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43 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Afrikaner
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An Afrikaans-speaking white person in South Africa. Afrikaans is a South African language derived from Dutch. Term often used interchangeably with Boer.
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Annex
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To take territory without approval or formal permission
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Anthropology
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The comparative study of humankind. Despite its claims to scientific status in the nineteenth century, anthropological studies tended to attach value to the differences observed in societies, with some western societies deemed to be more civilised and advanced than other non-western, societies.
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Association Internationale du Congo (AIC)
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The name of the organisation set up by Leopold II in the early 1880s to lobby for a Congo trading zone. Although called an international association, the organisation was largely controlled by Leopold II. Following successful diplomatic lobbying at the Berlin Conference, the zone was recognised as the Congo Free State.
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Balance sheet
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A statement of wealth of a business on a given date, usually on the last date of the financial year. A balance sheet will show liabilities on one side and assets on the other. Both columns will show the same total, with the sharholders' capital (the equity) shown in the liability column.
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Barriers to entry
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Economic or technical factors that prevent or make it difficult for firms to enter a market and compete with existing suppliers.
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Boers
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Non-African population of South Africa descended from Dutch and Huguenot (French Protestant) settlers in the late seventeenth century. The Boers were generally farmers. The word is derived from the Dutch for farmer and was widely used by English-speaking South Africans
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Colonisation
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The process of establishing control and influence over a people or country
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Competitive advantage
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The specific factors that might give one competitor an advantage in a particular business. The term is often used to describe factors that are difficult to challenge, such as natural resources or geographical location.
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Concessionary company
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A company that is allotted a grant of land. And other property from a government in exchange for rent or other commitments. The system was used in some African colonies, including the Congo, to develop exports. In the Congo Free State, concessionaire companies, such as ABIR, were granted large tracts for exploitation, on 30-year leases. The government of the Free State shared in the profits.
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Congo Free State (État indépendant du Congo)
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The name of the central African state established by Leopold II in 1885. The state was recognised as an indépendant state and survived until it was taken over by Belgium in 1908
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Decolonisation
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The withdrawl of a colonial power from a colony, usually resulting in the later's independence.
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Depreciation
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The reduction in value of an asset through wear and tear. A company should make an allowance for the depreciation of its assets before the calculation of profits. For a manufacturing company, the main depreciation is likely to occur to buildings and machinery. There are different methods for calculating depreciation, but, in the late nineteenth century, the most usual method was to take the previous year's valuation add the cost of any investment, and subtract a percentage (this is a form of historic-cost depreciation)
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Empire
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Group of states or contries dominated by one government. An empire can be established through formal systems of rule or informally constituted through trade agreements and/or cultural influence.
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Ethnography
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The study of people through close observation of their culture and characteristics. In the nineteenth century, ethnography was sometimes used to classify humankind along racial lines.
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Free trade
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An ecconomic policy that advocates removing or reducing as far as possible government restrictions on trade, such as tariffs or other legal barriers to commerce. From the 1840s into the 1920s, Britain claimed to allow a free-trade policy and did abolish or reduce most tariffs.
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Genocide
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The deliberate killing of a very large number of people from a particular ethnic group or nation.
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Gentlemanly capitalism
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A phrase used by P. J. Cain and A. G. Hopkins to describe the form of capitalism that they claim dominated British policy from the eighteenth century to the twentieth century. A 'gentlemanly capitalist' elite was formed by the alliance and later merger of the landed aristocracy and the financial interests associated with the City of London.
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Gold standard
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A currency system in which the value of money is tied to a fixed amount of gold held in reserves by a country. Under the gold standar, paper money should be convertible back to gold at any time. The gold standard became popular in the late nineteenth century as a way of limiting inflation by resticting the amount of paper money that could be produced. By the 1880s, a number of nations including Britain, Germany, France and Belgium, used the gold standard.
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Great powers
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Term much used in the nineteenth century to describe the most powerful countries in Europe. Since, for most of the nineteenth century there existed a balance of power in Europe in which no 'super-power' dominated, alliances and conferences between the great powers were of great importance.
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Hegemony
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The dominance of one group over another. the term is most closely associated with Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937). His theory of hegemony argued that dominance was orchestrated by intellectuals who were able to establish the pre-eminence of their ideas as natural and normal, and therefore not open to challenge.
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Imperialism
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The process of extending power and influence over another country by force, persuasion or agreement.
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Imperial preference
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A trade policy proposed in the 1900s that aimed to encourage trade within the British empire. One part of this was to impose a tariff on goods from outside the empire.
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Informal empire
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Term used by historians of empire to describe the sphere of influence beyond the frontiers of the formal empire, in which British power was paramount. Because the influence was informal, it is hard to draw a precise boundary to this sphere of influence.
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Limited liability
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The restriction of an owner's liabilities, and therefore potential losses, in a business to the amount of capital that the owner has invested in it. The 1856 Act allowed British companies to register as limitesd liabilty companies.
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Maxim gun
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The first self-powered machine gun invented by Sir Hiram Maxim in 1883. The gun was more powerfula and destructive than other machine guns, such as the Gatling gun. The Maxim gun was used to brutal effect in the British and other imperial wars in Africa in the late nineteenth century.
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Mercantilism
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A government policy that seeks to maximise national wealth, chiefly by restricting imports and encouraging exports.
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Metropole, Metropolis
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In discussions of empires, the term metropole or metropolis is used to describe the centre of an empire, as oposed to the 'periphery' - the colonies.
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New journalism
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Term used to refer to the expansion in production of cheap newspapers in the late nineteenth century. These papers, such as the Daily Mail, were aimed at a new audience of lower-middle-class and upper-working-class readers. The jornalism was more sensational in tone than the established newspapers such as The Times and often included images alongside stories.
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Occident
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West. Frequently used to mean Europe; or perhaps Europe and North America, when a stark and perhaps unbridgeable contrast is being drawn between European and Asian civilisations. The opposite pole to the Orient.
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Orient
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East, Usualy means China and the Far East, but often also the very different societies of India and South Asia, and sometimes even the Middle East. The opposite pole to the Occident.
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Orientalism
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Traditionally refers to the study of eastern cultures and societies. More recently the term has been associated with the work of Edward Said and used to refer to the way political and intellectual culture constructs ideas about the west and non-west in relation to each other.
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Partnership
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In business terms, an unincorporated business in which the partners share fully in the risks and profits of the business. Partners are fully liable for the debts of the company.
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Patriotism
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Support for one's country. The term is often used to refer to romantic forms of popular nationalism. In history, forms of patrotism have drawn on ideas of the nation to challenge and support the government of the day.
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Protectorate
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A state or territory placed or taken under the protection of a stronger power. Protectorates were often declared by colonial powers over territories where they did not wish to create extensive new systems of government. Existing authorities were allowed to continue, but were now subordinated to the colonial authorities. In practice, of course, colonial rule meant that power relations were irrevocably changed.
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Shares and diveidends
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Shares are the equal portions in the capital of a limited liability company; they entitle the owners to share in the profits of a company. Dividends are the amount of the profits that the directors decide to distribute per share at regular intervals (usually annually). A company may have different classes of share, of which the most usual are preference and ordinary shares. Preference shares are due a fixed dividend each year and must be paid first. The dividends in ordinary shares fluctuate from year to year, depending on how much of the profits the directors decide is available for distribution. The risks of ordinary shares are greater, but the rewards are potentially higher.
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Social Darwinism
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The appropriation of Charles Darwin (1802-1882) theories of evolution and Herbert Spencer's (1820-1903) concept of 'survival of the fittest' to define, classify and order populations of different societies. Darwin's theory on the evolution of the species was applied to the development of human races to identify superior and inferior races and used to justify imperial expansion and white domination. The concept of 'survival of the fittest' became popular in the late nineteenth centuary to explain and validate the competition of social groups for pre-eminence.
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Social imperialism
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Term used by historians to describe the pursuit of an expansionary imperialist policy for internal reasons; for instance, because it was hoped that successful overseas conquests would reduce social tensions.
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Surplus capital
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Money left over beyond what is wanted of needed. The term is used by theorists of empire to describe excess profits made in a capitalist system through the payment of unfairly low wages and the failure to reinvest in industry and manufacture. Surplus capital, therefore, is socially valueless surplus wealth.
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Tariff reform
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A trade policy advocated in Britain in the early twentieth century which proposed that Britain should introduce tariffs against those countries that inposed tariffs on British goods. Tariff reform was often linked to imperial preference.
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Tariffs and tariff wars
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Custom duties imposed on imports. A tariff war is when two or more states impose high tariffs in retaliation for perceived unfair tariffs imposed by the other side.
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Valuation rolls
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Lists of properties compiled annually in Scotland for the purpose of local taxation. The lists included all properties and its rentable value. The English equivalent was named rate-books.
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Weltpolitik
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Literally, 'world policy'. The name given to Germany's foreign policy under Kaiser Wilhelm II, which combined a desire to increase Germany's prestige in the world with obtaining tangible benefits such as colonies.
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