Kinnaird College for Women

International Relations

Pre-Mid Assignment no.1: The Role of England in the Evolution of

International Political Economy during the I9th century

Name: Najm ul Sahar Riaz

Semester: BA. 5

Session: 2019-2023

Name of Instructor: Dr. Asia Mukhtar

Course Title: International Political Economy

Date of Submission: 20th September 2021

 Abstract

The British Empire during the beginning of the 19th Century was not as much dominating
relative to what they became in the later period. This was due to the use of the doctrine of
international political economy which gave the pathway to use economic policies. However, the
notable factor of the British New Imperialism was the which led to sow seeds of the British
power in its colonies in Africa and Asia. The socio-economic development, along with the
Industrial Revolution in the British Political rule in its colonies caused the Empire to become the
biggest player in the international political economic arena. They used then new principles of
free trade to improve their domestic market, but they did not allow free trade in the foreign
markets due to the fear of other European markets interference and exploitations. Thus, then
developing international political economic order favored the British rule.

Key Words: British Empire, International Political Economy, New Imperialism, Industrial
Revolution, Domestic Market and Foreign Markets
Introduction

The emergence of international political economy can be traced back to the time of expansionism
and imperialism when European powers annexed territories, and later set up markets to monetize
over the natural resources that were present in the colonies. European powers not only monetized
over the resources, but also made sure that these markets had an ongoing trade too which was
established via expansionism. The dark example of the Atlantic Slave Trade also served as a
route used by the European powers of England, France, Spain, and Portugal when these powers
had annexed the territories in Africa and the Americas. Similarly, many routes were established
due to expansionism which became the passages to endorse the idea of trade and establishing
markets in different regions which were colonized. The centuries from 16 th to 18th, European
powers established their rule within the colonies via imperialistic ideologies which pushed the
envelope of expansionism. However, during the 19 th century, the rise of nation-states paved the
path towards the importance of a citizen as the enlightenment and the renaissance focused on the
idea of individualism and the economic illumination of having free trades and economic laws
paved the path towards individuals establishing market systems in these colonized lands.
However, it is noteworthy to focus that individual does not mean the citizen belonging to the
proletariats. The individual who established markets were the elites either way.

The idea of trade routes was the commencement of international political economy, and the
integral role was played by the British as they had the largest Empire which expanded over most
of the globe. Moreover, industrialization had also provided the platform for the British Elites to
establish their industries in different parts of their colonized world. Lastly, policies such as
mercantilism had elated the pedestal of the British within the economic circle and caused British
to become a driving force and a game changer within the realm of global political economy. All
this will be discussed within the assignment- all aligned with the evolution of the international
economy.

British Imperialism and Expansionism in the 19th Century

The British Imperialism and strategic expansionist policies indirectly paved the path to become
the biggest player in the 19th century world global economy. This era had marked as the age of
New Imperialism for several reasons. Henceforth, it is important to discuss the economic
imperialism portrayed by the English powers in Africa and Asia. They were on the verge of
losing the Americas in the beginning of the 19 th Century due to the previous Age of Revolutions,
and countless wars and skirmishes had made them face financial constraints as well. However,
the British Empire was able to consolidate its power in the economic and political global sphere
when the established their rule in India after the Indian Mutiny in 1857, and later in 1885, the
Berlin Conference illustrated the influence of the British power in Africa as well. The nineteenth
Century has been coincident with the development of a new expansion of the English race and
name: and this, period also has been marked by variations of opinion amongst English statesmen
and the public upon the meaning and the importance of the Empire (Woodworth, 1902).

The New Imperialist Sense of the mission of England which found characteristic expression in
the Indian and Colonial Exhibition held in London, and this reflected the strength of Imperialistic
England in rest of the Europe.

It is imperative and fascinating to notice the link between British New Imperialism and the
evolution of the international political economy because British during the 19 th Century used the
economic imperialism to introduce their product in the colonized states due to the “moral
obligation” as stated in the White Man’s Burden. Unfortunately, yet true, the imperialistic gains
for monetary benefits were the crux of the expanding markets of the British in the 19 th Century to
compensate the loss of the Latin American colonies. They felt that Asia and Africa were colonies
needed “economic and social” illumination while feeling that they were superior to them. This
became the driving force while they inculcated the economic strategies while establishing
political control. However, along imperialism, industrialization became another hallmark for
England in making a concrete place in the arena of the global political economy.

Industrialization in England

The industrial revolution in the 19th century in England caused the industrialization in England
which had global impacts. To understand industrialization in England, one must ponder upon the
market system of London at that time.

The elasticity of the definition of markets existed in London, until the Royal Commission of
1888 defined a market as an authorized public concourse of buys and sellers of the commodities
meeting at a specific place and time. This gave birth to the idea of formal sector markets within
London. However, the industrialization during the 19th century boosted the augmented the
existing formal sector which was collectively engaged within the trade of a wide range of goods:
processed food stuffs (malt, meal, butter, soup, gingerbread); agricultural raw materials
(livestock, hay, coal, hides and leather, grain, fish, cloth); fresh produce (fruit, vegetables, herbs,
and flowers); and household goods (such as tallow, earthenware, and hardware) (Smith, 2002).

This industrialization that took place in the 19 th century was the replacement of manual labor to
machine manufactured consumer products. This development was the cause of the boom
witnessed in the three core industries of Britain: coal, steel and iron, and cotton. Coal industries
were not present in London, but also in various colonies in Africa where coal was extracted and
transported to London. Notably, the development of the coal industry in the 19 th century became
the causation of the booming of the steel and the iron industries which led to the development of
steam engines. English Empire started to establish tracks in their colonies in South Asia and the
Africa (annexed in 1870) which were to create potential in land trade routes. The industrial
revolution’s main contribution when cotton factories were mechanized.

English producers transformed the cotton industry by introducing machinery such as looming
machine and became the largest producer in the world at that time. The price elasticity of
demand for English cotton was extremely large (Allen, 2009). Britain became incredibly
competitive during the phase of industrial revolution that they were able to replace the Chinese
and Indian producers, and this was only the consequences of the industrial revolution.

The significance of the industrialization in Britain had global impacts and transformed the global
political economy. The fact that the British induced competition in the cotton industry by
becoming a competitor in the global arena of cotton production illustrates that their cotton was in
demand not only in one of their formal markets in one colony, but in most of the economies. The
enormity of buyers in different colonies revolutionized the international economy by adding
more markets and consumers. However, the industrial revolution was a turning point for England
because it became a driving force for only them to become a global producer rather. This can be
compared with France who also mechanized the knitting industry, but the French were not able
to produce the booming effect globally like Britain. Thus, the industrial revolution enabled
Britain to set up a global market along with efficient production as well.
Expanding Markets and economic policies of England in the 19th Century

The Imperial stance of the British along with the technological age of the British Industry during
the second phase of industrial revolution in the 19 th century allowed the British to have
flourishing market. Reliance on less exacting safer, and in some case protected markets in the
colonies supposedly allowed the British industry to maintain good rates and continue to trade
internationally at a time when domestic markets were open to all comers and foreign markets
were being closed off by protective tariffs (Andrew & Gary , 2002). However, in the beginning
of the 19th century did not mark the British markets as lucrative. A tough competition was given
to the British by the French, Spanish and the Dutch markets. Moreover, the commencement of
the 19th Century with respect to the Spanish, French and Dutch markets based on labor
production rather than mechanized production. After the introduction of mechanized consumer
product, the production cost decreased in comparative to the production cost of Spanish, French
and Dutch which also led to the price decrease overall. The low pricing commodity created an
increased demand which also led to British to start selling their product in different colonies.

The 19th century, moreover, witnessed the increases in the British industry and trade which they
had not witnessed before as it led to increased activity by the Victorian entrepreneurs who
wanted to establish British businesses in the overseas territories. Even the Edwardian
entrepreneurs established businesses in the start of the 20th Century using the Victorian tactics.

The territories such as Canada and New Zealand - where the white British had migrated –
became a source of exports to British. The industrial revolution’s second technological phase had
caused mass unemployment and hunger, but these exports to Britain caused the prices to
decrease in the domestic markets too. Thus, the Canadian colony became the source of wheat
exports whereas the New Zealander colony became the lamb’s meat export in the 19th Century.

However, it is highly significant to ponder on how the British were able to save their territories
from the French, Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese markets. The British were clever enough to
divide their formal sector markets into two types, the domestic markets which were in London
and the foreign markets which were established in the colonies. The domestic market was open
to all people, inducing the idea of free trade. It did not distinguish that who were supposed to
visit and was free of taxes. However, the foreign markets had protectionist policies. For instance,
the sub-continent was a land of resources which every European market had their eyes on for a
rich source of raw materials. The British Empire who was able to establish a political control
before the other powers could, also established the economic laws which were based on mostly
protectionist laws. The intensification of protectionism became a fortunate economic policy
which led to the British to have a strong grip over their own foreign markets. Another economic
policy that British powers had made the utmost utilization was of bilateral trading arrangements
with self-governing dominions for instance with the Latin American dominion of Argentina.
Along with that the British made their utmost to intervened more to develop the economies of
tropical African colonies, which in turn adopted various discriminatory measures (export duties,
import quotas, bulk buying) in Britain’s favor (Andrew & Gary , 2002). Another economic
policy which Victorian entrepreneurs came about was to start bilateral trade with tradtional
industries via their domestic markets in London. For instance, the British export markets in
Australia creating competition with the German and the American markets established over
there.

The British evolution of economy goes in line with evolution of the global political economy as
it used the tactics modern day economic tactics to boost trade ties while tactfully endorsing the
idea of free trade while protecting their foreign markets. Moreover, they based their market
models on the Manchester School which patronized the laissez-faire economic policies,
including free trade, free competition, and freedom of contract, but were isolationist in foreign
affairs to some extent. However, these economic models and policies caused British markets to
accelerate the production to meet the demands of the people globally. The British Power was
able to create a mark in the evolving global political economy which was impacted by the very
Manchester School of Thought. Though there was state level interference.

However, a dark side to the British economy was the mercantilist policies British used during the
19th Century which philosophers such as David Riccardo were opposed to. The Corn Law of
1815 allowed grains to be imported and stored in warehouses at any time, but the imported wheat
could not be sold in domestic markets unless the domestic price rose above 80 shillings per
quarter. This was in placed throughout the first two decades of the 19 th century. The act
effectively closed the London markets to imported grain for the most of the next seven years
(O’Rourke, 2000 ). This act made the landowners happy, but it did not kind of favored the tenets
of global political economy as its core principle is free market. They did dissolve this law later to
open their domestic markets for foreign goods, but they used such mercantilist models in their
colonies. Though their mercantilist model did not reflect socialist doctrines, it was kind of an
alliance to show that the landowners in the colonies, and the merchant capitalist were respecting
the authority of the Crown. However, it could be said that it was a façade, and the British Powers
were adamant to control the colonies markets as they were ideal in the perspective of raw
materials. Although the land system of the thirteen colonies has not usually been considered an
element of mercantilism, yet it was not divorced from it (Nettels, 1952).

Significance of British 19th Century Economy in the Global Political Economy

The essence of competition which Britain had endowed in the global political economy became
the turning point for the world economy as not only emerged as significant economic player, but
also established a political regime throughout the colonies which had created a historical legacy.
On a comparative, European powers were economically lucrative, but their political control was
not as vast as the British Crown even when the British had lost the Americas.

The economic policies were also an amulet of fortune as to be noticed that these economic
policies were not lucrative for the other powers as it was for the British. The meticulous policies
made sure that their overseas businesses were protected in the areas of where a threat existed
such as Africa or the Subcontinent. These areas were of the most precious and lucrative source of
raw materials. Inclusively looking at the doctrines of global political economy, the British made
sure that areas had their transport done only through British Transport system. This made an
outlook to the world that English was the one carrying out the international trade.

Moreover, the English political antics in these thirteen colonies were so established that they
made economic laws for them so that they could control the access of their markets to the world.
The tried their utmost that they had the full authority, and during the modern tenets of
individualism came in the evolution of international political economy, they offered to give
dominion status to the colonies later which still made sure that they were in the Crown’s
authority.
Thus, the British made use of the evolving dynamics of the international political economy to
establish their own control so they could flourish their own economy and become a world power
for many years to come.

Analysis

In my opinion, the British agenda of new imperialism in the 19 th Century was the most important
factor to manipulate the arena of the global political economy into their own hands. Through
New imperialism, they not only expanded a political control over Africa and Asia, but also, they
dominated the global economy at that which made sure that the British had the most control over
the economic sector of these colonies. The international political order did allow to have certain
protectionist policies to protect the colonies from territorial annexation of the other European
powers. However, the British at first ensured that the domestic markets flourished first, and then
made sure the foreign markets were protected. Via imperialistic attitude, they were socially able
to incorporate the idea within the colonized minds that their economic policies are the best ones.
Thus, they were able to control the foreign markets in the international political economy. Then
economic policies and industrialization became tools to strengthen their mark in the global
political and economic order.

Hence, the British model of economy become a study to different questions that rose in that time
using the model of political economy such whether state inference is necessary and pursuit of
private and public interest. Questions like whether public goods in high demands are important
to be sold on low prices. The British economic policies became important and created a stall
mark in the 19th Century international political economy.

Conclusive remarks would be that Britain became a power during the time of the evolving
international political economy while making use of the various contours of the political
economy to make sure not only to produce, but to flourish.

References
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University Press.

Andrew , T., & Gary , M. (2002). A Soft Touch? British Industry, Empire Markets, and the Self-
Governing Dominions, c. 1870-1914. The Economic History Review, 689-717.

Nettels, C. P. (1952). British Mercantilism and the Economic Development of the Thirteen Colonies. The
Journal of Economic History Vol. 12, No. 2, 105-114.

O’Rourke, K. H. (2000 ). British trade policy in the 19th century. European Journal of Political Economy
Vol.16 , 829–842.

Schumpeter, J. A. (1954). History of Economic Analysis. New York : Oxford University Press .

Smith, C. (2002). The Wholesale and Retail Markets of London, 1660-1840. The Economic History
Review Vol. 55, No. 1, 31-50.

Woodworth, W. H. (1902). A SHORT HISTORY OF THE EXPANSION OF BRITISH EMPIRE 1500-

1902. Cambridge : University Press .