development of imperialism 1857-90

• The concept of empire has long existed in the history of civilisation. An empire is a collection of states that are ruled over by an emperor.

  The history of empires

  Who had empires in the 18th and 19th Centuries?

  • England, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands were the main countries that pursued owning or controlling territories overseas.
  • These countries' empires and colonies often competed in trade and sometimes, militarily, capturing each others' colonies.
• Why would a country want to control colonies?

  • By controlling a colony, Britain could:
  • Secure an international market to sell British-produced goods into.
  • Secure access to raw materials at cheaper prices to help Britain's economic development.
  • Spread Christianity (which was practiced more commonly two hundred years ago). If other cultures and races were viewed as inferior, then spreading British civilisation and Christianity would be desirable.
  • Compete with other colonial powers and weaken their rivals in Europe.
  • Increase the country's power and prestige.
• In the early stages of empires, individuals often led the colonial expansion
• When evaluating the British Empire, you will stumble upon ethical, political, and economic territory. These lenses could be helpful when evaluating the British Empire.

  The Golden Rule

  • The Golden Rule is an ethical principle included in many religions. It says 'treat others how you wish to be treated'.
  • By inverting the Golden Rule, you get the Silver Rule: 'don't treat others how you wouldn't want to be treated'.
• Free trade

  • A lot of Britain's economic policy was based on Adam Smith's (1776) work on free trade and free markets.
  • However, Britain granted monopolies to chartered companies. Monopolies are the opposite of the free market competition that Smith supported.
  • Britain also imposed higher tariffs on foreign goods vs British goods, which also violates the principle of free trade.
• Democracy

  • Ideologically, Western countries talk about democracy a lot.
  • The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines self-determination as "free choice of one's own acts or states without external compulsion" and democracy as "a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation".
  • Although Britain supported democracy at home when Mossadegh was elected in Iran he was overthrown by a British-supported coup.
• Imperialism

  • Imperialism is the political ideology that promotes the gaining of foreign territories to increase the global economic and political control of a particular state.
  • An imperialist state seeks to form an Empire
• Nationalism

  • Nkrumah of Kenya, Nasser of Egypt, and Nehru & Gandhi are often described as nationalism leaders.
  • Nationalism is defined by Merriam-Webster as "a sense of national consciousness exalting one nation above all others and placing primary emphasis on promotion of its culture and interests as opposed to those of other nations or supranational groups".
  • Although nationalism can have negative connotations, British actions to create and maintain an Empire were nationalistic - aiming to support British culture and interests.
• Transition to independence

  • After the British Empire began to collapse, ensuring the peaceful transitions happened was a difficult task.
  • In Malaya, a 12-year civil war broke after a move towards independence began.
  • Uganda became independent in 1962. Idi Amin seized power in Uganda in 1971 in a military coup.
  • Nigeria became independent in 1960. In 1966, there were two coups. There were coups in 1975 and 1976, and in 1983 and 1985.
  • The transition to independence was not always clean-cut, making the transition more difficult.
• The loss of the American Revolutionary War in 1783 forced Britain to look elsewhere to grow its wealth and political control.

  First British Empire

  • By the 18th century, Britain had gained control of parts of North America, the Caribbean as well as territories within Europe such as Gibraltar.
  • The East India Company was a British company separate to the government which controlled the Indian subcontinent.
• Swing to the East

  • Britain failed to keep control of its colonies in North America following its loss in the American Revolutionary War 1783.
  • This loss triggered a 'Swing to the East' as coined by Vincent Harlow (1952).
  • Britain responded losing the war by expanding its reach into Africa and Asia to maintain its wealth and status as a global power.
• Industrial Revolution

  • The Industrial Revolution armed Britain with advances in methods of transport and weaponry, which helped in obtaining new territories for its empire.
• Loss of the American Revolutionary War forced Britain to look elsewhere to grow its wealth and political control


  1783
• Economic factors

  • The African continent had a wide variety of natural resources that were known due to Britain's involvement with the transatlantic slave trade
  • People were taken from West Africa and transported across the Atlantic ocean to be sold as slaves
• Transatlantic slave trade was abolished by Britain


  1807
• After the transatlantic slave trade was abolished, Europeans became aware of precious commodities like gold, ivory and diamonds discovered across the continent</b>
• This offered an opportunity to replace the wealth obtained from the slave trade
• Strategic factors

  • Occupying new territories in Africa became increasingly important to secure trade routes.
  • The Cape (in present-day South Africa) was an important port for ship voyages to the Indies.
  • There was competition among other European colonial powers such as the French and Dutch to secure these routes for themselves.
  • Each new colony required protection, and further defenses created a knock-on effect as Britain gained control of more and more regions in Africa.
• Exploration

  • Many British explorers survey to explore the interior regions of Africa that were undocumented by European maps, like the Congo Basin and the Great African Lakes
  • Prominent British explorers include David Livingstone, Sir Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke.
  • Livingstone became the first European to visit Victoria Falls (which he named after Queen Victoria), and Burton and Speke were the first Europeans to visit the Great African Lakes
• Missionary

  • Many explorers were also missionaries.
  • They sought to reach people in the heart of Africa who had been previously uncontacted by Europeans in order to convert them to Christianity.
  • The missionaries viewed traditional African religions as savage and uncivilised.
• French occupation

  • From 1798–1801, Napoleon's French campaign occupied Egypt.
  • The occupation of Egypt was an important trade hub for the French, preventing Britain from using Egypt as a route to India.
  • The Rosetta Stone was discovered by a French soldier in 1799 and was the key to deciphering ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics
• The 1800s

  • The French were forced out of Egypt in 1801 by British and Ottoman forces.
  • Muhammad Ali Pasha, an Albanian Ottoman governor, took control of Egypt following the expulsion of Napoleon.
  • Muhammad Ali declared himself the Khedive (Viceroy) of Egypt.
  • Egypt was still technically part of the Ottoman Empire but it was autonomously ruled by Muhammad Ali.
• The 1860s

  • The power of the Ottoman Empire began to struggle to defend many of its territories.
  • By 1863, the Khedivate of Egypt had been succeeded by Muhammad Ali's grandson Ismai'l Pasha.
• American Civil War

  • The American Civil War of 1861–1865 erupted due to the continued enslavement of black people.
  • Cotton that was picked by black slaves was a lucrative commodity.
  • Britain was reliant on this cotton as a raw material in its textile revolution.
  • President Lincoln's Union forces blocked the trade of cotton from the Southern Confederacy, and Britain looked elsewhere to import cotton.
• Increased involvement in Egypt

  • During the American Civil War, Britain began to import large quantities of Egyptian cotton.
  • This increased investment in Egypt led Isma'il Pasha to begin an extensive program of westernised reform, including the construction of the Suez canal.
• he Suez Canal is a manmade waterway that connects the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea.

  The location of the Suez Canal

  • The Suez Canal connects the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea.
  • The Suez Canal cuts off the Sinai Peninsula (in Asia) from the African continent.
  • Prior to the construction of the Suez, ships had to sail around the south of Africa in order to reach the Indian Ocean.
  • The distance by boat from London to the Gulf of Arabia was reduced by approximately 5,000 miles.
• The design of the Suez Canal

  • Then Khedive of Egypt, Sa'id Pasha granted a concession to French architect Ferdinand de Lesseps in 1854 to build the canal.
  • British Prime Minister Lord Palmerston opposed the canal due to its effect on British trade, as well as scepticism on its suitability for large ships:
• The construction of the Suez Canal

  • The canal took 10 years to construct, during which Sa'id Pasha died and was succeeded by his nephew Isma'il Pasha.
  • The canal was primarily built by Egyptian forced labourers, which was outlawed in 1864 by a decree from Napoleon III.
  • The canal was opened in 1869.
• In the second half of the 19th century, Britain began to gain a foothold in Egypt.

  Panic of 1873

  • The opening of the Suez in 1869 rendered British trade posts in the Cape redundant, where stock for trading had been stored in British warehouses.
  • This contributed to an economic depression known as the 'Panic of 1873' which occurred in both Europe and North America.
• Isma'il Pasha's westernisation efforts led to Egypt accruing a large amount of national debt


  1875
• From Isma'il's accession in 1863 to 1875, Egypt's national debt went from around £7 million to £100 million
• Isma'il sold 44% of his shares in the Suez Canal Company


  1. To British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli

  2. On behalf of the British government
• Disraeli was granted a private loan of £4 million from Lionel de Rothschild without obtaining parliamentary consent first
• This marked the beginning of an increased British presence in Egypt
• 1879

  • Isma'il was deposed in 1879 by the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II due to his economic mismanagement, with the support of both Britain and France.
  • His son, Tewfiq Pasha, was instead proclaimed as the Khedive of Egypt.
  • Tewfiq's reign was supported by British and French investment.
  • Measures were introduced to improve the Egyptian economy, such as:
  • Taxation on goods was increased.
  • The national army was reduced by two thirds.
• Arabi Revolt 1882

  • The Egyptian people had continuously been ruled by foreigners, from the Ottomans to the Khedives and the increasing presence of Europeans.
  • This fuelled nationalist sentiments, leading to Colonel Arabi Pasha mounting an uprising in 1882 known as the Arabi Revolt.
  • Prime Minister Gladstone sent naval forces to bombard Alexandria, seeing the opportunity to increase the British presence in Egypt.
  • High tensions resulted in the death of fifty Europeans on the streets of Alexandria in June 1882.
• 1883

  • Britain defeated Arabi's Egyptian army at the Battle of Tel El Kabir on 13 September 1882, as well as securing control of the Suez Canal.
  • Tewfiq was installed by the British as a puppet ruler, meaning he acted as the head of state but was subject to Britain's whims.
  • Major Evelyn Baring was appointed as Consul-General of Egypt in 1883, which ensured British interests were catered for by Tewfiq's government.
• Veiled protectorate

  • Egypt was granted a loan during The Convention of London 1885, which confirmed Britain’s rule in Egypt as a ‘veiled protectorate’.
  • A protectorate is a state that does not possess full sovereignty on its own but has been granted some autonomy by a greater state.
  • This meant that Egypt was effectively ruled by Baring, though it was not codified in law
• As Britain expanded into Egypt, Sudan too became increasingly under their influence.

  Egyptian conquest

  • Muhammad Ali Pasha's forced took control of the Sudan from 1820–1824.
  • This established Turkish Sudan (also known as the Turkiyya).
  • Muhammad Ali enslaved thousands of Sudanese people, initially to fight in his army, and later as agricultural labour.
  • Turkish Sudan lasted from 1820–1885.
• 1877

  • Disraeli sent Colonel Charles Gordon to Sudan as the ‘Governor-General’ of Sudan, which was then ruled as part of Isma'il Pasha's Khedivate.
  • At this point, the Khedivate was heavily dependent on Britain economically.
  • Sudan's Muslim population had been subjected to Isma'il's attempts to Westernise Sudan, and were wary of further rule from British figures like Gordon.
  • Gordon aimed to end the slave trade in Sudan, which caused an economic crisis and angered the slave traders