Expansion and contraction of the empire

• Coalition government = A government combining a number of different political parties
• Gallipoli and Vimy ridge = Australian and New Zealand forces (known as ANZACs) played an important role in the 1915 Gallipoli campaign - an attempted invasion of Turkey.

  Canadian forces fought strongly at Vimy Ridge in Northern France in April 1917
• Imperial preference

  1916, Asquith was replaced as Prime Minister by David Lloyd George at the head of a wartime coalition government. Under Lloyd George far greater effort was put into the use of resources of manpower and materials from the empire.

  'Imperial preference' introduced for suppliers and schemes for future imperial self - sufficiency discussed
• Dominions

  • Settler population and governments of the Dominions were mostly keen to fight alongside Britain
  • Volunteers rushed to join armed forces, Canada, Australia and New Zealand leaders insisted that their forces maintain their distinct national identities
• Dominions

  • Considerable number of indigenous people who served in the Dominions' forces
  • Canada, over 4000 first nations people volunteered, over 50 of who were awarded medals for bravery. Around 1000 indigenous Australian and 2500 Maori fought in the colonial forces
• Dominions

  • Initial wave of enthusiasm dried up after heavy losses in 1915, conscription was introduced in New Zealand in 1916 and Canada in 1917
  • Anzacs applauded for bravery in Gallipoli campaign (April - December 1915) and Canadians in Vimy ridge in April 1917
• Dominions

  • Canada also supplied Britain with munitions (third of munitions used by British army in France from 1917 to 1918) and wheat
  • South Africa, General Smuts, once fought against the British in second Anglo - Boer war. Formed South African Defence force. Fought successfully against German Army in its colonies
• Dominion

  • Smuts member of Lloyd George's Imperial war cabinet and attended London Imperial war conference. Advised on military strategy in Europe
  • 136,000 white South African troops fought in Middle East and on Western front
• Dominion

  • Triggered debate about Dominions' relationship to Britain and long - term future
  • War not popular everywhere. French Canadians in Quebec regarded war as pro British affair. March 1918 protests riots against conscription in Quebec city
• Dominion

  • Australians rejected conscription (having to go to war). Two referendums (vote of whole country on one question) in Oct 1916 and in Dec 1917
  • South Africa, republican movement led by J.B.M, Hertzog grew and Afrikaner movement questioned imperial connection
• Dominion

  • WW1 terrible human impact on Dominions. 60,000 Australians, 16,000 New Zealanders, 61,000 Canadians and 7000 South Africans killed
  • War boosted emerging senses of national identity and pride, affecting relationship with Britain, desire for independence from imperial control increased
• Dominion - India

  • India contributed more soldiers to the war effort than any other part of the empire. 1.3 million servicemen enlisting
  • Four times as many Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa combined
  • Conscription was never introduced in India. Indian army relying solely on volunteers.
• Dominion - India

  • Around third of the troops in France in autumn 1914 were either Indians or British soldiers who had formerly served in India
  • Indian troops made major contributions to fighting in Middle East (in campaign against Turkey in Palestine, Syria and Iraq) and in Africa
• Dominion - India

  • 1917, Indian government contributed £100 million to Britain's war effort
  • Acknowledgement of India's contribution, an attempt to stave off growing support for Indian independence put forward by the congress party
• Dominion - India

  • August 1917, Secretary of State for India, Edwin Montagu. Promised more 'responsible' self - government for India
  • Measure of democratic representation for ordinary Indians
• Dominion - Africa

  • Egypt turned into a protectorate (controlled and defended by more powerful country) in 1914 and 1.2 million Egyptians recruited to defend Egypt and the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordon and Palestine)
  • 100,000 Egyptian soldiers fought in Europe and 50% killed
• Dominion - Africa

  • Servicemen from East and West Africa and black South Africans not permitted to fight in Europe alongside British army as equals
  • Reflection of the hierarchy of racial prejudice contained within the imperial system
• Dominion - Africa

  • Black African soldiers fought in the African theatre of war against German led forces. EG West India regiment
  • In Europe they were not allowed to work as labourers or carriers
• West India regiment = Branch of the army consisting mainly of black Africans. Existed since 1795, used to crush rebellions of enslaved people as British plantations in Caribbean.

  WW1 regument was made up of volunteers from the Caribbean islands, Nigeria, Gold Coast and India. Won series of victories, taking German colonies of Togoland and Cameroon in 1915
• Dominion - Africa

  • Some joined million ' human porters' from British East Africa were forced to serve in the fight against Germans in Tanganyika (Tanzania) where nearly 100,00 died
  • Experience of war also proved formative in development of independence movements
• Dominion - Africa

  • Coincidence that the first pan - African congress was held in France in 1919 or that a delegation (distributing work to another groups of people) from South Africa attended post war Versaillies Peace Conference of 1919 to present the African case
• Dominion - Caribbean

  • 1915, War office, originally tried to stop men from the British West Indies from volunteering for service. Allowed enlistment to begin in Britain's Caribbean colonies
  • British West Indies regiment was formed and over 15,000 men joined to fight in Europe alongside the British and Indian armies and were relegated to dangerous support roles, digging trenches and working in ammunition dumps
• Dominion - Caribbean

  • Men from Caribbean joined West India Regiment, which fought in Africa against German forces
• Mandate = A territory allocated by the League of Nations to a particular country to be governed by that country on the League's behalf.

  Territories referred to as mandates. Word mandate can also be used as a verb to describe act of passing on authority (to mandate)
• Self - determination = Right of a distinct national or ethnic group of people to determine their own nation state and form of government
• League of Nations mandate

  • Following end of war in Nov 1918, allies drew up series of post - war treaties
  • Treaty of Versailles 1919 stripped Germany of its former colonies, which were, in future, to be 'mandates' administrates for the League of Nations be specified allied powers
• League of Nations mandate

  • Colonial territories of the Ottoman empire were subject to same ruling by the Treaty of Sevres 1920 and Treaty of Lausanne 1923
  • Distributed among the allied powers by the Treaty of San Remo 1920
• League of Nations mandates

  • Guiding principle of the Treaty of Versailles was self determination. Advocated by the US president Woodraw Wilson, at odds with attitude of countries like Britain and France
  • Possessed global empires. Wilson along with Britain and French governments , refused to request from the Japanese delagation at the Treaty of Versailles
• League of Nations mandates

  • Treaty of Versailles (Japan had been on the allied side during the war) to include a cause about racial equality in the principles of the League of Nations
  • British and French did not want to undermine racial hierarchy implicit in their empires, and racial segregation was still a feature of many Southern states in the USA
• League of Nations mandates

  • British and French argued that the German and Turkish colonies in Africa, the Middle East and the pacific were politically and economically undeveloped with uneducated populations
  • Not ready yet to govern themselves, as needing the guiding hand of countries like Britain and France, mandate arrangements were supposed to be about helping these territories
• League of Nations mandates

  • Britain and France, governing supposedly 'less developed' territories.
  • Mandate arrangements were supposed to be about helping these territories in becoming independence nations
• League of nations mandates

  • Principle mandated powers, Britain and France, secured virtually imperiall control over new mandates
• Growth of British control, 1919 - 20

  Result of post - war treaties, British empire reached its greatest extent. Addition of 1,800,000 square miles and 13 million subjects.

  Colonies of Germany and the Ottoman empire were distributed to the allied powers as League of Nations mandates.
• Growth of British control, 1919 - 20

  Britain gained control of Palestine, Transjordan, Iraq (formerly Mesopotamia) parts of Cameroon and Togo and Tanganyika.

  Dominions themselves also acquired mandates of their own the Union of South Africa gained South - West Africa (modern day Namibia).

  Australia gained German New Guinea, and New Zealand gained Western Samo.
• Growth of British control, 1919 - 20

  Nauru was made a combined mandate of Britain and the two pacific dominions
• League of Nations

  International organisation set up by the post - war peace treaties. Aimed to prevent war by settling international disputes by negotiations.

  Tried hard to keep the pace in the 1920s and 1930s. Refusal of the USA to join, lack of international army, and subsequent rise of Facism and Nazism helped to undermine it
• League of Nations mandates

  • Allied powers given control over the former imperial possessions of the defeated powers. Given certain obligations to fulfil
  • Territories were defined according to a system of categories reflecting extent of how developed the territories were
• Under the terms of the mandate system, although the allied powers were given control over the formal imperial possessions of the defeated powers, they were obliged to fulfil certain obligations.

  Categorized the territories according to how 'developed' they were.
• Mandate system

  1. 'A' category (Palestine and Mesopotamia mandated to Britain: Syria and Lebanon mandated to France) - These territories were seen as quite developed and independence was seen as a possibility in the future
• Mandate system

  2. 'B' category (the former German colonies of Tanganyika mandated to Britain Togoland and Cameroon split between Britain and France; Ruanda - Urundi mandated to Belgium)

  Territories required to a much longer period of guidance before independence could be reached