1879
Burma to conquer?
room United Kingdom
This cartoon from the UK's Punch magazine in 1879 (by John Tenniel) depicts the Viceroy Of India, Lord Lytton, presenting British cabinet ministers with a possible war to conquer Burma while they are already trying to cope with several other international crises. Many British imperialists were hoping the death of King Mindon would be an opportunity to annex the Burmese kingdom to the British Indian Empire. King Thibaw's new reformist government was widely (and unfairly) depicted as brutal and corrupt in the British media, while Burma was seen as a possibly lucrative market and a bridge to China. However, other international crises, especially Afghanistan, delayed the decision to invade.
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