Trade and Commerce 1857 – 1967

What percent of world trade did Britain account for in 1857?

60%

What percent of the world’s trade in coal, cotton and iron did Britain produce in 1857?

50%

What fraction of British coal, cotton and iron exports was the empire responsible for in 1857?

1/3

What percent of copper came from Northern Rhodesia in 1935?

Nearly 70%

When was the compound steam engine developed?

1850s

When was the US Civil War?

1861-1865

When was the Suez Canal opened?

1869

By how many miles did the Suez Canal reduce the journey to India by?

6000

In the 1870s, what percent of Egypt’s imports came from Britain?

40%

How much greater was the return on Indian railway shares than British government stock?

Double

In the 20 years up to 1870, what percent of British portfolio investment did Indian railway shares make up?

20%

What percent of shares in Indian railways originated in India?

1%

When was the treaty of Tientsin?

1858

What did British exports amount to in 1867?

£181 million

In 1867, what was the value of British exports to non-empire countries?

£131 million

When was the Congress of Berlin?

1878

When was the Second Anglo-Afghan War?

1878-1880

When was the Franco Prussian War?

1870-1871

When was the Berlin Conference?

1884-85

When was Bechuanaland annexed to prevent a German-Boer alliance?

1885

When was Mackinnon’s Imperial British East Africa Company chartered?

1888

When did Salisbury issue an ultimatum to Portugal, to protect Rhodes' interests?

1890

In 1914, what percent of British exports went to India?

20%

In 1914, how much were the total British exports to India worth?

£150 million

How much greater was British overseas investment than that of France and Germany between 1890-1914?

Double France’s and three times larger than Germany’s

In 1913, what percent of British exports did the empire constitute?

37%

In 1913, what percent of British imports did the empire constitute?

25%

How much wheat did Britain import annually from Russia during the inter-war years?

17 million hundredweight

How much wheat did Britain import annually from the US between 1890-1914?

31 million hundredweight

Between 1890-1914, how much more wheat did Britain import annually from the US than Canada?

Almost 10 times more

Between 1870 and 1914, by what percent did export and import prices move in Britain’s favour?

10%

When did the Swadeshi movement start?

1905

By what percent did British product sales in India decrease because of the Swadeshi movement?

20%

What was the financial cost of WW1?

Over £3 billion

During the post-WW1 Depression (1920-1922), British exports remained at what percent of pre-war levels?

50%

When was the Sterling Area adopted?

1931

When was the Government of India Act? (that lasted until 1929, when reviewed by the Simon Commission)

1919

When did Canada sign trade agreements with the US without British consolation?

1920s

When were the Ottawa Agreements?

1932

What percent general tariff did the Import Duties Act 1932 exempt the empire from?

10%

How many Indians fought in WW1?

1.3 million

Following the Great Depression, what did the percent of British cocoa imports coming from the empire rise by?

40%

When did total imports remain stable whilst the share from the empire increased?

1913-1934

Between 1913 and 1934, how much did the share of British exports going to the empire increase by?

7%

Following the Great Depression, what percent did railway carriage exports to the empire increase to and from what?

58%-68%

When did a major strike break out among African workers in the Copperbelt Region of Northern Rhodesia?

May 1935

What fraction of its wealth did Britain lose during WW2?

1/4

When was Canada forced to accept British defence policies in return for railway investment?

1860s

When was there a European diamond rush on the Vaal River in the Transvaal

1867

When did Egypt become a veiled protectorate?

1882

When did Goldie's RNC take control of the Lower Niger River, establishing 30 trading posts and securing access to the palm oil trade? (chartered 1886, after being rejected in 1881)

1884

When was the BSAC chartered to administer Zambesia?

1889

When did Chamberlain resign as Colonial Secretary to advocate imperial preference through the Tariff Reform League?

1903

What was the annual military expenditure in 1901?

91.5 million

What was the financial cost of the Second Boer War?

£210 million

Until when did the empire remain import to Britain’s economy?

1960s

Between 1947 and 1967, the empire provided essential imports of food and raw materials at a time when Britain’s reserves of what were too limited to source significant imports from the rest of the world?

Foreign exchange

The British used which acts to expand agricultural production and promote new technologies in the colonies?

Colonial Development and Welfare Acts 1940 and 1945

When was the Colonial Development Corporation set up to coordinate major projects and develop self-sustaining agriculture industry and trade?

1948

When did Cadbury and Fry price fixing in Ghana for cotton farmers lead Nkrumah to lead boycotts? 

1948

When did Ugandan cotton farmers demonstrate outside the palace of the Kabaka, angry they were paid so little for their work they couldn’t afford the clothing it was turned into in Britain?

1947

Which project, launched in 1948, was an abject failure after the terrain proved too different to cultivate?

Tanganyika Groundnut Scheme

When was the Tanganyika Groundnut Scheme?

1948-1951

How much did the Tanganyika Groundnut Scheme cost?

49 million

When was the Mau Mau uprising?

1952-6 

Which cheap export was Malaya valuable for?

Rubber

What was Malaya a major contributor to?

Hard Currency Pool

When was a state of emergency called in Malaya?

1948

In 1954 what percent of British exports were to the Commonwealth?

48%

In 1965 what percent of British exports were to the Commonwealth?

28%

What allowed Europe to recover after WW2?

US Marshall Aid

When did Britain form the EFTA?

1960

When did Britain apply for membership in the EEC?

1963 and 1967

When was the sterling devaluation?

1967