Trade And Commerce 1890-1914 Flashcards
What did the 1882 Imperialist cartoon ‘The Devilfish in Egyptian waters’ depict about trade and commerce?
Depicted the empire as greedy and being proud of the territory they benefited from
What did the Empire Project by Ian Darwin (2005) suggest?
Trade and commerce was the ‘economic energy’ to turned ‘undeveloped estates of Empire into imperial assets’ - consolidating empire
What was the general consensus about the empire in relation to trade in 1890?
The Empire made Britain wealthy - belief that a bigger empire = more wealth. People began to question this belief
What did critics of the empire say about trade and commerce?
Empire was more about status than wealth
When did critics on trade and commerce accelerate greatly?
Already many before WW1 but the impacts of WW1 led to further questioning of the empire’s value being used effectively
What did critics of the empire say about trade and commerce?
. Anti-imperialist began to argue that Empire cost middle classes more than it benefitted them
. Anger at supporting imperial defence in taxes
. Empire blamed for failing to modernise industry/improve standards of living for workers (national efficiency problem)
. There was an idea that colonial food imports undermined British food production
. Cheap foreign labour in colonies was depressing wages in Britain
. Overall cost of maintaining empire was huge
. India was self-financing and white dominions only relied on finance for defence but other colonies were heavily subsidised
How did British investment in Empire change from 1900-1913?
Doubled from £2 billion to £4 billion
Less of this was imperial investment, much more British capital was going to USA and India, tropical trade
What were pros and cons of using loans within empire?
Pro: Generally safe
Con: could develop rival manufactures such as more Indian cotton mills, could be dangerous to Britain as India could rival cotton production
Why did loans to foreign nations become more popular in 1900-1913?
It produced bigger returns
How did London take advantage of it still being the world’s financial capital?
It sold its shares in ventures from tobacco to transport to make more money back
When were the two colonial stocks Acts and what did they allow?
1899 and 1900: allowed more infrastructure profits such as rail links into Interior Africa from Lagos and Mombasa parts
How big was British overseas investment by 1914?
Twice that of French and three times that of Germans
How was ‘informal empire’ maintained in the transition to overseas investment?
Huge amounts of British capital was invested in Latin America and commercial treaties were made with these countries, as well as Turkey and Morocco
How were Britian able to import far more than they exported?
Made ‘invisible earnings’ from overseas investment through insurance and shipping
How did terms of trade (relationships between export and import prices) change from 1890-1914?
Moved by around 10% in Britain’s favour
When was the Gold Standard adopted by the Bank of England and what did this mean in theory vs practice?
- In theory: meant every pound sterling was backed by a fixed amount of gold in the BOE
in practice: currencies using the gold standard had equal value, aiding international commerce
How important was the gold standard in this period?
Became the basis for the global monetary system - effectively a sterling (British standard)
Became symbol of Britain’s economic strength
- By 1908, China, Persia and a few Central American countries used a silver standard
What did John A Hobson mean when he said there was an ‘economic condition of affairs’ forming the ‘taproot of imperialism’?
. Refers to Britain’s excess capital and that meant Britain searched for new investment abroad
. According to Hobson, Britain was producing more goods than their domestic markets could consume
What was John A Hobsons view on Britain’s trade and commerce?
The pursuit of foreign markets wasn’t driven by needs of Britain’s whole economy but the interests of a small, wealthy class that wanted profits. This meant there was hunger for expansion and protection of overseas investment, leading to imperialist expansion
What was imperial preference and who believed in it?
Concentrating on trading within colonies of the Empire
Joseph Chamberlain believed this was much safer than tropical free trade
Who opposed imperial preference and what did they want?
David Lloyd George, wanted free trade
When was Chamberlain Colonial Secretary?
1895-1903
When did Chamberlain host a London Colonial Conference, why and what would it have done for the empire?
In 1902. For leaders from Britain, Dominions, Cape Colony, Natal and Newfoundland to discuss creating closer economic ties in the form of an imperial customs union
- this would have given a boost to imperial trade through mutual customs agreement and protective tariffs from non-imperial powers wanting to trade
What are the advantages of imperial preference?
. Would be strategically reliable in times of emergency
. The colonies and commerce between then had potential for much greater productivity and growth than free trade
How did resistance to Chamberlain come through manufacturing, shipping and banking industries?
. They were interested in free trade and the wider international community, believing imperial preference limited investment opportunities
. Believed Britain’s wealth came from free trade and the old economic meaning of the empire (mercantilism) was dead
. Empire was not an economic unity and was far from self-sufficient, needed the help of free trade
How is imperial preference finally crushed?
1906 general election:
. Public roundly rejected Chamberlain’s proposals as it could have put up food prices
. Voters all favoured the Liberal Party’s commitment to free trade (won an unexpected landslide victory)
. Liberals promised to resolve national efficiency
What events up to 1914 threatened trade with the Empire?
. Australia, NZ and SA imposed import tariffs before the war to assert their national interest over any loyalties/ties to Britain
. Canada made their own trading agreements with Germany, Italy, France and Japan. A separate commercial union with America was also a definite possibility
. In India, British textiles and goods were boycotted and burned in the streets as the Swadeshi (self-sufficiency) movement sought to undermine the British Raj in the years after 1905
Were people less supportive of the empire just because of imperial preference?
No, as many of them believed the empire could benefit Britain elsewhere: status, strategic importance etc. there was still hope in the empire
What were anti-imperialist views of trade and commerce in this period?
. Britain could’ve done more business with countries if it hadn’t been a colony
. Imperialism depressed wages in Britain
. By early C.20, it became fashionable to blame reliance on trade around the Empire as the reason to why British industry wasn’t developing (stuck in the past)
How was imperial commerce supported during the Long Depression (1873-96)?
Protected Britain, lulling Britain into a false sense of security
When did the cost of empire really grow extensively?
The start of WW1
What ways did the Empire make Britain wealthier?
. Britain had plentiful trade with the empire
. Ocean steamships and railways still very much facilitated trade
. India exported huge amounts of cotton and tea to Britain who both consumed and exported it to other countries
. Wool and sugar from SA and Australia
. Dairy produce and lamb from NZ
. Beef and wheat from Canada
. Timber, cocoa , rubber and palm oil from West Africa
What is evidence that Britain had plentiful trade with the Empire?
. India took 20% of all British exports, worth £150 million and exported cotton and tea in return back to Britain
. Canada supplied 15% of Britain’s wheat flower by 1914
How was it clear that ocean steamships and railways still very much facilitated trade?
. In C.19, a line was built from Uganda to the sea at Mombasa
How were the benefits of trade in this period less significant than imagined?
. 1884 Imperial Federation League set up to promote closer colonial ties was disbanded in 1893
. Empires total trade in 1896 was worth £745 million, but trade between countries of the empire was only £183 million
. Britain traded more with foreign countries such as the USA but imperial trade was static
. Empire was only Britain’s main food supplier for cheese, apples, tomatoes and fresh mutton
. Empire cost middle classes more than it benefitted them (e.g through taxes), as maintaining an empire is very expensive
What did the disbanding from Imperial Federation league reflect?
Lowered interest in Empire’s commercial importance
How was it clear that Britain was increasing trade with foreign countries and imperial preference was static?
1897: Tropical Africa only took 1.2% of British exports and colonies increasingly bought from foreign nations rather than Britain
