Chapter 16-17: Attitudes towards imperialism 1919-67 (SECTION 3)

Question 1

Who was Gandhi? What was his background?

Answer 1

1) Trained as a barrister in London, and then returned to India.
2) Began his career practising in SA for 20 years from 1893, campaigning against racism and segregation, championing the civil rights of Indians who had settled in the area.
3) His effort in SA won him widespread respect and opened doors in the Congress.

Question 2

What were Gandhi’s beliefs?

Answer 2

1) Favoured peaceful resistance to British rule, based on satyagraha principle, which was rejecting evil to combat evil, relying on peaceful protests to appeal to the moral conscience and compassion of ones opponents.
2) He wanted a united India with tolerance and equal rights for Hindus and Muslims. Rejected the caste system and strongly opposed the partition.
3) Wanted an independent India built on spiritual and social traditions. Rural society which rejected the urbanisation and industrialisation of the west.
4) Religion fundamental to the conduct of human affairs. Distrusted all forms of modern technology which alienated many of the conventional liberal progressives in Congress.

Question 3

What 10 campaigns was Gandhi involved in?
1907,1915,1919,1919,1920,1924,1930-31 and 1932-34, 1931, 1942, 1947

Answer 3

1) 1907- set out his commitment to the ordinary people of India and condemned the hardships they endured under British rule and the caste system.
2) 1915- becomes President of the Indian National Congress, travelling the country, supporting protests against British rule.
3) 1919- the Rowlatt Act appalled him as they were unjust and abolished the legal process for all political offences.
4) 1919- after the Amritsar massacre he began his campaign for full Indian independence. Congress was reborn.
5) 1920- helped organise the Non-Cooperation Movement. Taxes withheld, British titles were returned and imported goods from the empire were not bought.
6) 1924- fasts for 3 weeks to promote Hindu-Muslim unity.
7) Helped organise the Civil Disobedience Movement against unjust laws, culminating in a 24 day march. Arresting along with 80,000 supporters.
8) 1931- Round Table Conference. He claimed to speak for the whole of India and questioned the presence of other Indian representatives. His actions in London disrupted what was perhaps his best opportunity yet offered to nationalists.
9) 1942- helped organise the Quit India Movement during WW2 which led to his arrest.
10) 1947- opposed the partition of India and fasted to show opposition to Hindu-Muslim violence.

Question 4

Who were 3 other important leaders in the path to Indian independence?

Answer 4

1) Nehru- led Congress when independent came in 1947 - his vision of India (an industrialised and modernised India) prevailed.
2) Subhas Bose- was prepared to use violence and broke away from congress. Formed the Indian National Army who fought against the British.
3) Muhammad Ali Jinnah- led Muslim league to support partition over a united India.

Question 5

What were some of the significant developments outside of Gandhi’s influence?

Answer 5

1) British remained in control. Gandhi did not force the British to change. They used repression and were in control of government policy and reform.
2) WW2 was a key turning point due to how it affected the economy and how it shifted the balance of global power.
3) Elections of the Labour government that was amenable to granting India independence. British public showed little interest in the Indian issue.

Question 6

How important was the role of Gandhi in Indian independence?

Answer 6

Important:
1) Prepared to talk with the British to share his vision of an independent India.
2) Helped organise the civil disobedience campaign which led to India being ungovernable.
3) Gandhi involved with the peasants of India rallying the masses to his cause, bringing increased support and direction to nationalist movement.
4) His methods made it hard for the British to respond since they believed in the ‘civilising mission’ of the empire.
Less important / other factors more important:
1) Developments and choices in/of Britain remained very important.
2) Gandhi’s vision for India never came about. Other people’s ideas prevailed.

Question 7

Why was colonial administration between 1914-47 a difficult period?

Answer 7

1) It was the job of administrators to collect taxes and maintain stability and order in the face of growing nationalist movements seeking more representation of full independence from colonial rule.

Question 8

What changes were made to the imperial administration in London in 1925?

Answer 8

1) Colonial office split into 2 departments: the Dominion Office and the Colonial Office itself
2) 3 cabinet members were responsible to parliament for the good governance of the Commonwealth and Empire.
3) Beneath the three secretaries of state were the permanent officials at Whitehall and below them spreading across the empire the administrative services.

Question 9

How were the dominions governed, especially after 1931?

Answer 9

1) Recruited and appointed their own civil service, but the British Crown still continued to appoint the governor-general.
2) After the Statute of Westminster in 1931 when the Dominions became autonomous, the Governor-General in the Dominions ceased to be an imperial office and instead became merely the representative of the crown.

Question 10

How were colonial administrators appointed from 1930?

Answer 10

1) Colonial services were unified in 1930. Individuals were no longer appointed directly to individual colonial governments and applied centrally to the Colonial office.
2) Bulk of administrators continued to be recruited from similar, if not the same public schools and the traditional universities.

Question 11

How did pay vary for colonial administrators?

Answer 11

1) Varied enormously.
2) Governor of Nigeria in 1922 eg: could expect a salary of £8250 per annum whereas a cadet starting work in Kenya earned approx £200 per annum.

Question 12

What qualities were expected of colonial administrators?

Answer 12

1) Single mindedness and purpose.
2) Expected to be honest, responsible and industrious.

Question 13

What was trusteeship and who supported it? Why was it effective?

Answer 13

1) Administrators were there to protect native interests, foster the colony’s economic growth and ‘nurture’ it towards greater self-rule.
2) Duty of the colonial government.
3) In 1927, a white paper written by the Colonial Secretary Leo Amery argued in favour of trusteeship with colonists and promoting their interests.
4) Effective since it kept both imperialists and anti-imperialists quiet as it anticipated the end of empire, but not too soon. It invested the will to empire with an ethical purpose.

Question 14

What was the dual mandate?

Answer 14

1) 1931, Lord Passfield went further than trusteeship and argued in favour of a dual mandate,
2) The belief that a colonial power had a double responsibility:
- to its colonies peoples, owed materials and moral advancements leading to self government
- to the outside worlds it had the obligation to see that the natural resource of its colonies were developed and exploited.

Question 15

What were some examples of actions of colonial administrators in Britain, India and Africa?

Answer 15

1) Britain:
- Montagu: Secretary of State for India 1917-22. Responsible for the reforms which led to the Gov of India Act 1919.
- Leo Amery: Colonial Secretary in favour of trusteeship
- Sir Ralf Furse: responsible for improvinf the recruitment and training of administrators. ‘father of the modern Colonial service’.
- Lord Passfield: agued in favour of the duel mandate.

Question 16

What were some examples of actions of colonial administrators in India?

Answer 16

1) India:
- Sir Harry Haig: lifelong colonial administrator in India. Opponent of Gandhi’s campaigns for independence.
- Lord Chelmsford: Viceroy of India 1916-21. Responsible for reforms which led to Gov of India Act 1919.
- Lord Linlithgow: Viceroy of India 1935-43. Actively promoted the further enfranchisement of nationalists in the Gov of India Act 1935 believing further reform would weaken the more radical nationalists. Opposed Gandhi.

Question 17

What were some examples of actions of colonial administrators in Africa?

Answer 17

1) Africa:
- Sir Donald Cameron: Governor of Tanganyika 1924-31 and of Nigeria 1931-35. Believed in the trusteeship principle. Wanted to economically advance colonies. Favoured a gradual path to more self-rule.
- Baron Hailey: in the Indian Civil Service but travelled for the Royal Institute of International Affairs to produce an ‘African survey’ in 1938.
- Sir Andrew Cohen: considerable sympathy for the plight of the native African peoples and was one of the earliest to understand the need for decolonisation. Appointed Under-Secretary of State for the Colonial Office in 1947.

Question 18

How did the British public feel about the Empire from 1914-47?

Answer 18

1) Empire seen as a sign of Britain’s importance, prestige, economic prosperity and the reason they had fought 2 world wars.
2) Seen as a key reason to Britain’s victory in WW1.
3) Most people continued to see the empire as benevolent and as a force for good.
4) People did not vote for Labour in 1945 because they supported Indian independence, it was due to domestic issues.
5) People lamented the loss of India in 1947.
6) Labour party believed that the remaining colonies were key to Britain’s recovery and prosperity,
7) Jingoism lost its attraction after WW1, instead the empire was presented as a family of nations led by the British: a place of peace and co-operation.

Question 19

How did the government promote the empire?

Answer 19

1) British population was bombarded by imperial imagery, much of it officially supported by the government , who were keen to encourage trade with the empire.
2) Empire Marketing Board set up in 1926 promoted the consumption in Britain of items produced in the Empire through posters and advertising campaigns. Became even more active with the onset of the Depression as the Empire became more important to the British economy.
3) Exhibitions were staged, such as the Wembley Exhibition of 1924, and there were pavilions advertising every country in the empire. A sports stadium (Wembley Stadium) became the permanent legacy of the exhibition.
4) The exhibitions were intended to give visitors an experience of the empire ‘in miniature’.
5) Over 17 million attended in 1924 and another 9 million the following year.

Question 20

How did the BBC promote the empire?

Answer 20

1) Established in 1923, the BBC took a strong pro-imperial stance and covered as many major imperial events, exhibitions and public celebrations as possible.
2) There were christmas broadcasts from 1932 which included not only the King’s speech but also various items about the Empire.
3) Radio strengthened imperial links and promoted a sense of common unity.
4) There were 15 minute talks by experts on different aspects of the Empire.

Question 21

How did education promote empire?

Answer 21

1) Empire formed a focal point for the teachings of geography, history and literature in schools.
2) The historical study of the empire became established in universities, with special professorship in Imperial History being created such as the Vere Harmsworth Chair at Cambridge.
3) Universities played an important role in training Colonial Servants, as exemplified by the role of London’s University’s School of Oriental and African Studies, formed in 1917

Question 22

How did literature and film promote the Empire?

Answer 22

1) Children’s literature celebrated empire. Books of Henty remained popular.
2) The emergence of cinema as mass entertaining was another source of imperial culture. Greatest source of entertainment between the wars, offering an unprecedented opportunity to spread the imperial message to the masses.
3) Feature films such as the Four Feathers of 1939 used the empire as a backdrop for adventure.
4) The government insisted that every film which portrayed the empire or its servants showed both in a flattering light.
5) Filmgoers went home with a satisfying belief that their empire represented stability and equity, and was managed by brave, right-minded men who knew what was best for the natives.

Question 23

How did music promote the empire?

Answer 23

1) Composers continued to vaunt the imperial theme.
2) At the 1924 Empire Exhibition Edward Elgar conducted mass choirs in the singing of ‘Land of Hope and Glory’.
3) The death of Elgar in 1934 almost signified the passing of the ‘grand’ imperial era.

Question 24

How did commercial advertising and private companies promote the empire?

Answer 24

1) They had long used imperial motifs to promote their products and continued to do so.
2) Large traders with the empire such as the Co-operative wholesale society celebrated their global and imperial links in their advertising especially in their supply of products such as tea with packs containing collectable cards illustrating places in the Empire.

Question 25

How did emigration and missionaries promote the empire?

Answer 25

1) Provided informal links as many people had relatives who had emigrated to the colonies or who had served in the army or the navy bringing them in direct contact with the empire.
2) Former missionaries spoke in church about their experience in the empire.

Question 26

How did empire day continue to promote the empire?

Answer 26

1) Sought to create a sense of belonging to the family of nations, owing allegiance to the same monarch.
2) Celebrated right across the empire with participants often wearing their national dress of other costumes representing the different colonies in the Empire.
3) During the early stages of WW2, it was believed to be important to promote positive images of empire, given the importance of the empire and commonwealth to the war effort.

Question 27

How did service in the armed forces during the war shape British attitudes to the empire?

Answer 27

1) British troops served across the empire in both world wars which encouraged support for the empire because they felt that they had fought and comrades had died for something important.
2) British troops in WW1 fought in the trenches alongside troops from Canada, Australia, NZ and SA. Some British soldiers served in the British Indian Army.
3) WW2, troops served in Singapore, Burma and North Africa.
4) Soldiers relayed their experiences of the Empire and service alongside colonial troops to their relatives back in Britain, during the wars and afterwards

Question 28

What was the extent of imperialist ideas?

Answer 28

1) Great deal of pro-imperial propaganda.
2) Some argue that such a strenuous effort was undertaken to promote the empire because so few of the mass population were either aware or interested in it.

Question 29

How did the Empire influence different sections of British society?
1) Working class
2) Middle class
3) Upper class
4) Children
5) Women

Answer 29

1) Working class:
Influenced:
- press & books, empire day, experience of fighting in the empire during wars, cinema.
Not influenced:
- more concerned with social reforms and setting up a welfare estate, focused on bread and butter issues such as work, impact of war and depression more important.
2) Middle class:
Influenced:
- Radio, BBC, education in universities, empire marketing board, sport (cricket and rugby), exhibitions.
Not influenced:
- international developments such as communism and Nazism, the depression, the economic strength of Britain.
3) Upper class:
Influenced:
- travel to empire and personal connections with people who served in empire.
Not influenced:
- their status as a family.
4) Children:
Influenced:
- education in schools, stamps, empire day and scouts.
Not influenced:
- being children, having fun and making a mess was more normal and important to them.
5) Women:
Influenced:
- advertising/co-op wholesale movement, they bought the food.
Not influenced:
- suffrage, domestic day to day concerns, healthcare, their children

Question 30

How did travel and flight promote the empire?

Answer 30

1) Formation of Imperial Airways in 1924.
2) At the end of WW1, Britain possessed the world’s largest aircraft industry.