Assess the significance of economics and finance in...

Economic and financial concerns have a clear link to Britain’s relationship with her African empire over the period 1870-1980. During different time frames within the period; expansion, colonisation and decolonisation economic and finance hold different amounts of weight due to events which mark turning points in the relationship e.g. World Wars. Strategic and cultural are also clear concerns which effect the relation which I will evaluate. Trading to make profit was the main reason British business men landed on African soil. This shows economic influences started the relationship between GB and her African empire, highlighting its importance during expansion. Trading in Africa brought high profits back to businessmen and the banks†¦show more content†¦This suggests that GB had stronger interest in Africa as she took take over countries surrounding Egypt to protect the canal from rivals that would hamper trade movement. Though this was a strategic concern it links heavily British economic concerns as the trade route was of commercial importance to Britain. It is clear that cultural concerns play a role in the enhancement and the downfall of the relationship of GB and Africa during expansion. The British mindset during the period was that they were the superior race of the world and that it was their ‘white man’s burden’ to rule Africa to bring them into civilisation. Ferguson supports my point saying ‘Victorians aspired to bring light to what they called the Dark Continent.’ This suggests that their arrogant mindset would make them feel as though cultural imperialism was the best morally correct action for the empire because Africa, to them was behind. This brought a jingoistic British attitude towards colonisation as people thought their country was being helpful. An example of how they brought ‘light’ was through converting Africans into Christianity. Ferguson gives a statistic ‘1886 and 1895 the number of Protestants in Africa trebled’. This shows that the British aim to ci vilise Africa was working which gave them something in common which made it easier for British to settle in Africa during expansion. However, cultural attitudes brought a strainShow MoreRelatedThe Impact Of Economics And Finance On Influencing Britain s Relationship With Its African Empire1917 Words   |  8 PagesAssess the changing significance of economics and finance in influencing Britain’s relationship with its African empire in the period c1870-c1981 Between 1870 to 1981, economic factors occurred throughout the 111 years. For a clearer explanation, Africa is divided into North, East, West and South, this enables us to analyse what the British Empire done in certain areas of Africa. Events within this period can be divided into three time periods, these are: 1870-1902 Expansion – this is mainly about