Global Expansion

Willie Thompson

Description

In this clear and concise reassessment of British imperialism, Willie Thompson examines the underlying social, economic and political forces that facilitated expansion during the key period of 1870-1914.



Relating colonial expansion to both domestic politics and international relations, his book identifies the shifts in world economic and political relationships, especially the challenge from an emergent German Reich, as the driving forces behind the fresh burst of expansionist energy during the period.



Willie Thompson considers in detail the relations with the British state and various types of colony, from the semi-autonomous settlement colonies to wholly subordinated African territories and semi-colonies such as China and the Ottoman Empire. The impact of imperial ideology on British society and culture, both official and popular, and on political perceptions is explored, as is the structure of international relations and tensions generated by this phase of imperialism.
Preface

Chronology

Maps

1. Introduction

2. The British Empire on the Eve

3. The Drive into Africa

4. Other Extensions

5. The Evolved Imperial Structure

6. Imperial Relations

7. Significance of Empire

References

Index

Sujets

• Modern
• HISTORY
• Histoire
• Reino Unido
• Modern history
• General officer
• Political economy
• United Kingdom
• Great Britain
• General
• Obermodern-Zutzendorf
• Royaume-Uni

Informations

• Publié par: Pluto Press
• Date de parution: 20 octobre 1999
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781849645300
• Langue: English

Extrait

Glo balEx p an sio n

Britain and its Emp ire,1 8 7 0 –1 9 1 4

W illieTh o m p so n

Pluto Press
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Th o m p so n ,W illie.
Glob alexp an sio n: Britain and its emp ire,1870–1914 / Willie Tho m p so n .
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Co nt ent s

Ch ron ology
Preface

In t ro d u ct io n

1. The British Emp ireo nt h eEve

2. The Drive int oAfrica

3. Ot h erExt en sio n s

4. The Evolved Imp erialSt ru ct u re

5. Imp erialRelat io n s

6. Significan ceo fEm p ire

N otes
Select Bibliography
Appendix I – Maps
Appendix II – Tables

In d ex

v ii
v iii

1

1 5

3 0

4 5

5 9

7 9

1 0 2

1 1 0
1 1 9
1 2 1
1 2 8

1 3 2

Ch ro n o lo gy

1869 – Suez Canal op en ed .
1872 – Disraeli’s Crystal Palace speech .
1872 – Sir Bartle Frere signs ant i-slaveryt reat ywit hSu lt ano fZan sib ar.
1875 – Disraeli pu rch asesb lo cko fSu ezCan alsh ares.
1877 – Unsu ccessfu lBrit ishat t em p tt oan n exBo errep u b lics.
1879 – Anglo -Fren chco n t ro lo verEgyp t ianfin an ces.
1879 – Zulu War.
1882 – Egypt invad edan dt akenu n d erBrit ishco n t ro l.
1884–h an d s o ver Co n go85 – Berlin Cop art it io n ,n gress est ab lish es ru les fo r African
b asint oLeo p o ldII.
1885 – General Gord o nkilled in Khart o u m .
1886 – Upp erBu rm aan n exed .
1886 – Sir George Gold iereceives Royal Chart er,b egin st oext en dco n t ro lo ver
Nigeria.
1886 – Transvaal gold field so p en ed .
1888 – Prot ect o rat eso vern o rt h ernBo rn eo .
1888 – William Mackin n o nreceives Royal Ch art er,u n su ccessfu llyp ro b esin t o
Great Lakes region .
1889 – Cecil Rho d esreceives Royal Chart er,b egin sco n q u esto fMat eb elelan d .
1889–agreem en t so nglo -Fren cht errit o rialWest Africa.90 – An
1890 – Anglo -Germ ant errit o rialagreem en t so nEast Africa.
1891 – Nyasaland acqu iredas pro t ect o rat e.
1895 – Ugand aacq u iredas pro t ect o rat e.
1895 – British overru nAsh an t ian dan n ext oGo ldCo ast .
1896 – Con q u esto fSu d anb egin s.
1896 – British -co n t ro lledMalaya organ isedas Federat io no fMalay Stat es.
1897–in a.co n cessio n sin Chscram b lefo r9 – Euro p ean
1898 – Territo riald isp u t eswit hFren cho nNiger.
1898 – Sud anco n q u ered .
1898 – Fasho d aCrisis – con fro n t at io nwit hFren chexp ed it io no nt h eUp p erNile.
1899 – Anglo -Fren cht errit o rialagreem en t so nSu d an .
1899 – Sou t hAfrican War (Boer War) begin s.
1899 – Wit h d rawalo fRo yalNiger Com p an ych art er.
1900 – Aust ralianco lo n iesfed erat ed .
1900 – Euro p eanst at esco -o p erat et osu p p ressCh in esen at io n alreb ellio n(Bo xer
Risin g).
1902 – Sou t hAfrican War end s.
1907 – Anglo -Ru ssianen t en t eeffect ivelyp art it io n sPersia.
1908 – You n gTu rkrevo lu t io n .
1909 – Furt h erBrit ishacq u isit io n sin Malaya.
1910 – Unio no fSo u t hAfrica.
1911 – Revolu t io nin Chin a.

Preface

Th is sh o rtvo lu m efo cu sesu p o nt h eBrit ishem p irean dt h ed evelo p m en t
an dgro wt ho ft h eco u n t ry’sim p erialsyst emb et ween1870 and th eo u t
b reako fWo rldWar I, in th eco n t exto fh ist o ricallyu n p reced en t edglo b al
exp an sio nb ycert ainEu ro p eanp o wers.Th e Brit ishwas in com p arab ly t h e
largest bo t hin area and po p u lat io no ft h eEu ro p eano verseasem p ireso f
t h atp erio d(an dt h elan d -b asedt errit o rialexp an sio n so ft h eUn it edSt at es
an dt h eRu ssianem p ire). Th e h ist o rical m ean in g o f wh atwas takin g p lace
is of cou rseo n lyu n d erst an d ab lein th e co n t exto ft h ep arallelact ivit ieso f
t h eseo t h erEu ro p eanp o wers– resu ltin g fro mt im et ot im ein clashes an d
con fron tation s betweenrival em pire-bu ild ers – an dalso, it m ust be stressed,
in th eh ist o ricaln o velt yo ft h ein t ern at io n alim p erialfram ewo rkwh ich
em ergedd u rin gt h o seyears. As is explain edin th eIn t ro d u ct io n , t h eBrit
ish emp ire,fro mit sb egin n in gsa com m ercial en t erp rise, h adb eencen t ral
t ot h egro wt ho fBrit ainas anin d u st rial p o wer fro mt h eeigh t een t ht ot h e
m id d le o f t h e n in et een t hcen t u ry, b u tfro mt h e1870s it begant ot akeo na
n ewfo rman dch aract er.
In pu rsu in gt h ist h em ean imm ed iat ep ro b lemo fd efin it io nh ast ob e
n oted . Britain ’s ‘im p erial system ’, am azin gly com p lexth ou ghit was, is
relat ivelyst raigh t fo rwardt oreco gn ise,b u t‘im p erialism ’, t h e wo rdwh ichwas
in creasin gly u sedt od efin et h en ewly d evelo p in g st at e o f affairs, is am u ch
vagu eran dm o ren eb u lo u s co n cep t– th o u ghn oless of a reality. Clearly it
h aseco n o m ic,p o lit ical,cu lt u ralan dm ilit aryd im en sio n s;it has im
plicat io n sin allo ft h esefo rt h eim p erial co u n t ry n oless th ant h esu b ject edt
errit o ries– an d th e lat t er m ay in clu d e fo rm ally in d ep en d en tst at esas well as
t h o seo verwh icht h eim p erialm et ro p o lisclaim slegal sovereign t y.
At th is p o in tt h ed ifficu lt iesare on ly b egin n in g. Th e in it ial p ro b lemcan
b eso lvedin a rou ghan dread ym an n er o nt h ean alo gy o f t h e elep h an t– it
m ayb eh ardo reven imp o ssib let op ro p o sea precise defin it io n ,b u tit is
easy en ough to recognise th e creature wh en it actually presen ts itself. Mu ch
m o re pro b lem a t icis to exp la inw h a tw a st a kin gp la ce.D idt h e1 8 7 0 s
really m ark a sign ifican t break with wh at h ad gon e before? If th ey did ,wh at
acco u n t edfo rt h eexp an sio no fEu ro p eanp o werby con q u esto rd ip lo m acy
o vervirt u allyevery region of th e glo b e? W h atwere th e m ean in g an dco n
seq u en ceso ft h ep ro cessfo rt h ep o p u lat io n swh ichexp erien cedt h eim
p acto ft h isp o wer?Was th eescalat io nin int ern at io n alt en sio n swh ich
fin allyexp lo d edin 1914 con n ect edt osu chp ro cesses,eit h ert igh t lyo r

v iii

Preface

i x

lo o sely?W h atif an yth in g d ist in gu ish edt h eexp an sio no fBrit ishim p erial
p o werfro mt h ato fFran ce, Germ an y, Po rt u gal, It alyo rBelgiu m ?
A p ro d igio u s q u an t it y o f researchan dwrit in gh as b eend evo t edt ot
ryin gt oan swert h esean dsim ilarq u est io n ssin cet h efirst general int erp
ret at io n so fim p erialismb egant oap p earin th eearly part of th et wen t iet h
cen t u ry.Even th elit erat u reo np art icu larasp ect sis vast. Accord in gt o
An d rewPorter, ‘th e secon dary literature on th e econ om ics of em p ire-bu ild
in g is st aggerin g init sext en t ,an dis already th e su bjecto fvalu ablegen eral
1
su rveys,both bibliograph ical an dan alytical’.His sh ort volu m e ju st q u oted
list sa bib lio grap h yo f321 item s, m o sto ft h emrecen t .
Hist o rian slearn to dist ru stap p aren td isco n t in u it iesin th eh ist o rical
reco rd ,an dcert ain lyst ro n gco n t in u it iescan alwaysb efo u n db et ween
d ifferen tp h aseso fh ist o rical d evelo p m en t , b u tit is hard to avoid th e co n
clu sio nt h ata marked chan geo ft em p oo ccu rredd u rin gt h elast th irdo f
t h en in et een t hcen t u ryin severald im en sio n so fEu ro p eanrealit y– int h e
fu n ction in gof its econ om ic system s, th e n atu re of th e relation sh ip between
it sso vereignst at es,t h ein t ern al ch aract ero fan dt h ein t eract io nb et ween
it sso cialclasses, and th ep o lit icalan dcu lt u ralo u t lo o ko fit sm asses.Th e
wo rd‘im p erialism ’ su m su pt h en at u reo ft h att ran sfo rm at io n .Th eeco
n o m ic fram ewo rk o f t h e ch an ge is sket ch edin Chap t er1, prim arily sofar
as it con cern edBrit ain .
Fo rsu b seq u en tgen erat io n so fh ist o rian san dp o lit icalan alyst st h ed
ebat earo u n dim p erialismh as beend o m in at ed ,wh et h er t h ro u ghrep u lsio n
o rat t ract io n ,b yLen in ’s p am p h leto f1916,Stage ofIm perialism , the Highest
Capitalismd irect edt o ward ssu b st an t iat in g,h as b eend eb at eh atf tch o. Mu
m o d ifyin go rrefu t in git st h eses.As several hist o rian s,b o t hMarxist and
2
n o n -Marxist ,h avep o in t edo u t ,Len inwro t et h ism assivelyresearch ed
p am p h let(th e n otes com p iledin prep arationru nto over 700 prin tedp ages)
n o tt oexp laint h eh ist o ryo fco lo n ialexp an sio nb u tt h ereaso n sfo rt h e
o u t b reako fgen eral Eu ro p eanwar an d th e reaso n s wh yt h ep ro let ariat so f
Eu ro p em o st ly su p p o rt edt h eirgo vern m en t sin waging it. Neverth eless, it
doesassert a stco n so lid at io no fm o n o p o lyro n gco n n ect io nb et weent h e
cap italism ,th e exp ortof cap ital an d th e seizu re of colon ies inth e late n in
et een t hcen t u ry.All of th eset h in gswere certain lyevid en tp h en o m en ao f
t h ep erio d :t h eq u est io nis whet h ert h eywere causally related .
Th e lack o f co n sen