Official Mind and Informal Empire Flashcards
What evidence is there that the liberals had a pro-imperial ideology?
- Gladstone intervened in Afghanistan in 1879 and turned it into a semi-protectorate the following year
- Gladstone occupied Edgypt in 1882 folowing an 1881 uprising which endangered control of the Suez
- The Whig faction of the party was expanstionist
- Gladstone ensured British suzerainty over the Boer’s following their revolt in 1881
- Gladstone was PM during the Berlin conference 1884
What is perhaps evidence that the liberals had an anti-imperial ideology?
- Between 1868-74, Glastone removed troops from Canada and New Zealand despite upheavals there
- Gladstone kinighted the pro-independence Canadian PM and supported proposals to hand Gambia over to France
- In the Midlothian Campaign, Gladstrone attacked the Conservative’s positive and dominant view on the empire
What is evidence of the conservatives possessing a pro-imperial idelogy?
- In his 1872 Crystal Palace speech, Disraeli promised to uphold the empire. This was followed by the annexation of Fiji in 1874, the Malay States, the Transvaal and Cyprus
- Salisbury (PM in the 80s and 90s) gave charters to British companies seeking control in Africa. It highlights his condoning of informal empire. He was also in power when places such as Rhodesia, Sarawak, Burma, Brunei and Kenya were occupied
- Salisbury led the way in the second Boer war
- Under Salisbury, Joseph Chamberlain emerged as colonial secretary. He was a passionate supporter of the empire.
What is evidence of the conservatives possessing an anti-imperial idelogy?
- Disraeli’s and Salibsury’s annexations can be seen as responses to crisis at the periphery: protecting strategic interests such as those in the Suez area or men on the spot illiciting formal expansion (Cross, Viscount Sandon, Earl of Carnarvon etc.) in Afghanistan and Zululand or the other European powers challenging Britain’s economic and political interests
How does the 1838 treaty with the Ottoman’s strengthen the idea of informal control?
Because it meant Egypt became dependent on British loans and hence Britain was able to assert its position there before officially annexing it in 1882.
What examples are there of informal control being asserted in Argentina?
President Avallaneda in 1878 admitted that he would “willingly suffer privations and even hunger” to retain the credit reputation with Britain
Argentina also adopted deflationary policies in the 1890s at the bequest of Britain to deal with the financial crisis there and keep receiving government loans
How do Robinson and Gallagher try to show British informal control over the Boer republics in the 1850s-1870s?
They show how Britain was able to prevent them from uniting in 1860 due to the pressure they had over them by shutting them off from access to the Indian Ocean.
What evidence refutes the relevance of the 1838 treaty with the Ottoman empire?
By 1870, Turkish foreign trade was only 7% of production and Egypt’s domestic industry also remained dominant. This shows how Britain was unable to exert influence to further their own economic interests in these places.
Which countries maintained tariff controls despite British economic interests in the region?
Latin American countries
What happened when Peru defaulted on its debts on Britain in 1834?
Nothing
The price of what was Britain unable to control in Peru?
Guano
How does the case of the Opium wars weaken the idea that there was an informal empire?
Despite Britain exporting great quantities of Opium to China it was still unable to influence its economic policies there (the Governor of Huban and Hubei was able to introduce anti-opium measures in 1839 for example). It relied on formal measures for that rather than informal ones
