Lecture 8: Attitudes to Empire Flashcards
What was the impact of empire on British society? Histography:
- MacKenzie ‘Propaganda and Empire’ = suggested that imperialism was embedded in British society and formed a vital aspect of national identity
- Porter ‘Absent-minded imperialist’ = sceptical about British empire and argued ‘There can be no assumption that Britain was steeped in Imperialism’
- Thompson ‘Empire Strikes Back’ = ‘effects of empire on the structure of British society, the development of British institutions and the shaping of British identities were complex and at times contradictory…there was never likely to be any single ‘imperial culture’ in Britain’
View of empire within Britain: Political Propaganda
– imperial expeditions – British Empire Exhibition, Wembley 1924 – official programme with a purpose to:
o ‘Find in the development and utilisation of the raw materials of the empire, new sources of imperial wealth’
o ‘To foster inter-Imperial trade and open fresh world markets for Dominion and home products. To make the different races of the British Empire better known to each other’
o To demonstrate to the people of Britain the almost illimitable possibilities of the Dominions, Colonies & Dependencies overseas.’
View of empire within Britain: Role of the media (newspapers and radio)
o Daily Mail Founded 1896; Daily Express Founded 1900
o Relief of Mafeking 1900
o Spread of radio = BBC, regular empire broadcasts began in 1932
o John Reith, director general of BBC: regular empire broadcasts ‘to keep unshaken the faith the British nation has in its Empire’
View of empire within Britain: Cinema
o Filming of Delhi Durbar, 1911 – massive ceremonial event and huge display of pageantry – gave glimpse of extravagant ceremony of the Raj
o Empire = name of newly built cinema e.g. Empire Cinema in Leicester Square
o Feature films e.g. Sanders of the River (1935) – white British colonial officer trying to keep the peace amongst black tribes in Africa – depicting the stereotypical image of the strength of white rule and the need for white rule to civilise
View of empire within Britain: Consumerism
o ‘Assam and Ceylon’ teas made up over 90% UK tea imports by 1900
o 1926: formation of the empire marketing board – ‘BUY EMPIRE GOODS FROM HOME AND OVERSEAS’ – wanted to connect consumer goods to the colonies – British public made aware of the strength of the empire
o Imperial messages evident in advertising
View of empire within Britain: In the workplace
o Factories and workers dependent on colonial experts
o Trade union position on empires = ambiguous – TU purpose is focus on the working class back home
o Gandhi – visited Lancashire in 1931 – hit by mass unemployment thus Gandhi wanted to go – key reason suffering so badly from unemployment – Lancashire being hit due to its main cotton industry – as direct result of Gandhi calling for independence had direct effect on Lancashire cotton industry
o Support for Gandhi may be due to support for Indian self-government
View of empire within Britain: Emigration
o 1913-14: over 600,000 left Britain; 70% to empire (mainly white dominions) o Mackenzie – argues cross class emigration
View of empire within Britain: Schooling
o 1904: Empire Day introduced, 24th May – involved dressing up as different countries from around the world – big day in school calendar
o Children of upper classes – empire infused throughout learning
o Leaders for ‘King, country and empire’
o Working class children = empire omnipresent
o Maps of empire apparent in schools
o Textbooks glorified empire e.g. The Expansion of England
View of empire within Britain: Youth Movements
o Boy scouts founded
o Handbook ‘Scouting for Boys’ came out in 1908 – Roman Empire had been lost through their being ‘wishy-washy slackers without any go or patriotism in them’
o Handbook for Girl Guides = 1912
View of empire within Britain: Literature
o Authors were enthusiastic imperialists – children authors
o Children’s magazines propagated ideas of empire ‘Boys own paper’ estimated circulation of around 400,000 before WW1
First half of 20th C:
Britain ruled 1/4 of worlds geographic land area and 700m people
By 1965, shrunk to 5m people
J. MacKenzie = Propaganda and Empire (1984)
Imperialism was embedded in British society and constituted a vital aspect of national identity
B. Porter = Absent-Minded Imperialists (2004)
Can be no assumption that Britain was steeped in imperialism
A. Thompson = Empire Strikes Back (2005)
Never likely to be any single or monolithic “imperial culture” in Britain
Political Propaganda
British Empire Exhibition, Wembley 1924
- Official programme
- Foster inter-Imperial trade
- Open fresh world markets
- Make the different races of the British Empire better known to each other
- 27m visitors
- D. Judd Empire (1996) = exhibition was partly ‘a celebration of the imperial achievement, partly a gigantic advertisement for the empire…partly an exercise in reassurance”
