War – What War?

In January 1914 the idea that war might be around the corner would have been rejected as absurd. The colonial mindset was still evident when British governor Sir Frederick Lugard successfully completed amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorates of Nigeria to form one country. The newly united colony and protectorate were to be ruled by a newly appointed Governor General of Nigeria. Some suggest that the name Nigeria was adopted from a letter by Lady Lugard to the Times suggesting it as a convenient abbreviation of “Royal Niger Company’s Territories. Those were the days when the British ruling class really did rule the world, well most of it anyway.

In a move that was not followed in the UK until well after the end of WW2, the Ford Motor Company instituted an eight-hour workday and a daily wage of $5. British manufacturers were shocked by the largesse and failed to recognise that the new policy increased Ford’s productivity, a car being assembled in 93 minutes. Profits also doubled in a mere two years.

Yuan Shikai, provisional President for the Republic of China dissolved Parliament after defeating political opponents, the Kuomintang, Yuan began steps to replace the republic’s provisional constitution with his own and within months proclaimed himself as China’s new emperor.

On the 16th of January Ghandi met Jan Smuts, Minister of the Interior, after a month-long impasse and reached a deal on tax relief for the country’s Indian community. They also agreed to repeal a state court ruling not to recognize polygamous marriage. The success of reaching a deal after months of civil strife between the Indian community and the South African establishment earned Gandhi the title Mahatma, “Sanskrit for High souled” It was here he developed the idea of passive resistance that was to so bemuse a later British Government.

In Canada on 28 January, suffragist Nellie McClung staged a mock play ridiculing opposition to women receiving the vote. The women acted as MP’s, with McClung playing the role of the Premier, R P Robin, and held a mock debate about whether to give men the vote. The play was a success and helped advance the cause of women’s suffrage. In January 1916, Manitoba became the first Canadian province to give women the right to vote. This news would certainly have reached and inspired the suffragette movement in Britain.

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