What was the significance of the evolution of Britain's network of ports, entepots and trade routes? Flashcards
What is an entrepot?
A port that operates on a free trade basis
Who established a base in Singapore?
Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles
How did they establish a bae at Raffles?
Persuaded the sultan of Jahore to leave
Who inhabited Singapore?
Fishermen and pirates
Why did they want a base on Singapore?
Natural harbour, fresh water and timer
What did the base at Singapore challenged?
Dutch dominance over the Malay peninsula
When did the Dutch recognise British control?
After establishing a joint force base to protect from piracy in 1824
When did Britain take Singapore?
1819
What was the straits settlement?
Singapore, Penang and malacca were ruled as the straits settlement from the EIC Headquarters in India
How many merchant houses were there in Singapore in 1846?
20 merchant houses
How many people were in Singapore in 1819 compared with 1860?
150 people in 1819 vs 80,000 in 1860
How much was trade worth with Singapore in 1819 compared with 1824?
400,000 spanish dollars in 1819 vs 11 million spanish dollars in 1824
What did we import from Singapore?
Oil
What did we export to Singapore?
Textiles and guns
Who settled in Singapore?
Jewish, Chinese, Arab and British
How did they develop the economy in Singapore?
Built banks, merchant houses and auction houses
Why were the British confined to Canton?
Strict enforcement of Chinese laws kept them there
Were the British successful in negotiating expansion out of Canton?
No, ambassadors were sent in 1792 and 1816 but failed to negotiate
Why did we start to import and sell opium to China?
To solve the imbalance of trade as they didn’t want our manufactured goods in exchange of tea
How many pounds of tea were the British consuming in 1794?
9 million pounds per year
How many people in China were opium addicts?
14 million
How did the opium wars start?
Emperor Daoguang ordered all British owned opium to be seized and forbade trade
What was the British response to the banning of trade with China?
Lord Palmerston sent warhips
When was the treaty of Nanking?
1842
What were the main financial terms of the treaty of Nanking
6 million silver dollars in compensation for destroyed opium
3 million in debts to merchants in Canton
12 million in reparations
What were the consequences for any later payments?
5% interest to any late payments
What were the main land terms of the Treaty of Nanking?
Cede the island of Hong Kong
Open ports of Amoy, Foochow, Ningpo and Shanghai
What were import tariffs kept at at Shanghai?
5%
What did British citizens gain in China?
Legal protection
Why was Shanghai important?
Situated on River Yangtze, gave access to the interior of China
What was the Shanghai municipal council?
Set up to govern the daily infrastructure of the Shanghai international settlement
When was the Shanghai municipal council set up?
1854
How was Shanghai run?
Carved up into autonomous concessions administered by the British, French and Americans
What happened during the uprising in China and when was it?
Qing gov gave up sovereignty of the concessions to the foreign powers in exchange for their support in the rebellion
1853-1855
What was the arrow affair?
Arrow sailing under the British flag was captured by the Chinese for piracy and smuggling
When was the arrow affair?
1856
What was the British response to the arrow affair?
Britain demanded the release of the ship
Governor of Hong Kong ordered the shelling of Canton when no response was recieved
What caused the British and French to attack China?
In 1860 an Anglo-French force attacked in retaliation for murder of negotiators in Beijing
What happened at the Beijing convention?
Chinese were forced to sign a peace treaty and accept Britain’s demands
What did Britain acquire after the Beijing convention?
Kowloon harbour
What were the “unequal treaties”?
China opening up 50 treaty ports to foreign powers
How did Britain protect Shanghai?
Modern gunboats and weapons
Who built the Suez Canal?
The french with their financial resources and expertise, along with Egyptian labour
When did the Suez Canal open?
1869
How much did the Suez Canal cut the route to India by
12,300 miles to 7,200 miles
How did Britain get involved in the Suez Canal
Khedive Ismali went bankrupt and was going to sell his shares of the Canal to the French
Who bought the shares in the Suez Canal and when?
PM Disraeli in 1775
Who did Disraeli borrow money from?
£4 million from the Rothschild family
What was the British reaction to Disraeli buying the shares?
Disraeli was criticised for his unlawful actions
What did Gladstone say about the Suez Canal?
Gladstone warned that Britain would be drawn into political and military issues in Egypt
What did the Suez Canal provide access to?
Oil reserves in the middle East
Rapid expansion of trade with India and China
Expansion of steamships
How many tons of shipping went through the Suez Canal in 1882 and what % of it was British?
5 million tons and 80% was British
Between 1868 and 1874 what did the tonnage entering British ports from Asia increase by?
178%
How did foreign powers secure territory in Africa?
Sent scouts to Africa to secure treaties from indigenous people and their supposed representatives
Why did Britain was involvement in Africa?
For power, profit, natural resources and a it was a market for manufactured goods
What happened at the Berlin conference?
Britain, France, Germany and Portugal negotiated their claims to African territory
What % of Africa did foreign powers say they wanted to conquer by 1900
90%
What did Britain gain?
Egypt and the Sudan
Kenya and Uganda
Zimbabwe and Zambia
Botswana, South Africa, Nigeria and ghana
How was Zanzibar acquired?
Through the Heligoland-Zanzibar treaty on 1 July 1890
What triggered the Anglo-Zanzibar war?
The sultan died and war broke out
How did the British win the Anglo-Zanzibar war?
Destroyed the Beit al Hukum palace giving the new sultan 1 hour to leave, he refused and the British open fired for 45 minutes
Who was declared the new ruler of Zanzibar?
Hamoud
Why did Britain want Zanzibar?
Gave them access to the interior and it was used as a base to patrol the Indian ocean
How was Zanzibar run?
As a protectorate as it was cheaper
When was slavery banned in Zanzibar?
1882
How many slaves were traded annually in Zanzibar?
50,000
When did South Africa become a crown colony?
1885
When was gold discovered in South Africa?
1886
When did Britain acquire Egypt?
1882
Why did Britain want Weihaiwei?
They had concerns over Russian expansion as they were the only power capable of threatening the British
When did Japan capture Port Arthur?
1894 after defeating the Chinese in Korean
How did Russia acquire Port Arthur?
Russia persuaded France and Germany to support an intervention force in Japan
How many ships and tons did Russia have vs Japan?
Russia had 38 ships (95,000 tons)
Japan had 31 ships (57,000 tons)
When did Russia acquire Port Arthur?
It was leased to Russia by China in 1898 as they couldn’t protect it
When did Britain gain Weiheiwei?
1898
What did they say about their presence in Weiheiwei?
They would be there “for so long a period as port Arthur shall remain in the occupation of Russia”
