Emma Warren 12.3
“Attitudes towards imperialism in Britain in the years 1857-1890 were unduly triumphalist,
reflecting a one-sided and narrow minded outlook”
Assess the validity of this view
The view is valid to a limited extent as it makes quite a few assumptions. The view is less
valid given if attitudes were triumphalist, they were not unduly so; people didn’t really have
opinions on the Empire til early 70s at least; and not everyone had the same view. However it
could be argued that triumphalist attitudes did actually emerge in 1857 in retaliation to the
Indian mutiny so the statement does have some validity.
Firstly, if the British people’s attitudes were triumphalist they were certainly not unduly so.
The second half of the c19th saw Britain increase the size of its empire through many
annexations particularly in Africa and Asia, and the empire expanded from 9.5 million square
miles in 1869 to 12 million in 1901.Furthermore, in many instances of rebellion or opposition
the British Empire triumphed; the British gained effective control over Egypt, for instance, after
the leader of a coup, Arabi Pasha, was removed from power and replaced with Tewfik Pasha. It
was competing well against the other European Empires such as the Spanish, French and
Portuguese Empires. Therefore we can infer that if the British people did have triumphalist
attitudes they wouldn’t be unfounded at all given the British Empires strength, suggesting the
statement is not very valid at all.
Additionally, the British people didn’t really have opinions on the Empire til the early 1870s
at least. It was only in the 1870s that stories of missionaries and explorers were being avidly
read in British newspapers and magazines and heroic tales were circulated and it was only then
that the Victorian idea of British benevolence and superiority was reinforced. Imperial
exhibitions also increased interest in 1870s (such as the 1877 Nubian village or the 1890
African Exhibition). Interest in, and therefore attitudes about, the Empire were virtually
nonexistent til the 1870s therefore it could be argued the statement falsely assumes people
had opinions on the Empire as early as 1857, meaning it’s not so valid.
As well as this, not all British people had the same attitude, irregardless of whether this
attitude was “narrow-minded”or not. For instance, Gladstone’s liberal party were not proud of
or positive about the Empire and only continued involvement in an attempt to remedy the
previous Conservative government’s “adventurism”. In contrast, the Conservatives, especially
Disraeli, wholly supported and were triumphalist about the Empire seeing it a s a sign of British
superiority and prestige. Also, many people of the working classes never encountered the
British Empire and according to John Darwin were “lost in the mass of non-Imperial
production”, so didn’t hold any opinion on it at all. So whilst some did have triumphalist
attitude, many had other views or indeed none at all, indicating the statement isn’t so valid.
However, the Indian mutiny did bring about a change in public opinion leading to more
consensus amongst the public. Particularly after the Cawnpore massacre where 120 British
women and children captured by the Sepoy forces were killed in what came to be known as the
Bibighar Massacre, their remains being thrown down a nearby well in an attempt to hide the
evidence. News of the massacre electrified the British public at home, unifying them in their
desire for retributive justice. Further stoking the public’s outrage, reports surfaced that the
women had been raped before they had been killed. Some newspapers even printed stories
stating that the women and children had been “sold at public auction” after which they were
violated and then “barbarously slaughtered.” The an article from the August 31, 1857 Sheffield
Daily Telegraph declared that the atrocities committed at the Bibighar were “almost
unparalleled in the history of the world” it also contained the hope that punishment of those
responsible would not be long deferred. This all promoted a sense of British righteousness in
Britain, lending more support to imperialism and seeing themselves obligated morally to
conquering and civilising “heathen” countries. This suggests that the statement is valid as this
triumphalist attitude was started in 1857 after the mutiny and was fairly universal amongst
Britons.
