Imperial Consolidation & Liberal Rule 1890-1914 - Attitudes To Empire, Role & Influence Of Individuals Flashcards
What gave Joseph chamberlain the name ‘a man with a mission’?
He turned down office of both chancellor and Home Secretary in 1895 in order to become Secretary of State for the colonies
Joseph Chamberlain significant moments:
- opposed gladstone’s proposal for Irish independence
- he initiated the Ugandan railway, the annexation of Ashantiland and in 1900 he supervised the the acquisition of the territories of the royal Niger company
- parliamentary enquiry exonerated him of any responsibility for the Jameson raid
- he supported Rhodes ambitions in South Africa
- he presided the success in the second Anglo Boer war
What did Joseph Chamberlain believe in terms of Empire?
- the imperial bonds needed reinforcing if the empire was to be preserved and Britain wanted to remain a ‘world power’
- he believed in a sense of imperial duty - saying that ‘the British race is the greatest governing races’
- he believed in the importance of tariffs on all foreign goods
- he thought that favourable trade between Britain & colonies would reduce unemployment
- he promoted gov investment in less profitable areas of empire
Why did Chamberlain lose some of his glory?
The dragging on of the second Anglo Boer war
When did Chamberlain become PM/resign as colonial secretary?
1902 after Salisbury retired
What was the Tariff Reform League?
It organised the distribution of large numbers of leaflets and played chamberlain’s recorded messages to crowded public meetings
What was a key failure of Chamberlain?
He failed to carry the conservatives with him, split the party and brought about Balfour’s resignation and in 1906 he failed to convince the public who feared the cost of living crisis
What was Rhodes’ role by 1890?
PM of cape colony
What were Cecil Rhodes beliefs?
- he believed British civilisation and control were key to the betterment of the world
- he thought it was the right and duty of Anglo Saxons to dominate Africa and beyond
How did Rhodes try to link the cape to Sudan and Egypt?
He sent settlers and British South Africa company troops to establish fort Salisbury in Ndebele territory in 1890 and violently expanded into territories that were to be know as the ‘Rhodesias’
What was a key Rhodes project to outflank the Boers and Germans?
The railway line north from the cape through beauchanaland, hoping in woukd eventually reach the Nile and so ensure British dominance of all of east Africa
How did rhodes’ ‘Cape to Cairo’ route fail?
It was blocked by German occupation of east Africa from 1891
When did Rhodes resign?
1896
What was Curzon’s role?
Viceroy if india
What did concern over Russian expansion cause Curzon to do?
He created the North West Frontier Province in 1901 and dispatched military expeditions into tibet
What was a key success of curzon’s regarding famine in India?
He reintroduced means tests for famine relief, preventing a million people in the Bombay region from claiming aid during the 1899-1902 famine
What were key success of curzon’s in India?
- he oversaw the construction of a further 6000 miles of railway track
- he founded the cadet corps to give Indian nobles a military role and prospect of officer commission’s believing that loyal Indian elites were crucial to the successes of the Raj
What shows that curzon’s was reluctant to give Indians any responsibility?
At the university of Calcutta, infront of Indian students, he said ‘you cannot do without us’
Failures of curzon:
Partition of Bengal 1905 which forced him to resign
Who was Sir Evelyn baring?
Consul-general in Egypt between 1883 and 1907
What was the ‘granville doctrine’ and why did baring establish it?
The ‘Granville doctrine’ allowed baring to dismiss Egyptian ministers who refused to accept British directives
How did Baring view the Indian army?
He considered them to be ‘untrustworthy’ and so was disbanded and a new army was organised created by the British in india
How did Tewfiq’s death in 1892 challenge baring’s rule?
Tewfiq was succeeded by Abbas Hilimi II who wanted to throw off British rule
What views did Evelyn baring have?
- He had ‘Orientalist’ views, regarding Egypt as being under the grip of Islam which he thought the outdated Arabian customs to be regressive, detrimental to to modern Egypt and inferior to Christianity
- he was particularly concerned with Islamic society’s perceived ‘acceptance’ of slavery, ‘antiquated’ justice system and their ‘subjugation’ of women
Why was baring forced to resign from his Egypt post?
After the controversy following the flogging and hanging of locals at Denshawai in 1906 which revealed inequality and discrimination
What did parliament award Baring after his return to parliament?
£50000 in recognition of his ‘eminent services in Egypt
How did Milner try and expand Britain’s regional supremacy?
- he founded a series of English speaking schools ‘Milner schools’ in Pretoria and Johannesburg
- took Britain into the second Anglo Boer war
- demanded full rights of citizenship for the Uitlanders but by the Bloemfontein conference he decided to use force to get his way
- he negotiated the treaty of Vereeniging (1902) alongside Kitchener and made a baron and a viscount
- ‘Milner’s kindergarten’ worked to resettle Boers and boost economic growth
- he had hoped to attract British settlers and introduced English language education programmes
What were the roles of Alfred Milner in parliament?
- served in Egypt as Chairman (1899-1902)
- served as chairman of the board of Inland revenue (1892-97)
- became Britain’s high commissioner for Southern Africa in 1897
What failures did Alfred Milner face?
- more British residents left than arrived during the years following the depression of the second Anglo Boer war and so the gov. decided to use ‘coolies’ on three year contracts to make up the shortfall in workers in the gold mining industry however they were often flogged and racially abused which led to an investigation by the British press and questions asked about Milner knowing of the ‘poor conditions’
When did Milner resign from his Southern African posts?
After the conservatives lost the general election in 1906 and the liberals rejected his plans for the future of the Transvaal
What is orientalism?
It describes the way in which Western European societies perceived societies in North Africa and Asia, particularly those they had colonised and it includes the idea that views towards them were static and unchanging rather than progressing etc
