Britain as a World Power

Facts

• Empire partly comprises old settlement colonies

• India separate, but under British rule

Execution of Mutineers at Peshawar in 1857

Government House, Calcutta

Ripon’s Ideas

• Local self-government

• Schools in English

• Elections

Empire Expanding

Lunatic Line

Background

• Tendency toward neo-mercantilism

• European balance of power had shifted– Germany most powerful rival

Kaiser Wilhelm II

Attitude Change

• Empire rediscovered

Rosebery Salisbury

Joseph Chamberlain

Imperialist Creed

“Highest Stage of Capitalism”?

Sir Thomas Lipton

• 1850-1931

Cecil Rhodes

• 1853-1902

Imperialist Creed

• Patriotism

• Natives better off under British rule

Lord Curzon

• 1859-1925

Lord Cromer

• 1841-1917

Jawaharlal Nehru

Dr. David Livingstone

Imperial Conference, 1902

Why Did Empire Fail?

• Inherent contradiction in trends

The Boer War and After

• Demonstrated gap between ideology and reality