CHALLENGES TO BRITISH RULE 1857-1914 Flashcards
inc relations with indigenous people in africa (50 cards)
xhosa tribe 1857
- xhosa think that killing cows and livestock will also eliminate imperialism
- xhosa people fail and there is widespread starvation
examples of challenges to British rule in South Africa (6)
- Ndebele wars of 1893-1894 and 1896
- used over 20,000 soliders to resist Rhode’s British South African Company - Second Boer War of 1899-1902
- establishment of the Afrikaner Bond - an anti-imperialist political party which opposed the occupation of local territory by British missionaries in 1881, but was active mainly from the 1890s
- 1906 Bambatha rebellion caused by the introduction of the 1906 Natal Act which would introduce a poll tax on Zulus in the Natal region caused extreme discontent against the British and their naivety toward imposing a financial burden on those they ruled
- was a response to exploitative policies and financial coercion used by the British - introduction of the Delagoa Bay railway by Kruger in which exports could be made without touching British colonies, and was linked to Pretoria - aiming to avoid British colonies all the way up to Cairo
- Kruger encouraging the presence of Uitlanders in South Africa to challenge overarching British power - 44,000 Uitlanders by 1896
- the failure of the Jameson raid provoked the Matabele and the Mashona people to rebel against Rhodes and capitalists in 1896 - economic challenge to power
battle at rorke’s drift
1879
- zulus invade british
- british win and defeat over 400 zulu soldiers
- this battle was attempted justification by the british to ignore what happened at isandlwana
describe the first boer war
1875 = carnarvon = organise a federation of british and boers
1877 = shepstone is sent by c to the transvaal
1877 = transvaal annexed
1877 = kruger goes to london to promote a federation
1880 = boers revolt against this rejection
1881 = majuba hill - british are defeated
GLADSTONE WITHDRAWS BECAUSE ITS TOO EXPENSIVE
1878 rebellion by griqua people
- caused by unhappy settlements of land
- natives wanted to make claims on diamond fields
- the british crush this rebellion in 1878
examples of challenges to British rule in West Africa and describe these challenges in detail (7)
- in 1897, Lugard created the West African Frontier Force due to the threat of the french presence in Western Africa - use military means to protect colonies
- British attempt to introduce local (British) chiefs, but these are rejected by the Nigerian people, who want more local level representation
- in 1902, the Fulani Emirs challenge British power in Kano, Nigeria - lugard sends 700 British soliders to offset their threats – constant threats between 1902 and 1906 due to their dislike of imperialism
- King Jaja was allowed to return to Opobo in 1891 after being extradited by the British - challenged power because he refused to trade with British merchants directly and instead would ship palm oil directly to Liverpool - Jaja imposed heavy taxes on palm oil exports - economic challenge to power
- 1895 - the Nembe of Brass in Akassa attack the port facilities established under Goldie in Niger due to the monopoly he had attained over local palm oil trading and how the Royal Niger Company was excluding local workers
- the Liverpool Merchant group moved into the territory of the Niger Company after being excluded from the river oil protectorate in 1893 - challenging their sole monopoly status and domination over the economic sphere
- in 1898, Cardew attempted to introduce the ‘Hut Tax’ in Sierra Leone which was widely opposed by local individuals, leading to the ‘Hut Tax war’
first boer war and consequences
- the british attempt to declare a protectorate over the boers and fail
- boers adopt guerilla warfare tactics to kill british
consequences:
- british defeat at majuba hill in feb 1881 - 150 british killed
- convention of pretoria signed 1881
- british leave the transvaal and orange free state in 1885 (but want to come back bc of water in witwaterstrand)
describe the challenges to power in China from 1890-1914, and describe the event in detail
1899-1901 - Boxer rebellion
- over 100,000 people died,
- the Boxers were a local anti-imperialist group who wanted to remove European influence from China due to local humiliation, and thought they were immune to local ammunition
- the flooding of the yellow river and other events which undermined local control encouraged the Boxers to revolt against imperial forces
- the government and the boxers work together to overthrow foreign, imperialist influences
- European troops in the diplomatic compound are killed, but the Chinese imperial court / emperor flee the city
- the event only tightens British control and foreign influence in China, as foreign troops are now stationed in beijing
causes of jameson raid 1895
- gold-seeking uitlanders in the transvaal were being denied citizenship and voting rights under kruger
- the 1894 rand rebellion was a revolt by uitlanders against rights being violated by boers
- uitlanders appeal to rhodes for help
- jameson and rhodes therefore attempt to create a confederation and trigger rebellion to alienate the boers and extend british influence in the cape
challenges to power in nyasaland and rhodesia
nyasaland:
- henry johnson launches attacks in 1888-1889 in nyasaland after challenges to british power by portuguese backed arabs
rhodesia:
- ndebele wars - 1893-1894 and 1896-1897 - 50% die
statistics about the second boer war
- the british spend $230 million on the war, despite only wanting to spend $10 million = short war
- over 22,000 british killed, only 6000 boers killed
- by the end of the war, over 110,000 people were living in concentration camps
- the British employed over 400,000 troops
john hobson
- 1902 = imperialism book
- claimed that rich capitalists were searching for new profits, which triggered and catalysed the SBW - idea of greed motivating conflict
- claimed that an imperial elite was driving such policy
- expansion was a ‘capitalist plot’
- would promote this socialist anti-imperialism which heavily resonated with working classes
list the organisations in India established from 1890-1914 which challenged British power, and the date they were established (6)
- 1905 establishment of the Indian Home Rule Society
- All Indian Muslim League in 1906
- 1903 - Young India Association by Savakar
- 1905 - Servants of India Society
- 1908 - the Indian Sociologist newspaper is established
- 1898 - the Kaal newspaper is established
*the INC began to dislike its origins of supporting the British in 1885
key battles / events during the SBW
- mafeking
- was synonymous with british imperial pride + dominance
- when it was no longer seiged, it was widely celebrated in britain - assault of magersfontein
- embarassing event for british
- wauchope claims the british need to further push forward, but the boers killed most british troops
- younger boer soliders came in to oppose british by 1900 - started fighting again
- used tactic of guerilla warfare, given boers lack an actual army
examples of challenges to power in India from 1890-1914
- 1905 - Swadhesi movement - over 150,000 pieces of Lancashire cotton were burnt, and there was a 40% decline in cotton production, 25% decline in production of cloth
- attempted assassinations
- Curzon Wylie in 1909
- lord Hardringe in 1912
- 1908 = Douglas Kingsford - Tilak uses the Kaal newspaper to support them - Vivekananda publishes the ‘triumph of indian spirituality’ in 1893 after the Shivaji festivals
- protests after the partition of Bengal in 1905 (eventually reunited in 1911) - sparked the Shivaji movement and triggered the All India Muslim league to be established in 1906 - idea of uniting against the British and using collective power to undermine British imperialism
consequences of the second boer war
- price
- length of time
- policy in africa?? treaty
- numbers of soliders
- idea of national efficiency etc
describe challenges to British power and nationalist actions by Tilak and Gokhale
Tilak:
- Tilak creates the Kesari newspaper and joins it with Kaal in 1898, becoming known as the ‘father of Indian unrest’
- promotes the Swadhesi movement, in which his speeches attain crowds of over 25,000 people
- in 1894, he promoted the use of indian festivals to promote local culture, such as Shivaji festivals
Gokhale:
- in 1907, Gokhale promoted Indian self government at the Surat meeting
- Gokhale was a key voice in the 1909 morley minto reforms which encouraged a decentralisation of power, and more involvement of local indians in politics
- founded the Servants of India Society in 1905
describe the Fashoda incident and the Battle of Omdurman
fashoda:
- a french attempt to capture the fort of fashoda in western sudan, despite the british having access to sudan, given that they controlled egypt
omdurman:
- the Mahdi (muhammad) declared himself leader in 1881, and wanted to remove foreign influence from sudan, which disrupted the status quo of the British in Sudan - he was succeeded by the Khalifa
- the British also launched the expedition due to the death of Gordon
- the British launch an expedition into overriding the influence of the Khalifa
- in september 1898, 50,000 tribesmen attacked the British in Omdurman under Abdullah
- 11,000 Mahdist soliders died
how did kruger cause the SBW
- the transvaal government refused to concede voting rights for Uitlanders and refused to compromise with the British government
- kruger instructs the invasion of ladysmith in natal in 1899
- continued arming the transvaal + uniting w germans
- passes the aliens immigration law which would further concede rights for Uitlanders (which violated the Pretoria and London convention agreements)
how did chamberlain and milner cause the SBW
- demand of uitlander rights in 5 years for british concession of suzerainty - british refuse
- refuse to compromise w kruger at 7 years at bloemonfontein
- order the arming of SA after conferences in natal, kruger orders them to stop, they don’t
- reject an international conference and co-operation
- no support from landsdowne for war and aggression - self interest (ie arming and war to distract from jameson inquiry) - too provocative
- repeal alien immigration law - legal interference without consent - act forcibly to reinforce their success
- milner supported aggressive policies to compensate for edgar’s death
when do the boers invade ladysmith
1899
- acts as a trigger of the SBW
impact of SBW on british policy and imperial standing
- british imperial confidence was shaken as they underestimated the boers
- displayed british reliance on other parts of empire (ie india) to help
- britain is paranoid (esp w great game) as they also focus themselves on SA and have no control in india
- increased jingoism and calls for national efficiency
policy:
- 1905, 1906 + 1910 = self government and union of SA formed
describe the 1906 denshawai incident causes and consequences
causes:
- british pigeon shooting incident, when the british misfired and killed a woman
- this was mainly a revolt of the middle class, given they felt when cromer took power over the ottomans, the khedives and upper classes were those who socially and economically benefitted - chance to amplify discontent to an entrenched class system which was transferred with a change of government
consequences:
- 52 villagers are arrested
- 26 villagers given terms of hard labour when arrested
- increased anti-british nationalistic sentiment
- the british became aware of such bitterness and extended the time in which the suez canal would be returned to the egyptian state - less willing to make concessions in 1909
- entrenched religious divides - idea of the British preferring the Christians over Muslims
how did imperial rivalry cause the SBW
- rivalry between the cape and the transvaal to protect india + other interest
- germans refused to concede the transvaal area to the British,
- fear of german interference in transvaal which threatens india
- the germans open delagoa bay in 1895 threatening the cape to cairo railway
- fear of german interference w boers which would undermine british entrenched power in the cape - an alliance in transvaal would threaten imperial commitments (threaten imperial security)
- the british wanted entrenched supremacy and sole power in SA and refused to compromise diplomatically
- kruger + kaiser relations = ie post jameson call etc
- transvaal was economically growing - would threaten economics of cape
- alliance between OFS + transvaal in 1897