Key Administrators - Chamberlain & Rhodes

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Joseph Chamberlain

Chamberlain was a leading imperialist. He heavily influenced Britain's colonial and tariff policies.

Position in the Empire

Chamberlain was the most ardent imperialist in the Cabinet at the end of the 19th Century.
Joseph Chamberlain was the Colonial Secretary between 1895 and 1903.
Chamberlain believed in the greatness of the British Empire and wanted to continue to grow its power and influence.

Chamberlain's ambitions

Chamberlain wanted to create a "United States of Empire" and spread British rule.
“I believe that the British race is the greatest of the governing races that the world has ever seen”.
This was sometimes called 'constructive imperialism'.
Chamberlain also proposed a common defence system for the Empire but it was rejected.

Chamberlain's actions

Chamberlain's Tariff Reform League introduced the idea of Imperial Preference, aiming to create a common customs union with an external tariff to favour goods that were traded within the British Empire.
Chamberlain was the pioneer behind the railway linking Uganda and the Indian Ocean (which came at the huge human cost of the lives of over 2,000 Indian workers).
Chamberlain also supported Rhodes' annexation of land in South Africa and oversaw the Jameson Raid and Boer War, neither of which painted Britain in a particularly positive light.
The annexation of Ashantiland happened in 1901 under Chamberlain's time as Colonial Secretary.

Developing the Empire

Chamberlain was a strong advocate of colonial development. Chamberlain managed to persuade Parliament to fund the £3-5.5 million needed to build the Ugandan railway, causing an uproar about the financial cost.
Railways were also built in the British colonies of Lagos, Sierra Leone, and the Gold Coast.
However, investing in these poorer colonies often meant granting monopolies to British companies, who would make money for private shareholders using their charter.

Ugandan railway

These construction projects also had a high human cost. The Ugandan railway caused 2,493 deaths during its construction and ran through the railway ran through the Nandi people's land.
In 1905, Richard Meinertzhagen, a British Army Captain killed the leader of the Nandi while claiming to meet to negotiate. The railway construction went ahead.

Cecil Rhodes

Cecil Rhodes is most famous for his role in the Scramble for Africa.

Rhodes' background

Cecil Rhodes was 'the worst type of monopolizing imperialists' according to Kitchen (1996).
Rhodes moved to South Africa in 1871, aged 18 and within 20 years, he owned all the diamond mines in South Africa.
In 1889, Rhodes founded the British South Africa Company. He established the colony of Rhodesia (named after himself) and led the British South Africa Company's expansion against the Boers.

Prime Minister of Cape Colony

Cape Colony was Britain's formal colony in what is now South Africa.
After monopolising South Africa's diamonds and founding the British South Africa Company, Rhodes was appointed as the Prime Minister of Cape Colony in 1890.
- He would resign in 1896 after the Jameson Raid (a botched raid against Transvaal in December 1895).

Attitude to Britain's moral mission

Rhodes believed that British civilisation and control were key to the betterment of the world.
He impressed both the right and duty of Anglo-Saxons to dominate Africa and beyond.
Rhodes' last will and testament state that "I contend that we are the first race in the world, and that the more of the world we inhabit the better it is for the human race. I contend that every acre added to our territory means the birth of more of the English race who otherwise would not be brought into existence".
Rhodes seems to have been motivated by money and a racist belief in English white superiority.

Imperial ambitions

Rhodes wanted to establish British rule across the whole continent of Africa, from the North to the South of Africa (from Cairo to the Cape).
Steps taken to expand British rule:
- In 1890, Rhodes sent settlers to establish Fort Salisbury in Matabeleland. This became Rhodesia.
- Rhodes planned a railway line north from the Cape through Bechuanaland to outflank the Boer Republic of Transvaal and the Germans in a rush to central Africa.
However, the route from the Cape to Cairo was blocked by Germany's occupation of East Africa from 1891.

Historical Assessment of Cecil Rhodes

Historians and people in general often come into conflict when assessing the character of Cecil Rhodes and how society should remember him.

Richard A. McFarlane, History in Africa (2007)

McFarlane (2007) argues that [Rhodes was] "as integral a participant in southern African and British imperial history as George Washington or Abraham Lincoln are in their respective eras in United States history."

Raymond C. Mensing

In "Cecil Rhodes's Ideas of Race and Empire", International Social Science Review (1986), Mensing argues that 'Rhodes was not a biological or maximal racist. Despite his support for what became the basis for the apartheid system, he is best seen as a cultural or minimal racist.'

Robert Blake, A History of Rhodesia, (1977)

Robert Blake (1977) argues that Rhodes’ early days with the Company and determination to gain the Rudd Concession (exclusive mining rights in modern-day Zimbabwe) should be seen as a “suppressio veri" (a misinterpretation of the truth) ... which must be regarded as one of Rhodes's least creditable actions.'

Peter Godwin, "Rhodes to Hell" (11 January 1998)

Historian Peter Godwin calls for a more balanced assessment: '[Rhodes] was no 19th-century Hitler. He wasn't so much a freak as a man of his time...Rhodes and the white pioneers in southern Africa did behave despicably by today's standards, but no worse than the white settlers in North America, South America, and Australia; and in some senses better, considering that the genocide of natives in Africa was less complete. For all the former African colonies are now ruled by indigenous peoples, unlike the Americas and the Antipodes, most of whose aboriginal natives were all but exterminated.'

Stephen Castle, New York Times (29 January 2016)

Castle says that Rhodes was an “architect of apartheid".
This comment was made in an article published in the New York Times "Oxford University Will Keep Statue of Cecil Rhodes", (29 January 2016).
This speaks to a significant debate that emerged about a statue of Cecil Rhodes outside Oriel College, Oxford.

Martin Kitchen (1996)

Kitchen says that at the time, "Rhodes was seen as an example of the worst type of monopolizing imperialist", highlighting the commercial gains that individuals and businesses made through investments in the East India Company, British South African Company, and the slave-trading monopoly, the Royal African Company.

1High Water Mark of the British Empire, 1857-1914

1.1Development of Imperialism, 1857-1890

1.1.1Empires over Time

1.1.2Key Questions About Empires

1.1.3Expansion into Africa

1.1.4History of Egypt

1.1.5Control of Egypt

1.1.6Control of Sudan

1.2Imperial & Colonial Policy, 1857-1890

1.2.1The British Empire & India

1.2.2The British Raj

1.2.3International Relations with other Powers

1.2.4Scramble for Africa

1.2.5The Informal Empire

1.3Trade & Commerce, 1857-1890

1.3.1Trade & Commerce in the Empire

1.3.2Infrastructure of Trade & Commerce

1.3.3Products of Trade & Commerce

1.4Attitudes Towards the Empire, 1857-1890

1.4.1Explorers

1.4.2Missionaries

1.4.3Traders & Colonial Administrators

1.4.4Government Attitudes Towards Imperialism

1.5Relations with Indigenous Peoples, 1857-1890

1.5.1Relations with India

1.5.2Relations with South Africa

1.5.3British-Boer Relations

2Imperial Consolidation & Liberal Rule, 1890-1914

2.1Consolidation & Expansion in Africa, 1890-1914

2.1.1Consolidation & Expansion into Africa

2.1.2Consolidation & Expansion in South Africa

2.1.3Historical Interpretations: Expansion into Africa

2.2Imperial & Colonial Policy, 1890-1914

2.2.1Policy in India

2.2.2Policy in Egypt

2.2.3Native Policy in Colonies

2.2.4International Relations with Other Powers

2.3Trade & Commerce, 1890-1914

2.3.1The Benefits of Trade

2.3.2Costs of the Empire

2.3.3Debates Over Trade

2.4Attitudes Towards the Empire, 1890-1914

2.4.1Key Administrators - Chamberlain & Rhodes

2.4.2Key Administrators - Baring & Milner

2.4.3Key Administrators - Curzon

2.4.4Government Attitudes to the Empire

2.4.5National Efficiency & the Boer War

2.4.6Popular Attitudes Towards Imperialism

2.5Relations with Indigenous Peoples, 1890-1914

2.5.1Challenges in India

2.5.2Challenges in Africa

2.5.3Challenges in South Africa

2.5.4Historical Interpretations of the Boer War

2.5.5Relations & Business with Iran

3Imperialism Challenged, 1914-1967

3.1Expansion & Contraction of Empire, 1914-1947

3.1.1Impact of WW1

3.1.2Palestine

3.1.3Ireland & WW1

3.1.4Impact of WW2 on the British Empire

3.2Colonial Policy & Administration, 1914-1947

3.2.1Administration in India & Palestine

3.2.2Administration in Iraq & the Dominions

3.2.3Imperial Defence

3.3Trade, Commerce & Economic Impact of War

3.3.1Economic Impact of WW1

3.3.2Inter-War Trade & Commerce

3.3.3Economic Impact of WW2

3.4Attitudes Towards the Empire, 1890-1914

3.4.1Colonial Administrators

3.4.2Trusteeship

3.4.3Gandhi

3.4.4Montagu, Haig & Linlithgow

3.4.5Cameron, Mitchell, Cohen & Furse - African Admins

3.4.6Imperialist Ideals

3.5Relations with Indigenous Peoples, 1914-1947

3.5.1Ireland & India 1914-1947

3.5.2The Middle East and Africa

4The Wind of Change, 1947-1967

4.1Decolonisation in Africa & Asia, 1947-1967

4.1.1Reasons for Decolonisation

4.1.2Decolonisation in East & West Africa

4.1.3Decolonisation in Central & South Africa

4.1.4Decolonisation in Asia

4.2Colonial Policy & Administration, 1947-1967

4.2.1Relations & Business with Iran after WW2

4.2.2The 'Winds of Change'

4.2.3The Suez Canal Crisis - 1956

4.2.4International Relations 1947-1967

4.3Trade & Commerce, 1947-1967

4.3.1The Economic Impact of WW2

4.4Attitudes Towards the Empire, 1947-1967

4.4.1Colonial Administrators: Cohen & Arden-Clarke

4.4.2Local Leaders in the Independence Movement

4.4.3Pan-Africanism in Nationalism

4.5Post-Colonial Ties, 1947-1967

4.5.1Windrush & Immigration

4.5.2Commonwealth Immigrants Act

4.5.3Residual Impact of the Empire

4.6Relations with Indigenous Peoples, 1947-1967

4.6.1Challenges to Colonial Rule Post 1947

4.6.2Kenya & the Mau Mau Uprising

4.6.3Nigeria & Rhodesia

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