Section 2 : Trade + Commerce

Question 1

Empire trade benefits less significant to GB than imagined? (10 listed

Answer 1

• Cost of defending empire was expensive
• Undermined GB food producers
• Cheap foreign labour = Poor GB wages
• Held GB back technology (Synthetic rubber production)
• Empire blamed for GB not improving living standards of workers at home
• 1893 Imperial Federation League disbanded
• Non imperial trade growing too (USA)
• 1896 -> Empire trade total 745million but only 183million with each other
• Empire cost middle class more then it benefited them
• Empire only GB main food supply in a few foods (cheese, apples, mutton, potatoes.

Question 2

How did Empire made GB wealthier

Answer 2

• Loads of trade with Empire (India took 20% off all GB exports)
• India exports cotton + tea
• Wool & Sugar = S.Africa & Australia
• Dairy produce + Lamb = New Zealand
• Beef + Wheat = Canda
• Timber, Cocoa, Rubber, Peanuts, Palm oil = W.Africa

Question 3

GB with empire Imports + Exports percentages 1913

Answer 3

• Import 25% from empire

- Export 37% to the empire

Question 4

Which industry in particular did GB fail to modernise in particular due to empire?

Answer 4

• Rubber; GB reliant on Africa + Asia for rubber imports

- while Germany, Russia, France all had own synthetic rubber production

Question 5

What did Anti-Imperialists think of Empire Trade & Commerce?

Answer 5

• It cost middle class more than it benefited them
• Angry as supporting imperial defence = higher taxes
• GB behind in chemical + electrical engineering
• Colonial food imports hurt GB food
• colonies looked to GB for protection (finance etc)

Question 6

Who proposed the imperial preference programme?

Answer 6

Joseph chamberlain

Question 7

What was Mercantilism?

Answer 7

• Maximise the exports + Minimise imports It
• promotes imperialism, colonialism, tariffs
• Used in 18 + early 19th century

Question 8

Positives & Negatives of Mercantilism

Answer 8

Positives:
- Establish trading patterns, loyalty

Negatives

• Discourages Free trade
• restricts expansion (as colonies obliged to send produce to GB + use GB ships)
• Adam smith dismantled it

Question 9

What is Free Trade?

Answer 9

• Free market and no restrictions of imports or exports

- Used in 19th + early 20th century

Question 10

Advantages + Disadvantages of Free Trade

Answer 10

Advantages:

• Imperial trade and investment grew enormously
• City of London = world’s financial capital

Disadvantages

• Some countries began imposing tariffs against imports (Australia, Canda ect)
• coercion used for unwilling countries e.g. China in the Opium Wars
• Aided by technological advances e.g. railways

Question 11

What was imperial preference ?

Answer 11

-Boost imperial trade through mutual customs agreements and protective tariffs against imports from non-imperial powers

Question 12

Imperial preference Negatives + Positives

Answer 12

POSITIVE:

• Boosted imperial trade
• Protective tariffs against imports from non-imperial powers

NEGATIVES:

• Food prices rise
• GB reject proposals 1906
• India swadeshi movement
• Australia, South Africa, New Zealand imposed import tariffs on GB
• Canda agreements with Germany

SUMMARY

• Not successful
• Met with resistance (public hated it)

Question 13

What was the swadeshi movement?

Answer 13

• Movement in India

- boycott GB goods + buy domestic India Goods

Question 14

Trade + Commerce Key points

Answer 14

• 1890 -> 1914 shift in GB economic relationship with empire
• Imperial commerce sheltered GB from Great Depression (1873 – 1879)
• But created a false sense of security (Other countries caught up with GB in industry + sciences)
• Investment in colonial projects contributed largely to GB wealth
• But costs of empire also grew