
In 1894, GB had imported 64 million hundredweight of wheat.30.7 million from the USA, 17.2 million from Russia and only 3.6 million from Canada.
What were the arguments of anti-imperialists?
- The Empire cost middle class people more than it benefited them
- they were supporting the cost of imperial defence in their taxes
- The Empire was blamed for Br’s failure to modernise its industry
- Empire was holding back economic developments that would have developed
Who was John A Hobson?
An economist - wrote Imperialism (1902)His ideas in Imperialism were formulated when he worked as a correspondent for the Manchester Guardian for SA during the Boer War. He believed the mine owner had tricked the Br into fighting the Boers in order to preserve their own profits.Critic of Empire who thought it benefited rich capitalists only.
