British Empire 1857-1890

• Why would Britain want to acquire colonies?

  • cheap raw materials
  • secure market to sell British goods in
  • asserts cultural supremacy
  • increases political and economic power over rival European countries
• What reasons did Britain have to expand into Africa?

  • Competition for trade routes
  • 'Swing to the East'
  • Abundant raw materials (gold, ivory, diamonds)
  • Explorers wanting to "discover" new areas
  • Muscular Christianity
• What is the "Swing to the East"?

  Coined by Vincent Harlow, expansion in Asia and Africa is a response to losing North American colonies after 1783
• Impact of the American Civil War onto British Empire

  The blockade on the cotton trade from President Lincoln forced Britain to look elsewhere for cotton (Egypt)
• How is the Cape significant?

  • Route to India prior to Suez Canal
  • Has a deep water ports
  • Temperate climate
• How did the Suez Canal benefit Britain?

  • Route to India cut down
  • Supplement the loss from the 1873 economic depression -the Cape route and trading posts becoming obsolete
• What is the panic of 1873

  • economic crash which was contributed to by the opening of the Suez Canal, making trading posts in the Cape obsolete
  • can increase output by selling to new markets in Asia and Africa
• Who is Sa'id Pasha

  • Khedive of Egypt that construction of the Suez Canal occurred under
  • Succeeded by Ismail
• Who is Isma'il Pasha?


  • Khedive of Egypt who put it into £100 m debt due to Suez Canal construction and westernization efforts (irrigation and railroads)
  • deposed in 1879 by the Ottomans, replaced by Tewfiq
• Who is Tewfiq Pasha

  Khedive of Egypt who becomes a puppet leader
• How did Britain gain influence of the Suez Canal?

  • architect was Ferdinand De Lesseps -constructed 1859-69
  • Put Egypt into debt making Disraeli buy 44% shares (£4m) in the Canal from Ismail
  • French still had majority but Britain had some influence
• What was the Arabi Revolt?

  • Control of Egypt from foreign powers fueled nationalist sentiments and made Colonel Arabi Pasha take control of the government in the revolt
  • defeated by British at Battle of Tel El Kabir -after British involvement after the riots in Alexandria
• What was the bombardment of Alexandria?

  • riots took place in Alexandria after growing tensions (instigator is unknown) 50 Europeans and 250 Egyptians died
  • PM Gladstone ordered the bombardment of the city -to maintain British influence and protect the Suez Canal
• How does Egypt become a veiled protectorate?

  • Tewfiq is reinstalled as a puppet ruler after the end of the Arabi revolt
  • 1883 Dufferin Report declares Egypt unfit for self-rule and need of British occupation, Evelyn Baring becomes Consul-General (de facto leader), puppet parliament, reduces army by 2/3, increases local taxes
  • 1885 Convention of London, officially declares Egypt a veiled protectorate
• What is the Granville Doctrine?


  Established by Baring, stated that if Egyptian politicians didn't cooperate with the British, they were dismissed
• What is the Mahdist Revolt?


  • The Muslim population in Sudan were angered by the reforms of Ismail and Charles Gordon. The Mahdist forces grew as the Khedivate was busy suppressing the Arabi Revolt
  • British defeats made Gladstone order an evacuation from Sudan
  • 1885 Siege of Khartoum
• Who is the 'Mahdi'?

  Muhammad Ahmed declared himself 'mahdi' (guided one) and started a holy war against the foreign powers in Sudan
• Who is General Charles-Gordon?

  • Oversaw British troops who were sent to restore British authority over Sudan, Governor-General of Sudan
  • killed in the Siege of Khartoum
• What is the East India Company?


  • had a monopoly over trade in India, established company rule in mid 1700s, pushing out the French
  • Employed sepoys (soldiers who worked for the company)
  • Traded in spices, cotton, silk and opium
• What harmed the EIC's reputation?

  • lobbied MPs, parliament found it guilty of bribery
  • 1770 Bengal Famine, 15 % of population died, EIC significantly raised prices, share price rose
  • 1857 Indian Mutiny, British gov took control of India due to EIC's failings
• What caused the Indian Mutiny?

  • Lee Enfield riffles that used pig and cow fat, offending both the Muslim and Hindu Sepoys
  • Governor-General Dalhousie seizing land from Indian nobles and rumours of high caste Hindus being sent to Burma
  • low pay
  • lack of promotion
• What is the Indian Mutiny?

  • AKA First War of Independence
  • Sepoys turn against the EIC and try to remove them from power
• What was the result of the Indian Mutiny?


  -1858 Government of India Act established the position of the Viceroy and its council while removing the BEIC. Emperors sons were killed, no chance to restore Mughal Empire

  
  

  -The British burned down villages, 'blew people from a canon' and used massacre at Cawnpore to fuel racist sentiments

  
  

  -British built railways for trade and military transport for British citizens in India. Cheap British exports flooded Indian markets preventing local industries to grow

  
  

  -Few local people received education, 1870 25% of Britons were illiterate whereas in 1872 96.75% were illiterate
• How did Britain change the military in India post Indian Mutiny?

  • all officer rankings in the military went to British soldiers
  • Indian regiments were mixed (in both caste and religion), couldn't control artillery
  • Indian troops were deployed abroad -used to suppress Arabi revolt
• How did France threaten the British Empire?

  • Quickly rebuilding its military after defeat to Germany in 1871 in the Franco-Prussian war
  • focused on naval building
  • established Indochina in 1887 (Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos) which are somewhat close to India causing Britain to take control of Burma
  • France still had majority share in the Suez Canal
• How did Germany threaten the British Empire?

  • Following its Unification in 1871 Germany had become an economic powerhouse
  • it had proved its military capability when it won against France in 1871
  • had a large supply of natural resources
  • Britain feared a German-Boer alliance in South-West Africa and annexed Bechuanaland to prevent this in 1885
• How did Russia threaten the British Empire?

  • they sought to improve their economy (as it was less industrialized) by extending their control in central Asia
  • had a naval building programme
  • Started building a Trans Siberian Railway in 1891, which Britain feared could threaten their control of India and bring an army there
  • Russia's empire had expanded to the borders of Afghanistan, 1884, where Britain had influence
• What is the 1876 Brussels Conference?


  Hosted by Leopold II of Belgium motivated by their wanting to protect their interest in the Congo, they agreed:

  
  

  • Leopold's speech of "piercing the darkness"
  • Africans were incapable of developing their natural resources and needed European assistance
  • Roads and railways to Africa's great lakes needed to be developed
• What was the impact of the Brussels Conference?

  started the scramble for Africa as it caused each country to hire explorers and growing suspicion of other European power's expansion, heightened competition
• What is the 1885 Berlin Conference?


  Called by German Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck

  
  

  • The land was carved up arbitrarily, no local people were consulted
  • Nations should Christianize areas of Africa they claimed
  • they should negotiate if they wanted more territory (effective occupation)
  • There should be free trade in areas they claimed and all European powers could trade in the basin of the Congo
  • Said they would protect indigenous people and suppress the slave trade (didn't really do that though)
• What was the impact of the Berlin Conference?

  • 1884, 90% of Africa controlled by local populations
  • 1902, 90%of Africa is controlled by European powers
• What is the 'informal empire'?

  territories that Britain had no legal claim over but wielded a lot of influence economically
• What countries were apart of Britain's informal empire?

  • Argentina
  • Mexico
  • Peru
  • Chile
  • Siam (Thailand)
  • China
  • Afghanistan
  • Iran
• How did Britain have influence in Argentina?

  • British public capital in Latin America stood over £80 million by 1865
  • British City financer acquired the Mercantile Bank of the River Plate and invested into the country's utilities
  • Britain had control in everything apart from politics- making it a de facto colony
• How did Britain have influence in Mexico, Peru and Chile ?

  • British public capital in Latin America stood over £80 million by 1865
  • Royal Navy was brought into Peru (1857) and into Chile (1863) to ensure compliance with free trade deals
  • Pressure was put on Mexico (1861) to uphold free trade treaties
• how did Britain have influence in Siam?

  Siam was brought under British influence through trade treaties (Burney Treaty (1826) and Bowring Treaty (1855))
• how did Britain have influence in Iran?

  • 1872 Baron de Reuter bought rights to their banks, currency, transport and communication
  • 1891, British businesses bought rights for the entire Iranian Tobacco Industry
  • 1901, the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company bought rights to Iran's oil
• how did Britain have influence in China?

  • Britain use its naval power to coerce China to allow for the opium trade- leading to the opium wars (opium traded by EIC)
  • Treaty of Nanking (1842), ended 1st opium war (was 1st unequal treaty) gave Britain control of Hong Kong
  • Treaty of Tientsin (1858), ended 2nd opium war, opened Chinese ports to foreign trade, allowed Christian missionary activity and legalized import of opium
• how did Britain have influence in Afghanistan?

  • Through threat of invasion of Afghanistan, Britain secured Treaty of Gandamak (1879)
  • It gave Britain territorial gains and control over Afghanistan's foreign policy
• What was the principle of trade in the British Empire?

  • Free trade, outlined by Adam Smith's 'a Wealth of Nations', the invisible hand of the market will produce the best outcome (seen with little intervention in Irish Potato Famine for fear of 'moral hazard')
  • Rejected mercantilism and protectionism