Development Flashcards
What caused Britain’s ‘Swing to the East’
The loss of Britain’s American colonies
What allowed Britain to establish footholds in Africa and Asia?
The industrial revolution of the 19th century, producing weapons and steamships
Reasons for British expansion in Africa
Trade
Strategic factors
Moral factors
Trade leading to British expansion in Africa
Coal, iron and timber
Britain sought African resources which they could manufacture and then sell back to Africa - eg. during economic depression 1873-1896
Led to a growth in the personal influence of British merchants in Africa - Goldie / Rhodes
Example of strategic factors leading to British expansion in Africa
Suez Canal
Gave Britain control over trade routes (6,000 miles shorter than the Cape)
Moral factors leading to British expansion in Africa
Christian missionaries saw it as their duty to spread their faith
Saw Empire as a force for ‘civilisation’
e.g David Livingstone 1858 - ‘to try and make an open path for commerce and Christianity’
Period when Britain was more reactive to the initiatives of other powers, particularly France, than aggressively seeking out new lands for their own sake
1857-1890
Functions of chartered companies
Implemented British claims over land
Ensured that other Europeans were excluded from lucrative British bases
Three chartered companies
Royal Niger Company (1886)
British East Africa Company (1888)
British South Africa Company (1889
Supported by the Imperial Federation League
What initiated British interest in Egypt c.1861?
British mills starved of raw cotton as a result of the American Civil War, so looked to Egypt
How much of Egyptian imports were coming from Britain by the 1870s?
40%
Khedive’s modernisation programme
Transport
Education
Suez Canal
When did Disraeli buy the Khedive’s shares in the Suez Canal, and for how much?
1875
£4 million
Factors leading to growth in Egyptian nationalism
Taxes imposed on food and goods
Army reduced by 2/3
Increased unemployment
Leader of nationalist rebellion in Egypt
Colonel Arabi Pasha
June 1882
Alexandria
50 Europeans killed
British defeat of Egyptians
Tel el-Kebir (September 1882)
When was Baring installed as Consul-General in Egypt?
September 1883
Egyptian concession following defeat of Arabi Pasha
Employed British military personnel to supervise army
1885 Convention of London
Confirmed British influence over Egypt
Secured an international loan for the Egyptian government
‘veiled protectorate’
Colonel Charles Gordon sent from Britain to the Sudan to act as Governor-General
1877-1880
Sudanese nationalist leader
Muhammad Ahmad (the Mahdi)
Role of the Mahdi
Transformed the nationalist political movement into a jihadist army
1882 - Had taken complete control over the area surrounding Khartoum
1883 - Killed Colonel Hicks
1885 - Killed General Gordon
When did the East India Company dissolve and hand the running and control of India over to the British government
1858, following the Indian Mutiny