Why was the empire such an important element in British foreign policy 18761902?

The 19th century marked the full flower of the British Empire. Administration and policy changed during the century from the unorganised and haphazard arrangements of the 17th and 18th centuries to the polished system engineered during josephs chamberlains time in the colonial office (1895-1900). The formal empire grew significantly with the acquisition of Burma (1886) and Cyprus (1878), but the main growth was to be found in the informal empire where British influence in the Far East expanded with the development of the Straits Settlements and the Federated Malay States. This expansion coupled with the already massive part that the British Empire played in politics, meant that British foreign policy and the British Empire became almost synonymous. It was also during these decades that two men of rivalling parties came to the forefront of British politics, and from their resolute contentions came a new focus on the empire and foreign policy. The two men were Gladstone and Disraeli. Both saw the important relationship between the British Empire and the rest of the world, and both expected Britain to be a leading power in the world. However, whilst Disraeli thought that the British Empire and its expansion should be a source of pride and thus sought to link it with the conservative party. This was shown when Disraeli arranged to declare queen victoria the empress of India, thereby linking the monarch with the empire and asserting British permanence in India. Gladstone, on the other hand, hoped to rely on the strength of British trade to extend Britains influence. Gladstone didnt credit Britains aggressive foreign policy and ruling class for the strength of the empire, but rather private enterprise: From the aristocracy there has never on any occasion within my memory proceeded the impulse which has prompted, and finally achieved, any of the great measures which in the last half century have contributed so much to the fame and happiness of England; all were done by other agencies than theirs, and despite their opposition. Though the truth of this statement has been disputed, Gladstone certainly revealed a new and increasing participation of the lower and middle classes in British government. This key division in the two mens ideologies cut a very clear divide between liberalism and conservatism in this time period, as Disraeli constantly attacked Gladstone for being too feeble, and Gladstone attacked Disraeli for being too aggressive. The growing powers of Prussia and Russia as well as the Crimean war and the Italian war has managed to shatter the balance of power maintained by the concert of Europe in the early 19th century. For the first time since the seven years war, other powers were challenging Britains imperial supremacy. It was felt in Britain that the emerging Great Powers sought to emulate Britain's great power and status. Consequently, a largely unjustified sense of insecurity developed in Britain, which lead in turn to a desire to defend the British Empire as this emergence of new powers, which appeared to rival Britains imperial supremacy, challenged its strategic interests. It was these challenges from other developing countries that forced the increased colonial involvement and official control that was characteristic of British foreign policy from 1876-1902. For

example, the scramble for Africa was partially motivated by this competition and Gladstones uncharacteristic defence of the Suez canal in 1882 (uncharacteristic in the sense that he authorised the stationing of troops in Alexandria, an unusually aggressive move) was motivated by the need to establish more official control. Therefore, one can easily see the importance of the British empire in foreign policy, as the fact that it was under threat from emerging powers, or at least the perception of this threat by the British, led to an obvious alteration (foreign policy wise) of one of the most significant British politicians ever; Sir William Ewart Gladstone. The seizure of Cyprus in 1878 by the British as a base for action against a potential Russian attack on the ottoman empire is another example of how heavily British foreign policy was affected by the empire. The security of the British Empire also made the empire such a key element in British foreign policy, as an empire of that size needed to be constantly protected by a formidable force, which would act as mainly a deterrent to any aggressive external force. The navy fulfilled this role in the British Empire, not only as it provided the aforementioned sense of protection to the empire, but also due to its facilitation of the trade routes that connected the entire British Empire. This dependence on a navy manifested itself in Britains foreign policy, highlighted in 1889 when Britain adopted the two power standard, whereby Britains navy was to be as large as the next two powers combined. However, due to the period of rapid industrialisation that the Germans had been going through since 1871, and the appointment of admiral Tirpitz to secretary for the navy in 1897, the Germans followed suit with their own naval expansion via the German naval law of 1898, where Germany built up a fleet of 19 battleships. The second German naval law then compounded this, allowing the fleet to double in size. This began the suspicion from the British towards the Germans that would dominate European politics until ww2 and one could say that it all began due to the British Empire and its need for protection. Of course, one can see the more direct link between the British Empire and suspicions created between Britain and other countries, as the mere presence of the British Empire alienated many potential allies. British territories in North Africa caused an abundance of tension with France, as North Africa was traditionally an area of French dominance. This was proven by the Fashoda incident, where the French had to withdraw from Fashoda after a 14th month trek across the heart of Africa, simply to avoid a conflict between the British who wanted to add Fashoda to their British empire sphere of influence. When this reached the French, widespread popular outrage followed, as the French accused the English of naked expansionism and aggression. This continued throughout September and October 1898, and both nations began to mobilise their fleets for war. Tension was also created with Russia over territories in central Asia after the Crimean war, as Britain annexed Baluchistan in 1876 and Russia Kirghizia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. This was only resolved in 1878 as the two countries reached an agreement on respective spheres of influence in 1878 and is another example of how the British empire forced the devising of foreign policy to maintain peace.

Diplomatic relationships with Germany were also heavily affected by the British Empire, but in a slightly different way than with the other major European countries. It was the desire by Germany to emulate the British empire that caused tension between the two nations, as the development of the British empire over the last century had made the concept of a great power and that of an empire one and the same. Therefore, for Germany to fulfil her potential, it was widely viewed that she would have to gain colonies and expand. And to do this, she would come into direct competition with Britain-causing diplomatic tension between the two nations and making any form of alliance almost impossible. Germany was not the only country that was looking to establish themselves on a global scale, as economically the British Empire was losing the firm grip it had over global trade in the late 19th century, especially in the 1880s, due to international competition, a product of new imperialism. In this decade, British annual exports fell steadily; imports rose, and the British population grew along with urban poverty. Between 1880 and 1910, Britains portion of the worlds trade shrank from 23 to 17 per cent, and by the latter date her share of the worlds industrial capacity was 15 per cent, compared with the United States 35 per cent and Germanys 16 per cent. This was constantly highlighted by powerful industrial lobbies and government leaders in Britain, exemplified by joseph chamberlain, as they saw that a formal empire was necessary to arrest Britains relative decline in world markets. Britains adoption of new imperialism in the 1890s followed by its quick emergence as the front runner in the scramble for African territories can be seen as a quest for markets or fields for investments of surplus capital, or as a primarily strategic attempt to protect trade links and to prevent the absorption of overseas markets into the imperial trading blocs of rival powers-which was a real fear. This fear was not altogether irrational, as by the end of the 1880s, the old system of free trade and loosely defined areas of imperial influence had disappeared and clearly marked areas of interest and influence all over the world replaced it. This was obvious in china, where towards the beginning of the 1880s representatives of the German, American and French governments were all putting pressure on the Chinese for railway contracts and concessions whilst British influence was still strong, especially with the growth of HSBC as the leading lender to the Chinese government. However, by 1890, other imperial powers were demanding exclusive and preferential terms for economic development, which were threatening even Britains informal control over china. In conclusion, the late Victorian fears that Britain would be eclipsed economically, made them more defensive and more competitive with imperial rivals on a financial scale and this was evident in their foreign policy. The British Empire and its colonies also had a large ideological impact on British politics and the way the British thought. The concept of social Darwinism originated during the 1870s, as British intellectuals such as Herbert spencer sought to understand why it was that the British were in this position of power. It was also in this period that the white mans burden cartoon was published by Rudyard Kipling, which summed up the general feeling that it was the duty of the British to rule over, and encourage the cultural development of people from other cultural backgrounds via colonialism. Of course, pursuing a foreign policy

that was aggressive enough to obtain and maintain colonies could only do this. This was exactly the kind of foreign policy that Britain pursued (new imperialism) during the late 19th/early 18th century. n conclusion, the empire was such an important element in British foreign policy 1876-1902 due to the role it played in shaping the ideologies of the two men who dictated it for most of the late 19th century as well as the minds of the economists who influenced the creation of policy. The empire also had a massive impact on the way other countries reacted to Britains foreign policy, as well as attitudes towards Britain as a power during the late 19th and early 20th century.