Nov 2 High Imperialism
1815-1860s Pax Britannica
1870s-1910s high imperialism: aggressive expansion justified by a multifaceted imperial ideology, "a strange compound of confidence and anxiety"
I. emergence of rivial industrial and imperial powers
Russia
France
Germany and Italy
the United States and Japanshift in Britain's economic position
1870-1913 Germany's share of the world's industrial output rose from 13 to 16% and the United States' from 23 to 36%, while Britain's decline from 32 to 14%
1870s global depression
II. empire as a political issue
broadening of the British electorate: 1832, 1867, 1884
Benjamin Disraeli (Tory) and William Gladstone (Liberal)
Disraeli's Crystal Palace speech of 1872: "in my opinion no Minister in this country will do his duty who neglects any opportunity of reconstructing as much as possible our Colonial Empire, and of responding to those distant sympathies which may become the source of incalculable strength and happiness to this land"
forward policy
Victoria declared Empress of India (1876) [link]: Her Majesty, the Queen; Princess of Hanover and Duchess of Brunswick and Lunenburg; Princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duchess in Saxony; Her Imperial Majesty, The Queen-Empress
Suez Canal
III. shift in the nature and pace of imperial expansion
1880-1900: 95 territories formally added to the BE
1/4 of the world's people and territory by 1900
ex. Egypt [see Levine, 90-91]
ex. scramble for Africa [overhead map]
Berlin Conference (1884-1885): Germany, Portugal, Great Britain, France, Belgium, Spain, Italy, USA, and the Ottoman Empire
consequences for Africa
examples: Gambia; Nigeria; Anglo-Egyptian Sudan; Belgian Congo
by the early 20th c, Europeans held sway over 84% of the earth's surface
IV. shifting attitudes and ideologies
jingoism
We don't want to fight but by jingo if we do
We've got ships, we've got the men
We've got the money too
We've fought the bear before, and while Britons true
The Russians shall not have Constantinoplebooks: Dilke, Seeley, G. A. Henty
newspapers: Pall Mall Gazette, National Observer, The Daily Mail
theatre
music halls
colonial exhibitions [timeline]
public schools
institutions: Royal Colonial Institute (1868), Imperial Federation League (1884)
clubs: the Boy Scouts, The Freemasons
advertising
Conclusion
Victoria's Diamond Jubilee (1897)
Kipling, Recessional