Discuss The Factors Which Influence Britain's Relationship With Its African Empire
Assess the significance of strategic concerns in influencing Britain’s relationship with its African empire in the period c1870 – c1981
The last three decades of the 19th century saw an unrelenting wave of expansionist policy followed by most, if not all of the major European powers over the African continent, and so has been dubbed as the “Scramble for Africa”. France, Belgium, Portugal, Germany, Italy and Britain all laid claim to vast swathes of African land and by the turn of the century controlled roughly ninety per cent of the continent. The question this essay seeks to answer is why this “scramble” was triggered. There are a variety of arguments that have been put forward by historians: the economic arguments are the most important as the vast …show more content…
The Suez Canal drastically decreased the time taken for ships to sail from Britain to India, from a six week journey that entailed navigating the Cape, to a two week journey, resulting in better improvements in communications between the Viceroy and Whitehall and greatly increasing the profits of trading companies as shipments could be made more frequently. The importance of the Suez Canal to Britain was paramount; the Nationalist Rebellion in 1882 saw the occupation of Egypt by British forces, in order to protect the European population (an estimated fifty European civilians were killed in the rebellion), but most importantly, to protect, and maintain control of, the Suez Canal. The strategic motivation behind this was to reinforce British interests in the area, especially trade with Egypt as any unrest in the area could affect British trade with the rest of its Empire. Furthermore, the Canal was a significant link to India, which held absolute importance to the British. Protection of the canal, therefore, ensured protection of
The last three decades of the 19th century saw an unrelenting wave of expansionist policy followed by most, if not all of the major European powers over the African continent, and so has been dubbed as the “Scramble for Africa”. France, Belgium, Portugal, Germany, Italy and Britain all laid claim to vast swathes of African land and by the turn of the century controlled roughly ninety per cent of the continent. The question this essay seeks to answer is why this “scramble” was triggered. There are a variety of arguments that have been put forward by historians: the economic arguments are the most important as the vast …show more content…
The Suez Canal drastically decreased the time taken for ships to sail from Britain to India, from a six week journey that entailed navigating the Cape, to a two week journey, resulting in better improvements in communications between the Viceroy and Whitehall and greatly increasing the profits of trading companies as shipments could be made more frequently. The importance of the Suez Canal to Britain was paramount; the Nationalist Rebellion in 1882 saw the occupation of Egypt by British forces, in order to protect the European population (an estimated fifty European civilians were killed in the rebellion), but most importantly, to protect, and maintain control of, the Suez Canal. The strategic motivation behind this was to reinforce British interests in the area, especially trade with Egypt as any unrest in the area could affect British trade with the rest of its Empire. Furthermore, the Canal was a significant link to India, which held absolute importance to the British. Protection of the canal, therefore, ensured protection of