British Empire - Part 1 & 2

By letiziac
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    British Empire

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    The Indian Mutiny

    Causes:
    - Enfield rifle greased with beef/pork fat
    - Governor-General Dalhousie: Doctrine of Lapse
    - Westernisation Events
    - Managal Padney attacked British officer
    - Sepoys in Meerut resisted and marched to Delhi
    - British reinforcements arrived
    - Cawnpore rebellion massacre
    - British took back Delhi, Kanpur Lucknow Consequences
    - The Devil's Wind
    - Abolition of EIC
    - Reorientation of administration and defence

  • The Government of India Act

    • EIC abolished
    • India passed into direct rule of the British Crown
    • Positions created: Secretary of State, India Council, Viceroy
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    Construction of the Suez Canal

    Frenchman Ferdinand de Lesseps obtained a concession from Egypt to create the Suez Canal Company in 1858
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    American Civil War

    Starved Britain of cotton and made them turn to Egypt

  • Discovery of diamonds near Kimberley

    Caused a 'diamond rush' of British and Bantu miners

  • Disraeli - Conservative Party leader, Gladstone - Liberal Party leader

    Benjamin Disraeli = imperialist
    William Gladstone = colonies should be self-governing

  • British annexed Basutoland

    Home of the indigenous Khoikhoi and Sotho people
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    Gladstone PM

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    Griqualand

    1871 - British annexed West Griqualand
    ~2000 Griqua people (mixed Boer and Khoikhoi descendents) trekked east
    1873 - East Griqualand established
    1874 - British annexed East Griqualand

  • Crystal Palace Speech

    Benjamin Disraeli asserts the Conservative Party as the 'party of empire'

  • Boers reject British proposal of a federation

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    Disraeli PM

  • Disraeli bought Egypt's share of the Suez Canal

    £4 million
    Isma'il Pasha was in debt and needed money

  • British annexed the Transvaal

    The Boers reluctantly accepted British aid as they were losing against the Pedi people
    Led to the defeat of the Pedi people in 1879

  • Queen Victoria made Empress of India

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    The Xhosa War

    Resulted in British annexation of the Xhosa to the Cape

  • Anglo-Zulu war

    Sir Bartle Frere issued an impossible ultimatum to the Zulus because he wanted to instigate a war to create a British federation in South Africa
    Battle of Isandlwana - Zulu victory
    British reinforcements sent
    Battle of Ulundi - British victory
    Zululand absorbed into Natal

  • Isma'il Pasha deposed and replaced by son Tewfiq

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    Gladstone PM

  • Battle at Majuba Hill

    Boer victory
    Ended with the British signing the Convention of Pretoria to recognise Boer self-government
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    The Mahdist Revolt

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    The Mahdist Revolt

    Causes:
    - 1877 Gordon appointed Governor-General of Sudan
    - He broke up slave markets, angering Sudanese Event:
    - 1881 Muhammad Ahmad declared himself the Mahdi and created jihadist army
    - 1884 Gordon ordered to withdraw but stayed
    - 1885 Gordon killed, Mahdi died and succeded by Khalifa Abdullah
    - 1898 Battle of Atbara + Battle of Omdurman won by Anglo-Egyptian forces under Kitchener Consequences:
    - 1898 The Fashoda incident
    - 1899 Condominium agreement, Sudan becomes British protectorate

  • Arabi Pasha revolt in Egypt

    Causes
    Tewfiq reduced the army to 2/3 and imposed tax to try save the economy Events
    - 50 Europeans were killed in Alexandria
    - Gladstone sent British forces
    - British defeated Arabi and restored Tewfiq as a puppet ruler Consequences
    - Egypt becomes a client state
    - Major Evelyn Baring was installed as Consul-General
    - Army put under the command of Kitchener
    - Increase in population due to improved sanitation/health services
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    Evelyn Baring as Consul-General in Egypt

    Created veiled protectorate
    Held orientalist views
    Resigned after Denshawai incident

  • Germans arrive in Africa

  • British annexed Bechuanaland

    Bechuanaland was situated between German territory and Boer territory so the British strategically annexed the land in between them to prevent them from combining

  • Indian National Congress created

    Form of opposition to British rule

  • Disocvery of gold at Witwatersrand

    Caused a 'gold rush' of British uitlanders

  • Alfred Milner made High Commissioner for South Africa

    Appointed by Joseph Chamberlain

  • British-French and British-German agreements

    British established influence in Nigeria in return for French establishing influence in Madagascar British established influence in Zanzibar in return for Germany establishing influence in Tanzania

  • Uganda becomes protectorate

  • The Jameson Raid

    Jameson planned to join his troops with the uitlanders to rally against Kruger's government
    They never joined - Kruger's forces defeated Jameson's forces
    Cecil Rhodes resigned as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony
    Led to the Second Anglo-Boer War

  • Uganda railway constructed

    Chinese/Indian indentured labourers
    'Lunatic line'
    Kedong massacre by the Masai
    Tsavo incident by lions

  • Anglo-Ashante war

  • The Fashoda Incident

    Herbert Kitchener and the french Jean-Baptise Marchand clashed at Fashoda in Sudan over the British/French claim to the land
    British and French governments agreed on geographic spheres of influence
    Largely sensationalised in the press as being the brink of war even though not much happened

  • George Curzon becomes Viceroy of India

    Appointed by Lord Salisbury
    -Improved agriculture
    -Re-armed regiments
    -Promoted education
    -Founded Imperial Cadet Corps
    1905 - Partitioned Bengal and resigned due to backfire

  • The Bloemfontein conference

    Alfred Milner and Kruger met to sort the Uitlander issue
    -Milner demanded citizenship rights after 5 years' residency
    -Kruger offerred 7 years
    -Milner refused (stubborn and intransingent attitude)
    -Kruger issues ultimatum demanding withdrawal of British troops
    Led directly to the Second Anglo-Boer War
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    Anglo-Boer war

    Causes:
    Uitlanders denied voting rights - The Jameson Raid - The Bloemfontein conference
    Events:
    Herbert Kitchener's 'scorched earth policy' - Boer homes and farms burned
    Khaki election
    Consequences:
    1902 Treaty of Vereeiging - British granted £3 million to the Boers in compensation for the scorched earth
    1906 Transvaal granted self-governing rights
    1907 Orange River Colony granted self-governing rights
    1910 Union of South Africa established (Transvaal, Orange River Colony, Cape Colony, Natal)

  • The Khaki election

    UK general election ended with Conservative landslide victory as it was believed that the Second Anglo-Boer War was coming to a resolution

  • North Nigeria annexed

  • The Bambatha Rebellion

    Poll tax caused the Zulus in Natal to demonstrate at the poll stations
    The British declared martial law and crushed guerilla attacks with maxim guns

  • Entente Cordiale between Britain and France

    France respected Britain's rights in Egypt in return for respecting France's rights in Morocco

  • Partition of Bengal by Viceroy Curzon

    Bengal was split into Muslim East and Hindu West because it was too big to administrate
    Hindus that had land in the East were upset

  • South Nigeria annexed

  • Reunification of Bengal by Viceroy Hardinge

    Indian National Congress led strikes and boycotts of British goods under Skrendranath Banerjee

  • Egypt becomes a formal protectorate

    Direct British control

  • WW1 starts

  • Nigeria unified