Impacts of the Boer War (2) Flashcards
How much did the Boer war cost the British?
£217 million
Who was the Chancellor of Exchequer in 1901?
Michael Hicks Beach
How did the Chancellor of Exchequer try to raise money for the war 1899-1901?
- Tax on refined sugar
- Imposed a levy of 1s on exported coal
- Raised income tax by 2d to 1s
How much of the wars cost was down to taxation? What did this mean for the government?
- Only 1/3 met by taxation
- Had to also resort to borrowing
Who was chancellor of Exchequer in 1902?
Charles Ritchie
Who wanted to raise tariffs to raise money and how did they want to go about this?
- Joseph Chamberlain 1903-5
- Wanted to put protective duties on corn and manufactured good from outside the empire
- There should be no tariffs on colonial imports to promote Imperial Unity
What did Joseph Chamberlain believe tariff reform would do?
- Raise money and strengthen the Empire
- Protect British industry and jobs from foreign competition
- Pay for social reform
Who opposed tariff reform and why?
- Free traders from the Conservative-Unionists opposed this
- Believed duties on corn would raise food prices
- High duties would protect inefficient British industries
- Free trader kept costs low, in turn keeping labour cost low allowing Britain to have competitive nature over rivals and make more money
What was the result of the 1906 Election and Why?
- Liberals won, 400 seats compared to the Conservative-Unionists 157
- Conservative Unionists were split due to tariff reform
Why did both parties not feature the Boer War during the elections in 1906?
- Conservative-Unionists did not want to remind the public of their mismanagement of the war
- Liberals did not want to reignite the split in their party that they had during the Boer war
Did the Boer War cause the decline of Imperial Sentiment?
- After the Boer war Imperialism was not seen as bringing order to lower societies but rather a capitalist greed and barbarism
- After 1902 only the Conservative Unionists were associated with Imperialism who were defeated in 1906 and 1910 elections
- Chamberlain failed to get the public support of his schemes of Imperial Unity
- Liberal Govs did not prioritise Imperial affairs
Did the Boer war maintain any Imperial Sentiment?
- Daily Mail and Daily Stride continued their Imperialistic tone
- Britons were shown Imperialism in all media, advertisements and commercial packaging, businessmen saw this as an important selling point
- First generation of emigrants in parts of the empire, e.g Canada and Australia, showing a ‘Greater Britain’ who retained links with original Britain
- British Patriotism still remained influential, the Empire was a key part of this
How did schools maintain Imperial Sentiment?
- Young Britons were instilled with Imperial Pride
- Public schools prepared their pupils for future careers as colonel administrators or army officers
- School textbooks stressed the importance of those Britons who helped the Empire
- Baden-Powell’s fostering of the scout and guide movements pushed forward the importance of Imperialism
What were examples of inequalities of wealth in 1900?
- 1/10 of the population owned 92% of the nations wealth
- 9/10 of the population Gell below the income tax threshold of £160 a year
Were living standards rising between 1882 and 1889?
- Yes
- Real wages rising by a third, better diets and health, with more leisure time
What did Charles Booths and Seebohm Rowntree’s research find?
- 1/3 of people living in poverty
- Due to old age, unemployment and sickness
What was the infant mortality rate and why?
- 150 every 1000 died
- This was affected by class, poor infants died quicker
- Marked differences in height of children from rich and poor, so class was seen as two separate races
What was the view on Urbanisation?
- Seen as debating the nations physical and moral faculties
What did Eugenics support Karl Pearson believe about the number of babies born to people of different social classes?
- Believes that the fertile but unfit population was going to produce half the next generation
- He called this ‘race suicide’
What was the belief of Social Darwinism? What were the effects of Britons believing this?
- Belief that only the ‘fittest’ nations would dominate the rest
- Imperials need legitimised government and voluntary actins on welfare issues
- This was to ensure that the next generation was healthy for the challenge ahead
What caused Britain to realise they needed to make themselves more efficient?
- Took 450,000 men 32 months to beat 60,000 farmers
- Clearly they needed reform as many believed the British Empire may be brought down
What did the national efficiency movement want to do?
- Shame the existing elite into modernising and institute a career system open to talent
- Ensure all children received a good education
- Modernise Britains secondary and higher education, by taking science and technology seriously so the country remained economically competitive
Who supported the national efficiency movement?
- Socialists hoping it would lead to social reform
- Liberals and Conservatives, both a progressive and patriotic policy
- Beef between liberal and conservative was not greater than that of competence and incompetence
What social reform did the Conservative-Unionists introduce when in power?
1902 Education Act, dramatic improvement in provision of secondary education
What social reform did the Liberals introduce when in power?
- Mother and infant clinics 1907
- Old age pensions 1908
- National Insurance Scheme 1911
