The History Book

234

the same spirit. A remarkable

4,600 miles (7,400km) long and

spanning seven time zones, it

remains the longest continuous

railway in the world. It played a key

role not just in the settlement of

Russia’s vast Siberian territories,

but in Russia’s encroachment on

parts of northern China, too.

The impact of the telegraph

was just as significant, allowing

messages to be communicated

along electrical lines. Samuel Morse

devised the system in the United

States in the 1830s, and the first

telegraph line was inaugurated in

May 1844. Within a decade, there

were 20,000 miles (32,200km)

of telegraph cable in the US.

The first telegraph cable across

the Atlantic, laid in 1858, worked for

only two weeks. But by 1866, a new

cable had been installed, capable of

transmitting 120 words per minute.

By 1870, a telegraph link had been

established between London and

Bombay; this was then extended to

Australia in 1872 and New Zealand

in 1876. By 1902, the United States

was linked to Hawaii. This was the

first near-instant international

communications system.

The Great Eastern

The ship responsible for laying the

transatlantic cable in 1866 was the

Great Eastern, designed by the

most visionary engineer of the

first phase of the Industrial

Revolution, Isambard Kingdom

Brunel. Designed to carry 4,000

passengers from England to

Australia non-stop (and to return

to England without refueling),

the ship was overly ambitious in

concept and a commercial failure.

However, it was indicative

of a trend toward larger, faster,

and safer ships. Unlike the Great

Eastern, which was built of iron,

later, steel-built, propeller-driven

ships would prove more versatile.

Their introduction coincided with

the development of more powerful

and efficient steam engines.

Steamships and trade

The decline of the sailing ship

further transformed imperial

trade. One notable result was

the introduction of a series of

ever-larger passenger ships. The

transatlantic route saw the most

obvious developments. In 1874, the

British steamer Britannic, capable

of generating 5,500 horsepower,

set a new east–west Atlantic

record of just under eight days.

In 1909, the Mauretania, which

generated 70,000 horsepower and

carried over 2,000 passengers,

set a new record of four days

and 10 hours, cruising at an

average speed of 26 knots, or

30mph (48km/h).

New types of merchant ships—

mainly refrigerated vessels—were

also being built. Such developments

show how technology helped drive

trade, making it possible to reach

global markets. The cattle and

sheep farms in South America

(especially Argentina), Australia,

and New Zealand were growing

THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE SUEZ CANAL

The RMS Mauretania, built at

Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, UK, was the

largest and fastest ship in the world.

In 1909, it set a record, sailing across

the Atlantic in less than five days.

in size in line with their own

populations. At the same time,

the number of people in Europe

was also increasing—for example,

Britain swelled from 28 million

to 35 million between 1850 and

1880. Feeding and clothing the
      populations were important
      priorities. Wool could be easily
      transported, but lamb and beef
      could not be shipped because it
      would rot en route—until 1877,
      when 80 tons of frozen beef
      were shipped from Argentina to
      France on board the world’s first
      refrigerated ship. By 1881, regular
      shipments of frozen meat were
      traveling between Australia and
      Britain. The first shipment of
      lamb from New Zealand was made
      the following year. There was a
      vast increase in the export of
      meat from all three countries—
      New Zealand, for example,
      exported 2.3 million frozen sheep
      in 1895, 3.3 million in 1900, and
      5.8 million in 1910.
      The demand for cotton—above
      all in the great textile mills of the
      northwest of England, which by 1850
      were producing up to 50 percent
      of the world’s cloth—led to an
      enormous surge in cotton growing.
      In the southern states of the US, raw
      cotton production increased from

Although gold and silver are

not by nature money, money

is by nature gold and silver.

Karl Marx

Das Kapital

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235

100,000 bales in 1800 to 4 million in

1860. During the American Civil
      War, the southern, Confederate
      states restricted exports of cotton
      in an attempt to force European
      intervention in the war. However,
      the ploy failed, since Britain merely
      increased its imports of raw cotton
      from India. After weaving the
      cotton, it then exported it back to
      India at substantial profits.

Global finance

This complex trading network

could not have grown without

developments in banking and

financing. Throughout the late

19th century, new banks were

established, their capital used

to support enterprises across

the world. At the same time,

London emerged as the world’s

financial capital. By the end of

CHANGING SOCIETIES

the 19th century, the British

pound sterling, its value pegged

at 113 grains of gold, was the

currency against which all others

were measured.

Western overseas investments

dramatically increased. By 1914,

the United States had overseas

assets worth $3.5 billion, Germany

$6 billion, France $8 billion, and

Britain almost $20 billion. Between

them, North America and northern

Europe’s share of world income

in 1860 was about $4.3 billion a

year, 35 percent of the world’s

total. In 1914, it was $18.5 billion,

60 percent of the world’s total.

Patterns of imperialism varied

over the 19th century. In the

British Empire, for example, clear

and increasing distinctions were

drawn between those colonies—

in Africa and Asia, above all—

whose native populations were

governed by Europeans, and

those—such as Canada, South

Africa, Australia, and New

Zealand—deemed capable of

self-government. By 1907, all four

had been granted dominion status.

It was not a privilege extended

to a single British African colony

or to India. ■

The Great Mineral Rush

The search for new sources of

minerals, both precious and

industrial, reached new heights

toward the close of the 19th

century. Discoveries of diamonds

and gold in the US, Canada,

Australia, and—most significantly

of all—South Africa sparked a

frenzy of development. Diamonds

were discovered in South Africa’s

Orange Free State in 1867, and

gold in the Transvaal in 1886.

Both were independent Boer

republics, established by the

descendants of the original

Dutch settlers of what had

become the British Cape Colony.

Their heightened economic

importance reinforced Britain’s

determination to annex them,

which they could do only after

the bitter Boer War (1899–

1902), which stretched Britain’s

military resources to their

limits. The exploitation, both

before and after the conflict,

of the mineral resources of

what in 1910 became the Union

of South Africa by armies of

underpaid black workers would

later prove to be critical in the

institutionalizing of Apartheid.

Working conditions in South

Africa’s gold mines were harsh, and

the work force—mainly young black

men—was exploited and underpaid.

The Suez Canal greatly

shortened travel times—

and eased journeys—

between parts of the

British Empire, such

as England and India.

That distance of 10,800

nautical miles was

cut by more than

40 percent, to just

6,200 nautical miles.

London

Mumbai

Route via

Suez Canal

Suez Canal

Previous route

Countries ruled

by British Empire

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