OCR A-Level History A H505
Y101: Alfred and the Making of England 871–1016Unit group 1
Y102: Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman Conquest 1035–1107Unit group 1
Y103: England 1199–1272Unit group 1
Y104: England 1377–1455Unit group 1
Y105: England 1445–1509: Lancastrians, Yorkists and Henry VIIUnit group 1
Y106: England 1485–1558: The Early TudorsUnit group 1
Y107: England 1547–1603: The Later TudorsUnit group 1
Y108: The Early Stuarts and the Origins of the Civil War 1603–1660Unit group 1
Y109: The Making of Georgian Britain 1678–c.1760Unit group 1
Y110: From Pitt to Peel 1783–1853Unit group 1
Y111: Liberals, Conservatives and the Rise of Labour 1846–1918Unit group 1
Y112: Britain 1900–1951Unit group 1
Y113: Britain 1930–1997Unit group 1
Y201: The Rise of Islam c.550–750Unit group 2
Y202: Charlemagne 768–814Unit group 2
Y203: The Crusades and the Crusader States 1095–1192Unit group 2
Y204: Genghis Khan and the Explosion From the Steppes c.1167–1405Unit group 2
Y205: Exploration, Encounters and Empire 1445–1570Unit group 2
Y206: Spain 1469–1556Unit group 2
Y207: The German Reformation and the Rule of Charles v 1500–1559Unit group 2
Y208: Philip II 1556–1598Unit group 2
Y209: African Kingdoms c.1400–c.1800: Four Case StudiesUnit group 2
Y210: Russia 1645–1741Unit group 2
Y211: The Rise and Decline of the Mughal Empire in India 1526–1739Unit group 2
Y212: The American Revolution 1740–1796Unit group 2
Y213: The French Revolution and the Rule of Napoleon 1774–1815Unit group 2
Y214: France 1814–1870Unit group 2
Y215: Italy and Unification 1789–1896Unit group 2
Y216: The USA in the 19th Century: Westward Expansion and Civil War 1803–c.1890Unit group 2
Y217: Japan 1853–1937Unit group 2
Y218: International Relations 1890–1941Unit group 2
Y219: Russia 1894–1941Unit group 2
Y220: Italy 1896–1943Unit group 2
Y221: Democracy and Dictatorships in Germany 1919–1963Unit group 2
Y222: The Cold War in Asia 1945–1993Unit group 2
Y223: The Cold War in Europe 1941–1995Unit group 2
Y224: Apartheid and Reconciliation: South African Politics 1948–1999Unit group 2
Y301: The Early Anglo-Saxons c.400–800Unit group 3
Y302: The Viking Age c.790–1066Unit group 3
Y303: English Government and the Church 1066–1216Unit group 3
Y304: The Church and Medieval Heresy c.1100–1437Unit group 3
Y305: The Renaissance c.1400–c.1600Unit group 3
Y306: Rebellion and Disorder Under the Tudors 1485–1603Unit group 3
Y307: Tudor Foreign Policy 1485–1603Unit group 3
Y308: The Catholic Reformation 1492–1610Unit group 3
Y309: The Ascendancy of the Ottoman Empire 1453–1606Unit group 3
Y310: The Development of the Nation State: France 1498–1610Unit group 3
Y311: The Origins and Growth of the British Empire 1558–1783Unit group 3
Y312: Popular Culture and the Witchcraze of the 16th and 17th CenturiesUnit group 3
Y313: The Ascendancy of France 1610–1715Unit group 3
Y314: The Challenge of German Nationalism 1789–1919Unit group 3
Y315: The Changing Nature of Warfare 1792–1945Unit group 3
Y316: Britain and Ireland 1791–1921Unit group 3
Y317: China and Its Rulers 1839–1989Unit group 3
Y318: Russia and Its Rulers 1855–1964Unit group 3
Y319: Civil Rights in the USA 1865–1992Unit group 3
Y320: From Colonialism to Independence: The British Empire 1857–1965Unit group 3
Y321: The Middle East 1908–2011: Ottomans to Arab SpringUnit group 3
Y320: From Colonialism to Independence: The British Empire 1857–1965
The British Empire and its impact on international relations: European rivalry, isolation and the First World War
- 1 thing to know
- Unit group 3
Overview
Recall questions on imperial rivalry with European powers, colonial confrontations, Splendid Isolation and its end, the Second Anglo-Boer War, earlier colonial wars and the Empire’s part in and position after the First World War.
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Questions from this subtopic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
How did the Empire involve Britain in European rivalry in the nineteenth century?
Model answer
Defence of the route to India made the fate of the Ottoman Empire a British interest and set Britain against Russian expansion in the Eastern Question and in the Great Game across Persia and Afghanistan, a rivalry managed at the Congress of Berlin in 1878, where Disraeli checked Russian gains and acquired Cyprus as a base.
- 2
Which colonial confrontations most strained relations with other European powers?
Model answer
The meeting of Marchand and Kitchener at Fashoda on the Upper Nile in 1898 brought Britain and France to the brink of war before France withdrew, German intervention in the Moroccan crises of 1905 and 1911 tested the new entente, and the German naval programme turned imperial rivalry into a direct threat to British security.
- 3
Explain what was meant by Splendid Isolation.
Model answer
It described the late Victorian preference, associated with Salisbury, for avoiding binding peacetime alliances so that Britain could act as its worldwide interests dictated, relying on naval supremacy and on holding the balance in Europe rather than on continental commitments.
- 4
Why and how did Britain abandon Splendid Isolation?
Model answer
The Boer War revealed how friendless and militarily stretched Britain was, while the German fleet and Russian pressure in Asia exceeded what the navy could cover alone; Britain therefore made an alliance with Japan in 1902 to guard its Far Eastern interests, settled colonial quarrels with France in the Entente Cordiale of 1904 and with Russia in the convention of 1907 over Persia, Afghanistan and Tibet.
- 5
What was the international impact of the Second Anglo-Boer War?
Model answer
It cost over £200 million and required some 450,000 imperial troops to defeat two small republics, the concentration camps drew condemnation across Europe and from British radicals, and the war left Britain diplomatically isolated, which prompted the creation of the Committee of Imperial Defence in 1902 and the search for the ententes.
- 6
What did earlier colonial wars reveal about imperial power?
Model answer
Defeats such as the destruction of a British column by the Zulu at Isandlwana in 1879 and the fall of Khartoum in 1885 caused political crises at home out of all proportion to their strategic weight, showing how far imperial prestige had become a domestic political commodity that governments could not afford to lose.
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Every question in Y320: From Colonialism to Independence: The British Empire 1857–1965, on a schedule.
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