2. Imperial Consolidation And Liberal Rule c1890-1914 - Imperial And Colonial Policy

Question 1

What happened to the roles and responsibilities of the empire?

Answer 1

The colonial office continued to have overall responsibility for the empire, although the foreign office responsibility grew as the new African protectorates were placed under its jurisdiction, the war office and admiralty were responsible for external defence whilst the treasury controlled the purse

Question 2

What was the problems of mixed authorities in the empire?

Answer 2

If there were disputes between these different departments, the cabinet had to be consulted high made decision making difficult

Question 3

What idea did both India and Egypt administration uphold?

Answer 3

They both upheld the Darwinist idea of European racial superiority and self rule was explicitly denied

Question 4

What was Administration like in India under control of the Raj?

Answer 4

British officials were appointed to maintain unrestrained power in the Indian Raj until 1909, there were strict limitations on the size of the civil service due to costs, india began to modernise and spread of education enabled more Indians to read English, the Indian civil service used a policy of ‘divide and rule’ to emphasise divisions in India and wanted to bring ‘enlightened reform’

Question 5

How did the British Raj benefit India?

Answer 5

India began to modernise with the expansion of railways and education due to them having more collaboration and economic developments meant more money was raised through taxation

Question 6

What was the importance of Viceroy Curzon

Answer 6

he supported reform due to growing criticisms of British rule from the Indian National Congress, he improved civil service efficiency, and founded the Imperial Cadet Corps in 1901 to appease Indian princes and elite figures, he lowered taxes and adopted the ‘gold standard’ to ensure a stable currency

Question 7

What was the impact of the partition of Bengal 1905?

Answer 7

After Curzon decided Bengal should be divided into 2 separate provinces, there was an uproar among the Hindu elite and the partition was seen as a pay-back for their criticisms of British rule and campaigns were led to develop a new strand of trident nationalism - Curzon attempted a counter however resigned in 1905 + the partition was reversed in 1911

Question 8

Who led the campaigns against the partition of Bengal?

Answer 8

Surendranath Banerjee

Question 9

What was the gold standard?

Answer 9

A system where the value of currency could be defined in terms of gold for which currency could be exchanged

Question 10

Who was Surendranath Banerjee?

Answer 10

Twice president of the Indian National Congress

Question 11

What did Curzon do in response to the nationalism campaigns?

Answer 11

He imposed strict censorship on the press

Question 12

Who was viceroy minto and what did he do?

Answer 12

He was left to deal with the fall-out of curzon’s plans and so he introduced a limited programme of reforms in 1909 to appease the bengalis

Question 13

What did the 1909 Indian councils act do and what was the benefit

Answer 13

It enabled 27 Indians to be elected from provincial constituencies to the viceroy council in order to assist them in the making of laws and this ensured greater Indian representation in government

Question 14

What did further reforms in 1910 do?

Question 15

What was the impact of viceroy Hardinge?

Answer 15

He used the visit of king-emperor George V to India in 1911 as an opportunity to reunite Bengal, he also moved the Indian capital from Calcutta to Delhi which reaffirmed British control and undermined revolutionary Hindu groups

Question 16

What was George V’s Durbar?

Answer 16

A spectacular display, covering an area upwards of 20 sq miles and costing £2mn, which was designed to reinforce an anxious empire in India.

Question 17

What did viceroy hardinge’s declaration of war test?

Question 18

What was Egypt regarded as?

Answer 18

A ‘veiled protectorate’

Question 19

What were the different challenges to Britain’s freedom of control in Egypt?

Answer 19

The capitulations, the caisse de latte and the mixed courts

Question 20

What were the capitulations?

Answer 20

They were privileges granted by the sultan to protect Europeans there, which slowed down law making

Question 21

What was the ‘caisse de latte dette’?

Answer 21

It controlled Egypt’s finances, and could prevent the British consul general from spending Egypt’s money on matters they disapproved of

Question 22

What were the mixed courts?

Answer 22

They were set up to deal with cases involving Egyptians and Europeans and were often unsupportive of the British

Question 23

What was Evelyn baring’s political role in Egypt?

Answer 23

He was consul-general therefore acting as an advisor to the khedive between 1883 and 1907 and whilst there he appointed lots more Britons to government

Question 24

What was Evelyn baring’s financial role in Egypt?

Answer 24

• He made cutbacks to Egypts military and bureaucracy
• he revitalised the economy by improving communications and investing in irrigation
• he improved conditions for Indian labourers
• provided better sanitation and health services
• within 10 years sugar and cotton exports trebled and population rose from 7mn to 10mn

Question 25

What did evelyn baring do for the military in Egypt?

Answer 25

He placed 6000 British troops within the army to ensure British interests weren’t jeopardised and the army was placed under control of kitchener

Question 26

Why did baring not want to extend education opportunities?

Answer 26

He had seen the effects in India that led to growth of nationalist protest, and he had a racial undertone of not wanting them to get too clever

Question 27

What was the Aswan dam?

Answer 27

A dam built over 6 years by the British in Egypt, that opened in 1902 and enabled 1/2mn acres of former desert to be irrigated with water from its reservoir, enabling year round cultivation

Question 28

What was the deshawai incident 1906?

Answer 28

It was a confrontation between residents of deshawai and British officers after British officers agitated residents by ‘pigeon shooting’ for sport and pigeons served as a local source of livelihood. A scuffle broke out and an officer wounded the wife of a Muslim prayer leader. The solider fled the scene and died due to heat but when he was discovered, a villager was killed who had stopped to help him, after he was thought to be his assassin

Question 29

What did British authorities do as a result of the deshawai incident?

Answer 29

They set up a special tribunal for the dead soldier, and implemented harsh punishments from lashing to execution

Question 30

What was the impact of the deshawai incident and the response of the British authorities?

Answer 30

The events were met with great reproach in Britain and an outpouring of emotion in Egypt, which led to growing nationalism that provoked the resignation of baring

Question 31

What was a key national party in Egypt?

Answer 31

Al Hizb al watanī

Question 32

Who was eldon gorst and what did he do?

Answer 32

He was baring’s successor, and he brought more Egyptians into responsible government positions to weaken the Egyptian national party, he tried to impose a tighter censorship of the press in 1909 and he used penal measures to reduce the growing nationalism however this failed because Germany provided funds to the nationalists

Question 33

Who was Viscount Herbert Kitchener and what did he do?

Answer 33

He was commander in chief of the Egyptian army in 1896 and was later army commander-in-chief during the 2nd Anglo Boer war, and under his consulship from 1911, British dominance increased and in 1913, a new legislative assembly was made (with 66 elected members), and it represented rich landowners rather than the Egyptian people

Question 34

Why did Britain declare a protectorate over Egypt in 1914?

Answer 34

As the First World War was pending, Britain wanted the secure control of the suez canal

Question 35

Dominion:

Answer 35

A British settler colony with self-governing powers, albeit with the British monarch as the head of state. Only countries with large white populations were granted dominion status

Question 36

Where was the most successful form of native role deployed?

Answer 36

In the settler colonies such as Canada, New Zealand and Australia

Question 37

What dominion colonies became semi-independent?

Answer 37

Canada from 1867, Australia from 1901, and Newfoundland & New Zealand from 1907 and the South African states were united in 1910. Britain were in control of neither administration nor the costs of these governments

Question 38

How were the original inhabitants of these settler colonies viewed and treated?

Answer 38

They were often viewed as paternalistic and associated with the social Darwinist terms as ‘primitive natives’ and were treated as 2nd class citizens

Question 39

Who were commonly used to facilitate empire rule?

Answer 39

Local elites

Question 40

How did the local elites facilitate British control?

Answer 40

They were prepared to uphold British interests in exchange for material rewards of being promoted to positions of influence

Question 41

In Empire, what groups gained influence and what groups struggled?

Answer 41

- Large landowners or hereditary nobles gained titles or privileges while coorperative Indian middle classes were also favoured with administrative position - however Indian applicants had to travel to England to sit the examinations for entry

Question 42

In 1890, how many Indian civil service officers were they and how much did it increase by 1914?

Answer 42

There were 30 and this barely doubled by 1914

Question 43

What else did ‘native policy’ involve and where was this strategy shown?

Answer 43

It involved befriending one group against another, shown in British east Africa as the ‘massi’ group were rewarded with cattle and tokens of office

Question 44

What is invented tradition?

Question 45

Why did Britain change their policy of ‘splendid isolation’?

Answer 45

- the second Anglo Boer war (1899-1902) prompted a review of strategy and an improvement of military power in India which had been left vulnerable - two alliance systems emerged: the first in 1870 with Germany and Austria-Hungary which was joined by Italy in 1882, and the second in 1894 with France and Russia - Britain had concerns about Russian ambition, particularly in Afghanistan and the Middle East

Question 46

How did Germany under Kaiser Wilhelm threaten ‘splendid isolation’?

Answer 46

- the kaiser sent a telegram of support to the Transvaal following the Jameson raid and also supplied the Boers with weapons during the 2nd Anglo Boer war - he established warm relations with the Ottoman Empire in order to better access Africa, Persian gulf and Indian trade markets without relying on the British owned Suez Canal - mass sums were spent to build up the German navy

Question 47

What ended Britain’s policy of ‘splendid isolation’?

Answer 47

They signed the entente cordiale with France in 1904, however this didn’t protect Britain against the triple alliance which left its relationship with Russian open

Question 48

After Russia suffered defeat in Japan in 1905 what happened?

Answer 48

Britain Russia and France came together in a ‘triple entente’ in 1907

Question 49

What was the significance of the Moroccan crisis’?

Answer 49

Britian’s support for France was tested when the kaiser threatened French interests in Morocco in 1905 however Britain stood by the French in 1906 at the Algeciras conference. However in 1911 a second crisis erupted when the French sent 20000 soldiers to disperse Moroccan rebels & the kaiser sent a warship to agadir, which led the British to prepare the Royal Navy for war

Question 50

What was the impact of the imperial conference 1911?

Answer 50

Britain accepted that it was no longer in a position to maintain a ‘two power standard’ where it could match the next two strongest naval powers so instead it settled for a 60% margin over Germany however this failed and Britain withdrew the navy from the Mediterranean and had to rely on french support to maintain their Mediterranean interests

Question 51

By 1914, how did Britain focus away from empire?

Answer 51

They refocused towards the defence of Britain in Europe due to the ambitions and growth of other powers

Question 52

What led Britain into war in August 1914?

Answer 52

The German invasion of Belgium, as Britain had promised to protect their neutrality since 1839 and the Kairser’s failure to reply to the British ultimatum