Ch2 Imperial and colonial policy

Colonial office

• Established 1801 as War and Colonial office, functioned separately from 1854 (triggered by administrative strain of Crimean War)

• 5 depts: N America, Australia, West Indies, Africa & the med and general (from 1870)

• Headed by Colonial secretary

• Orders in council were issues on the advice of law officers in London as a means of administering the Crown colonies without local consultations

• Some protectorates were under foreign office (Egypt, treaty ports of China) and from 1858 there was an India office

Responsible government to white settler colonies

responsible government was a system of political devolution where the executive branch (the cabinet) depended on the support of an elected local colonial parliament rather than the appointed British governor or the Crown in London.

Examples: Canada 1848, Newfoundland 1855, NSW 1855, Victoria 1855

Administration of white settlers colonies

Following Durham report 1838, Britain moved towards responsible govt. in the colonies. British governors ruled with the support of the representative assemblies.

West Indian colonies remained under direct British rule as they had such a small white majority

Governance of India up to 1858

Expansion overseen by BEIC. Grew increasingly expansionist, provoking mutiny of 1857 which lasted a year and brought thousands of deaths.

After mutiny defeated, Britain thought change of rule needed to prevent reoccurrence.

In 1858 the EIC handed control to Britain and company was dissolved.

Government of India Act 1858

EIC’s territories passed to Crown. Position of Secretary of State in India created in cabinet. India Council of 15 with experience of Indian affairs was appointed to assist the India Sec. The crown appointed a viceroy.

Indian administration after 1958

Viceroy had legislative council of 5 which were responsible for finance, law, army, economy and home affairs.

Provincial governors represented Viceroy in provinces and has their own legislative councils. District officers oversaw local councils.

Approx 1000 British civil servants employed in Indian Civil Service. Virtually all senior posts white.

After mutiny, greater respect shown for traditional Indian practices and customs. Queen assures no further meddling with traditional Indian culture. Queen becomes Empress of India in 1876. From an Indian perspective v little changed.

Collaboration with natives in India

Viceroy relied upon native princes who ruled the 565 nominally independent Princely States.

Until 1858 a ‘doctrine of laps’ had ensured that Princely states fell under British rule when their ruler’s line ended but this doctrine was removed to ensure the princes’ loyalty.

British hade to rely on Indian bureaucracies. Within civil service bilingual Indians recruited as low-level clerks to act as intermediaries between British and the masses.

Growing number of middle class demanded a greater say in administration of the country. British refusal drove them towards nationalism and support for Indian national Congress 1885

Indian defence

EIC armies brought under crown control. British to Indian troops raised to about 1:2.

Regiments of native Indian troops cut off from one another to prevent sense of unity. Deliberate mix of different castes and religions.

Enlisted many Gurkhas and Sikhs who has been loyal during mutiny, to replace Bengali troops who hadn't been loyal.

All field artillery in British hands. Indians denied officer ranking.

Indians sometimes sent abroad to lessen risk of rebellion in India.

Growth of railways helped defence as it enabled swifter deployment of troops - 3000 miles of track added in decade following mutiny.

Armoured gun train introduced and Lucknow station purpose-built for disembarking reinforcements.

Garrison built in every major city. Imperial police force set up to avoid over reliance on army.

Threats to Empire 1870-90

Industrial rivals imposed high duties to protect economic interests

Britain suffering from economic depression that started in 1870s

BE never seriously threatened 1870-90

Relative threat varied over the period, perhaps greatest from Russia in 1870s, then France after 1882, with brief but remarkable German involvement in empire in mid 1880s.

If Britain had ever really felt threatened it would not have been able to avoid the need to think about alliances.

Threat from Germany

Germany united in 1871, had a powerful military which had just defeated France but it was yet to build a navy which rivalled Britain’s.

In 1870 Prussia had no colonies or imperial ambitions. By 1890, Germany controlled a vast colonial area which amounted to 5x the land size of Germany itself.

German expansion in SW Africa was seen as a threat to Cape Colony. Also took Cameroon, Togo, 1/3 of New Guinea, German East Africa and the Marshall and Caroline Islands in the Pacific.

It was a growing industrial strength whose economy overtook Britain’s in the early 1900s. British merchants feared being squeezed out of markets by the Germans, especially in East Africa. German merchant ships threatened to break Britain’s dominance.

Limit of German threat

Germany gained most during 1884-5 because it was largely deserts and dry river beds that no one else wanted.

Germany didn’t pose a great threat until the final decade of the century because they were trying to keep friendly with Britain. Their main aim was keep France diplomatically isolated.

Bismarck liked Disraeli and suggested an alliance between Germany and Britain but he disliked Gladstone, hence Germany’s brief excursion into imperialism took place when Gladstone was PM.

German public uninterested in having an empire - by 1914 25,000 Germans had moved to the empire and some of them were only there temporarily.

Threat from France

New found stability after political upheavals, determined to recover prestige after Franco-Prussian war by expanding its empire.

It had a naval building programme and an established foot in Indochina in the 1860s and began to expand north, seen as a threat to the eastern frontier of British India in Burma with only Siam as a buffer state.

Also threatened British trade in far east and threatened Britain in West Africa. Became bitterly resentful after Britain took Egypt. Retained ambitions in the Sudan which would threaten Egypt as they would control headwaters of the Nile.

Threat remained until Fashoda incident.

Limit of French threat

France unlikely to want a full-scale war with Britain over empire.

Anger w Germany was a greater concern for France.

Threat from Russia

Accumulated large areas of territory in Central Asia in 1870s which brought it closer too Afghanistan, seen as a threat to India.

Heightened when Russia pursued diplomatic relations with the Amir of Afghanistan.

British and Russian empires barely 20m apart.

Russia planed to conquer parts of the Ottoman Empire so was seen as threat to Egypt and Suez Canal. Russia defeated Turkey in a short war in 1877-78 but Disraeli worked with Bismarck to ensure Russia did not gain too much.

Economically quite backwards but beginning to expand and had power to dominate markets in Asia. Undertook large railway building projects like the Trans-Caspian railway, seen by British as primarily for transporting troops to Afghanistan, a threat to the NW frontier.

British thought an attack on India would encourage potential rebels.

Limit of Russian threat

Tsarist govt. usually too badly organised to take full advantage of vast resources and manpower available to them. Mountains and inhospitable nature of Afghanistan and the fact that the Himalayan mountains seemed to block all other routes to India means intensity of threat to the Raj could be questioned. After Alexander II’s assassination in 1881, Alexander III concentrated on avoiding wars so the threat from Russia reduced.

Britain’s response to threats

Annexed territory in Malaya from 1874 in response to French activity in Indochina

Also took Sarawak, N Borneo (1881), Brunei (1885) and upper Burma (1885). Afghanistan was invaded in 1878 to force the Amir to accept British control, effectively setting up a British protectorate which reduced Russian influence and secured India.

Most politicians cautious about expansion, concerned with cost, so they may have expanded more than originally planned because they didn’t want to lose their dominant position in the world.

Brussels conference 1876

hosted by King Leopold of Belgium

Drew attention to land available in Africa. Concluded that Africans were incapable of developing the national resources, so European intervention was necessary.

The route to Africa’s Great Lakes needed to be developed by building roads or railways and an international African Association should be established to coordinate the European’s efforts. The cooperation that the conference supposedly promoted actually heightened the competition as people were suspicious of Leopold’s intentions.

Berlin conference 1884-85

By 1884 European powers largely restricted to coastal areas but need for regulation became apparent. Bismarck hosted this, attended by 14 Euro states and the USA. Representatives of major powers negotiated their respective claims to territory which were then formally mapped out. Conference concluded with the General Act.

terms of the General Act

all nations should be allowed to trade in the base of the Congo and its outlets

there should be free trade in those regions

the powers with influence in the area should help protect indigenous people and suppress the slave trade

powers should support and protect religious, scientific or charitable undertakings

If any power took possession of further land on coast of Africa it should notify the signatories of the act to enable them to assert any claims of their own

‘Effective occupation’

The principle established was known as effective occupation. A European power could only assert their claim to land that is ‘effectively’ occupied and notify other powers. Only if another power could put in a rival claim was the initial power’s right to colonise questioned.

Impact of Berlin conference

General Act triggered a further scramble for territory across Africa and, by 1900, 90% of the continent was in European hands. It did little for indigenous populations. There was no African representation at the conference and European ministers mapped out spheres of influence with little concern for natural borders of ethnic, linguistic or religious division. Despite the apparently good intentions, there was no concerted effort to combat the African or Arab slave trade, and little attention was given to indigenous concerns. The wellbeing and religious customs of locals frequently overlooked.

Informal Empire

areas where Britain had no legal claim but they were influenced by Britain, particularly economically, either through free trade agreements or British investment there. Often places where trade took place which profited companies, bankers and insurance firms. Allowed Britain to enjoy power around the world without cost of responsibility. Sometimes links were so strong the areas became settled in by British citizens and the British culture and language was adopted.

Informal empire in China

British gained trading bases (eg Shanghai, Hong Kong) by treaties of Nanking (1842) and Tientsin (1858). Settled in by Brits and governed by British laws. Influence was originally a product of needing to finance the activities of the BEIC through the sale of opium to the Chinese. In 1863, Robert Heart was appointed head of the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs office which acted as a branch of the Chi’ing govt. to protect British interests

Informal empire in East Africa

Britain able to exercise influence of the Sultanate of Zanzibar through activities of trader John Kirk. In 1891, a govt. was established which made the Sultan’s first minister British.

Informal empire in the Middle East

Iran brought under British influence through trade treaties

Afghanistan - threat of full invasion 1879 secured Treaty of Gandamak which provided Britain with strategic territorial gains and control over its foreign policy

Informal empire in South America

Accounted for 10% of British exports and imports in second half of C19th. sometimes threats of force used to maintain trade agreements (eg Mexico under pressure to uphold fair trade treaties 1861 and Royal Navy ensured compliance in Peru 1857 and Chile 1863).

Argentina - 10% of all foreign investment 1850-1900. Hundreds of miles of railways constructed with British investment, expertise and hardware. Britain had a strong influence on the business aspect of Argentina. Mutton, beef, wheat and maize were all imported in abundance from here. British financier Charles Morrison acquired Mercantile bank of River Plate in 1881 and invested directly in the country’s utilities.