What part did economic factors play in the development of the British Empire: 1890-1914

Question 1

Importance of trade in the Empire (1890-1914)

Answer 1

Trade decreased in importance:

• Imperial Federation League disbanded (designed to promote closer ties to colonies) in 1893
• Total trade in 1896 was £745 million but Empire was worth £183 million
• By 1913 Empire made up only 24.9% of imports and 37.4% of exports remainder to other countries
• Britain mainly imported wheat from USA (30.7 million hundredweight) and Russia
• Canada provided 10% of Britain’s beef and 15% of wheat by 1914

Question 2

How was British development affected by Empire?

Answer 2

Britain lagged behind in chemical and electrical engineering due to poor productivity and investment relying on rubber imports from the Congo whilst French and Russians developed their own synthetic rubber production in 1912

Question 3

Imperial Preference

Answer 3

Proposed by Joseph Chamberlain to create closer economic ties with colonies as he believed they could be relied upon:

-Introduce protective tariffs against imports from non-imperial nations

-But was opposed by manufactures as they preferred free trade and mercantilism

Question 4

Britain’s overseas investments (in the Empire)

Answer 4

-Investment rose from £2 billion to £4 billion between 1900 and 1913

-Seen as dangerous as they could be used to build rival industry in colonies such as jute and cotton mills in India

Question 5

Colonial opposition to British Trade

Answer 5

-Australia, New Zealand and South Africa imposed import tariffs to support nationalist interests

-Canada economic ties with Germany, France, Italy and Japan

-British goods boycotted in India under self-sufficiency (swadeshi) in 1905