Empire Flashcards
Peter Salhins on citizenship and Empire
we base our identity “in reference to who we are not” and this idea was particularly prominent in Britain as a “one time great power influencing and being influenced by every continent in the world”
military intervention from ordinary Brits in Empire
1 in 5 of Britain’s adult men were in uniform by 1815 and including the militia and EIC’s army this was over 1 million men. this furthered Britishness as these men shared in experiences and Colley argues it “heightened sense of solidarity with their own tribe, a sharpened awareness of us against them”
John Burris on the Crystal palace
“it was Britain itself that was for sale inside the crystal palace… It was a Briton that could assert its cultural superiority over other nations through an exhibition that… was largely Anglocentric in nature”
Crystal Palace according to Kriegel
showcased materials found in colonies and goods produced eg in India which were of high quality and so showed Britain’s reliance on the colonies for raw material- “the future prosperity of the nation depended on Britain’s overseas relations as much as its domestic affairs”
literature in response to the Crystal palace
poem ‘exhibition lay’, celebrating British values of authority and liberty
‘in recollections and tales of the Crystal Palace- Britannia “speaks peace and freedom to the assembled world”
depiction of britannia in the palace
at palace entrance - “gold enamelled and jewelled vase by Watherston & Brogden of Covent Garden which depicted Britannia as part of a group emblematical of Great Britain surmounting a depiction of the Battle of Hastings and reliefs and busts of celebrated men, including Nelson, Wellington, Shakespeare”
the Times on Empire
1849-necessity of Empire: “Our position, our mineral wealth, our machinery, our commerce… enable us to carry all markets before us, and to force our commodities on the world; “
the inferiority of other nations particularly colonies in. the exhibition
Caribbean section of the colonial produce included all raw, new manufactured, materials and other country’s sections had a single theme eg the Turkish section was dominated by ornate carpets while Indian contributions came solely from the EIC
number of foreign visitors to the Great Exhibition
58.4k
ABC for baby patriots
1899 published- “Cis for colonies. Rightly we boast that of all the great nations, Great Britain has the most”
Disraeli’s Crystal palace speech
1872- imperialistic- “no minister of this country will do his duty who neglects any opportunity of reconstructing as much as possible of our colonial empire”. Thompson labelled it a “jingoistic celebration of England’s providential destiny”
issues the 1910 election was dominated by
Ireland and tariff reform
which elections were imperially charged
Corpora declares that the 1886, 1900 and 1906 were the only elections with frequent imperial themes and mentions
Conservatives supporting Empire in elections
Corpus based analysis found in the 9 elections from 1880-1910, Conservatives use imperial words with a net score that is 68% higher than Liberals
1895 election and Empire
Grouped with Khaki election but language was least imperial of any of the 9 elections (1880-1910)- only 11% of unionists referred to Empire in election addresses and in the 1895 speaker’s guidebook for the Tories, Empire was chapter 15, after miners and fishermen
1910 election and Empire
Pensions as a single word was used more than any Empire related words by grassroots liberals and Balfour’s promise for a referendum on tariff reform was more frequent than ‘empire’ and ‘imperialism’
Liberals on tariff reform
one major newspaper described it as “gross treachery”- very much opposed by the party + focused on national efficiency- turned away from international focus
Disraeli’s imperial centred actions as PM
“duty of Empire as it spread superior English civilisations to non-Europeans” and bought Suez Canal share in 1875, imposed the Royal Titles Act in 1876 and Occupied Cyprus in 1878
late-Victorian attitudes to Empire eg Gladstone
“if you increase engagement without increasing strength, you diminish strength”
Thompson- imperialism meant “efficient organisation of the existing empire, not it’s further extension” and emigration not conquest was the best form of enlarging British nationality
Seeley’s Expansion of England
sold 80k copies in first 2 years
“the overriding objective of government… Was to reunite the scattered fragments of the English-speaking race”
