Studies in British Civilisation

Elpida SKLIKA : STUDIES IN BRITISH CIVILISATION BRITISH STUDIES I. The Britain’s Colonial Railways in India In this study, we discuss the period from 1850 up to 1889 in the history of Great Britain, during which we find the beginning of the construction of the Railways in India and some of the events during the first twenty years that demonstrate the beginning of the fall of the British Colonialism in India. At first, in 1846 the revenue commissioner of Bombay, T. Williamson, wrote to the chairman of the Great Indian imperial railway Peninsular Railway Company stating that the works are about to begin (Satya, 2008: 69). The Indian Railways construction and ownership was totally on the hands of private British companies with the backing of the Indian government. “There were on average 1,405 miles under construction every year until the end of the 19th century and some 150 million pounds-sterling was invested in Indian railways (ibid.: 69). In fact, the Indian government became the guarantor to the railway British shareholders and continued to function under this guarantee system. So, the Government of India had a strong influence over railways, but the Government’s role increased with time with nationalization rising (Bogart & Chaudhary, 2011). However, the railway construction “has accelerated the colonisation of the Indian economy and created a new phase of British imperialism” (Satya, 2008: 72). We then move on to a comparative analysis of the advantages that the Railways brought to India, but some negative points of view too. It is still argued if the Railway in India is a gift from the British since the railways were first conceived of by the East India Company for its own benefit. Yet, the actual conception and construction were a colonial plan for “the British shareholders made huge amounts of money by investing in the railways, and the government guaranteed double returns, paid entirely from Indian, and not British, taxes” (Tharmoor, 2017). In addition, the railways helped to connect the country and enable the transport of goods cheaper and faster so that it allowed the development of more markets (Wolmar, 2017a). But again, the use of the new railways was intended to transport extracted resources to British ports for their benefit, however people starting using them, not only the colonists but they served Indian people too. This last benefit was not so positive, since the third-class carriages were lacking amenities, Indians were herded and treated like animals which brought 1 Elpida SKLIKA : STUDIES IN BRITISH CIVILISATION up a lot of hatred against the colonists and rose discrimination and racism in the country (Tharmoor, 2017). Furthermore, the Indian railways offered to India by the British companies, also offered the valuable technical knowledge and infrastructure in India. With this we do not suggest that the railways were welcomed by Indians; they were often seen as the principal instrument of British colonization. For example, the construction of the railway network envisaged by Lord Dalhousie from 1853 was quickly destroyed after the 1857 Rebellion of Indians (Wolmar, 2017a). Also, in the mid-1880s, we find various lines to be built to relieve famine, though they never did so. “They were built with funds from the Rothschild family but the British government decided that their guaranteed profits should be paid by an extra tax on the local peasantry” (Wolmar, 2017b: 2). Finally, another negative point was that in 1859, a local East India Railway engineer brought the cholera epidemic, and infected thousands of labourers working on the railroads and many more serious diseases (malaria, smallpox etc.) were quickly spreading by workers coming from various places of the Indian countryside which became a burden to the progress of the works (Satya, 2008). The guarantee system had also helped to the commercialization of agriculture, which however brought inflation in the prices in the first years and led to productivity decline (Satya, 2008: 75). So, in my opinion, it is difficult to argue in favour of or against the construction of the Indian Railways by the British because even if it started as a British monopole and a right to exploit the country for their colonial benefit, the gains from this network, the infrastructure and the technical knowledge helped India progress in terms of its agriculture, trade, technology, and cultural matters. II. Two Illustrations of Britain’s Railway in India 1st illustration 2 Elpida SKLIKA : STUDIES IN BRITISH CIVILISATION Source1: https://tinyurl.com/nahfp978 This illustration was chosen because it depicts one of the negative aspects that arose during the constructions of the Indian Railways. We mean the spread of famine and different epidemic diseases in the country. This picture depicts the famine in Bengal and the Indian mode of irrigation by extracting water from rivers with small containers carried by humans. The picture was published in “The Illustrated London News on 24 January 1874 on page 732. In particular, the impact of railroads on situations like this shows that Indians have gained the ability to transport commodities over long distances. However, the role of these huge constructions on the everyday life helped catalyse the natural processes of the spread of diseases, which was further magnified in the context of famine (ibid.). For the British, it was not the construction sites, but the failure of rains that caused famine, yet other scholars suggest that undrinkable water and poor soil quality pushed https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.environmentandsoci ety.org%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Fthumbnails%2Fimage%2Findian_irrigation_ 2.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.environmentandsociety.org%2Fexhibitions% 2Ffamines-india%2Finfrastructure-and-railroads&tbnid=bWwvwmG-pvE7M&vet=10CA8QxiAoAmoXChMIiJG5hYn38AIVAAAAAB0AAAAAEAM..i&docid=P n4AKF6Yzqa9M&w=2863&h=1974&itg=1&q=indian%20railways%20construction%20in%20the %2019th%20century&client=safari&ved=0CA8QxiAoAmoXChMIiJG5hYn38AIVAAAA AB0AAAAAEAM 1 2 http://www.environmentandsociety.org/exhibitions/famines-india/infrastructure-and-railroads 3 Elpida SKLIKA : STUDIES IN BRITISH CIVILISATION to such a situation. This image shows that even the high technical expertise could not help progress when the irrigation system was still poor. The latter was the main factor of the spread of epidemic diseases and contributed to the loss of hundreds of lives in India in the mid-19th century. 2nd Illustration The second illustration just below demonstrates the power of the Indian government during all the years of the Railway constructions since it played the role of the guarantor of the works that were ruled only by the British. We see a capture of “Holding court” between the lieutenant-general of the Punjab which takes tea with maharajas and Rajas in 1875. The image is published in The Guardian in 2017 under the article: “ 'But what about the railways ...?' The myth of Britain's gifts to India” and the caption of the photo suggests that many “apologists for empire like to claim that the British brought democracy, the rule of law and trains to India”3. However, we choose this picture because it reflects this flagrant predatory nature of the imperial Britain and coincides with the colonial exploitative project of Railway constructions in India. This project always demanded the guarantee of the Indian government and showed a benevolence façade of the Britain, yet the reality was that the British expected only benefit for them: see the imperialistic character and colonial actions that had led to demoralizing India and finally prepared the fall of the British Empire due to new conflicts that destroyed the security they had managed to build for years (Tharoor, 2017). 3 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/08/india-britain-empire-railways-myths-gifts 4 Elpida SKLIKA : STUDIES IN BRITISH CIVILISATION Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/08/india-britain-empire-railways-myths-gifts III. 1950-1980: The Commonwealth immigrants and the “Windrush generation” in UK In this section, we discuss the period from 1948 up to 1980 in the history of Great Britain, during which we find the massive immigration of citizens from Commonwealth migrating to Great Britain in order to have a better future. The first generation of modern immigration towards UK is called the “Windrush” generation taken after the name of the ship “Empire Windrush” which brought the first large groups of Caribbean citizens of Commonwealth to UK in 1948 (Lassalle, 2016: 183-184). We actually choose that difficult period after the WW2 that made the British government encourage people of the colonies to come to UK to help the nation to regain its proper power and glory4. This generation helped UK fill the gaps in the labour market and took upon jobs mostly in the newly created National Health Service (NHS) and London Transport 4 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/22/windrush-story-not-a-rosy-one-evenbefore-ship-arrived 5 Elpida SKLIKA : STUDIES IN BRITISH CIVILISATION (Chassaigne, 2015). In 1948, the British government passed the “British Nationality Act”, which has been a matter of debate even while those people were approaching UK; an act that also gained royal ascent in July 1948 and the Commonwealth immigrants became British subjects with full rights (ibid.). During the years after this first immigration wave from the Caribbean, the immigration in UK has really risen and the number of migrants asking for citizenship and a job pushed to the establishment of a Cabinet committee in June 1950 that could supervise the immigration and the numbers of coloured people in the country (Olusoga, 2016). After this, the “Commonwealth Immigrants Act” was passed in 1962 and responded to this huge immigration by suggesting that the new arrivals "should return to their own countries"5. This act made it more difficult for new immigrants to settle in the UK, since it asked for a job before they arrived. Yet, in 1965 the injustice has reached a point that a new “British Nationality Act 1965” was adopted (ibid.). This last act in our opinion revealed two different faces of the ongoing situation. On the one hand, the encouragement of new waves of immigrants from other territories and colonies of Great Britain (see also refugees from Kenya and Uganda and immigrants from this falling Empire, people from African colonies and independent Pakistan and India coming to UK), but on the other, these immigrants and their settlement in the UK provoked another wave of mere injustice and racism (see Enoch Powell’s “Rivers of Blood” speech demanding tight controls of the immigrants after the passing of the “1968 Commonwealth Immigrants Act”; Powell, 1969). Finally, in 1972, with the passing of the “Immigration Act”, UK accepted only holders of work permits and people with parents or grandparents born in the UK could gain entry. To sum up, that this period is full of national movements and migration for Great Britain but also discrimination and racism against these newly arrived British subjects. This discrimination provoked lots of marches and riots from both sides and gave to some of UK’s people the feeling of fear and hatred for the different. However, on the brighter side, these waves of immigration in the UK from Commonwealth, Africa and India helped open peoples’ minds in general and made especially major cities such as London multicultural by promoting a new more cosmopolitan and multicultural style of life. 5 http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1965/feb/09/immigrants-to-unitedkingdom#S5CV0706P0_19650209_HOC_64 6 Elpida SKLIKA : STUDIES IN BRITISH CIVILISATION Finally, in order to better understand this turbulent period in Great Britain’s modern history, we choose two indicative photos, one of the Empire Windrush ship and the release of the first immigrants from the Caribbean on the port of UK and another from a later arrival of immigrants in UK. Source: https://www.bedfordindependent.co.uk/bedford-commemorates-windrush-day/ This photo was taken when the Empire Windrush arrived at Tilbury Docks from the Caribbean colonies of Great Britain in 1948 and depicts the actual first wave of the modern immigration in UK. We choose this photo because it illustrates the beginning of a new era, a new page on the British history showing thousands of lives searching to find a better future and settle in with a better job, house and life. This generation of the first immigrants coming to the UK was called after the name of this ship, known until now as the “Windrush generation”. 7 Elpida SKLIKA : STUDIES IN BRITISH CIVILISATION Source: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/sep/14/scale-misery-devastating-inside-storyreporting-windrush-scandal This photo was chosen on the grounds of the same historical period, the arrival of immigrants from the Caribbean in the UK but in 1962. We can see mothers with their daughters holding their small baskets, bags and belongings arriving at the Begona liner, while holding the handrail that leads to their new “promised land”. We also see men following these women and some officers and staff from the ship helping them disembark peacefully. In the close-up of this black-and-white photo, we find faces that seemed happy and that were probably full of hope and impatience to discover their new homes. References The presentation of the references is presented in the American Psychological Association (APA) style. Bogart, D. &Chaudhary, L (2012). “Railways in Colonial India: An Economic Achievement?”. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2073256 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.20 73256 Chassaigne, P. (2015). Histoire de l'Angleterre : des origines à nos jours. Flammarion, collection Champs. Histoire. 8 Elpida SKLIKA : STUDIES IN BRITISH CIVILISATION Despotopoulou, A. (2015). Women and the Railway, 1850-1915. Edinburgh University Press. Gage, J. (1979). “Turner: Rain, Steam, and Speed”. London. In Hugh Honour. Romanticism. New York, 1979, pp. 19–22. Lassalle, D. (2016). “Immigration control, race relations and integration in the United Kingdom in the 1970s”. In Le Royaume-Uni à l’épreuve de al crise 1970-1979, pp. 183-200. MacFadyen, R. (2013). A short History of Britain’s Railways (for Teachers). The Museum of Scottish Railways. Matheson, R. (2007). The Fair Sex – Women and the Great Western Railway. The History Press. Nussbaumer, M. (2020). « Sequence 1 : Textes période 1820-1839 ». Notes du cours d’option : N506 - Rail et culture en Grande-Bretagne 1, Licence LLCER Anglais 2020-2021, ERUDI, Université de Lorraine. Nussbaumer, M. (2020). « Séquence 2 / 1840-1849 / Railway mania. Notes du cours d’option : N506 - Rail et culture en Grande-Bretagne 1, Licence LLCER Anglais 2020-2021, ERUDI, Université de Lorraine. Nussbaumer, M. (2020). « Séquence 5 / 1914-1920 / Les premières cheminotes. Notes du cours d’option : N506 - Rail et culture en Grande-Bretagne 1, Licence LLCER Anglais 2020-2021, ERUDI, Université de Lorraine. Olusoga, D. (2016). Black and British: a forgotten history. London: Macmillan. Satya, L. D. (2008). “British Imperial Railways in Nineteenth Century South Asia”. Economic and Political Weekly, Nov. 22 - 28, 2008, Vol. 43, No. 47, 69-77. Shaw-Taylor, L., & You, X. (2018). The development of the railway network in Britain 1825-1911. Available at Semantic Scholar: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/The-development-of-the-railwaynetwork-in-Britain-Shaw-TaylorYou/becaae2e1cf76dca3ecc5a252d529e583806ecec Tharoor, S. (2017/3/8). 'But what about the railways ...?' The myth of Britain's gifts to India. The Guardian. News: World: Colonialism. Available online: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/08/india-britain-empire-railwaysmyths-gifts 9 Elpida SKLIKA : STUDIES IN BRITISH CIVILISATION Wolmar, C. (2017/6/13b). How Britain’s Colonial Railways Transformed India. Reconnecting Asia. Available online: https://reconasia.csis.org/how-britianscolonial-railways-transformed-india/ Wolmar, C. (2017a). Railways and the Raj, how the steam age changed India forever. Atlantic Books. Powell, E. (1969). Freedom and Reality. Kingswood: Elliot Right Way Books. Online Sources • • • • • • • • • • https://blog.railwaymuseum.org.uk/shildon-the-cradle-of-the-railways-andlocomotion-no-1/ https://uh.edu/engines/CD-RainSteamSpeed/track1.html https://www.britannica.com/topic/Stockton-and-Darlington-Railway https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Parliamentary_train https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPsqUFuysbU http://www.environmentandsociety.org/exhibitions/famines-india/infrastructureand-railroads https://tinyurl.com/nahfp978 https://historywardrobe.wordpress.com/2014/02/05/railway-women-in-ww1/ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/08/india-britain-empire-railwaysmyths-gifts https://neconnected.co.uk/4-5m-development-for-locomotion-in-shildon/ 10