Physical Deterioration and National Efficiency Flashcards
How was the period viewed by contemporaries
One of decline; socially, morally and economically
By the period the optimism of the Victorian period has been replaced by one of degeneracy
Give some internal factors of decline
- Increased domestic economic threat, reliance on imports
- Industrial unrest
- Social unrest, with votes for women
Rowntree and Booth’s reports
Give some external factors for decline
- Economic threat
- Shift in military power balance
- Relative dominance of the Navy
- Colonial resistance from Ireland, India, and Egypt
Why as reliance on imports causing unrest
British Industry was increasingly in need of modernisation
The Americans, in particular, were able to produce cheap agricultural goods and manufactured ones that Britain imported
Increasing criticism of free trade, which is what the Empire was built on
Give a quote from E.E. William’s 1896 book ‘Made in Germany’
“In all our industries you find a steady slowing-down… it is Germany who is in for the ‘marvellous progress’ now”
(Growing criticism of free trade)
Give evidence of a relative economic decline
Imports of cheap goods were crucial to fuel Britain’s large urban centres
Continued to profit from traditional industries such as steel and cotton, trade with Empire crucial
Lack of state investment in education and industries compared to countries like Germany
Decreasing share of global trade, but still the majority of
Give evidence of a military power imbalance
1870 onwards saw the growth of continental armies
Threat from the sea
- In 1883, the Royal Navy possessed 38 battleships, only 2 fewer than the rest of the entire world but by 1897, this gap of 2 had increased to 34.
No large standing army and army offered few prospects
Empire feels increasingly unwieldy
- Boer War
Give some background to the Boer War
Fought against the Transvaal and Orange Free state
The Empire struggled to defeat the guerrilla farmers
The black week was in December 1899, when the Empire suffered 3 successive defeats
Characterised by extreme brutality and military incompetence
- The guerrillas were only defeated after the use of scorched earth tactics and concentration camps
Give some domestic reactions to the Boer War
Created a considerable degree of political backlash in Britain
The controversy was raised in the House of Commons, Lloyd George and Campbell-Bannerman led the Liberals in attacking the government
Official estimates are that 18K to 28K people died in the camps
By the end of the war in 1902 Britain had committed 450,000 men to defeat two republics with a combined population of 60,000
Give a quote from Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman with regards to the Boer War
“When is a war not a war? When it is carried on by methods of barbarism in South Africa”
What was Lloyd George’s response to the Boer War
“Owing to mal-administration and owing to our having embarked upon a policy which is absolutely wrong, about 15,000 or 16,000 innocent people have died”
How many died in the Boer War
Number of Boer men, women and children who died in the camps vary between 18,000 and 28,000.
There were over 100,000 casualties of all kinds among the 450,000 British soldiers to defeat a population of less than 60,000
5,774 were killed by enemy action and 16,168 died of wounds or were killed by disease.
How was there a shift in foreign policy
The strength and loyalty of the empire was demonstrated, but also that it was over-extended and coordinated
Move from ‘Splendid Isolation’ to greater security and alliances
- Anglo-Japanese alliance of 1902
- Ententes with France in 1904 over North Africa and with Russia in 1907 over Persia
What was the financial impact of the Boer War
200 million pounds - more than all of Britain’s previous imperial ventures over the last century
Give some new army reforms that tool place after the Boer War
- New war office
- New General Staff
- Chief of the General Imperial staff
- Committee of Imperial Defence
- Defence without parliamentary interference
Some Historians say that these made Britain readier for WWI, but that technology was not considered enough
Give some educational reforms to tackle national inefficiency
The Education Act of 1902 abolished old school boards and replaced with them the Local Education authorities and provided rate aid for church schools
By 1900 the public schools had 110 army cadet corps
From 1878, imperial knowledge was embedded in the
history and geography curricula
Education (Administrative Provisions) Act 1907
Education (Provision of Meals) Act 1906 – but not enforced until 1914.
Give some evidence of new youth movements
Boys’ Brigade 1883 (35,148 members by 1899)
1901-National Service League
1903-Tariff Reform League, British Brothers League
1907-9 - Union Defense League, Imperial Maritime League, Anti-Socialist League.
When was the Committee on Physical Deterioration created
Why was it created
1903
As a result of the 37% rejection rate
A specific set of military recruiting figures, which stated that of 11,000 would-be
volunteers in Manchester, 8,000 had to be turned away due to physical defects.’ (Heggie)
Rowntree: “at least one-half of the manpower of England was unfit for military duty”
Whilst many of these figures are in all probably;y flawed/exaggerated, they nevertheless caused widespread public alarm and anxiety
Outline the differences between deterioration and degeneration (social vs biological)
DETERIORATION
- Remediable through social intervention
- Welfare solutions
- Focus on Environment Factor
- Group Solutions
DEGENERATION
- Intractable
- Eugencical solutions
- Focus on hereditary factors/biology
- Individual solutions
Describe what the 18thc book ‘Rotten Bodies’ argued
In 18C the lower classes with their ‘plebian bodies’ were considered uniquely contagious as both literally and morally ‘unclean’
The idea that certain groups were uniquely vulnerable to disease was transmitted from science to social policy through the efforts of eugenicists
What does Radick argue about Darwinism
Darwin could easily slip across “what tends now to be thought of as a borderline between the biological and the social”
How did Darwin ideas about inheritance translate into a desire for social reform
Neo-Lamarckian revival
“The idea that living in cities and towns was bad for the health and that these bad effects were heritable seemed to be backed up by Booth and Rowntree’s investigations” (Solloway)
These new developments in the biological sciences provided theoretical scaffolding to support welfare changes.
How did Darwinism and inheritance give rise to social darwinism
Medical and charitable intervention would erode ‘biological quality’
Mapped onto ideas about ‘race’ and ‘fitness’
Paul and Moore - “Didn’t they allow the less adequate members of society to survive and reproduce? Wouldn’t these people eventually swamp the more capable and thus reverse the direction of evolution?”
How did Darwinism cause fears and anxiety in Britain
Origin of Species (1859)
Descent of Man (1871)
Fed growing hysteria around national deterioration
Directly tapped into the anxieties about Britain’s global position, economic supremacy, and national fitness
(H.G. Wells - Time Machine’)
Give the background to Eugenics
Francis Galton coined the term Eugenics in 1883
Wanted to create a galazy of genius’
Meant to extend Darwin’s theory of evolution
Fear of the survival of the unfitest. That the working class are reproducing more than the upper classes
Give the background to eugenics
Francis Galton coined the term in 1883
- Wanted to create a galaxy of genius’
- Meant to extend Darwin’s theory of evolution
Fear of the survival of the unfittest. That the working class are reproducing more than the upper classes
What did the the Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee on Physical Deterioration in 1904 outline
No evidence of irreversible physical decline
Seemed to vindicate support of environmental and health reforms
Recommended sanitary regulation, education of girls, P.E. in schools,
teaching hygiene and domestic science, inspection of schoolchildren, and
state sponsored meals
How does Solway view the 1904 Report
A decisive riposte to the idea of degeneration and eugenic thinking
A refutation of eugenic thinking as well as a call for increased public health measures
“The accuracy of the data, which was sometimes in short supply, was often far less important than the preconceptions that analysts brought to it in the first place”
How does Heggie interpret the 1904 Report
The recommendations in the report are entirely social and environmental, not medical, and certainly not eugenic
Recruiting figures, in themselves, were not important, but the Boer war could not help but provoke an internal questioning of the stat of the nation
Urban legend - Women transgressing social boundaries posed a threat to the nation
Give some liberal reforms in the early 20thC
Education (provisions of meals act) 1906
Medical care of schoolchildren (1907)
Children’s act (1908)
Old age pensions (1908)
How does Smith interprate the 1904 report
Report evidences sustain concern about degeneration
Whilst many educators involved it had connections with anthropologists and eugenics
