Joseph Chamberlain

The Right Honourable Joseph Chamberlain (8 July 1836–2 July 1914) was a British statesman. In his early years he was a successful businessman, a radically minded Liberal, a campaigner for educational reform and became President of the Board of Trade. Later he re-emerged in alliance with the Conservatives, as an imperialist and protectionist, serving as Colonial Secretary. Despite never becoming Prime Minister, he is regarded as one of the most important British politicians of the late 19th century and early 20th century, a colourful character and a renowned orator. He was the father of Sir Austen Chamberlain (1863 to 1937) and Neville Chamberlain (1869 to 1940).

Statesman

Colonial Secretary

Having agreed to a set of policies, the Conservatives and Liberal Unionists formed a government on 24 June 1895. Salisbury offered four Cabinet posts to Liberal Unionists, two of whom were Chamberlain and Devonshire. The latter became Lord President of the Council, whilst to Chamberlain, Salisbury and Balfour offered any Cabinet position with the exception of the Foreign Office or Leadership of the House of Commons. To the surprise of Salisbury and Balfour, Chamberlain declined a post at the Treasury, unwilling to be constrained by conservative spending plans, and also refused the Home Office. Instead, Chamberlain asked to be given the Colonial Office, a department that traditionally held little attraction to politicians.

Related Topics:
24 June - Lord President of the Council - Foreign Office - Leadership of the House of Commons - Home Office

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Amidst European competition for territory and popular sentiment surrounding imperialism, Chamberlain saw the potential of using the Colonial Office as a platform for global prominence. Opportunities were present for the expansion of the British Empire and the reordering of imperial trade and resources. Furthermore, the Colonial Office would provide Chamberlain with the chance of pursuing the ambition of fostering closer relations between Britain and the settler colonies, aiming for the remoulding of the empire on federal lines into a family of Anglo-Saxon nations. Chamberlain had always been a keen imperialist and an advocate of a stronger empire ? in 1887 whilst in Toronto, he declared that "I should think our patriotism was warped and stunted indeed if it did not embrace the Greater Britain beyond the seas". Much had been proposed with regards to an imperial federation, a more coherent system of imperial defence and preferential tariffs, yet by 1895 when Chamberlain arrived at the Colonial Office, little had been achieved. Chamberlain felt that there was "work to be done" as Colonial Secretary, and could be assured of support from Conservative backbenchers, traditionally keen proponents of Empire.

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Chamberlain took formal charge at the Colonial Office on 1 July 1895, shortly before his fifty-ninth birthday. With victory assured in the 1895 general election, Chamberlain began his work in earnest. His first move was to alter the character of the Colonial Office building itself, ordering the removal of old carpets, furniture and wallpaper, the purchasing of new maps and the installation of electric lighting to end the department's reliance on candlelight. Having transformed the building from a dingy backwater to a worthy hub of the colonial empire, Chamberlain left for the Pyrenees to holiday for seven weeks, before returning in October. With the empire at its zenith, Chamberlain's responsibilities at the department were vast, governing over ten million square miles of territory and 50 million people of exceptional diversity. Believing that positive government action could bind the empire's peoples closer to the crown, Chamberlain stated confidently that "I believe that the British race is the greatest of the governing races that the world has ever seen?It is not enough to occupy great spaces of the world's surface unless you can make the best of them. It is the duty of a landlord to develop his estate." Accordingly, Chamberlain advocated investment in the tropics of Africa, the West Indies and other underdeveloped possessions, a policy which earned him the nickname 'Joseph Africanus' among the press.

Related Topics:
1 July - 1895 general election

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Jameson Raid

In November 1895, a piece of territory of strategic importance, the Pitsani Strip, part of the Bechuanaland Protectorate and bordering the Transvaal, was ceded to the British South Africa Company by the Colonial Office, overtly for the protection of a railway running through the territory. Cecil Rhodes, the Prime Minister of the Cape Colony and managing director of the Company was eager to bring South Africa under British dominion, and encouraged the disenfranchised Uitlanders of the Boer republics to resist Afrikaner domination. Rhodes hoped that the intervention of the Company's private army could spark an Uitlander uprising, leading to the overthrow of the Transvaal government. Rhodes' forces were assembled in the Pitsani Strip for this purpose. Chamberlain informed Salisbury on Boxing Day that an uprising was expected, and was aware that an invasion would be launched, but was not sure when. The subsequent Jameson Raid was a debacle, leading to the invading force's surrender. Chamberlain, at Highbury, received a secret telegram from the Colonial Office on 31 December informing him of the beginning of the Raid. Sympathetic to the ultimate goals of the Raid, Chamberlain was uncomfortable with the timing of the invasion and remarked that "if this succeeds it will ruin me. I'm going up to London to crush it". He swiftly travelled by train to the Colonial Office, ordering Sir Hercules Robinson, Governor-General of the Cape Colony, to repudiate the actions of Jameson and warned Rhodes that the Company's Charter would be in danger if it was discovered that the Cape Prime Minister was involved in the Raid. The prisoners were returned to London for trial, and the Transvaal government received considerable compensation from the Company. During the trial of Jameson, Rhodes' solicitor, Bourchier Hawksley, refused to produce cablegrams that had passed between Rhodes and his agents in London during November and December 1895. According to Hawksley, these demonstrated that the Colonial Office 'influenced the actions of those in South Africa' who embarked on the Raid, and even that Chamberlain had transferred control of the Pitsani Strip to facilitate an invasion. Nine days before the Raid, Chamberlain had asked his Assistant Under-Secretary to encourage Rhodes to 'Hurry Up' because of the deteriorating Venezuelan situation.{{mn|JamesonRaid|1}}

Related Topics:
Bechuanaland Protectorate - British South Africa Company - Cecil Rhodes - South Africa - Uitlanders - Boer - Afrikaner - Boxing Day - Jameson Raid - Highbury - 31 December - Sir Hercules Robinson - Jameson - Venezuelan

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In June 1896, Chamberlain offered his resignation to Salisbury, having shown the Prime Minister one or more of the cablegrams implicating him in the Raid's planning. Salisbury refused to accept the offer, possibly reluctant to lose the government's most popular figure. Salisbury reacted aggressively in support of Chamberlain, supporting the Colonial Secretary's threat to withdraw the Company's charter if the cablegrams were revealed. Accordingly, Rhodes refused to reveal the cablegrams, and as no evidence was produced showing that Chamberlain was complicit in the Raid's planning, the Select Committee appointed to investigate the events surrounding the Raid had no choice but to absolve Chamberlain of all responsibility.

Related Topics:
1896 - Select Committee

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Venezuelan boundary dispute

In July 1895, the American Secretary of State Richard Olney demanded that Britain submit a boundary dispute with Venezuela to impartial arbitration, invoking the Monroe Doctrine. Chamberlain favoured a more belligerent stance, but Salisbury chose to tread tentatively, and even the Prime Minister's cautious reply to the American demand provoked President Cleveland to imply in December 1895 that war may be the result of British non-compliance. For Chamberlain, the United States' bellicosity was an embarrassment considering his marriage to an American and his professed admiration of the United States' system of government. Despite privately calling Cleveland a 'coarse-grained man' and a 'bully', Chamberlain gradually favoured the pragmatic approach undertaken by Salisbury. The Prime Minister calmed fears of war by agreeing to an arbitration treaty in February 1896, in which two American judges, two British judges and a Russian would decide the issue. Furthermore, Chamberlain endeavoured to visit the United States in the autumn of 1896 in order to negotiate with Olney. The discussions were conducted cordially, thereby improving Anglo-American relations, resulting in Britain's pro-U.S. neutrality during the Spanish-American War of 1898. In October 1899, the tribunal convened to settle the Venezuelan dispute agreed to an Award loosely based on the Schomburgk Line.

Related Topics:
Secretary of State - Richard Olney - Monroe Doctrine - Anglo-American relations - Spanish-American War - 1898 - 1899

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West Africa

Chamberlain believed that West Africa had huge economic potential, and shared Salisbury's suspicions of the French, who were manifestly Britain's principle rival in the region. Demonstrating his expansionist credentials, Chamberlain sanctioned the conquest of the Ashanti in 1895, with Colonel Sir Francis Scott successfully occupying Kumasi and annexing the territory to the Gold Coast. Using the emergency funds of the colonies of Lagos, Sierra Leone and the Gold Coast, he ordered the construction of a railway for the newly conquered area. The Colonial Office's bold strategy brought it into conflict with the Royal Niger Company, chaired by Sir George Goldie, which possessed title rights to large stretches of the Niger. Interested in the area as an economic asset, Goldie had yet to assume governing responsibilities, leaving the territory open to incursion by the French, who sent small garrisons to the area with the intention of controlling it. Whilst Salisbury wished to subordinate the needs of West Africa to the requirement of establishing British supremacy on the Nile, Chamberlain believed that every territory was worth competing for. Chamberlain was dismayed to learn in 1897 that the French had expanded from Dahomey to Bussa, a town claimed by Goldie. Further French growth in the region would have cut Lagos off from territory in the hinterland, thereby limiting its economic growth. Chamberlain therefore argued that Britain should 'even at the cost of war ? to keep an adequate Hinterland for the Gold Coast, Lagos & the Niger Territories.' Under pressure from Chamberlain, Salisbury sanctioned Sir Edward Monson, leading the British delegation in Paris, to be more assertive in negotiations. The subsequent concessions made by the French encouraged Chamberlain, who arranged for a military force, led by Frederick Lugard, to occupy areas claimed by Britain, thereby undermining French claims in the region. In the risky 'chequerboard' strategy, Lugard's forces occupied territories claimed by the French to counterbalance the establishment of French garrisons in British territory. At times, French and British troops were stationed merely a few yards from each other, heightening the risk of war. Nevertheless, Chamberlain correctly assumed that French officers in the region were under orders to act without fighting the British, and in March 1898, the French proposed to settle the issue ? Bussa was returned to Britain, and the French were limited to the town of Bona. Chamberlain had successfully imposed British control over the Niger and the inland territories of Sokoto, later fusing them together as Nigeria. Furthermore, he had demonstrated his ability to influence and alter Salisbury's foreign policy, thereby enhancing his presence in international negotiations.

Related Topics:
Ashanti - Kumasi - Gold Coast - Lagos - Sierra Leone - Royal Niger Company - Sir George Goldie - Niger - Nile - Dahomey - Frederick Lugard - Sokoto - Nigeria

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China

The seizure of Kiaochow by Germany in November 1897 and Russia's occupation of Port Arthur signalled deepening western involvement in China and portended a scramble perceivably threatened British interests in the country. Britain dominated China's foreign trade and was responsible for the supervision of its tariffs. In the event of China's partition, the country's value as a market for British goods would decrease ? both Salisbury and Chamberlain therefore recognised the value of maintaining China's integrity. Whilst Salisbury sought a local agreement with Russia to reduce her concern for France in the Mediterranean, Chamberlain sought an understanding with another power, using the dramatic term 'alliance'. His first suggestion was for an understanding with Japan in order to counterbalance the growing influence of Russia. Viewing the issue in economic terms, Chamberlain saw the seizures by Germany and Russia not as part of military strategy, but as an attempt to encroach on Britain's Chinese market. When the issue was put before the cabinet early in 1898, Salisbury hoped to keep Port Arthur open to trade by cooperating with the Russians in granting a loan to the Chinese government. Arguing that British naval power could not stop Russia, Chamberlain favoured a coordinated policy with the United States and Japan, in which the three powers would demand that any concessions extracted from China by Russia should be shared among the other powers. The Cabinet agreed to the occupation of Weihaiwei as compensation, yet Chamberlain saw this as an empty gesture and regarding the fate of the Chinese Empire to be at stake, sought to strengthen Britain's position when Salisbury was weakened by illness in February 1898. Believing that Britain's difficulties in China were accentuated by her isolation, Chamberlain contemplated an understanding with Germany.

Related Topics:
Kiaochow - Port Arthur - Weihaiwei

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Anglo-German Alliance negotiations: first attempt

On 29 March 1898, a meeting was arranged between Chamberlain and the German Ambassador in London, Count Paul von Hatzfeldt by Hermann von Eckardstein, who had described the Colonial Secretary as 'unquestionably the most energetic and enterprising personality of the Salisbury ministry.' The conversation between the two was strictly unofficial, nominally about colonial matters and the subject of China. Chamberlain surprised von Hatzfeldt by assuring him that Britain and Germany had common interests, that the rupture over the Jameson Raid and the Kruger Telegram was an abnormality and that a defensive alliance should be formulated between the two countries, with specific regards to China. Von Hatzfeldt was placed in a difficult situation, for Admiral Tirpitz's First Navy Bill was being scrutinised by the Reichstag, which necessitated Britain being characterised as a threat to Germany. Secretary for Foreign Affairs, von Bülow did not believe that Britain would be a reliable ally because of the British Cabinet's ability to reverse the diplomatic policy of its predecessors, and because of the traditional problems presented by Parliament and public opinion with regards to firm alliance commitments. Furthermore, von Bülow regarded the cooperation of Russia in China more desirable than that of Britain. Unwilling to reach and agreement with Britain, von Hatzfeldt was instructed to make an agreement appear likely without ever conceding ground to Chamberlain. No commitments were made, and on 25 April Hatzfeldt asked for colonial concessions from Chamberlain as a precursor to warmer relationships. Having won nothing concrete, Chamberlain rejected the proposal, thereby terminating the first talks for an Anglo-German alliance. Whilst Salisbury was unsurprised by the German attitude, Chamberlain was disappointed, and spoke publicly of Britain's diplomatic predicament at Birmingham on 13 May, saying that "We have had no allies. I am afraid we have had no friends?.We stand alone." When the Transvaal formally rejected the notion of British suzerainty as enshrined in the peace treaty of 1881, Chamberlain and Balfour prompted Salisbury to initiate discussions with Portugal regarding Delagoa Bay. In the event of war with Transvaal, Chamberlain and Salisbury wanted Portugal to halt arms shipments to the port bound for the Boer republics. Von Hatzfeldt intervened to insist on German participation in the negotiations, which resulted in the 30 August Anglo-German Convention, which agreed to the partition of the Portuguese Empire in event of her bankruptcy. This cordial settlement encouraged Chamberlain to keep hopes for a general Anglo-German agreement alive.

Related Topics:
29 March - Count Paul von Hatzfeldt - Kruger Telegram - Admiral Tirpitz - Reichstag - Secretary for Foreign Affairs - Von Bülow - 25 April - 13 May - Delagoa Bay - 30 August

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Samoa and Anglo-German Alliance negotiations: second attempt

An 1888 treaty established an Anglo-US-German tripartite protectorate over Samoa, and when King Malietoa Laupepa died in 1898, a contest over the succession ensued. The German candidate, Mataafa, was strongly opposed by the Americans and the British, and civil war broke out. Salisbury rejected a German suggestion that they ask the United States to withdraw from Samoa. Meanwhile, Chamberlain, smarting from the dismissal of his alliance proposal with Germany, turned down the suggestion that Britain withdraw from Samoa in return for compensation elsewhere, remarking dismissively to Eckardstein "Last year we offered you everything. Now it is too late." Official and public German opinion was incensed by Britain's bullishness, and Chamberlain worked hard to improve Anglo-German relations by facilitating a visit to Britain by Kaiser Wilhelm II. Salisbury's decision to attend to his ill wife allowed Chamberlain to assume control of British policy in July 1899. In November, an agreement was reached with Germany over Samoa in which Britain agreed to withdraw in return for Tonga and the Solomon Islands, and the dropping of German claims to British territory in West Africa.

Related Topics:
Samoa - Kaiser Wilhelm II - Tonga - Solomon Islands

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On 21 November 1899, at a banquet held in St. George's Hall, Windsor Castle, Chamberlain reiterated his desire for an understanding between Britain and Germany to Wilhelm II. The Kaiser retorted that he did not want to upset relations with Russia, and pointed out that Salisbury's traditional strategy of not keeping peacetime commitments stood in the way of any Anglo-German agreement. Despite his reservations, Wilhelm II spoke positively about relations with Britain. Because of the death of Salisbury's wife, Chamberlain was given the responsibility of visiting von Bülow at Windsor Castle instead of the Prime Minister. Chamberlain argued that Britain, Germany and the United States should combine to check France and Russia, yet von Bülow regarded the assistance of Britain to be of little use in the event of war with Russia. Von Bülow gave Chamberlain some consolation by suggesting that the Colonial Secretary should speak positively of Germany in public. Chamberlain implied from von Bülow's statement that the German Secretary for Foreign Affairs would do the same in the Reichstag. The day after the departure of the Kaiser and von Bülow, on 30 November, Chamberlain grandiloquently spoke at Leicester of "a new Triple Alliance between the Teutonic race and the two great trans-Atlantic branches of the Anglo-Saxon race which would become a potent influence on the future of the world." Whilst the Kaiser was complimentary, Friedrich von Holstein described Chamberlain's speech as a 'blunder' and the Times attacked Chamberlain for using the term 'alliance' without inhibition. On 11 December, von Bülow rose in the Reichstag to speak in support of the Second Navy Bill, and made no reference to an understanding with Britain, instead portraying her as a declining nation jealous of Germany. Chamberlain was startled and von Hatzfeldt assured him that von Bülow's motivation was to fend off opponents in the Reichstag. Chamberlain's second attempt to formulate an Anglo-German agreement had been publicly rebuked, and although he was irritated by von Bülow's behaviour, he still harboured hope that an understanding could be reached.

Related Topics:
21 November - Windsor Castle - 30 November - Leicester - Friedrich von Holstein - 11 December

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South Africa

The growing wealth of the Transvaal was the cause of concern to the British government, and in particular, to Chamberlain. Having long wished for the federation of South Africa under the British crown, it appeared that the commercial attraction of the Transvaal would ensure that any future union of Southern African states would be as a Boer dominated republic outside the British Empire. Chamberlain sought to use the disenfranchised Uitlanders in the Transvaal and Orange Free State as a means by which to bring British domination over the Boer republics. By successfully pushing for Uitlanders' civil rights, British influence in the governance of the Boer republics would markedly increase, thereby warding off the prospect of Afrikaner supremacy in South Africa. Twinned with the strategy of championing the Uitlanders was the steady exertion of military pressure. In April 1897, Chamberlain asked the Cabinet to increase the British garrison in South Africa by three to four thousand men ? consequently, the quantity of British forces in the area grew over the next two years. The government appointed Sir Alfred Milner to the posts of High Commissioner and Governor-General of the Cape in August 1897 to pursue the issue more decisively. Within a year, Milner concluded that war with the Transvaal was inevitable, and he worked with Chamberlain to publicise the cause of the Uitlanders to the British people. A meeting between President Kruger and Milner at Bloemfontein in May 1899 failed to resolve the Uitlander problem - Kruger's concessions were considered inadequate by Milner, and the Boers left the conference convinced that the British were determined to settle the future of South Africa by force. By now, British public opinion was fully supportive of a war in support of the Uitlanders, allowing Chamberlain to successfully press for further troop reinforcements. By the beginning of October 1899, nearly 20,000 British troops were based in the Cape and Natal, with thousands more en route. On 9 October, the Transvaal sent an ultimatum demanding that British troops be withdrawn from her frontiers, and that any forces destined for South Africa be turned back. When the British government rejected the ultimatum, the Transvaal and the Orange Free State declared war on 12 October.

Related Topics:
Sir Alfred Milner - President Kruger - Bloemfontein - Natal - 9 October - 12 October

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Boer War: early defeat and false dawn

The early months of the war were disastrous for Britain. Boer commandos besieged the towns of Ladysmith, Mafeking and Kimberley, whilst ten thousand Cape Afrikaner rebels joined the Boers in fighting the British. In mid-December 1899, during 'Black Week', the British Army suffered reverses at Stormberg, Magersfontein and Colenso. In private, Chamberlain was critical of the British Army's military performance and was often vexed by the attitude of the War Office. When the Boers bombarded Ladysmith with Creusot ninety-four pounder siege guns, Chamberlain pushed for the despatch of comparable artillery to the theatre of war, but was exasperated by the Secretary of State for War, Lord Lansdowne's argument that such weapons required platforms that needed a year of preparation, even though the Boers operated their 'Long Tom' without elaborate mountings. Chamberlain was also prominent in stiffening the country's resolve amidst the British Army's early defeats by making a number of speeches to reassure the public. Furthermore, he worked to strengthen bonds between Britain and the self-governing colonies, gratefully taking receipt of imperial contingents from Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In particular, the contributions of mounted men from the settler colonies helped fill the British Army's shortfall in mounted infantry, vital in fighting the mobile Boers. Showing further sensitivity to the colonies, Chamberlain steered the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act through the House of Commons, hoping that the newly established federation would adopt a positive attitude towards imperial trade and fighting the war. Wishing to reconcile the British and Afrikaner populations of the Cape, Chamberlain was resistant to Milner's desire to suspend the constitution of the colony, a move that would have given Milner autocratic powers. Chamberlain was the government's foremost figure in the defence of the war's conduct, facing a barrage of abuse from prominent anti-war personalities, including David Lloyd George, a former admirer of the Colonial Secretary. When in January 1900 the government faced a vote of censure in the House of Commons over the handling of the war, Chamberlain conducted the defence. On 5 February, Chamberlain spoke effectively in the Commons for over an hour whilst referring to very few notes. He defended the war, espoused the virtues of a South African federation and promoted the empire, whilst speaking with a confidentiality which earned him a sympathetic hearing. The vote of censure was subsequently defeated by 213 votes. British fortunes changed after January 1900 with the appointment of Lord Roberts to command British forces in South Africa. Bloemfontein was occupied on 13 March, Johannesburg on 31 May and Pretoria on 5 June. When Roberts formally annexed the Transvaal on 3 September, the Salisbury ministry, emboldened by the apparent victory in South Africa, asked for the dissolution of Parliament, with an election set for October.

Related Topics:
War - Commandos - Ladysmith - Mafeking - Kimberley - Black Week - Stormberg - Magersfontein - Colenso - War Office - Lord Lansdowne - Canada - Australia - New Zealand - Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act - 5 February - Lord Roberts - 13 March - Johannesburg - 31 May - Pretoria - 5 June - 3 September

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