Africa 1890-1914

Question 1

Before 1890

Answer 1

• Before 1890, Britain were only interested in Egypt and South Africa (in Africa)
• However, after 1890, they began to become interested in the middle region of Africa, tropical Africa
• Britain’s expansion at this time was abnormal as they colonised but didn’t want to trade

Question 2

Reasons for Britain’s consolidation and expansion of control before 1890

Answer 2

• Europe had undergone an industrial revolution and Africa had not. This caused Africa to be so far behind economically, technologically and in terms of military. This therefore meant Africa could not be the market for the goods that Britain had produced
• Europeans saw themselves as superior and saw the Africans as primitive due to social Darwinism. This therefore meant that the British would take over naturally and improve Africa through natural selection
• Africa was a place where Europeans could compete, in order to release tension, without a war taking place in Europe. Rivalry was played out in Africa

Question 3

Reasons for British consolidation from 1890-1914

Answer 3

• From the 1890s, British policy in Africa became more assertive
• Until the 1880s, the British had largely established bases for their strategic value or for the purposes of trade, usually reacting to the actions of other powers such as the French or Germans claiming the areas where British traders had already established themselves
• Private chartered companies, before 1890, had mainly been used to occupy and administer territory as British policy had been quite cautious. However, this changed as imperial attitudes within Britain had their effect on expansion in Africa
• The conservative government, elected in 1895, was determined to uphold Britain’s position in every part of the world and this brought wars, and threats of wars, over Africa and other ambitious programmes to consolidate the Empire
• British imperialism took a less haphazard (unorganised) appearance
• British protectorates were expanded in order to provide better security to pre-existing ports, markets or resources and new territories in order to limit the advance of other European powers
• The British had to show evidence of their “effective occupation” of African territories (agreed in the Berlin conference) in order to claim them as a formal colony meaning they had to encompass both their administration and defence
• Britain were massively more advanced as a result of the industrial revolution
• Dominance in Africa was seen as a natural due to social Darwinism

Question 4

Colonies and protectorates

Answer 4

Protectorate
- The state is protected by a larger country of power
Colony
- The state is owned by a larger power but is not geographically a part of it

Question 5

Consolidation and expansion of British rule in sections of Africa between 1890 and 1914

Answer 5

• When certain parts of Africa were initially brought under British control and then how they were consolidated as British territories
  Sierra Leone
• Initially made British territory in 1808
• Protectorate was established in 1896
  Gold Coast
• Initially made British territory in 1867
• Incorporation of Ashantiland into Gold Coast Colon in 1902
  Transvaal
• Initially British territory between 1877 and December 1880
• Integrated into the British Union of South Africa in 1902
  Egypt and Sudan
• Initially made a British territory in 1882
• From 1899, Sudan was a condominium (joint control of a state’s affairs by other states) of Britain and Egypt until the Egyptian Protectorate was established in 1914
  Southern Nigeria
• Initially made a British territory in 1884
• Royal Niger Company (RNC) rule converted it into a British colony in 1906, before the establishment of united Nigeria in 1914
  Northern Nigeria
• Initially made a British territory in 1885
• Royal Niger Company (RNC) rule converted it into a British colony in 1900, before the establishment of united Nigeria in 1914
  British East Africa
• Initially made a British territory in 1888
• Imperial British East Africa Company (BEAC) rule was replaced by a formal protectorate in 1895
  Uganda
• Initially made a British territory in 1888
• BEAC rule was replaced by a formal protectorate in 1894
  Zanzibar
• Initially made a British territory in 1890
• A formal protectorate was established, albeit maintaining the rule of the Sultan of Oman
  Nyasaland
• Initially made a British territory in 1891
• British South African Company (BSAC) rule was replaced by a formal protectorate in 1907
  Matabeleland
• Initially made a British territory in 1893
• The territory was incorporated into Rhodesia in 1895
  Rhodesia
• Initially made a British territory in 1895
• South Rhodesia protectorate was established in 1901
• Northern Rhodesia protectorate was established in 1911
• These were both established under BSAC administration
• The occupation of territories by charted companies, which had produced evidence of “effective occupation” on behalf of Britain, gave way to formal control from the 1890s
• This was partly because the costs for companies were financially unsustainable

Question 6

The use of treaties, intimidation and war to exert British control

Answer 6

• British expansionism came through a mixture of treaties, intimidation and aggression and was, at least partly, driven by regional disorder or perceived threats
• The British wanted to feel the boundaries of their possessions were secure and so, if borders and investments were threatened by local crises or resistance, the British felt they had every right to take action, using force and coercion (persuasion through the use of threats or force)

Question 7

Treaties

Answer 7

• Britain’s dominance in Nigeria was recognised through an agreement with the French in 1890
• Britain took control of Zanzibar when Britain and Germany signed a treaty establishing spheres of influence in East Africa in 1890
• In 1890, King Mwanga signed a treaty with Lord Lugard of the Imperial British East Africa Company which gave the company power over Uganda’s revenue, trade and administration. These powers were transferred to the crown in 1894
• On the brink of war in 1899, the French decided to backdown and agreed to stay out of the Nile valley in return for territory in the west. In the same year, Britain and Egypt agreed a Veiled Protectorate whereby Anglo-Egyptian Sudan was established

Question 8

Intimidation

Answer 8

• The British used both administrative and military personnel in 1898 to limit both French and Italian ambitions in Somaliland which allowed Britain to reinforce its Somaliland Protectorate
• Ashantiland – British demanded King Prempeh to handover land to the British as a protectorate in the 1890s.
• The military occupation of Nigeria allowed the British to order Khalid of Zanzibar to stand down in 1896 which led to the fourth Anglo-Ashanti war
• The 660 miles of rail track in Uganda took five years and £5 million to build and took the lives of some 2500 labourers. The project and its expense to the British taxpayer were supported by Colonial Secretary Chamberlain and the Conservative government. The Ugandan railway consolidated Britain’s formal take over of both the East Africa Protectorate and Uganda and it linked the respective colonies with each other and, crucially, with the Indian Ocean

Question 9

War

Answer 9

• Britain conquered the Asante territories and forced Prempeh from his throne in 1896 through the 4th Anglo-Asante war
• Britain retook control of Zanzibar through the shortest war in history (38 minutes long) as Khalid was over-thrown and the pro-British Sultan Hamud was placed on he throne
• After beginning a war against the British, Sheikh Mbaruk bin Rashid fled from Kenya causing the territory to become part of Britain’s east Africa Protectorate of 1895
• In 1895 and 1896, in the Second Ndebele War, Milmo, an Ndebele spiritual leader, led an unsuccessful rising against colonial rule in what is known as the “First Chimurenga” (revolutionary struggle). This colonial rule had been established by Cecil Rhodes’ British South Africa Company as they easily defeated the Ndebele warriors in the first Ndebele war of 1893-94 with the use of maxim guns
• Nyasaland had originally been opened up by Livingstone and settled by Scottish missionaries, however, the British faced Portuguese-backed Arab attacks and it was not until 1891 that they were able to establish control there. Guerrilla warfare and indigenous resistance continued on and off until 1897, however, with the area operating under the control of Rhodes’ British South Africa Company until 1907, when it became a protectorate
• The British took further control of the Cape Colony by defeating the Boers in the second Anglo-Boer war of 1899-1902
• The British campaign in the Sudan, used as an opportunity to avenge the death of General Gordon, led to a veiled protectorate, particularly as a result of the victory at the Battle of Omdurman in 1898 through the use of maxim guns and modern artillery against an army equipped with much older weapons

Question 10

The Battle of Omdurman 1898

Reasons for the British victory

Answer 10

• The shelling of Omdurman by the British occupied the first day of the attack
• Thousands of dervishes were mown down by the British rifles and machine guns on the 2nd of September due to poor planning
• The Dervishes’ planned assault on Kitchener was uncoordinated and forces arrived too late
• The British had superior fire power as it had maxim guns and the Lee Metford rifles (which had a range of 2,300 yards) and were fighting against an army equipped with much older weapons

Question 11

What does the battle of Omdurman suggest about how the British felt towards the Sudan?

Answer 11

• The British clearly valued the Sudan highly as this victory sealed the political future of Sudan
• In order to avenge Gordon’s death at the hands of the Mahdists, Kitchener left the wounded enemy to die and later murdered many of the Khalifa’s leading followers. The Mahdi’s bones were also exhumed (taken out) and thrown in the Nile

Question 12

The fashoda incident 1898

Key events of the Fashoda incident

Answer 12

• General Sir Herbert Kitchener’s army won a decisive victory in Sudanese territory at the Battle of Omdurman in 1898 after being ordered to penetrate Sudanese territory
• However, this was not quite the end of the campaign
• Kitchener had been ordered by Salisbury to, after defeating the Sudanese, go to Fashoda on the headwaters of the Nile, where a French expedition under Major Marchand had arrived
• Kitchener and Marchand both pressed their nation’s claims to the area (accusing the other of trespassing) but the meeting was not particularly fiery
• The British press, however, reacted strongly to the Fashoda incident, suggesting that Britain and France were on the brink of war
• Fortunately for Salisbury, the French government, facing internal problems and aware of the British army in Sudan, chose to back down
• By an agreement of 1899, the French promised to stay out of the Nile Valley in return for territory further west

Question 13

What happened in the Sudan up to 1914

Answer 13

• General Gordon sent to Sudan as Governor-General
• Mahdist Revolt began in 1881
• In 1883, an Anglo-Egyptian counterattack was unsuccessful
• Gladstone ordered a withdrawal
• Gordon died in Khartoum in 1885 and Gladstone was widely criticised for failing to send support
• Various treaties attempted to reaffirm British control of the area
• General Sir Herbert Kitchener, who was appointed as Commander in Chief of the Egyptian Army, was given orders to penetrate Sudanese territory
• Kitchener was determined to go further, take Khartoum, and conquer the whole territory
• Kitchener’s army used modern weaponry such as maxim guns to gain a decisive victory against an army equipped with older weapons at the battle of Omdurman in 1898
• As a result of the Fashoda incident, a “veiled protectorate” was agreed in 1899, whereby Anglo-Egyptian Sudan was established
• This was administered in an arrangement known as a condominium which, in practice, meant Sudan would be run by the British, with Egyptian support
• Lord Kitchener was appointed as the first Governor General (officially ruling in the name of the Khedive of Egypt) and he was followed by General Reginald Wingate from 1902
• Kitchener set up “Gordon college” which trained young Sudanese for government (this was named after General Gordon”
• Despite Egyptian expectations, Britain frustrated ambitions for the unification of the two countries
• Kitchener’s conquest of the Egyptian Sudan, culminating in the Battle of Omdurman and the fall of Khartoum in 1898, was described as having secured the downfall of the worst tyranny in the world
• Although many Sudanese did welcome the downfall of the Mahdist Regime, which had a negative effect on the Sudanese economy and saw a decline of 50% of the population through famine, disease, persecution and warfare, the arrival of the British meant little more than exchanging one oppressor for another
• The British struggled to establish control over the south of Sudan for 30 years due to the Sudanese refusing to renounce their customs and pay taxes to the British
• The British tried to resolve Sudanese uprisings with a heavy hand, frequently using the death penalty, leading to further resistance
• The Sudanese were often treated brutally by the British
• There were uprisings in 1900, 1902-03, 1904 and 1908 which were all followed by an increasingly violent wave of British reprisals
• Sudan experienced considerable economic development at the hands of the British particularly in the Nile Valley:
  • Telegraph and railway lines were extended to link key areas of North Sudan and Port Sudan
  • Port Sudan was opened in 1906 and was the country’s principal outlet to the sea
  • In 1911, a joint private and government initiative set up the Gezira scheme which provided high quality cotton for Britain’s textile industry
  • There were improvements in irrigation systems

Question 14

The British and the Boers

Answer 14

• The Boers were the ancestors of the original Dutch settlers
• They were independent and just looked after themselves
• They came into conflict with the British as the British attempted to take control of the Transvaal and Orange-Free state because the British realised these states were rich in diamonds
• The first Boer war was of a very small scale and was won by the Boers
• This result was mainly due to the British not committing 100% to the war
• The first Boer war gave the Boers increased confidence

Question 15

Key reasons for why the Second Boer War began

Answer 15

• The British imperialists sought a unification of the whole of South Africa under the British flag whilst the Boers wanted their independence
• This problem was further confounded by the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand in the Transvaal in 1886
• The inhabitants of the South African republic saw the newcomers (Uitlanders) as a threat to their continuing independence
• The Kruger government therefore placed restrictions on the Uitlander’s political freedom in favour of the Boers
• For example, the Uitlanders were taxed heavily but had no voting rights
• The British therefore justified their interference by saying they were protecting the rights of the Uitlanders
• The situation was exacerbated by the appointment of Joseph Chamberlain to the Colonial Office in 1895 and Sir Alfred Milner the new British High Commissioner in 1897
• Both Chamberlain and Milner were ardent imperialists, who wanted to press ahead with uniting South Africa under the British flag
• They encouraged Uitlander discontent and opposition to Kruger’s government
• They also exaggerated the seriousness of the grievances of the Uitlanders
• Over the new year weekend of 1895/96, the Jameson Raid took place
• The Jameson Raid was the most embarrassing attempt at stirring an uprising in the Transvaal
• Here, Leander Starr Jameson led a force of around 600 men with the hope of starting an uprising in the Transvaal
• It failed desperately and was a major embarrassment for the British government but to the Boers, it was almost a declaration of war
• The following years saw uneasy peace between the Boers and British, with political pressure put upon the Boers from the British
• The Boers were beginning to arm themselves during this period in preparation for a possible attack from the British
• In 1899, the situation became even more aggravated when Milner broke off talks with Kruger during the Bloemfontein Conference of 31st May to 5th June 1899
• Then British military reinforcements were dispatched to South Africa in September 1899
• By this point, the Boer republics had decided that Britain had intended to destroy their independence by force
• The government of the South African Republic, wishing to seize the military initiative, issued an ultimatum to Britain on 9th October 1899, calling for the removal of all imperial troops from the republic’s borders within 48 hours
• The British ignored this so, in October 1899, the Boers started the war with a prem-empted strike, by invading the Natal and Cape Province and quickly laying siege to three towns: Ladysmith, Mafeking and Kimberley

Question 16

Reasons for British involvement in the Boer War

Answer 16

• The contest for supremacy between the Dutch and British
• The British were trying to protect the natives and the Uitlanders
• The economic benefits of the gold from the Transvaal
• The British needed to protect their status as an imperial power and needed to show that indigenous people couldn’t rebel that easily
• The British are a much greater power than the south African Republic and they would therefore control the Boer states better than the irresponsible powers that are the south Africans
• If the British didn’t take control, someone else would
• Britain were searching for markets to sell things to and the Boer states had this.
• Britain felt they had to step in as the government was inefficient and corrupt

Question 17

Political causes of the second Boer war

Answer 17

• It was a quest for British confederation in South Africa (South African Federation) with Britain as a dominant power
• The Jameson raid was an embarrassment for the British government and stiffened the Boer’s determination to resist British intrusions
• Increased prestige of the Transvaal
• The Boers were fiercely independent and determined to resist British control
• Failure of the Bloemfontein conference

Question 18

Economic causes of the second Boer war

Answer 18

• The discovery of gold in the Transvaal in 1886 increased its wealth massively
• Cecil Rhodes was one of the leading financial magnates of the Rand goldfield
• British ambition stemmed partly from the irritation at the damage which high tariffs imposed by the Boers were causing to British trade in the region

Question 19

Social causes of the second Boer war

Answer 19

• Negotiations broke down with the Boers in 1899
• Rhodes and Chamberlain were worried that Britain’s dominance in Southern Africa was threatened by the Portuguese
• The British wanted to protect the rights of the Uitlanders (many of whom were British)
• The Boers had created an anti-British Afrikaner bond in the cape colony to show their solidarity with their fellow Boers

Question 20

Strategic causes of the second Boer war

Answer 20

• Prevent the Portuguese from taking control
• Concern that the Boers may form an alliance with the Germans due to Kruger and Wilhelm’s relationship
• Boers were a threat to British dominance (already humiliated them)

Question 21

The influence of individuals as a cause of the second Boer war

Answer 21

• Cecil Rhodes desperately wanted the confederation of South Africa and was willing to use force
• Joseph Chamberlain was concerned about British control and therefore wanted to counter German territorial gains. He was supportive of an aggressive policy in order to do this and desired unity
• Paul Kruger (Boer politician) enjoyed Boer independence whilst also increasing their rivalry with the British
• Alfred Milner encouraged a policy of strength

Question 22

Impacts of the Boers war

Answer 22

• To begin with, the British were massively confident due to their dominance as imperialists
• The Boers had new German rifles, knew the terrain and used the tactic of Guerrilla warfare (cutting off supplies and using ambush tactics)
• Home territory gave the Boers a huge advantage
• Chamberlain was the British leader and was a radical imperialist
• Chamberlain believed the new century could be filled with British dominance as they expanded the empire
• Chamberlain was confident
• The Boers were tactically better
• Chamberlain called for support and in came Lord Kitchener
• Kitchener brought in barbed wire with 8000 defensive machines
• The British destroyed houses leaving thousands of Boer women and children homeless
• 160,000 Boer women and children were rounded up and put in horrific refuge camps which became concentration camps
• In these camps, people lived in tents and were starved
• Emily Hobhouse discovered this and went back to tell the British people of the murder that was being committed on their behalf
• 26,000 Boer women and children died
• Boers surrendered in May 1902 after 2 and a half years
• After the war, it became apparent that almost half of the men who had volunteered to fight for Britain were unfit to fight
• Britain won but at a large costs and there were now doubts as to whether they could survive the century

Question 23

Overview of the Boer War

Answer 23

• The British were initially very confident but the war did not initially go as well as they had hoped
• Boer offensive between October 1899 and January 1900
• At first the Boer republican fighters were successful in 3 major offensives which had been carried out early in order to catch the British by surprise
• Boer commandos invaded northern Natal and Besieged the town of Ladysmith, invaded Cape Colony to lay siege to the British garrisons in Kimberley and Mafeking
• The British suffered defeats during “black week” at Stormberg, Magersfontein and Tugela River between the 10th and 15th December 1899
• The British also suffered significant casualties at the infamous Spion Kop in January 1900
• So far the war was going horribly for the British and a response was needed
• British response between January and June 1900
• With heavy reinforcements and the assumption of overall command by Lord Roberts with Lord Kitchener as his Chief of Staff, the British fought back
• Imperial troops (British troops) eventually relived the besieged towns of Ladysmith (28th February 1900), Kimberley (15th February 1900) and Mafeking (18th May 1900)
• In March 1900, Roberts occupied Bloemfontein, the capital of the Orange Free State
• In May, the province (OFS) was annexed and renamed the Orange River Colony
• Johannesburg and Pretoria were taken soon after
• The Transvaal was then annexed on the 1st September 1900
• To many, it seemed the war was over, and, in November 1900, Roberts made a triumphal return to England
• Stage 3: Guerrilla war and British frustration between November 1900 and May 1902
• The Boers abandoned the British style of warfare and increased their reliance on small and mobile military units
• The mobility of these units enabled them to capture supplies, disrupt communications and undertake raids on the army of occupation (Guerrilla warfare)
• The Boers were successful in evading capture and being disruptive
• The Boers did well due to knowing the land well and being skilled with their weapons
• In response to the Guerrilla warfare, the British embarked on a scorched earth policy to deny supplies to the fighters
• A scorched earth policy is a military strategy of burning or destroying crops or other resources that might be of use to an enemy force
• Approximately 30,000 farms were burnt
• In March 1901, the need to restrict the movement of the Boers brought he development of 8,000 blockhouses and 3,700 miles of wire fencing guarded by 50,000 troops
• This was followed by a number of “drives” which had the intention of cornering the Boers but the operations mainly displaced Boer and African families causing them to be homeless.
• These homeless women and children (refugees) were then sent to concentration camps around South Africa
• 27,927 Boers, of whom 22,074 were under 16, and 14,154 black Africans had died of starvation disease and exposure in the concentration camps
• The brits treatment of Boers was widely condemned in Europe
• Although the British were victorious, it was a very hollow victory as this war had a massively negative effect on their reputation

Question 24

Reasons British tactics were justified

Answer 24

• Victory was the most important thing for the British
• The Guerrilla tactics were very difficult to combat
• The British were left with very little other options
• The war would have gone on for a much longer amount of time had the British not done this
• Deaths in the camps were arguably not intentional
• The British didn’t impose their policies upon undefended cities

Question 25

Reasons British tactics were unjustified

Answer 25

• can never justify this treatment to civilians or killing this amount of people, especially children (defenceless and innocent)
• this massively damaged Britain’s reputation
• the camps should have been managed better in order to make sure the people inside the camps survived

Question 26

Consequences of the Boer war

Answer 26

• Boer farms and livestock were incinerated as a result of the scorched earth policy
• Boer families and black Africans suffered horrendous conditions in the concentration camps and perished in them as a result of both malnutrition and disease
• The Transvaal and Orange Free State had to accept British sovereignty (with a promise of future self-rule)
• Moral and military shortcomings had been displayed by the British in the name of empire
• The war shook Britain’s confidence as an imperial power
• The British had anticipated the war to last 3-4 months, involved 75,000 troops and cost no more than £10 million. Instead, it lasted the best part of 3 years, involved 400,000 troops and cost £230 million
• 22,000 British military were killed compared to just 6000 Boer troops
• The fact the British were fighting a “white” enemy destabilised their idea of British moral superiority
• The war showed the vulnerability of Britain’s imperial control, and, perhaps, made the British more aware of its inability to inflict its will on other people without a cost
• Britain had to call on troops from other parts of the empire (mainly India) meaning other dependencies were left without adequate armed back up
• The British hadn’t been able to rely on their powerful navy during this war
• This war had dampened the jingoism that had characterised the 1890s and it also dictated the drive for national efficiency
• After the war, only the Conservatives still spoke out politically for imperialism
• The concluding Treaty of Vereeniging of May 1902 granted the Boers £3 million compensation in order to restore and restock their farms
• Milner worked to integrate the British and Boer colonies’ economies, bringing them into a single customs union and amalgamating their railway systems
• The Transvaal was granted self-governing status in 1906 and the Orange River Colony in 1907
• In 1910, the parliaments of the Cape Colony, the Transvaal, and the Orange River Colony, along with the people of Natal, agreed to the establishment of the Union of South Africa as an independent dominion within the British Empire
• However, after 1910, the Boers still retained their own voting policies
• This could be seen as the first nail in the coffin of the British empire

Question 27

Emily Hobhouse

Answer 27

• In 1899, Hobhouse was appointed secretary of the South African Conciliation Committee, which was a group that opposed the British government policy regarding south Africa
• As a result of her position as secretary of the south African conciliation committee, she received information on how women and children were suffering in the Boer regions as a result of British military operation
• In December 1900, she travelled out to south Africa with the intention of distributing supplies to people suffering due to British policies (scorched earth)
• Hobhouse ended up visiting concentration camps set up by the British in the Orange Free State and Transvaal
• When she arrived at the concentration camps, she was appalled to see the conditions in which women and children were being forced to live
• Hobhouse spent several months attempting to improve the living conditions of the Boers, and, in many cases, she provided them with supplies (such as food) and clothing
• She also attempted to voice her opinion and concerns about the camps to the British administration at these camps and even Lord Kitchener himself
• However, Hobhouse was unsuccessful in her attempts to persuade the British administrators to make efficient changes
• Therefore, later in 1902, Hobhouse travelled back to England where she voiced her opposition to the concentration camps and reported on the horrific conditions in these camps
• She focused her campaign on the liberal condition
• Her campaign was instrumental in the government decision to send a group of women, under Dame Millicent Fawcett, to look at the situations
• Hobhouse was not actually part of this group, but it was her actions that had put into play the forces which led to reform

Question 28

Millicent Fawcett

Answer 28

• She was an active suffragist and political campaigner
• The government believed that Emily Hobhouse was exaggerating how appalling the conditions were in the concentration camps
• Therefore, the government established a commission of 6 prominent women, who were sent to South Africa, in December 1901, to investigate Hobhouse’s reports of the conditions in the camps and make their own recommendations
• This commission was led by Millicent Fawcett
• The commission spent 4 months in South Africa and visited nearly all the concentration camps
• Fawcett’s report of the camps (the Fawcett Commission) confirmed Hobhouse’s claims which led to far-reaching recommendations for improvements after it was published/voiced in February 1902

Question 29

The conditions within the camps according to this report:

Answer 29

• Nurses underfed and overworked
• Typhoid and malnutrition
• Many children dying
• Hot tents
• Children lying in a state of collapse
• Misery

Question 30

The black concentration camps

Answer 30

• In December 1900, Kitchener ordered that black workers on Boer farms should be put in their own separate concentration camps
• The “white” camps were provided with tents and water rations
• On the other hand, the inmates in the “black” camps were expected to build their own shelters and work for their food and drink
• Medical care was non-existent in the black camps
• The black camps did not receive anywhere near the concern that was received by the white camps from the campaigners such as Hobhouse
• Out of the 130,000 black civilians placed into these camps, around 20,000 died

Question 31

The main impact of the Boer war

Answer 31

• 22,000 British deaths (only 35% by military action)
• Showed British vulnerability
• Exposed cost of enforcing British control
• Danger of leaving other parts of empire without adequate armed forces
• Dictated the drive for national efficiency
• Dampened jingoism – only the conservatives now spoke out politically on imperialism

Question 32

The Peace Treaty of Vereeniging, May 1902

Answer 32

• This settlement ended the hostilities and involved the surrender of all Boer forces and their arms to the British
• There was a promise of eventual self-government to the Transvaal and the Orange Free State as colonies of the British Empire
• The Boer Republics agreed to come under the sovereignty of the British crown
• No death penalties would be given
• Afrikaans would be used in the Transvaal and Orange Free State
• British were to pay the Boers £3,000,000 in reconstruction aid
• Property rights of the Boers would be respected, and no land taxes would be introduced
• However, the indigenous black people were not mentioned at all in the treaty and their interests were not considered at all

Question 33

Reactions to the experience of the Boer war

Answer 33

• It has given the British an imperial lesson which may lead to them expanding their empire and make it better
• Increased concern for national health as the Boer war showed then poor physical condition of working men
• Many men were rejected from the army due to being physically unfit

Question 34

Poverty in early 20th century Britain

Answer 34

• Large amounts of people in Britain were living in poverty and poor conditions
• 2 late 19th century studies by Seebohm Rowntree (York) and James Booth (London) showed considerable poverty in these parts of Britain
• Poverty and the lack of people physically able to fight in the war led to significant concerns about the country’s national efficiency

Question 35

The drive for national efficiency

Answer 35

• In the aftermath of the second Boer War, concerns for national efficiency in Britain were exposed
• 30,000 Boer troops had held out against the British for 2 and a half years
• Up to 40% of the British recruits had been tested and found unfit for military service
• In Manchester, 8000 of the 11,000 would-be volunteers were turned away
• Poor diet and living conditions had weakened Britain’s manpower
• This was a threat to Britain’s imperial supremacy just as it was to Britain’s industrial strength
• Britain’s concerns were further increased by the decline in British industrial production relative to that of both the USA and Germany

Question 36

Measures taken to address these concerns

Answer 36

• Across the media and politics, there was concern that the nation needed to be bother better educated and healthier
• In 1902, people, especially journalists and politicians, began tp speak of the need for national efficiency as the only way of preventing Britain’s decline
• It was thought that the government needed to be better organised, leadership made stronger, and waste and muddle replaced by scientific planning
• Measures taken to improve national efficiency included:
  • The 1902 Education Act which attempted to raise school standards and led to the opening of 1000 secondary schools in the following decade
  • The modernisation of the royal navy by committing to a new class of battleship known as the Dreadnought. This was first launched in 1906, in the wake of the German naval laws and expansion of the German fleet
  • In 1907, a new centre of technological, medica and scientific excellence was established in London and entitled Imperial College
  • A spate of Liberal reforms including free school meals (1906), school medical inspections (1907), a children’s welfare charter (1908), old age pensions (1908), a trade boards act (1909), and unemployment and health insurance (1911) gave the right to free medical treatment

Question 37

Why did these measures benefit the empire in the long run?

Answer 37

• These reforms to improve national efficiency not only addressed internal shortcomings but also, crucially, showed that the ideas of high imperialists were unnecessary for the successful continuation of empire
• They strengthened Britain and improved its capability to both run and defend the empire
• Allowed there to be healthier and better educated population in Britain

Question 38

Old liberalism (Gladstone)

Answer 38

• Individual freedom or liberty at the heart of society
• Society is no more than a collection of individuals
• Role of state is to remove obstacles to individual advancement
• Low taxation
• Role of the state is small

Question 39

New liberalism

Answer 39

• Different view of society as a whole
• Society is organic (more than a sum of parts)
• Role of state is to distribute wealth more fairly throughout society for the benefit of society as a whole
• Higher taxation to pay for social reform
• Role of state is much larger

Question 40

Consequences of the Boer war 
For Britain 
-	Exposed British moral and military shortcomings 
-	Shook British confidence 
-	Cost them £230 million 
-	There was support for the war initially but divided opinion later on 
-	Concerns over national efficiency 
-	End of splendid isolationism

Question 41

Consequences of the Boer war for the Empire

Answer 41

• It exposed the cost of enforcing control
• Damaged the air of invincibility
• Arguably the first nail in the imperial coffin
• But imperialism survived and the empire was largely peaceful up to 1914

Question 42

Consequences of the Boer war for South Africa

Answer 42

• The Peace Treaty of Vereeniging was generous
• Transvaal and Orange Free State granted self-government in 1907
• Union of South Africa in 1910
• However, black African rights were largely ignored