The Tariff Commission was a 1903 initiative in the United Kingdom to examine and promote proposals for tariff reform, which would protect British companies, and those of the British Empire, by imposing tariffs on foreign imports.
137-628: The Commission was established in December 1903 by Joseph Chamberlain , a Liberal Unionist Member of Parliament who had recently resigned as Secretary of State for the Colonies . The unofficial body was set up under the auspices of the Tariff Reform League . William Hewins , the economist and first director of the London School of Economics from 1895 to 1903, was Secretary and Sir Robert Herbert ,
274-529: A Land Bill and opposed Chief Secretary William Edward Forster 's tactics of lethal force and mass imprisonment. In April 1881, Gladstone's government introduced the Irish Land Act, but Charles Stewart Parnell encouraged tenants to withhold rents. As a result, Parnell and other leaders were imprisoned in Kilmainham Gaol on 13 October 1881. Chamberlain supported the imprisonment and used it to bargain
411-486: A Reform Act in 1867 , nearly doubling the electorate from 1,430,000 to 2,470,000. The Liberal Party won the 1868 election . Chamberlain was active in the election campaign, praising Bright and George Dixon , a Birmingham MP. Chamberlain was also influential in the local campaign in support of the Irish Disestablishment bill. In the autumn of 1869, a deputation headed by William Harris invited him to stand for
548-669: A Second Home Rule Bill in February 1893. Although the Bill passed the House of Commons, the Lords rejected Home Rule by a huge margin. With his party divided, Gladstone prepared to dissolve Parliament on the issue of the House of Lords' veto, but was compelled to resign in March 1894 by his colleagues. He was replaced by Lord Rosebery , who neglected the topic of Home Rule. Chamberlain continued to form alliances with
685-677: A diamond rush and a massive influx of foreigners to the borders of the Orange Free State. Then, in June 1884, gold was discovered in the Witwatersrand area of the South African Republic by Jan Gerrit Bantjes . Gold made the Transvaal the richest nation in southern Africa; however, the country had neither the manpower nor the industrial base to develop the resource on its own. As a result,
822-631: A shanty town . Uitlanders (foreigners, white outsiders) poured in and settled around the mines. The influx was so rapid that uitlanders quickly outnumbered the Boers in Johannesburg and along the Rand, although they remained a minority in the Transvaal. The Boers, nervous and resentful of the uitlanders' growing presence, sought to contain their influence through requiring lengthy residential qualifying periods before voting rights could be obtained; by imposing taxes on
959-513: A " khaki election ". However, Boer fighters took to the hills and launched a guerrilla campaign, becoming known as bittereinders . Led by generals such as Louis Botha , Jan Smuts , Christiaan de Wet , and Koos de la Rey , Boer guerrillas used hit-and-run attacks and ambushes against the British for two years. The guerrilla campaign proved difficult for the British to defeat, due to unfamiliarity with guerrilla tactics and extensive support for
1096-604: A "monopoliser and a dictator" while the Liberals had campaigned against their High church Tory opponents with the slogan "The People above the Priests". The city's municipal administration was notably lax with regards to public works and many urban dwellers lived in conditions of great poverty. As mayor, Chamberlain promoted many civic improvements, promising the city would be "parked, paved, assized, marketed, gas & watered and 'improved'". The Birmingham Gas Light and Coke Company and
1233-478: A Board of Trade Bankruptcy Department for inquiring into failed business deals and subjecting patents to Board of Trade supervision. Chamberlain also sought to end the practice of over-insuring coffin ships , but despite endorsements by Tory Democrats Lord Randolph Churchill and John Eldon Gorst , the government was unwilling to grant Chamberlain its full support and the Bill was withdrawn in July 1884. As President of
1370-437: A combined sum of £1,350,000, creating Birmingham Corporation Water Department , having declared to a House of Commons Committee that "We have not the slightest intention of making profit... We shall get our profit indirectly in the comfort of the town and in the health of the inhabitants.” Despite this noticeable executive action, Chamberlain was mistrustful of central authority and bureaucracy, preferring to give local communities
1507-627: A cow". Chamberlain resigned from the Third Gladstone ministry in 1886 in opposition to Irish Home Rule . He helped to engineer a Liberal Party split and became a Liberal Unionist, a party which included a bloc of MPs based in and around Birmingham. From the 1895 general election the Liberal Unionists were in coalition with the Conservative Party , under Chamberlain's former opponent Lord Salisbury. In that government Chamberlain promoted
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#17328528152111644-461: A faithful supporter of his political ambitions and eased his acceptance into upper-class society in the second half of his career. They had no children. She survived Chamberlain, to later marry, in 1916, Anglican clergyman William Hartley Carnegie (1859–1936). Chamberlain became involved in Liberal politics, influenced by the strong radical and liberal traditions among Birmingham shoemakers and
1781-469: A final report that would lay out a full tariff scheme. Meetings continued until at least 1917. Seven volumes were published, but lack of funds caused the eventual abandonment of publishing. Joseph Chamberlain Joseph Chamberlain (8 July 1836 – 2 July 1914) was a British statesman who was first a radical Liberal , then a Liberal Unionist after opposing home rule for Ireland, and eventually
1918-620: A frenzy of jingoism, lionised him and treated him as a hero. Although sentenced to 15 months imprisonment (which he served in Holloway ), Jameson was later rewarded by being named Prime Minister of the Cape Colony (1904–1908) and was ultimately anointed as one of the founders of the Union of South Africa. For conspiring with Jameson, the uitlander members of the Reform Committee (Transvaal) were tried in
2055-447: A further two years, the Boers conducted a hard-fought guerrilla war, attacking British troop columns, telegraph sites, railways, and storage depots. To deny supplies to the Boer guerrillas, the British, now under the leadership of Lord Kitchener , adopted a scorched earth policy. They cleared vast areas, destroying Boer farms and moving the civilians into concentration camps. Some parts of
2192-431: A large ridge some 69 km (43 mi) south of the Boer capital at Pretoria. The ridge was known locally as the "Witwatersrand" (white water ridge, a watershed). A gold rush to the Transvaal brought thousands of British and other prospectors and settlers from around the globe and over the border from the Cape Colony, which had been under British control since 1806. The city of Johannesburg sprang up nearly overnight as
2329-707: A new road, ( Corporation Street ), through Birmingham's overcrowded slums. Overriding the protests of local landlords and the commissioner of the Local Government Board's inquiry into the scheme, Chamberlain gained the endorsement of the President of the Local Government Board , George Sclater-Booth . Chamberlain raised the funds for the programme, contributing £10,000 himself. However the Improvement Committee concluded that it would be too expensive to transfer slum-dwellers to municipally built accommodation, and so
2466-465: A number of Radical reforms as well. Between 1888 and 1889, democratic County councils were established. By 1891, measures for the provision of smallholdings had been made, and the free, compulsory education was extended to the entire country. Chamberlain wrote, "I have in the last five years seen more progress made with the practical application of my political programme than in all my previous life. I owe this result entirely to my former opponents, and all
2603-456: A partner with Joseph Nettlefold . During the business's most prosperous period it produced two-thirds of all metal screws made in England, and by the time of Chamberlain's retirement from business in 1874 it was exporting worldwide. In July 1861 Chamberlain married Harriet Kenrick, the daughter of holloware manufacturer Archibald Kenrick, of Berrow Court, Edgbaston , Birmingham ; they had met
2740-738: A plan to take Johannesburg and end the control of the Transvaal government was hatched with the connivance of the Cape Prime Minister Rhodes and Johannesburg gold magnate Alfred Beit . A column of 600 armed men was led over the border from Bechuanaland towards Johannesburg by Jameson, the Administrator in Rhodesia of the British South Africa Company , of which Cecil Rhodes was the chairman. The column, mainly made up of Rhodesian and Bechuanaland British South Africa Policemen ,
2877-489: A pretext for war and a justification for a big military build-up in Cape Colony. The case for war was developed and espoused as far away as the Australian colonies. Cape Colony Governor Sir Alfred Milner ; Rhodes; Chamberlain; and mining syndicate owners such as Beit, Barney Barnato , and Lionel Phillips , favoured annexation of the Boer republics. Confident that the Boers would be quickly defeated, they planned and organised
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#17328528152113014-614: A radical Liberal Party member and an opponent of the Elementary Education Act 1870 ( 33 & 34 Vict. c. 75) on the basis that it could result in subsidising Church of England schools with local ratepayers ' money. As a self-made businessman, he had never attended university and had contempt for the aristocracy. He entered the House of Commons at 39 years of age, relatively late in life compared to politicians from more privileged backgrounds. Rising to power through his influence with
3151-514: A series of Round Table Conferences to resolve the Liberal Party's Irish policy. Chamberlain hoped an accord would enable him to claim the Liberal leadership and influence over the Conservatives. Although a preliminary agreement was made concerning land purchase, Gladstone was unwilling to compromise further, and negotiations ended by March. In August 1887, Lord Salisbury invited Chamberlain to lead
3288-526: A short war, citing the uitlanders' grievances as the motivation for the conflict. In contrast, the influence of the war party within the British government was limited. UK Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury , despised jingoism and jingoists. He was also uncertain of the abilities of the British Army. Despite both his moral and practical reservations, Salisbury led the United Kingdom to war in order to preserve
3425-460: A successful shoe manufacturer, and Caroline (1806–1875), daughter of cheese (formerly beer) merchant Henry Harben. His younger brother was Richard Chamberlain , later also a Liberal politician. Raised at Highbury , a prosperous suburb of North London, he was educated at University College School 1850–1852, excelling academically and gaining prizes in French and mathematics. The elder Chamberlain
3562-666: A villain, shouting "Judas!" and "Traitor!" as he entered the House of Commons. Unable to associate decisively with either party, Chamberlain sought concerted action with a kindred spirit from the Conservative Party, Chancellor of the Exchequer Lord Randolph Churchill . In November 1886, Churchill announced his own programme at Dartford , borrowing much from Chamberlain's, including smallholdings for rural labourers and greater local government. The next month, Churchill resigned as Chancellor over military spending; when
3699-666: Is as much the duty of the State to see that the children are educated as to see that they are fed", and attributing the success of the US and Prussia to public education. The Birmingham Education League evolved into the National Education League , which held its first Conference in Birmingham in 1869 and proposed a school system funded by local rates and government grants, managed by local authorities subject to government inspection. By 1870,
3836-558: Is officially called the South African War . In fact, according to a 2011 BBC report, "most scholars prefer to call the war of 1899–1902 the South African War, thereby acknowledging that all South Africans, white and black, were affected by the war and that many were participants". The origins of the war were complex and stemmed from more than a century of conflict between the Boers and Britain. Of immediate importance, however,
3973-505: The "Khaki Election" in 1900 . In 1903, he resigned from the Cabinet to campaign for tariff reform (i.e. taxes on imports as opposed to the existing policy of free trade with no tariffs). He obtained the support of most Unionist MPs for this stance, but the Unionists suffered a landslide defeat at the 1906 general election . Shortly after public celebrations of his 70th birthday in Birmingham, he
4110-485: The Birmingham and Staffordshire Gas Light Company were locked in constant competition, in which the city's streets were continually dug up to lay mains. Chamberlain forcibly purchased the two companies on behalf of the borough for £1,953,050, even offering to purchase the companies himself if the ratepayers refused. In its first year of operations the new municipal gas scheme made a profit of £34,000. The city's water supply
4247-560: The Colonial Office and eventually appointed him President of the Local Government Board . Their personal relationship worsened after a dispute over the amount to be paid to Collings, Chamberlain's Parliamentary Secretary , although Chamberlain still hoped that he could alter or block Gladstone's Home Rule proposal in Cabinet and renew his scheme for National Councils, but the topic was never discussed. On 13 March 1886, Gladstone's proposals for Ireland were revealed. Chamberlain argued that
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4384-633: The Enfield . Indeed, when the ammunition for the Mausers ran out, the Boers relied primarily on the captured Lee-Metfords. Regardless of the rifle, few of the Boers used bayonets. The Boers also purchased the best modern European German Krupp artillery. By October 1899, the Transvaal State Artillery had 73 heavy guns, including four 155 mm Creusot fortress guns and 25 of the 37 mm Maxim Nordenfeldt guns . The Boers' Maxim, larger than
4521-773: The First Boer War (December 1880 to March 1881) was a much smaller conflict. Boer (meaning "farmer") is the common name for Afrikaans -speaking white South Africans descended from the Dutch East India Company 's original settlers at the Cape of Good Hope . Among some South Africans, it is known as the (Second) Anglo–Boer War. In Afrikaans , it may be called (in order of frequency) the ' Tweede Vryheidsoorlog ("Second Freedom War"), ' Tweede Boereoorlog ("Second Boer War"), Anglo–Boereoorlog ("Anglo–Boer War") or Engelse oorlog ("English War"). In South Africa , it
4658-514: The Fortnightly Review , he coined the slogan of the "Four F's: Free Church, Free Schools, Free Land and Free Labour". In another article, "The Liberal Party and its Leaders", Chamberlain criticised Gladstone's leadership and advocated a more Radical direction for the party. In November 1873 the Liberal Party swept the municipal elections and Chamberlain was elected mayor of Birmingham. The Conservatives had denounced his Radicalism and called him
4795-595: The Great Trek . Around 15,000 trekking Boers departed the Cape Colony and followed the eastern coast towards Natal . After Britain annexed Natal in 1843, they journeyed farther northwards into South Africa's vast eastern interior. There, they established two independent Boer republics: the South African Republic (1852; also known as the Transvaal Republic) and the Orange Free State (1854). Britain recognised
4932-605: The House of Commons , Chamberlain began to organise the Radical MPs into a coherent parliamentary group, with the intent to displace Whig dominance of the Liberal Party. Early difficulties within Parliament led Chamberlain to favor a grassroots approach instead, organising local chapters as the foundation of an effective national movement. To gain footing for the Radicals, Chamberlain sought to close ranks with Gladstone to profit from
5069-502: The House of Lords ' powers, Salisbury remarked that "Mr. Chamberlain will return from his adventure with a broken head if nothing worse." In 1885, Chamberlain sought to "utterly destroy the Whigs, and have a Radical government before many years are out." To that end, Chamberlain and Sir Charles Dilke privately presented their resignations to Gladstone on 20 May, after the Cabinet had rejected Chamberlain's proposed Irish plan and his scheme for
5206-517: The Martini-Henry Mark III, because thousands of these had been purchased. Unfortunately, the large puff of white smoke after firing gave away the shooter's position. Roughly 7,000 Guedes 1885 rifles had also been purchased a few years earlier, and these were also used during the hostilities. As the war went on, some commandos relied on captured British rifles, such as the Lee-Metford and
5343-698: The Matabele and Mashona peoples' rising against the British South Africa Company. The rebellion, known as the Second Matabele War , was suppressed only at a great cost. A few days after the raid, the German Kaiser sent a telegram—known to history as "the Kruger telegram "—congratulating President Kruger and the government of the South African Republic on their success. When the text of this telegram
5480-586: The Programme and used the slogan " Three Acres and a Cow " to endorse the cause of the rural labourers, offering to make smallholdings available to them by using funds from local authorities. Chamberlain's campaign attracted large crowds and enthralled the young Ramsay MacDonald and David Lloyd George , but disturbed leading Liberals like George Goschen , who called it the "Unauthorised Programme". The Conservatives denounced Chamberlain as an anarchist, with some even comparing him to Dick Turpin . In October 1885, as
5617-672: The Second Afghan War , and the Anglo-Zulu War , he supported Disraeli's purchase of Suez Canal Company shares in November 1875. At this stage of his career, Chamberlain was eager to see the protection of British overseas interests but placed greater emphasis on a conception of justice in the pursuit of such interests. On 31 May 1877, the National Liberal Federation (NLF) was founded at Bingley Hall , with Gladstone offering
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5754-651: The Town Council ; and in November he was elected to represent St. Paul's Ward. Chamberlain and Jesse Collings had been among the founders of the Birmingham Education League in 1867, which noted that of about 4.25 million children of school age, 2 million children, mostly in urban areas, did not attend school, with a further 1 million in uninspected schools. The government's aid to Church of England schools offended Nonconformist opinion. Chamberlain favoured free, secular, compulsory education, stating that "it
5891-799: The Workmen's Compensation Act 1897 . He was Secretary of State for the Colonies , promoting a variety of schemes to build up the British Empire in Asia, Africa, and the West Indies. He had major responsibility for causing the Second Boer War (1899–1902) in South Africa and was the government minister most responsible for the war effort. He became a dominant figure in the Unionist Government's re-election at
6028-541: The " Missionaries Road " passed through it towards territory farther north. After the Germans annexed Damaraland and Namaqualand (modern Namibia ) in 1884, Britain annexed Bechuanaland in 1885. In the First Boer War of 1880–1881 the Boers of the Transvaal Republic proved skilful fighters in resisting Britain's attempt at annexation, causing a series of British defeats. The British government of William Ewart Gladstone
6165-424: The 1884 County Franchise Bill, Chamberlain famously declared that Salisbury was "himself the spokesman of a class — a class to which he himself belongs — who toil not neither do they spin ." In response, Salisbury branded Chamberlain a "Sicilian bandit" and Stafford Northcote called him " Jack Cade ". When Chamberlain suggested that he would march on London with thousands of Birmingham constituents to protest against
6302-672: The 23-year-old daughter of United States Secretary of War William Crowninshield Endicott , while leading a British delegation to Washington, D.C., to resolve the Newfoundland fisheries dispute in 1887. He described her as "one of the brightest and most intelligent girls I have yet met." Before he left the United States in March 1888, Chamberlain proposed, and they married at St John's Episcopal Church in New York City, wearing white violets rather than Chamberlain's trademark orchid. Mary became
6439-444: The African continent was dominated in the 19th century by a set of struggles to create within it a single unified state. In 1868, Britain annexed Basutoland in the Drakensberg Mountains, following an appeal from Moshoeshoe I , the king of the Sotho people , who sought British protection against the Boers. While the Berlin Conference of 1884–1885 sought to draw boundaries between the European powers' African possessions, it also set
6576-512: The Board of Trade, Chamberlain took a special interest in Ireland. Chamberlain strongly opposed the Irish Home Rule movement on the belief that home rule would lead to the eventual break-up of the empire; he declared, "I cannot admit that five millions of Irishmen have any greater right to govern themselves without regard to the rest of the United Kingdom than the five million inhabitants of the metropolis ". In an effort to quiet agitation in Ireland through appeasement, Chamberlain supported calls for
6713-430: The Board of Trade. Between 1880 and 1883, the government was preoccupied with Ireland, the Transvaal , and Egypt . Chamberlain introduced bills for the safer transportation of grain, for enabling municipal corporations to establish electricity supplies, and for ensuring a fairer system of payment for seamen. After 1883, Chamberlain was more productive and expanded the scope of his authority; he introduced bills establishing
6850-451: The Boer cause attracted thousands of volunteers from neutral countries , including the German Empire, United States, Russia and even some parts of the British Empire such as Australia and Ireland. Some consider the war the beginning of questioning the British Empire's veneer of impenetrable global dominance, due to the war's surprising duration and the unforeseen losses suffered by the British. A trial for British war crimes committed during
6987-403: The Boers. However, British fortunes changed when their commanding officer, General Redvers Buller , was replaced by Lord Roberts and Lord Kitchener , who relieved the besieged cities and invaded the Boer republics in early 1900 at the head of a 180,000-strong expeditionary force. The Boers, aware they were unable to resist such a large force, refrained from fighting pitched battles , allowing
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#17328528152117124-406: The Boers; 20,000 died. British mounted infantry were deployed to track down guerrillas, leading to small-scale skirmishes . Few combatants on either side were killed in action , with most casualties dying from disease. Kitchener offered generous terms of surrender to remaining Boer leaders to end the conflict. Eager to ensure fellow Boers were released from the camps, most Boer commanders accepted
7261-422: The British Empire's prestige and feeling a sense of obligation to British South Africans. Salisbury also detested the Boers treatment of native Africans, referring to the London Convention of 1884 , (following Britain's defeat in the first war), as an agreement "really in the interest of slavery". Salisbury was not alone in this concern. Roger Casement , already well on the way to becoming an Irish Nationalist,
7398-413: The British Maxims, was a large calibre, belt-fed, water-cooled "auto cannon" that fired explosive rounds (smokeless ammunition) at 450 rounds per minute. It became known as the "Pom Pom". Aside from weaponry, the tactics used by the Boers were significant. As one modern source states, "Boer soldiers ... were adept at guerrilla warfare—something the British had difficulty countering". The Transvaal army
7535-641: The British authorities in the Cape. Negotiations failed at the botched Bloemfontein Conference in June 1899. The conflict broke out in October after the British government decided to send 10,000 troops to South Africa. With a delay, this provoked a Boer and British ultimatum and subsequent Boer irregulars and militia attacks on British colonial settlements in Natal Colony . The Boers placed Ladysmith , Kimberley , and Mafeking under siege, and won victories at Colenso , Magersfontein and Stormberg . Increased numbers of British Army soldiers were brought to Southern Africa and mounted unsuccessful attacks against
7672-496: The British delegation to resolve a fisheries dispute between the United States and Newfoundland . The visit to the United States renewed his enthusiasm for politics and enhanced his standing with respect to Gladstone. Upon his return to Britain, Chamberlain and Radicalism experienced new political success. He extracted his supporters from the Liberal Party and created the Liberal Unionist Association in 1888, associated with his National Radical Union. The Salisbury ministry implemented
7809-403: The British press and British government expected the campaign to be over within months, and the protracted war gradually became less popular, especially after revelations about the conditions in the concentration camps (where as many as 26,000 Afrikaner women and children died of disease and malnutrition). The Boer forces finally surrendered on Saturday, 31 May 1902, with 54 of the 60 delegates from
7946-415: The British terms in the Treaty of Vereeniging , surrendering in May 1902. The former republics were transformed into the British colonies of the Transvaal and Orange River , and in 1910 were merged with the Natal and Cape Colonies to form the Union of South Africa , a self-governing dominion within the British Empire. British expeditionary efforts were aided significantly by colonial forces from
8083-467: The British to occupy both republics and their capitals, Pretoria and Bloemfontein . Boer politicians, including President of the South African Republic Paul Kruger , either fled or went into hiding; the British Empire officially annexed the two republics in 1900. In Britain, the Conservative ministry led by Lord Salisbury attempted to capitalise on British military successes by calling an early general election , dubbed by contemporary observers as
8220-405: The Cape Colony, the Natal, Rhodesia , and many volunteers from the British Empire worldwide, particularly Australia , Canada , India and New Zealand . Black African recruits contributed increasingly to the British war effort. International public opinion was sympathetic to the Boers and hostile to the British . Even within the UK, there existed significant opposition to the war . As a result,
8357-784: The Cape during the late 17th and early 18th centuries; however, close to one-fourth of this demographic was of German origin and one-sixth of French Huguenot descent. Cleavages were likelier to occur along socio-economic rather than ethnic lines. Broadly speaking, the colonists included a number of distinct subgroups, including the Boers . The Boers were itinerant farmers who lived on the colony's frontiers, seeking better pastures for their livestock. Many were dissatisfied with aspects of British administration, in particular with Britain's abolition of slavery on 1 December 1834. Boers who used forced labor would have been unable to collect compensation for their slaves. Between 1836 and 1852, many elected to migrate away from British rule in what became known as
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#17328528152118494-411: The Cape inquiry and the London parliamentary inquiry and was forced to resign as Prime Minister of the Cape and as Chairman of the British South Africa Company, for having sponsored the failed coup d'état . The Boer government handed their prisoners over to the British for trial. Jameson was tried in England, where the British press and London society, inflamed by anti-Boer and anti-German feeling and in
8631-409: The Chief Secretaryship, but Gladstone appointed Sir George Otto Trevelyan instead. Nevertheless, Chamberlain maintained an interest in Irish affairs and proposed to the Cabinet an Irish Central Board that would have legislative powers for land, education and communications, which was rejected by the Whigs in Cabinet on 9 May 1885. Early in the Gladstone ministry, Chamberlain unsuccessfully suggested
8768-475: The Conservative mainstream rallied around Salisbury, Churchill's career was effectively ended, and so too was Chamberlain's hope of creating a powerful cross-party alliance of Radicals. The appointment of George Goschen to succeed Churchill isolated Chamberlain further and symbolised the strong relationship between non-Radical Liberal Unionists and the Conservatives. In January 1887, Chamberlain, Trevelyan, Harcourt, John Morley and Lord Herschell participated in
8905-446: The Conservatives and contemplated similar co-operation with the Whigs. His resignation was made public on 27 March 1886. Immediately after his resignation from Cabinet, Chamberlain launched a ferocious campaign against Gladstone's Irish proposals. His motivations combined imperial, domestic, and personal themes: imperial because the proposal threatened to weaken Parliament's control over the United Kingdom, domestic because they downplayed
9042-432: The Conservatives. Chamberlain became concerned about the threat of socialism during this period, although the Independent Labour Party had only one MP, Keir Hardie . He sought to divert collectivist energy toward Unionism and continued to propose radical reforms to the Conservatives. In his 1893 "Memorandum of a Programme for Social Reform", Chamberlain made a number of suggestions to Salisbury, including old age pensions,
9179-416: The Federation and the techniques of American political machines , with Chamberlain serving the role of a political boss . Chamberlain joined the Liberal denunciations of the government's foreign policy in the 1880 general election , and Gladstone returned as prime minister. Despite having sat in Parliament for only four years, Chamberlain hoped for a Cabinet position, and told Sir William Harcourt that he
9316-412: The League had more than one hundred branches, mostly in cities and peopled largely by men of trades unions and working men's organisations. William Edward Forster , vice-president of the Committee of Council on Education, proposed an Elementary Education Bill in January 1870. Nonconformists opposed the proposal to fund church schools as part of the national educational system through the rates. The NEL
9453-422: The Liberal Unionist Association, an ad hoc alliance to demonstrate the unity of anti-Home Rulers. Meanwhile, to distinguish himself from the Whigs, Chamberlain founded the National Radical Union to rival the NLF. During its second reading on 8 June, the Home Rule Bill was defeated by the combined opposition of Chamberlain radicals, Conservatives, and Whigs. In all, 93 Liberals voted against Gladstone. Parliament
9590-436: The Liberal grassroots organisation, he served as President of the Board of Trade in the Second Gladstone ministry (1880–85). At the time, Chamberlain was notable for his attacks on the Conservative leader Lord Salisbury , and in the 1885 general election he proposed the "Unauthorised Programme", which was not enacted, of benefits for newly enfranchised agricultural labourers, including the slogan promising "three acres and
9727-404: The Orange Free State to join him and mobilising their forces, Kruger issued an ultimatum giving Britain 48 hours to withdraw all their troops from the border of Transvaal (despite the fact that the only regular British army troops anywhere near the border of either republic were 4 companies of the Loyal North Lancs , who had been deployed to defend Kimberley. ) Otherwise, the Transvaal, allied with
9864-612: The Radical programme, and personal because they weakened his own standing in the party. On 9 April, Chamberlain spoke against the Irish Home Rule Bill in its first reading. Chamberlain's chances of displacing Gladstone as party leader declined dramatically and in early May, the National Liberal Federation declared its loyalty to Gladstone. On 14 May, Chamberlain attended a meeting of Liberal Unionists , from which arose
10001-637: The Second Boer War was the longest, the most expensive (£211 million, £19.9 billion at 2022 prices), and the bloodiest conflict between 1815 and 1914, lasting three months longer and resulting in more British combat casualties than the Crimean War (1853–1856). Disease took a greater toll in the Crimean War, claiming 17,580 British. The conflict is commonly referred to simply as "the Boer War" because
10138-614: The Transvaal Boers behind President Kruger and his government. It also had the effect of drawing the Transvaal and the Orange Free State (led by President Martinus Theunis Steyn ) together in opposition to British imperialism. In 1897, the two republics concluded a military pact. In earlier conflicts, the Boers' most common weapon was the British Westley Richards falling-block breech-loader. In his book The First Boer War , Joseph Lehmann offers this comment: "Employing chiefly
10275-595: The Transvaal and Orange Free State voting to accept the terms of the peace treaty. This was known as the Treaty of Vereeniging , and under its provisions, the two republics were absorbed into the British Empire, with the promise of self-government in the future. This promise was fulfilled with the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910. The war had a lasting effect on the region and on British domestic politics. For Britain,
10412-478: The Transvaal courts and found guilty of high treason. The four leaders were sentenced to death by hanging, but the next day this sentence was commuted to 15 years' imprisonment. In June 1896, the other members of the committee were released on payment of £2,000 each in fines, all of which were paid by Cecil Rhodes. One Reform Committee member, Frederick Gray, committed suicide while in Pretoria gaol , on 16 May. His death
10549-527: The Transvaal reluctantly acquiesced to the immigration of uitlanders (foreigners), mainly English-speaking men from Britain, who came to the Boer region in search of fortune and employment. As a result, the number of uitlanders in the Transvaal threatened to exceed the number of Boers, precipitating confrontations between the Boer settlers and the newer, non-Boer arrivals. Britain's expansionist ideas (notably propagated by Cecil Rhodes ) as well as disputes over uitlander political and economic rights led to
10686-520: The anti-Home Rule Whigs and Conservatives. While saying little about the topic publicly, Chamberlain privately damned Gladstone and Home Rule to colleagues, believing that maintaining the Conservatives in power for a further year would make the Irish question easier to settle. Chamberlain declined Gladstone's offer of the office of First Lord of the Admiralty ; Gladstone in turn rejected Chamberlain's request for
10823-472: The border. Four days later, the weary and dispirited column was surrounded near Krugersdorp , within sight of Johannesburg. After a brief skirmish in which the column lost 65 killed and wounded—while the Boers lost but one man—Jameson's men surrendered and were arrested by the Boers. The botched raid had repercussions throughout southern Africa and in Europe. In Rhodesia, the departure of so many policemen enabled
10960-592: The borders of both the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, failing which the Transvaal, allied to the Orange Free State, would declare war on the British government . (In fact, Kruger had ordered commandos to the Natal border in early September, and Britain had only troops in garrison towns far from the border.) The British government rejected the South African Republic's ultimatum, and the South African Republic and Orange Free State declared war on Britain. The southern part of
11097-405: The campaign came to a close, Chamberlain visited Gladstone at Hawarden Castle to reconcile their respective electoral programmes. The meeting, although good-natured, was largely unproductive, and Gladstone neglected to tell Chamberlain of his ongoing negotiations with Parnell over Irish Home Rule. Chamberlain was informed their existence by Henry Labouchere , but, did not press the issue, unsure of
11234-487: The central role in winning the Second Boer War. He is most famous for setting the agenda of British colonial, foreign, tariff and municipal policies, and for deeply splitting both major political parties. Future Prime Minister Winston Churchill remarked that despite never being prime minister, Chamberlain "made the political weather". Chamberlain was born on Camberwell Grove in Camberwell to Joseph Chamberlain (1796–1874),
11371-556: The city's improvement earned Chamberlain the allegiance of the so-called Birmingham caucus for the rest of his public career. His biographer states: Chamberlain was invited to stand for election as an MP by the Sheffield Reform Association, an offshoot of the Liberal Party in the city, soon after starting as mayor. Chamberlain's first Parliamentary campaign in 1874 was a fierce one; opponents accused him of republicanism and atheism and even threw dead cats at him on
11508-521: The compromises in the legislation, voted against the government, and the bill passed the House of Commons with support from the Conservatives. Chamberlain campaigned against the Act, and especially Clause 25, which gave school boards of England and Wales the power to pay the fees of poor children at voluntary schools, theoretically allowing them to fund church schools. The Education League stood in several by-elections against Liberal candidates who refused to support
11645-510: The creation of National Councils in England, Scotland, and Wales. The resignations were not made public, but the opportunity came for Chamberlain to present his Radicalism to the country after the Gladstone budget failed on 8 June , triggering a new general election with a dramatically expanded, redistributed electorate. In July 1885, Chamberlain wrote the preface to the Radical Programme ,
11782-433: The details of the accompanying Land Purchase Bill should be made known in order for a fair judgment on Home Rule. When Gladstone stated his intention to give Ireland a separate Parliament with full powers to deal with Irish affairs, Chamberlain resolved to resign and wrote to inform Gladstone of his decision two days later. In the meantime, Chamberlain consulted with Arthur Balfour over the possibility of concerted action with
11919-615: The extension of the franchise; the Prime Minister deferred until 1884, when the Liberals proposed a Third Reform Bill which gave the vote to hundreds of thousands of rural labourers. Chamberlain and the Radicals campaigned to capture the new voters with public meetings, speeches and articles written in the Fortnightly Review . The Third Reform Act of 1884 was followed by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 , negotiated by Gladstone and Conservative leader Lord Salisbury . During debate on
12056-482: The failed Jameson Raid of 1895. Dr. Leander Starr Jameson , who led the raid, intended to encourage an uprising of the uitlanders in Johannesburg . However, the uitlanders did not take up arms in support, and Transvaal government forces surrounded the column and captured Jameson's men before they could reach Johannesburg. As tensions escalated, political manoeuvrings and negotiations attempted to reach compromise on
12193-639: The first Premier of Queensland, Australia, was Chairman. The Commission consisted of 59 businessmen whose brief was to construct a "Scientific Tariff" which would achieve tariff reform objectives. The aims of the Commission were to examine and report on Chamberlain's proposals for tariff reform, and to work out what import duties should be recommended. Members of the Commission included: The Commission gathered data from businesses through interviews and questionnaires. They intended to publish reports on every industry that they investigated, and bring these together into
12330-528: The first behaves like and is a thorough gentleman. Of the other, it is better not to speak." The general election was dominated by Home Rule, and Chamberlain's campaign was both Radical and intensely patriotic. The Unionist alliance took 393 seats in the House of Commons and a comfortable majority. Chamberlain did not enter the Unionist government , aware of Conservative hostility and not wishing to alienate his Radical base. The Liberal mainstream cast Chamberlain as
12467-474: The first campaign handbook in British political history. It endorsed land reform , more direct taxation, free public education, the disestablishment of the Church of England , universal male suffrage, and greater protection for trade unions. Chamberlain drew inspiration from his friend Frederick Maxse 's 1873 pamphlet The Causes of Social Revolt . Chamberlain's proposal to separate free education for every child from
12604-649: The future Prime Minister Neville in 1869, Ida in 1870, Hilda in 1871 and Ethel in 1873. The teaching of these four children was taken on by their elder half sister, Beatrice, who was destined to make her mark as an educationalist. On 13 February 1875 Florence gave birth to their fifth child, but she and the child died within a day. Though a Unitarian during his lifetime, the experiences Chamberlain endured with losing both wives in childbirth resulted in him losing personal faith, rejecting religious creeds and not requiring religious adherence of any of his children. Chamberlain met his third wife, Mary Crowninshield Endicott,
12741-494: The gold industry; and by introducing controls through licensing, tariffs and administrative requirements. Among the issues giving rise to tension between the Transvaal government on the one hand and the uitlanders and British interests on the other, were: British imperial interests were alarmed when in 1894–1895 Kruger proposed building a railway through Portuguese East Africa to Delagoa Bay , bypassing British-controlled ports in Natal and Cape Town and avoiding British tariffs. At
12878-593: The guerrillas among civilians. In response to failures to defeat the guerrillas, British high command ordered scorched earth policies as part of a large scale and multi-pronged counterinsurgency campaign; a network of nets , blockhouses , strongpoints and barbed wire fences was constructed, virtually partitioning the occupied republics. Over 100,000 Boer civilians, mostly women and children, were forcibly relocated into concentration camps , where 26,000 died, mostly by starvation and disease. Black Africans were interned in concentration camps to prevent them from supplying
13015-487: The inaugural address, Chamberlain as its president, and Birmingham politicians playing a dominant part in its organisation. The NLF enhanced Chamberlain's party influence and gave him a national platform. Through the NLF, Chamberlain tightened party discipline and campaigning, enlisted new party members, organised political meetings and published posters and pamphlets. Contemporary commentators drew often-disparaging comparisons between
13152-528: The informal Kilmainham Treaty in 1882. Under the informal agreement, the government released Parnell in return for his co-operation in implementing the Land Act. Forster resigned, but his successor, Lord Frederick Cavendish , was murdered by members of the Irish National Invincibles on 6 May 1882, leaving the treaty almost useless. Many, including Parnell, believed that Chamberlain would be offered
13289-499: The instigators of class conflict. Second Boer War British victory [REDACTED] South African Republic [REDACTED] Orange Free State 1900 1901 1902 The Second Boer War ( Afrikaans : Tweede Vryheidsoorlog , lit. ' Second Freedom War ' , 11 October 1899 – 31 May 1902), also known as the Boer War , Transvaal War , Anglo–Boer War , or South African War ,
13426-529: The insult, creating anxiety for the Liberals, he apologised publicly. Upon his election, Chamberlain resigned as mayor and was introduced to the House of Commons by John Bright and Joseph Cowen . On 4 August 1876, Chamberlain made his maiden speech during a debate on elementary schools, using his experience on the Birmingham School Board. He spoke for twenty minutes on the maintenance of clause 25 with Disraeli present. Almost immediately upon entry to
13563-436: The issues of uitlanders' rights within the South African Republic, control of the gold mining industry, and Britain's desire to incorporate the Transvaal and the Orange Free State into a federation under British control. Given the British origins of the majority of uitlanders and the ongoing influx of new uitlanders into Johannesburg, the Boers recognised that granting full voting rights to the uitlanders would eventually result in
13700-556: The land was leased as a business proposition on a 75-year lease. Slum dwellers were eventually rehoused in the suburbs and the scheme cost local government £300,000. The death rate in Corporation Street decreased dramatically – from approximately 53 per 1,000 between 1873 and 1875 to 21 per 1,000 between 1879 and 1881. During Chamberlain's tenure of office, public and private money was used to construct libraries, municipal swimming pools and schools. Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
13837-483: The leader's increasing popularity and harness popular opposition to Disraeli's aggressive foreign policy, beginning with outrage over Ottoman atrocities in Bulgaria and the resulting Russo-Turkish War . Chamberlain joined Gladstone in arguing Disraeli's policy diverted attention from domestic reform, but unlike many Liberals, Chamberlain was not an anti-imperialist; although he berated the government for its Eastern policy,
13974-484: The long tradition of social action in Chamberlain's Unitarian church . There was pressure to redistribute parliamentary seats to cities and to enfranchise a greater proportion of urban men. In 1866, Earl Russell 's Liberal administration submitted a Reform Bill to create 400,000 new voters, but the bill was opposed by the " Adullamite " Liberals for disrupting the social order, and criticised by Radicals for not conceding
14111-613: The loss of ethnic Boer control in the South African Republic. The June 1899 negotiations in Bloemfontein failed, and in September 1899 British Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain demanded full voting rights and representation for the uitlanders residing in the Transvaal. Paul Kruger , the President of the South African Republic, issued an ultimatum on 9 October 1899, giving the British government 48 hours to withdraw all their troops from
14248-498: The opposition has come from my former friends." In the 1892 general election , Gladstone returned to power with a Liberal-Irish Nationalist coalition. The Liberal Unionists did well in Birmingham and made gains in the neighbouring Black Country , and Chamberlain's son Austen entered the House of Commons unopposed for East Worcestershire . However, the Liberal Unionists were reduced to 47 seats, falling behind in an age of well-organized mass national politics, and Chamberlain's standing
14385-448: The precise nature of Gladstone's offer. The Liberals won a plurality in November 1885 but fell just short of a majority against the Conservatives. The Irish Nationalists held the balance of power between the two parties. On 17 December, Herbert Gladstone revealed that his father, needing Nationalist support, was prepared to implement Home Rule. At first, Chamberlain was reluctant to anger his Radical followers by joining forces with
14522-657: The previous year. Their daughter, Beatrice Chamberlain , was born in May 1862. Harriet, who had had a premonition that she would die in childbirth, became ill two days after the birth of their son, Austen , in October 1863, and died three days later. Chamberlain devoted himself to business while the children were brought up by their maternal grandparents. In 1868 Chamberlain married Harriet's cousin Florence Kenrick, daughter of Timothy Kenrick. Chamberlain and Florence had four children:
14659-474: The provision of home loans to the working class, an amendment to the Artisans' and Labourers' Dwellings Improvement Act 1875 to encourage street improvements, compensation for industrial accidents, reduced train fares for workers, tighter border controls, and shorter working hours. Salisbury was guardedly sympathetic. Chamberlain also wrote an unpublished 1895 play, The Game of Politics , characterising socialists as
14796-534: The region it would strike too aggressive a posture and possibly derail a negotiated settlement—or even encourage a Boer attack. Steyn of the Orange Free State invited Milner and Kruger to attend a conference in Bloemfontein . The conference started on 30 May 1899, but negotiations quickly broke down, as Kruger had no intention of granting meaningful concessions, and Milner had no intention of accepting his normal delaying tactics. On 9 October 1899, after convincing
14933-415: The religious question was rejected by groups on all sides, including the NLF, Nonconformists, Catholics and more generally, taxpayers. The Programme earned the scorn of Whig Liberals and Conservatives alike. Chamberlain began his election campaign at Hull on 5 August, in front of large posters declaring him to be "your coming Prime Minister." Until the campaign's end in October, he denounced opponents of
15070-422: The repeal of Clause 25. In 1873, a Liberal majority was elected to the Birmingham School Board, with Chamberlain as chairman. Eventually, a compromise was reached with the church component of the school board agreeing to make payments from rate-payer's money only to schools associated with industrial education. Chamberlain espoused enfranchisement of rural workers and a lower cost of land. In an article written for
15207-504: The responsibility to act on their own initiative. In July 1875 Chamberlain tabled an improvement plan involving slum clearance in Birmingham's city centre. Chamberlain had been consulted by the Home Secretary , Richard Assheton Cross , during the preparation of the Artisans' and Labourers' Dwellings Improvement Act 1875 , during Disraeli's social improvement programme. Chamberlain bought 50 acres (200,000 m ) of property to build
15344-448: The second phase, after the number of British troops greatly increased under the command of Lord Roberts , the British launched another offensive in 1900 to relieve the sieges, this time achieving success. After Natal and the Cape Colony were secure, the British army was able to invade the Transvaal, and the republic's capital, Pretoria , was ultimately captured in June 1900. In the third and final phase, beginning in March 1900 and lasting
15481-432: The secret ballot or household suffrage. The bill was defeated and the government fell. Chamberlain was one of the 250,000, including the mayor, who marched for Reform in Birmingham on 27 August 1866; he recalled that "men poured into the hall, black as they were from the factories...the people were packed together like herrings" to listen to a speech by John Bright . Lord Derby 's minority Conservative administration passed
15618-551: The speaking platform. Chamberlain came in third—a poor result for a leading urban Radical—and rejected the possibility of standing in Sheffield again. Instead, he stood unopposed for a Birmingham constituency by-election in 1876, after George Dixon resigned. Following his nomination, Chamberlain denounced Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli as "a man who never told the truth except by accident." After Chamberlain came under heavy attack for
15755-402: The stage for further scrambles. Britain attempted to annex first the South African Republic in 1880, and then, in 1899, both the South African Republic and the Orange Free State. In the 1880s, Bechuanaland (modern Botswana ) became the object of a dispute between the Germans to the west, the Boers to the east, and Britain's Cape Colony to the south. Although Bechuanaland had no economic value,
15892-408: The time, the Prime Minister of the Cape Colony was Cecil Rhodes, a man driven by a vision of a British-controlled Africa extending from the Cape to Cairo . Certain self-appointed uitlanders' representatives and British mine owners became increasingly frustrated and angered by their dealings with the Transvaal government. A Reform Committee (Transvaal) was formed to represent the uitlanders. In 1895,
16029-507: The two Boer republics in 1852 and 1854 but attempted British annexation of the Transvaal in 1877 led to the First Boer War in 1880–1881. After Britain suffered defeats, particularly at the Battle of Majuba Hill (1881), the independence of the two republics was restored, subject to certain conditions. However, relations remained uneasy. In 1866, diamonds were discovered at Kimberley , prompting
16166-418: The very fine breech-loading Westley Richards – calibre 45; paper cartridge; percussion-cap replaced on the nipple manually—they made it exceedingly dangerous for the British to expose themselves on the skyline". Kruger re-equipped the Transvaal army, importing 37,000 of the latest 7x57 mm Mauser Model 1895 rifles supplied by Germany, and some 40 to 50 million rounds of ammunition. Some commandos used
16303-527: The war, including the killings of civilians and prisoners, was opened in January 1901. The war had three phases. In the first phase, the Boers mounted preemptive strikes into British-held territory in Natal and the Cape Colony , besieging the British garrisons of Ladysmith , Mafeking , and Kimberley . The Boers then won a series of tactical victories at Stormberg , Magersfontein , Colenso and Spion Kop . In
16440-632: Was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and Orange Free State ) over the Empire's influence in Southern Africa . The Witwatersrand Gold Rush caused a large influx of " foreigners " ( Uitlanders ) to the South African Republic (SAR), mostly British from the Cape Colony . As they, for fear of a hostile takeover of the SAR, were permitted to vote only after fourteen years of residence, they protested to
16577-466: Was a factor in softening the Transvaal government's attitude to the surviving prisoners. Jan C. Smuts wrote, in 1906: The Jameson Raid was the real declaration of war ... And that is so in spite of the four years of truce that followed ... [the] aggressors consolidated their alliance ... the defenders on the other hand silently and grimly prepared for the inevitable". The Jameson Raid alienated many Cape Afrikaners from Britain and united
16714-456: Was a leading imperialist in coalition with the Conservatives . He split both major British parties in the course of his career. He was the father, by different marriages, of Nobel Peace Prize winner Austen Chamberlain and of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain . Chamberlain made his career in Birmingham , first as a manufacturer of screws and then as a notable mayor of the city. He was
16851-514: Was accordingly weakened. Gladstone made no effort to reunite with Chamberlain, and the Liberal Unionists drew closer to the Conservatives. When Hartington took his seat in the House of Lords as the Duke of Devonshire, Chamberlain assumed leadership of the Liberal Unionists in the House of Commons, beginning a productive relationship with Arthur Balfour, Conservative leader in the Commons. Gladstone introduced
16988-526: Was angered by the absence of school commissions or of free, compulsory education. Chamberlain arranged for a delegation of 400 branch members and 46 MPs to visit the prime minister William Ewart Gladstone at 10 Downing Street on 9 March 1870, the first time the two men had met. Chamberlain impressed the Prime Minister with his lucid speech, and during the bill's second reading Gladstone agreed to make amendments that removed church schools from rate-payer control and granted them funding. Liberal MPs, exasperated at
17125-448: Was considered a danger to public health – approximately half of the city's population was dependent on well water, much of which was polluted by sewage. Piped water was supplied on only three days per week, compelling the use of well water and water carts for the rest of the week. Deploring the rising death rate from contagious diseases in the poorest parts of the city, in January 1876 Chamberlain forcibly purchased Birmingham's waterworks for
17262-465: Was disabled by a stroke, ending his public career. Despite never becoming Prime Minister, he was one of the most important British politicians of his day, as well as a renowned orator and municipal reformer. Historian David Nicholls notes that his personality was not attractive: he was arrogant and ruthless and much hated. He never succeeded in his grand ambitions. However, he was a highly proficient grassroots organiser of democratic instincts, and played
17399-419: Was disclosed in the British press, it generated a storm of anti-German feeling. In the baggage of the raiding column, to the great embarrassment of Britain, the Boers found telegrams from Cecil Rhodes and the other plotters in Johannesburg. Chamberlain had approved Rhodes' plans to send armed assistance in the case of a Johannesburg uprising, but he quickly moved to condemn the raid. Rhodes was severely censured at
17536-548: Was dissolved, and in the July 1886 general election , the Conservatives and Liberal Unionists, led by Lord Salisbury and Lord Hartington , agreed to an alliance. Chamberlain's position in the alliance was awkward; unlike Hartington, he was intensely mistrusted by and unable to influence the Conservatives, and he was also despised by the Gladstonians. Gladstone himself observed, "There is a difference between Hartington and Chamberlain, that
17673-533: Was enlarged and a number of new parks were opened. Construction of the Council House was begun, while the Victoria Law Courts were built on Corporation Street. The mayoralty helped make Chamberlain a national as well as local figure, with contemporaries commenting upon his youthfulness and dress, including "a black velvet coat, jaunty eyeglass in eye, red neck-tie drawn through a ring". His contribution to
17810-576: Was equipped with Maxim machine guns and some artillery pieces. The plan was to make a three-day dash to Johannesburg and trigger an uprising by the primarily British expatriate uitlanders, organised by the Johannesburg Reform Committee , before the Boer commandos could mobilise. However, the Transvaal authorities had advance warning of the Jameson Raid and tracked it from the moment it crossed
17947-436: Was nevertheless happy to gather intelligence for the British against the Boers because of their cruelty to Africans. The British government went against the advice of its generals (including Wolseley) and declined to send substantial reinforcements to South Africa before war broke out. Secretary of State for War Lansdowne did not believe the Boers were preparing for war and that if Britain were to send large numbers of troops to
18084-550: Was not able to provide advanced education for all his children, and at the age of 16 Joseph was apprenticed to the Worshipful Company of Cordwainers and worked for the family business (their warehouse having been at Milk Street, London , for three generations) making quality leather shoes. At 18 he joined his uncle's screw-making business, Nettlefolds of Birmingham , in which his father had invested. The company became known as Nettlefold and Chamberlain when Chamberlain became
18221-487: Was prepared to lead a revolt and field Radical candidates in borough elections. Although Gladstone did not hold the NLF in high regard, he was eager to reconcile Chamberlain and other Radicals to the mainly Whig cabinet, and he invited Chamberlain to become President of the Board of Trade on 27 April 1880. After his success in municipal politics, Chamberlain was frustrated at his inability to introduce more creative legislation at
18358-592: Was the question of who would control and benefit most from the very lucrative Witwatersrand gold mines discovered by Jan Gerrit Bantjes in June 1884. The first European settlement in South Africa was founded at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652, and thereafter administered as part of the Dutch Cape Colony . The Cape was governed by the Dutch East India Company, until its bankruptcy in the late 18th century, and
18495-656: Was thereafter governed directly by the Netherlands . As a result of political turmoil in the Netherlands, the British occupied the Cape three times during the Napoleonic Wars , and the occupation became permanent after British forces defeated the Dutch at the Battle of Blaauwberg in 1806. At the time, the colony was home to about 26,000 colonists settled under Dutch rule. A relative majority represented old Dutch families brought to
18632-433: Was transformed: Approximately 25,000 men equipped with modern rifles and artillery could mobilise within two weeks. However, President Kruger's victory in the Jameson Raid incident did nothing to resolve the fundamental problem of finding a formula to conciliate the uitlanders, without surrendering the independence of the Transvaal. The failure to gain improved rights for uitlanders (notably the goldfields dynamite tax) became
18769-534: Was unwilling to become mired in a distant war, requiring substantial troop reinforcement and expense, for what was perceived at the time to be a minimal return. An armistice ended the war, and subsequently a peace treaty was signed with the Transvaal President Paul Kruger. In June 1884, British imperial interests were ignited in the discovery by Jan Gerrit Bantjes of what would prove to be the world's largest deposit of gold-bearing ore at an outcrop on
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