Being a tiny island off the coast of continental Europe, it is amazing that the Great Britain

had the largest empire throughout history. The empire stretched across two oceans and four
continents. The responses to British Imperialism developed in many different countries outside
of Great Britain, including Egypt, as well as responses generated from the British politicians.
Also, much of the response was negative and disembodied the idea of the British Empire.
Countries outside of the British Empire, like Egypt or Germany for example, did not
appreciate the exponential increase in the vastness of the British Empire. Khedive Ismail, the
grandson of Muhammad Ali as well as holding the responsibility of bankrupting Egypt,
considered Egypt to no longer be part of Africa, but part of Europe (Doc 4). He wouldve said
this because after the building of the Suez Canal, countless amounts of ships passed through the
canal thus making Egypt more westernized. Colonel Ahmed Arabi didnt appreciate the future
views of Egypt being controlled by another nation and feared that an outside nation would ruin
Egypt beyond repair (Doc 1). Being a colonel, Arabi wouldve thought these things because hed
been to battle for Egypts sake and didnt want anything to change. Heinrich von Treitschke
assaulted British imperialism by proclaiming Great Britain to be a country with no redeeming
qualities and ruled by a warlord who controlled all of the worlds trade routes (Doc 8).
The response of the British was both supporting and opposing imperialism. British Prime
Minister, William Gladstone, was opposed to imperialism because he felt that Great Britain
should respect the Egyptians or other European nations would lose respect for them (Doc 2).
Gladstone, being the Prime Minister of Great Britain, dedicated many hours of his life to
diplomacy with foreign nations and thus he could easily understand how foreign countries
viewed the British. Cecil Rhodes promoted imperialism by openly stating it in his book The
Last Will and Testament of Cecil John Rhodes. He said that he would always look to the stars

and imagine that he could annex the planets (Doc 10). Rudyard-Kipling discusses imperialism in
a way that is repulsive to any reader of his poem White Mans Burden. His demeanor towards
imperialism tells the reader how annexing and exploiting foreign countries is barbaric and
shouldnt be taken lightly (Doc 9).
A substantial amount of people were opposed to British imperialism. Colonel Arabi of
Egypt did not want Egypt to be annexed for fear of the decimation of the once great country.
Arabi formed the Egyptian National Party to oppose British rule in Egypt (Doc 1). The political
cartoon named The Lions Share, Gee its good to trade demonstrates how the British were
exploiting Egypt, India, and South Africa. The image shows how the British exploited these
countries for their riches and increased territory (Doc 6). The name of the image is synonymous
with sarcasm.
There were many opposed to British imperialism, mainly these developed in foreign
nations. Although some postulations were positive, the opposition outweighed the defense. The
select few who supported British imperialism did enjoy the riches that came from the countries
annexed by Great Britain.