Imperial Britain

This new study considers the impact of the empire upon modern British political culture. The economic and cultural legacy of empire have received a great deal of attention, but historians have neglected the effects of empire upon the domestic British political scene. Dr Thompson explores economic, demographic, intellectual and military influences and he shows how parliamentary and party opinion interacted with imperial ideas and interests in the country at large. This is a major new book which explores the ideology of key imperial campaigns, and their popular support. It makes a critical contribution to recent debates -- about the importance of empire to the nature and development of British national identities before and after the First World War.

Andrew S. Thompson

ContentsList of Figures, List of TablesPrefaceAcknowledgementsAbbreviationsMapIntroduction1 Imperial Languages, Identities and BeliefsLanguages of imperialismImagining empire: the idea of a British worldImperial reformDominion nationalism and imperial integrationMargins of empire: India and AmericaConclusion2 Mobilising ImperialistsThe mainsprings of imperial politicsExtra-parliamentary agitation and empireThe Tariff Reform LeagueThe Navy LeagueThe Emigration Committee of the Royal Colonial InstituteThe political status of imperial campaignsImperialism as a broad churchConclusion3 Propagating ImperialismThe imperialising of the British pressThe new journalism and the oldThe press and imperial agitationThe Imperial Press Conference (1909)Conclusion
4 Imperial Trade: TariffReform 81Joseph Chamberlain and the origins of tariff reform 81The background to the campaign 83Imperial preference and the economic unity of empire 85The colonial perspective 90India and imperial preference 97Critics of preference: past and present 1045 Imperial Security: Naval Supremacy and Defence Planning 110Defending the Empire: the debate 110The doctrine of sea power and the defence of empire 111The size, distribution and composition of the Fleet 112Colonial participation in imperial defence 119Defence planning and the Committee of Imperial Defence 127Conclusion 1306 Populating the Empire: Overseas Migration 133British overseas migration in the long nineteenth century 133The benefits of empire migration 135Voluntary effort versus state involvement 139Migrant personality 141Testing the suitability of migrants 152Conclusion 1547 The First World War and its Imperial Aftermath 157The Empire at war 157The Empire in the aftermath of the War 161Imperialists in the Lloyd George Coalition 169The Imperial War Cabinet and imperial foreign policy 171The Washington naval treaty (1921-22) andthe Singapore strategy 175Tariff reform redivivus, the Empire Marketing Board,and the Empire Settlement Act 178Conclusion 183Conclusions 186Biographical Appendix 196Select Bibliography 202Index