Topic 2 - Changing relationships between Britain and her Empire after WW1

Question 1

Which African colonies were ruled ‘indirectly’ by the British by 1919 and what did this mean?

Answer 1

-> British ruled through local officials
West African colonies, Uganda, Nyasaland, Northern Rhodesia

-> New LONS mandates
British Togoland, British Cameroon, Tanganyika, South-West Africa

Question 2

Which colonies had a substantial white settler population who had some political representation by 1919?

Answer 2

Southern Rhodesia
Kenya
Union of South Africa

Question 3

What was the focus/aim of imperial policy in colonies under ‘indirect’ British rule from in the 1920’s?

Answer 3

-> promote of economic and social developments
-> aim to increase colonies economic value to the Empire
-> aim to improve living standards for local populations
-> consolidate the Empire in the face of post-war nationalist movements

(multiple investment projects e.g. in Africa)

Question 4

Examples of initiatives in African colonies aimed to promote economic and social development in the 1920’s?

Answer 4

1920: Gezira Cotton Scheme in Sudan
-> £3 million to increase cotton production
-> major dam building and irrigation project

1925: £10 million allocated to improve rail and dock facilities in East Africa

West Africa: investment in schools and educational facilities

1929: Colonial Development Act
-> £1 million for development projects across the Empire (mostly African colonies)

General: agricultural research stations set up

Question 5

Summary: investments into empire in the 1920’s

Answer 5

1920 Gezira Cotton Scheme in the Sudan (£3 million)

1925 East Africa (£10 million for railways and docks)

1929 Colonial Development Act (£1 million)

Investments in schools in West Africa

Agricultural research stations set up across continent

Question 6

What were the limitations of the development schemes in African colonies in the 1920’s?

Answer 6

Limitations of development schemes:

• projects expected to be self-financing so mainly funded by taxes from African peoples
  -> forced into wage economics as colonial workers
• colonies still suffered economically (Great Depression and limited imperial development policy)
  -> wave of Strikes e.g. copper mines in Northern Rhodesia
• primarily designed for British benefit e.g. Gezira Cotton Scheme

Question 7

What was the relationship between white British settlers and the indigenous peoples in Kenya like in the 1920’s?

Answer 7

1920: white settler minority (20-30,000) pressured British government for degree of self-government
-> dominated Legislative Council
-> excluded Kikuyu and Indian peoples from fertile highlands through heavy taxes and bans from growing commercial products
= stirrings of nationalism

Question 8

What was British colonial policy in Kenya in the 1920’s?

Answer 8

1923
-> Britain issued the ‘Devonshire Declaration’ in response to Kikuyu nationalism
-> stressed rights of black Africans should be respected

-> unsuccessful, discriminatory ‘master and servant’ laws continued

Question 9

What was British colonial policy in South Africa in the 1920’s/30’s?

Answer 9

1923
-> white settlers given effectively complete self-government
-> promises to protect black African rights were eroded

1931
-> Statute of Westminster enabled continuation of white dominance

Question 10

Summary: Colonial policy in the African white settler colonies in the 1920’s

Answer 10

-> degree of self-government given to the white settler minorities = dominance over indigenous peoples
-> Britain policy was unsuccessful at preventing discriminatory laws against black Africans (e.g. Kenya and South Africa)

Question 11

How and why did British imperial policy towards the Dominions change after WWI?

Answer 11

Why?
-> increased aspirations in Dominions for government control after contributions in WWI
-> concerns in Britain about growing nationalism e.g. in Canada and South Africa

How?
1926 Balfour Declaration - idea of the Commonwealth
1931 Statute of Westminster

Question 12

What was the 1931 Statute of Westminster?

Answer 12

-> made the Dominions INDEPENDENT NATIONS
-> British laws could not be enforced without permission of Dominion parliaments
-> Dominions free to pass own laws without British approval

Question 13

When did the different Dominions ratify the 1931 Statute of Westminster?

Answer 13

Canada, South Africa, Irish Free State: 1931 (immediately)

Australia: 1942

New Zealand: 1947

Newfoundland (never) -> Crown colony until 1949

Question 14

What was the initial idea of the Commonwealth and why was it introduced?

Answer 14

-> Dominions could gradually become independent be joining a British ‘Commonwealth of Nations’
-> ‘special relationship’ with Britain
-> economic and political cooperation
-> loyalty to the British monarch

(ensured British global influence without heavy costs of imperial rule)

Question 15

What were the main 3 problems relating to imperial defence in the 1920’s and 30’s?

Answer 15

1 - economic difficulties caused by WWI and Great Depression
-> loss of international markets made imperial costs a greater burden

2 - rise of fascists regimes
-> Imperial Japan, Nazi Germany, fascist Italy
-> 1935 Italian invasion of Abyssinia threatened British interests in Egypt

3 - rise of nationalist movements e.g. India
-> strain on military rescorces

Question 16

What policies did Britain adapt to ensure imperial defence?

Answer 16

GEOPOLITICAL VIEW
-> had to balance imperial military demands and costs with need at home/in Europe

APPEASEMENT
-> used to deal with Germany and Italy
-> aimed to strengthen British forces in Asia against Japanese attack (Indian Army, Singapore naval base)

Question 17

In what ways did Britain strengthen its imperial defence?

Answer 17

• modernised the Indian Army
• spent £60 million on Singapore naval base (designed to deter Japanese aggression)

Question 18

How successful was Britain’s imperial defence policy?

Answer 18

UNSUCCESSFUL

-> Singapore base fell quickly to Japan in Feb 1942 (main base to defend Asian colonies)
-> appeasement failed, Hitler invaded Poland and Europe anyway

Question 19

What were the aims of the British administration in Palestine in after WWI?

Answer 19

-> ensure strategic importance as a buffer state against threats to the Suez canal
-> maintain a military presence
-> ensure internal stability

Question 20

Timeline of key events in Palestine?

Answer 20

1920 - civil government set up under British-appointed High Commissioner Herbert Samuel

1928-1929 - Arab-Jewish conflict over access to the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem
(Aug 1929 - riots = several hundred deaths on both sides)

1929 - first enquiry on the Jewish policy of land acquisition
1931 - second enquiry into land acquisition
(recommended restrictions but gov forced to back down by UK and US)

1933 - increased Jewish immigration due to Nazi persecution

1936 - 20,000 British troops sent to deal with conflict

1937 - Peel Report recommended partition

1937-39 - British policy of repression
-> 25,000 troops sent, 9000 Arabs arrested, 100 hanged

1939 - change in British policy, called for a Palestinian State

1939 - Jewish immigration restricted to 15,000/year for 5 years

Question 21

What were the problems with land acquisition in Palestine?

Answer 21

-> wealthier Jews bought up land using the JEWISH NATIONAL FUND
-> Palestinians Arabs evicted from their farms

-> enquiries in 1929 and 1931 recommended restrictions on Jewish land acquisition
-> civil gov forced to back down by pro-Jewish Britain and the USA

Question 22

What was the Peel Report and when as it published?

Answer 22

Peel Report - published 1937

-> recommended partition of Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab areas
-> British to retain authority in Jerusalem and some holy places

= opposed by the Arabs

Question 23

When did British policy in Palestine change and why?

Answer 23

1st change: 1937-1939
-> policy of repression due to increased conflict
-> 25,000 British troops sent
-> 9000 Arabs arrested, 100 hanged

2nd change: 1939
-> fear of war and Italian attack on Egypt
-> policy called for a Palestinian state
-> Jews currently living there could still enjoy a ‘national homeland’

Question 24

How successful as British policy in Palestine during the inter war years?

Answer 24

UNSUCCESSFUL
-> policy reversal (1939) outraged Jewish community and did not satisfy Arabs
-> tensions and conflict between both sides increased

SUCCESS?
-> change in policy ensured SOME temporary stability for British strategic and military positions during threat of war

Question 25

What issues shaped British policy in Iraq during the inter war years?

Answer 25

-> curbing costs of administration -> managing internal conflicts between ethnic groups

Question 26

To what extent did British authority and control over Iraq strengthen or weaken in the inter war years?

Answer 26

WEAKENED BUT NOT COMPLETELY WEAKENED -> 1921 Cairo Conference - Britain allowed some self-government -> Anglo-Iraqi Treaty 1922 - confirmed Faisal I as King -> 1932 = full independence NOT FULLY WEAKENED -> Britain still controlled military bases -> retained control over the Iraqi army (trained) (up to 1930) -> 1932: retained influence due to strategic interests (oil)

Question 27

Example of British military intervention in Mesopotamia?

Answer 27

1920 -> intervened mostly through air power -> to stop Baghdad revolt and Kurdish rebellion

Question 28

Summary: examples of nationalism across the Empire

Answer 28

-> Canada (1918 Quebec riots over conscription) -> Ireland (1916 Easter Rising) -> Egypt (1919 revolution) -> Cyprus (1931 Greek-Cypriot rallies over Enosis) -> East Africa (Harry Thuku, Kenyatta) -> West Africa (WASU, Azikiwe, Nkrumah) -> India (Gandhi, Civil Disobedience)

Question 29

What was Harry Thuku's role as a nationalist in East Africa?

Answer 29

-> developed first East-African political protest movements -> formed the Young Kikuyu -> 1921 - founded the East African Association -> 1946 - helped establish Kenya African Union = important role in pre-war nationalism and post-war decolonisation

Question 30

What was Jomo Kenyatta's role as a nationalist in East Africa?

Answer 30

-> 1922 - joined Thuku's East African Association -> 1947 - became president of the Kenya African Union

Question 31

Who were the key nationalist leaders in East Africa during the inter-war years?

Answer 31

Jomo Kenyatta and Harry Thuku

Question 32

Who were they key nationalist leaders in West Africa during the inter-war years?

Answer 32

Nnamdi Azikiwe and Kwame Nkrumah

Question 33

What were the developments of nationalism in West Africa in the inter-war years?

Answer 33

1919 - National Congress of West Africa was founded -> mostly Gold Coast educated elite -> demanded greater representation -> gained some concessions in the 1920's 1925 - WASU founded -> brought students together from different West African countries -> inspired more radical nationalism -> members included Azikiwe and Nkrumah

Question 34

Summary: nationalist developments in West Africa

Answer 34

Key figures: Azikiwe and Nkrumah 1919 - Congress of West Africa founded 1925 - WASU founded

Question 35

Timeline: developments in Ireland 1913 - 1948

Answer 35

1913 - Home Rule Bill (under Gladstone) granted self-government 1914 - Home Rule postponed due to war - conflict starts between 'Ulster Volunteers' (North) and 'National Volunteers' (South) - July 1914: 3 deaths + casualties 1916 - Easter Rising in Dublin, ruthlessly crushed 1918 - Sinn Fein won majority of seats in Westminster 1919 - Irish Assembly established y Sinn Fein in Dublin - guerrilla warfare between IRA and Black and Tans begins 1921 - Anglo-Irish Treaty establishes Irish Free State with Dominion Status (6 northern counties opted out) 1931 - gained formal independence under the Statute of Westminster 1939 - Eire remained neutral in WWII (1949 - Republic of Ireland Act = complete separation from Britain)

Question 36

When and how did Ireland gain Dominion status?

Answer 36

1921 -> Anglo-Irish Treaty established the Irish Free State

Question 37

Who was a key nationalist leader in Ireland?

Answer 37

Eammon de Valera -> opposed the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty due to splitting of the country -> made new constitution create the Republic of Eire