1. The expansion of the British Empire in Africa, c1857-90

Trade and the economy

• Prospect of further trade - new routes inland & discovery of minerals & resources
• Investment opportunities
• Coal, iron, timber - to feed demands of British industry
• Cycle of dependency - particularly case in Great Depression of 1873-96, economic slump

Merchant-imperialists

• George Goldie & Cecil Rhodes: recognised and capitalised on new commodities

Egypt

• Investing in production of Egyptian cotton & modernising programmes of Isma'il Pasha
• Trading interactions grew: by 1870s, 40% of Egypt's imports were coming from GB
• Suez Canal: helped seafarers and merchants; route to India 6,000 miles shorter than Cape
  • Disraeli: gave GB greater control over its passage to India and an income from shipping tariffs

Sometimes difficult to disentangle the commercial and strategic factors that led to colonisation. However, sometimes strategic interests predominated:

• Establishment of a colony at the Cape: temperate climate & deep water port = advantages over other harbours; protected sea route to ME, China, AUS & India = giving GB considerable power over sea routes to the East

Suez Canal and Egypt - strategic because of trade and route to East

• William Gladstone's intervention in political tensions: GB forces defeated Arabi Pasha's forces = enabling GB to re-take Cairo and restore Tewfiq as a puppet ruler; occupation of Egypt had begun but temporary and without clearly defined intentions
• Evelyn Baring installed as Consul-General & Tewfiq forced to create a government amenable and reliant on GB - Egypt was firmly under GB administrative control (client state/veiled protectorate, Baring ruling behind a screen of Egyptian ministers, aided by group of English administrators)

Christian missionaries in the Victorian era

• Strong moral principles
• Increasingly from 1860s, saw it as their duty to spread their faith among non-Christian or 'heathen' peoples
• Empire was a force of 'civilisation'

• David Livingstone: went to Africa in 1858 'to try and make an open path for commerce and Christianity' 

Personal influence

• Merchant-imperialists (George Goldie & Cecil Rhodes) found fame and fortune

Adventure and exploration

• Explorers motivational in the expanding African empire
  • By 1857, most of Africa had been mapped; located vast reserves of raw materials - gold, palm oil & diamonds, which European merchants sought to exploit and trade

• Stimulated British public and political interest in Africa
  • Sought & traced waterways, publishing findings, producing maps, spreading exotic tales of discovery and adventure

Reacting to the initiatives of other powers