Global Expansion , livre ebook

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
LO N DO N• STERLING ,VIRG IN IA

First pu b lish ed1999 by Plut oPress
3 4 5Arch w ayRo ad ,Lo n d o nN 65 AA
an d22883 Qu icksilverDrive, Sterlin g,VA 20166–2012, USA

Co p yrigh t© Willie Tho m p so n1999
Th erigh to fW illieTh o m p so nt ob eid en t ifiedas th eau t h o ro ft h iswo rkh as b een
assert edb yh imin accord an cewit ht h eCo p yrigh t ,Design s an dPat en t sAct 1988.

Brit ishLib raryCat alo gu in gin Pub licat io nDat a
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ISBN 0 7453 1240 3 hb k

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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 .
p .cm .– (Plut ocrit icalh ist o ry)
ISBN 0–7 4 5 3 –1 2 4 0 –3
1. Great Britain —Co lo n ies—Hist o ry—19t hcen t u ry.2. Great Britain —
Co lo n ies—Hist o ry—20t hcen t u ry.I. Title. II. Series.
DA16.T471999 99–35519
941.081–dc21 CIP

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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