British Imperialism: 1870 – 1914

British Imperialism : 1870-1914

There are many historical events that marked the British Imperialism of 1870 to 1914 . Great Britain ‘s African rule was established and consolidated . This was focused mainly in the East and Southern Africa British won the conflict with the French in Fashoda in 1898 . Further Britain also defeated Dutch resistance in the Boer War between 1899 and 1902 . Britain also annexed Rhodesia into its territory . Great Britain got power over Burma and Malaysia . The two opium wars ‘ one in 1839 to 1842 and the second 1856 to 1860 widened [banner_entry_middle]

the trade with China and the loss of Port of Vladivostok along the Pacific Ocean . Most importantly Great Britain won the conflict for rule over India against France . The British East India Company was instrumental in consolidating the British rule in India . The British policy was very clear and that was to exploit India economically . There were problems for the British no doubt , for instance there was the sepoy ‘ mutiny of 1857-58 that was quickly put down . Further , in 1885 Indian National Congress was established and that marked increased nationalism in India . This imperialism paid because during the World War I India supported Great Britain with men and finances (Matias .

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This brings us to the reason for British Imperialism between 1870 and 1914 . The most important reason for the imperialism was economic . This was fuelled by the industrial revolution . This generated large amounts of capital in Great Britain as well as a huge demand for raw materials to feed the factories . There was a need for Britain to procure raw materials from abroad as well as seek investment opportunities for the new capital . Adding to this reason was the need to express nationalism Imperialism provided Great Britain an opportunity to expand colonialism There was a spirit of acquisition and a political race among the European countries to acquire more and more colonies (Laity ,

. 74 Finally , the most powerful impetus in Great Britain was the military The military exerted great power in Britain and the military stressed the need for Britain to control importantly located areas and the need to set up military bases in key locations . To add to this cauldron of reasons was a religious fervor that favored imperialism . The extension of colonies was believed to be an act of humanitarianism in Great Britain

There are very mixed opinions on what benefits imperialism brought to Britain . There are suggestions by economists that with unemployment and industrial stagnation at home , the export of capital was a miscalculation . Economists believed that Great Britain would have been much better off with its capital at home rather than investing it abroad in colonies . The investments in colonies were not believed to be productive . Capture of new markets and expansion of economic imperialism was sadly behind schedule and satisfactory . Late nineteenth century capital investments in colonies were believed to be non-productive . The returns were lower than investments made back in Great Britain . On the other hand the argument that… [banner_entry_footer]