Second Boer war: Impact on Britain Flashcards
What was press like by 1890s?
By 1890s, more Britons could afford daily newspapers as costs fell due to technical improvements
- 150 daily papers catered for tastes of an expanding reading public
- main medium for politicians to push views to people
Daily Mail
launched in 1896 and by 1900, had 500K in circulation
- fiercely imperialist
Why was Spion Kop so important in terms of news
photographs of dead soldiers brought the shocking reality of war , with different news outlets showing their own criticisms
- criticised Buller for his strategy, and the attitude of the government for taking help from colonies
Queen Victoria sent 100k tins of chocolate alongside knitting
Who were some famous war correspondents:
George Stevens and Winston Churchill
- they exercises huge political influence through their access to news and their control over its dissemination
What did Winston Churchill achieve during the Boer war?
His reports captured deficiencies in war
captured by Boers yet escaped and travelled 300 miles to Portuguese Lourenco
- made his instantly famous as he gained a commission
2 other sources of media that showed Brits the state of war?
- Journalists had access to films first used as photographs vividly captured war (1900 brownie camera
- Bioscope 1805( first moving film apparatus), audiences could se moving pictures from southern Africa
What was Khaki fever?
1899-1900 It describes the intense excitement, admiration, and infatuation that many young women felt toward soldiers who were dressed in khaki uniforms
- 500K men cheered First army corps as it left Southampton and men rushed to volunteer for the army
- hysterical fervour greeted news of lifting of siege of Ladysmith and Mafeking
Who was Emily Hobhouse?
asked to join South African Conciliation Committee and spoke against actions of war
September 1900, set up South African Women and Children Distress fund
What was the Hobhouse report?
At Bloemfontein, she was appalled by cramped and squalid conditions
- people needed food ( inadequate rations and selection)
- no vegetables, no fresh milk and many children died of malnutrition
- insanitary conditions without adequate toilets or clean water
Report only reached British government June 1901
Reaction to Hobhouse report?
hostile reactions from some government members yet liberals found her report and extracts were published in liberal newspapers
- led tocommittee of inquiry to South Africa
