Role of Individuals 1890-1914

• What was the role of Joseph Chamberlain

  Colonial Secretary
• What was the role of Evelyn Baring

  Viceroy 1872-1876

  Consul-General in Egypt 1883-1907
• What was the role of Alfred Milner

  British statesmen and colonial administrator
• What was the role of Lord Curzon

  Viceroy 1899-1905
• Lord Curzon: Believed in religious and moral imperial duty.
• Lord Curzon: Established commissions and legislation to improve India's administration and agriculture which prevented 1 million people in the Bombay region claiming aid during the famine of 1899-1902.
• Lord Curzon: Founded the Imperial Cadet Corps to give Indian nobles a military role and the prospect of officer commissions, believing that keeping the Indian elites loyal was crucial to control.
• Lord Curzon:

  • Took it upon himself to uphold the Raj and believed dividing the troublesome province of Bengal in 1905 would weaken the Raj's internal enemies.
  • The partition instead backfired and led to widespread Indian resistance forcing Curzon to resign that same year.
• Joseph Chamberlain: Initiated the Uganda Railway connecting East African coast with the interior.
• Joseph Chamberlain: Supervised the acquisition of the territories of the Royal Niger Company in the 1900 and 1906.
• Joseph Chamberlain: Tried to develop closer imperial ties during the 1887-1902, Colonial Conferences summoned by Chamberlain proposing an imperial defence and customs office. His ideas were rejected.
• Evelyn Baring:

  • He instituted a form of government known as the 'veiled protectorate'.
  • He did this through the 'Granville Doctrine' which allowed him to dismiss Egyptian ministers who refused to accept British directives.
• Evelyn Baring:

  • Approved the 'Dufferin Report 1883' establishing an Egyptian puppet government.
  • Baring dealt with Egypt's struggling budget personally.
• Evelyn Baring:

  • Abbas Hilmi II was a new young ambitious Khedive who wanted to throw the British out.
  • He encouraged nationalist movements in Egypt but was bullied into submission by Baring.
• Alfred Milner:

  • Governor of the Cape in 1897.
  • Helped bring about the Second Anglo-Boer War.
  • Made efforts to encourage British settlers (Milner's Kindergarten) but many left after the war.
• Lord Lugard: Known as 'the father of Tropical Africa' due to his work in Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda.
• Lord Lugard: Influenced by Rudyard Kipling's poem "White Man's Burden" which called on white men to take responsibility for governing non - European peoples.