Promoting the British Empire

British Propaganda

The British Empire expanded greatly during the reign of Queen Victoria. There were a large number of products created to celebrate the monarch and the empire, including plates, posters, chocolates, and more. School textbooks and other books published were full of stories of imperialists in Britain and key figures like Cecil Rhodes.

Jewish Migration

Although there had been a large number of Jews in British society for a while, a new influx of Jewish migrants from Eastern Europe arrived in the 1870-80s as they had been expelled from places like Russia after being blamed for things going wrong in society. There were vicious attacks on Jews in Eastern Europe called pogroms, so they moved to Britain. Although they had religion in common with British Jews, they were less assimilated than the Jews here already. However, within a few decades, the Jews had set up stores like Marks & Spencers and Tesco, as well as contributing other things to society.

Irish Migration

Large numbers of migrants moved from Ireland, mainly to the ports facing Ireland like Liverpool. They moved to get jobs, but the biggest amount of migration came from the 1846 potato blight, where starvation and famine spread around Ireland and many people move to escape this. The Irish had important jobs as navvies which helped with the creation of all the industrial infrastructure. There was resentment to the Irish migrants, as cultures were different and religious differences were still clear.

Forced Migration

One example of forced migration was the movement of slaves from Africa to work on plantations in the Americas and West Indies. There was also the transportation of prisoners to America and Australia too. The convicts in Australia were used to help build settlements for the British colonists, but many stayed after the end of their sentence.

Why did the Irish move to Britain?

Your answer should include: jobs / potato famine