North African Imperialism

The two factors that led to the formal occupation of North Africa in 1882 was economic and political factors. Britain wanted to protect their economic interests such as their investment in The Suez Canal. In 1875 Prime Minister Disraeli bought a 44% share in the Suez Canal- this was ultimately beneficial for Britain as this was a cheaper way to export goods into Egypt whilst simultaneously protecting the route to India. Robinson and Gallagher argue that the driving force that led to Britain expanding its empire to Egypt was because it would protect the ‘trade between the British and the Jewel of the crown’. Disraeli’s shares led to considerable business investment in Egypt, for example Egyptian cotton became popular amongst British entrepreneurs.

The main area of interest was in palm oil, which could be used as industrial lubricant. George Goldie, a European explorer who was a key supplier of palm oil. Goldie wanted to expand the British Empire purely on the economic benefits it would bring to the Empire. However, historians like Aldred argue that the ‘issue of international rivalry’ also played a huge role in the colonisation of West Africa- Aldred points out that France, Germany and Belgium all played ‘prominent roles’ in the British Empire expanding to West Africa. One example was the Belgians setting up the Congo Free State to ‘exploit the thriving rubber trade’ . It was agreed in the Berlin conference of 1885 that Europeans powers should be able to trade freely within the Congo basin, the conference also recognised the British interest along the Niger River. On the other hand, Contrary to Aldred’s argument, J.A. Hobson argues that Britain expanded their empire to West Africa because the ‘impoverished masses’ in Britain were unable to consume British manufactured goods, so Britain saw ‘Africa and other parts of the empire as new markets to buy their goods’ as it was ‘cheaper to invest abroad’.Thus, it can said that although international relations did exacerbate the reason why Britain expanded their empire to West Africa, it was ultimately economic factors that led to the informal

Britain’s financial situation had worsened during the First World War, this led to a lack of investment in the African Empire which inevitably led to a rise in resentment towards colonial rule. This trend continued post 1945 Britain’s financial situation had worsened- the national deficit reaching £875 million. Furthermore, because Britain had financially neglected Africa local administrators enforced higher taxes on the local people to ‘improve infrastructure and modernise the region’. The price of commodities also went up, however the profit was not always passed on to the African people, for example in Egypt the price of cotton went up however the Egyptian growers did not receive the increase, thus further causing more resentment towards the British Empire. Arguably, the factor that accelerated the decline of the British Empire was in fact international pressure. The 1941 Atlantic Charter reiterated the view that Britain would lose America’s support during the war if colonies within the Empire were not given the right to ‘self- determination’. A fundamental factor that led to the decline of the Empire after the Second World War was the lack of investment coming from the metropole- therefore because the African Empire was no longer able to grow and