Imperialist Ideals

Question 1

Why was the Britain population bombarded with imperial imagery in the 20th century?

Answer 1

To try and keep the spirit of empire alive, as well as the fact that media, mass communication and social organisation were extremely prevalent at this time.
Britain were also keen to encourage trade with the empire following the world wars due to its reliability, hence the British governments support for a lot of the imperial imagery despite the controversy of empire at this time

Question 2

How did Britain market the desire for British trade with the empire and imperial preference?

Answer 2

1926 - Empire marketing board set up following efforts of Leo Amery (secretary of state for colonies and dominions)
- this board promoted the consumption of items produced from the empire in Britain through posters and advertisements

Question 3

When did the Empire marketing Board peak and become most active?

Answer 3

During the start of the Great Depression as international trade drastically declined and empire became vital to a stable British economy

Question 4

What was surprisingly reminiscent of the 19th century British empire in the Empire Marketing Board’s imagery?

Answer 4

Often racist and chauvinist in its tone, appearing to place Britons at the top of the racial hierarchy and responsible for the economic and moral ‘improvement’ of the colonies.
- it almost seems as though Britain expects its colonies to be thankful for the ‘improvement’ it has dealt out to the colonies (questionable view)

Question 5

How much did the British government contribute to the Wembley exhibition of 1924?

Answer 5

£2.2 million, clearly the government are extremely interested in promoting the British empire

Question 6

Which other exhibition apart from the Wembley exhibition was seemingly a success in promoting empire?

Answer 6

1938 exhibition in Glasgow attracted 12 million and offered a chance to boost the Scottish economy after the depression
- the big figures put into all these exhibitions made them seem like an obvious success on he surface, but were they all that successful in their aim of promoting the empire?

Question 7

When was the BBC made and how did it relate to imperialism?

Answer 7

1923 under first general director John Reith
- had a very pro-imperial stance and covered as many major imperial events, exhibitions and public celebrations as possible

Question 8

Which imperial tradition did the British empire bring in from 1932?

Answer 8

Christmas broadcasts, including the King’s speech and other various imperial items

Question 9

How important was the Empire in schools?

Answer 9

Teaching of Geography, History and Literature was all shaped around the idea of Empire e.g studying poetry and writings of pro-imperial writers such as Rudyard Kipling

Question 10

How influential was Empire in universities in the inter-war period?

Answer 10

Historical study of empire became established:
. Professorships in Imperial history came about such as the Vere Harmsworth Chair at Cambridge (1932)
. Played a huge role in training colonial servants, seen in the role of London University’s school of Oriental and African Studies, founded in 1917

Question 11

How did popular culture represent the empire in inter-war years?

Answer 11

. Children’s literature celebrated empire e.g G.A Henty’s books still popular
. Cinema became huge and often followed imperial themes
- films such as Sanders of the River (1935) used the empire as an exotic area to carry on the ideas of adventure and bravery which the Empire always seemed to promote
. Also in music (on another flaschard)

Question 12

Which composer sustained the spirit of Empire?

Answer 12

1924 Empire exhibition, Elgar conducted mass choirs singing ‘land of hope and glory’
- Elgar died in 1934

Question 13

Which composer didn’t really express pro-imperialism in his music?

Answer 13

Noel Coward - his song ‘Mad Dogs and Englishmen’, although containing imperial notes, self-mocked British ideas about themselves and the Empire

Question 14

When was the British Empire’s Great Exhibition?

Answer 14

Two six month seasons in 1924 and 1925:
. 23rd April 1924-1st November 1924
. 9th May 1925-31st October 1925

Question 15

What was Britain’s Great exhibition ignorant of?

Answer 15

The looming collapse of the empire - the empire’s ‘Last Hoorah’

Question 16

How large scale was the British empire exhibition?

Answer 16

Huge, covering 216 acres

Question 17

What was the message behind the great exhibition at the time?

Answer 17

That nothing had changed since WW1 and the empire was still united and the empire was still loyal to Britain. Britain are trying to keep empire relevant

Question 18

In what ways was the Great exhibition insensitive and criticised?

Answer 18

. Many of the military displays of famous battle scenes from British history were untimely given losses during WW1
. Even Edward Elgar described the pomp of the exhibition as ‘irredeemably vulgar’
. There was distaste of the exhibition especially among north Londoners, with the WGTW society being formed to oppose the exhibition

Question 19

What was the WGTW society?

Answer 19

The ‘won’t go to Wembley society’
- socialist, anti-imperialist and pacifist protest group
- opposed the Great exhibition on the grounds that it was seen as imperialist propaganda to glorify colonialism and Britain to distract from the social injustices in Britain coming out of WW1

Question 20

In what ways was the Great exhibition criticised for being reminiscent of past imperial exhibitions (seeming a bit backwards)?

Answer 20

. Seen as an addition to traditions of exhibitions which had included real subjects who were shipped over as subjects to look at
- this tradition seemed to somewhat continue in this tradition

Question 21

What are the typical goals for British colonial exhibitions?

Answer 21

Showcase military and technological dominance over territories, while also spreading knowledge and care for ‘native cultures’

Question 22

Did Britain find it easy to get support to set up the great exhibition?

Answer 22

No, it wasn’t very popular:
. First proposed by British empire league in 1906
. Liberal landslide in 1906 killed the idea off
. Post WW1, seemed ‘essential’ to have the exhibition to promote unity and reignite spirit of empire to recover

This meant the aims of the exhibition were more out of desperation than a show of dominance

Question 23

When did Edward Elgar die?

Answer 23

1934

Question 24

How did commercial advertisement continue an imperial theme?

Answer 24

Traders and private companies used imperial motifs to promote products of private companies all the way up to 1947
E.g Co-operative wholesale society celebrated global and imperial links in their advertising, especially in its supply of products such as tea, with packets containing collectible cards illustrating places in the empire

Question 25

What was the CWS?

Answer 25

Co-operative wholesale society - supplied the retail societies in Britain by obtaining tea, sugar, meat etc form all over the world for retail stores, especially from the British empire

Question 26

How were there still informal links of empire in this period?

Answer 26

. Relatives who emigrated to Australia or elsewhere showed the informal links with empire . Former missionaries spoke in church about their experiences in the empire . Relatives who had served in the army or navy experienced greater colonial ties through their direct contact with each other in the war It seems like the imperial links are more of a community after the war, creating more real knowledge of the empire but also fantasising it again

Question 27

What main development in Britain helped increase ways that empire could be represented to people in Britain?

Answer 27

Changes in Mass media e,g films and the BBC

Question 28

How did the imperial messages of the empire change after WW1?

Answer 28

. Explicit jingoism lost its attraction after the horrors of the First World War . Involvement in the war made Britain appreciate the empire as a family of nations led by the British (still progress) Empire became a symbol of unity and togetherness but still had the paternalistic overtones

Question 29

How did the paternalistic overtones of the empire continue?

Answer 29

White British administrators were still portrayed as superior with non-European cultures being seen as p’primitive’ and ‘exotic’

Question 30

How did empire day show the changing representation of the empire in the inter-war period?

Answer 30

It sought to create a sense of belonging to this new idea of a family in the empire, with allegiance still to the monarch of Britain. - this meant empire day was celebrated on Queen Victoria’s birthday (to show loyalty to monarch) but all the way across the empire (showing unity in the empire) - participants often wore their national dress representing the different colonies of empire Empire moving towards an embracing of culture rather than Britain ‘owning’ these possessions

Question 31

What did the celebration of empire day show about the reality of the empire in the inter-war period?

Answer 31

Celebratory efforts to reignite the spirit of the empire were treated with enthusiasm because it was a fun event, not necessarily because the main event was the significance of the empire - Britain’s knowledge of the empire and appeal with it was lowering

Question 32

Why did Britain have to try and promote positive images of the empire at the start of WW2?

Answer 32

They needed to keep support from the empire and commonwealth as they were so vital for the war effort - ministry of information films such as 49th parallel stressed the need for tolerance and understanding of other ethnicities in the empire

Question 33

How did the imperialism relate to imperial masculinity?

Answer 33

Imperialism inspired an idealised view of British masculinity, with the men ruling the empire expected to be brave, unemotional, to embody the natural ‘superiority’ of the British ‘race’

Question 34

What phrase capture the spirit of an ideal imperial man?

Answer 34

‘Keeping a stiff upper lip’ - ability to stay calm in danger, popularised in 1870s

Question 35

How were the gender expectations on masculinity that the empire encouraged spread through Britain?

Answer 35

. Children’s literature, cinema and advertising - especially seen in the system of male-only public schools where most colonial administrators came from

Question 36

How did imperial masculinity arising from imperialism have racist overtones?

Answer 36

Ideal imperial man was white and men from the subjects of the empire were often portrayed as backwards races

Question 37

To what extent were imperial themes in this period significant in bringing about a reigniting of the empire?

Answer 37

. Just because there was still pro-imperial propaganda didn’t mean that if influenced consumers . Such huge efforts to reignite the empire were due to the fact that so few of the masses now were aware or interested in the empire . Impact of imperialism differed by class and social group (not everyone shared the same values or had same level of contact with empire) It is very difficult to measure the impact of imperial messages in this period as the population was so diverse, with different views and levels of exposure to the empire