Vernon Bogdanor
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198293347
- eISBN:
- 9780191598821
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198293348.003.0010
- Subject:
- Political Science, UK Politics
The sovereign's relationship with the Commonwealth derives from Britain's imperial history. For, nearly all of the members of the Commonwealth are formerly dependent territories of the Empire, which ...
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The sovereign's relationship with the Commonwealth derives from Britain's imperial history. For, nearly all of the members of the Commonwealth are formerly dependent territories of the Empire, which chose to cooperate voluntarily on a basis of full constitutional equality. Since 1953, the Crown has been divisible, and the Queen of Britain is now also Queen of 15 other Commonwealth monarchies, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, etc. In those countries, the functions of the sovereign are, in practice, undertaken by a Governor‐General, appointed by the sovereign on the advice of the Prime Minister of the country concerned. But, since 1949, it has been possible for members of the Commonwealth to become republics, and the majority of the member states are now republics. They must, however, recognize the sovereign as `the symbol of the free association of its independent member nations and as such the Head of the Commonwealth’. But the position of Head of the Commonwealth is not an office but rather an expression of a symbolic character without any separate constitutional standing or capacity.Less
The sovereign's relationship with the Commonwealth derives from Britain's imperial history. For, nearly all of the members of the Commonwealth are formerly dependent territories of the Empire, which chose to cooperate voluntarily on a basis of full constitutional equality. Since 1953, the Crown has been divisible, and the Queen of Britain is now also Queen of 15 other Commonwealth monarchies, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, etc. In those countries, the functions of the sovereign are, in practice, undertaken by a Governor‐General, appointed by the sovereign on the advice of the Prime Minister of the country concerned. But, since 1949, it has been possible for members of the Commonwealth to become republics, and the majority of the member states are now republics. They must, however, recognize the sovereign as `the symbol of the free association of its independent member nations and as such the Head of the Commonwealth’. But the position of Head of the Commonwealth is not an office but rather an expression of a symbolic character without any separate constitutional standing or capacity.
Chi-kwan Mark
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199273706
- eISBN:
- 9780191706240
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199273706.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History
After 1949, the British Empire in Hong Kong was more vulnerable than the lack of Chinese demand for return and the success of Hong Kong's economic transformations might have suggested. Its ...
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After 1949, the British Empire in Hong Kong was more vulnerable than the lack of Chinese demand for return and the success of Hong Kong's economic transformations might have suggested. Its vulnerability stemmed as much from Britain's imperial decline and America's Cold War requirements as from a Chinese threat. It culminated in the little known ‘1957 Question’, a year when the British position in Hong Kong appeared more uncertain than any time since 1949. This is the first scholarly study that places Hong Kong at the heart of the Anglo–American relationship in the wider context of the Cold War in Asia. Unlike existing works, which tend to treat British and US policies in isolation, this book explores their dynamic interactions — how the two allies perceived, responded to, and attempted to influence each other's policies and actions. It also provides a major reinterpretation of Hong Kong's involvement in the containment of China. The author argues that, concerned about possible Chinese retaliation, the British insisted and the Americans accepted that Hong Kong's role should be as discreet and non-confrontational in nature as possible. Above all, top decision-makers in Washington evaluated Hong Kong's significance not in its own right, but in the context of the Anglo–American relationship: Hong Kong was seen primarily as a bargaining chip to obtain British support for US policy elsewhere in Asia. Using a variety of British and US archival material as well as Chinese sources, the author examines how the British and US government discussed, debated, and disagreed over Hong Kong's role in the Cold War, and reveals the dynamics of the Anglo–American alliance and the dilemmas of small allies in a global conflict.Less
After 1949, the British Empire in Hong Kong was more vulnerable than the lack of Chinese demand for return and the success of Hong Kong's economic transformations might have suggested. Its vulnerability stemmed as much from Britain's imperial decline and America's Cold War requirements as from a Chinese threat. It culminated in the little known ‘1957 Question’, a year when the British position in Hong Kong appeared more uncertain than any time since 1949. This is the first scholarly study that places Hong Kong at the heart of the Anglo–American relationship in the wider context of the Cold War in Asia. Unlike existing works, which tend to treat British and US policies in isolation, this book explores their dynamic interactions — how the two allies perceived, responded to, and attempted to influence each other's policies and actions. It also provides a major reinterpretation of Hong Kong's involvement in the containment of China. The author argues that, concerned about possible Chinese retaliation, the British insisted and the Americans accepted that Hong Kong's role should be as discreet and non-confrontational in nature as possible. Above all, top decision-makers in Washington evaluated Hong Kong's significance not in its own right, but in the context of the Anglo–American relationship: Hong Kong was seen primarily as a bargaining chip to obtain British support for US policy elsewhere in Asia. Using a variety of British and US archival material as well as Chinese sources, the author examines how the British and US government discussed, debated, and disagreed over Hong Kong's role in the Cold War, and reveals the dynamics of the Anglo–American alliance and the dilemmas of small allies in a global conflict.
Robert Holland
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263198
- eISBN:
- 9780191734755
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263198.003.0016
- Subject:
- Political Science, UK Politics
This chapter examines the history of Great Britain, the British Commonwealth, and the end of the British Empire in the twentieth century, suggesting that the twentieth century ended in Britain as it ...
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This chapter examines the history of Great Britain, the British Commonwealth, and the end of the British Empire in the twentieth century, suggesting that the twentieth century ended in Britain as it began, with the constitutional structure of the United Kingdom a contested and vital subject of public discourse. It concludes that the transitions that characterised the Empire-Commonwealth over the twentieth century were ultimately constrained within the due process of British constitutionalism.Less
This chapter examines the history of Great Britain, the British Commonwealth, and the end of the British Empire in the twentieth century, suggesting that the twentieth century ended in Britain as it began, with the constitutional structure of the United Kingdom a contested and vital subject of public discourse. It concludes that the transitions that characterised the Empire-Commonwealth over the twentieth century were ultimately constrained within the due process of British constitutionalism.
P. J. Marshall and Alaine Low (eds)
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198205630
- eISBN:
- 9780191676710
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205630.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, British and Irish Modern History
This book is volume II of a series detailing the history of the British Empire and it examines the history of British worldwide expansion from the Glorious Revolution of 1689 to the end of the ...
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This book is volume II of a series detailing the history of the British Empire and it examines the history of British worldwide expansion from the Glorious Revolution of 1689 to the end of the Napoleonic Wars, a crucial phase in the creation of the modern British Empire. This is the age of General Wolfe, Clive of India, and Captain Cook. Chapters trace and analyse the development and expansion of the British Empire over more than a century. They show how trade, warfare, and migration created an Empire, at first overwhelmingly in the Americas but later increasingly in Asia. Although the Empire was ruptured by the American Revolution, it survived and grew into an empire that was to dominate the world during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.Less
This book is volume II of a series detailing the history of the British Empire and it examines the history of British worldwide expansion from the Glorious Revolution of 1689 to the end of the Napoleonic Wars, a crucial phase in the creation of the modern British Empire. This is the age of General Wolfe, Clive of India, and Captain Cook. Chapters trace and analyse the development and expansion of the British Empire over more than a century. They show how trade, warfare, and migration created an Empire, at first overwhelmingly in the Americas but later increasingly in Asia. Although the Empire was ruptured by the American Revolution, it survived and grew into an empire that was to dominate the world during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Iain Mclean and Alistair McMillan
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199258208
- eISBN:
- 9780191603334
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199258201.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, UK Politics
This chapter examines the unravelling of the Union between 1800 and 1886. The UK of Great Britain and Ireland was created in 1800, and the Union flag then took on its modern design, with crosses to ...
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This chapter examines the unravelling of the Union between 1800 and 1886. The UK of Great Britain and Ireland was created in 1800, and the Union flag then took on its modern design, with crosses to represent England, Scotland, and Ireland (but not Wales). However, the Irish Union was never accepted in the way the Scottish Union was. The unravelling of the Union began seriously in 1886.Less
This chapter examines the unravelling of the Union between 1800 and 1886. The UK of Great Britain and Ireland was created in 1800, and the Union flag then took on its modern design, with crosses to represent England, Scotland, and Ireland (but not Wales). However, the Irish Union was never accepted in the way the Scottish Union was. The unravelling of the Union began seriously in 1886.
P. J. MARSHALL
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199226665
- eISBN:
- 9780191706813
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199226665.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History, Political History
The British Empire before the Seven Years War – hence the ‘old’ empire of the chapter's title – was a miscellaneous collection of colonies and settlements loosely attached to Britain. The American ...
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The British Empire before the Seven Years War – hence the ‘old’ empire of the chapter's title – was a miscellaneous collection of colonies and settlements loosely attached to Britain. The American and West Indian colonies were largely self-governing through their elected assemblies. British opinion accepted that representative government was appropriate for people of British origin overseas, but insisted that they must obey the authority of the Crown and of the British parliament. The extent of parliamentary power was highly contentious. In Britain few doubted that parliament was the sovereign power over the whole empire. Americans increasingly insisted on limits to that sovereignty and ultimately they were to reject parliamentary authority altogether. Both sides in these disputes invoked British liberty, but they disagreed profoundly on the limits of that liberty.Less
The British Empire before the Seven Years War – hence the ‘old’ empire of the chapter's title – was a miscellaneous collection of colonies and settlements loosely attached to Britain. The American and West Indian colonies were largely self-governing through their elected assemblies. British opinion accepted that representative government was appropriate for people of British origin overseas, but insisted that they must obey the authority of the Crown and of the British parliament. The extent of parliamentary power was highly contentious. In Britain few doubted that parliament was the sovereign power over the whole empire. Americans increasingly insisted on limits to that sovereignty and ultimately they were to reject parliamentary authority altogether. Both sides in these disputes invoked British liberty, but they disagreed profoundly on the limits of that liberty.
P. J. MARSHALL
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199226665
- eISBN:
- 9780191706813
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199226665.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History, Political History
At the end of the Seven Years War Britain acquired territory from its defeated enemies. Colonies settled by the French in Canada and in the West Indies, notably the island of Grenada, came under ...
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At the end of the Seven Years War Britain acquired territory from its defeated enemies. Colonies settled by the French in Canada and in the West Indies, notably the island of Grenada, came under British rule, as did huge tracts of the North American interior, almost exclusively inhabited by Native Americans. At the same time the East India Company became the ruler of densely populated provinces in India. These acquisitions raised fundamental questions about imperial governance. The models of the ‘old’ empire seemed to be irrelevant. The new peoples were French Catholics, Native Americans, or Indian Hindus or Muslims. British liberty seemed to be alien to them. They must be governed in new ways, which tolerated diverse religious principles, recognised alien legal systems and did not create inappropriate representative institutions for those unused to British liberty. How this should be done aroused vigorous debate.Less
At the end of the Seven Years War Britain acquired territory from its defeated enemies. Colonies settled by the French in Canada and in the West Indies, notably the island of Grenada, came under British rule, as did huge tracts of the North American interior, almost exclusively inhabited by Native Americans. At the same time the East India Company became the ruler of densely populated provinces in India. These acquisitions raised fundamental questions about imperial governance. The models of the ‘old’ empire seemed to be irrelevant. The new peoples were French Catholics, Native Americans, or Indian Hindus or Muslims. British liberty seemed to be alien to them. They must be governed in new ways, which tolerated diverse religious principles, recognised alien legal systems and did not create inappropriate representative institutions for those unused to British liberty. How this should be done aroused vigorous debate.
P.J. Marshall
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199226665
- eISBN:
- 9780191706813
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199226665.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History, Political History
The loss of the greater part of the British Empire in North America, along with the independence of the former thirteen colonies and the creation of a new British territorial empire in eastern India, ...
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The loss of the greater part of the British Empire in North America, along with the independence of the former thirteen colonies and the creation of a new British territorial empire in eastern India, are conventionally interpreted as unconnected events. American independence has long been seen as marking the end of a ‘first’, largely trading, Atlantic empire of white settlement, while the extension of British rule over Bengal signalled the creation of a new ‘second’ empire of rule over non-European peoples that was to spread over India and into south-east Asia and Africa during the nineteenth century. This book contests that view, arguing that both losses in America and gains in India were part of a single phase of British imperial history in the later eighteenth century. In the face of worldwide competition from France, Britain sought to consolidate her imperial possessions and maximise their contribution to her wealth and security. Policies directed to these ends seemed to threaten the autonomy of the elites in British America and drove them to resistance, for which they were able to win widespread popular support. By contrast, in Bengal in particular, the British were able to achieve accommodations with landowning and commercial interests in India, which enabled their empire to survive and later to grow.Less
The loss of the greater part of the British Empire in North America, along with the independence of the former thirteen colonies and the creation of a new British territorial empire in eastern India, are conventionally interpreted as unconnected events. American independence has long been seen as marking the end of a ‘first’, largely trading, Atlantic empire of white settlement, while the extension of British rule over Bengal signalled the creation of a new ‘second’ empire of rule over non-European peoples that was to spread over India and into south-east Asia and Africa during the nineteenth century. This book contests that view, arguing that both losses in America and gains in India were part of a single phase of British imperial history in the later eighteenth century. In the face of worldwide competition from France, Britain sought to consolidate her imperial possessions and maximise their contribution to her wealth and security. Policies directed to these ends seemed to threaten the autonomy of the elites in British America and drove them to resistance, for which they were able to win widespread popular support. By contrast, in Bengal in particular, the British were able to achieve accommodations with landowning and commercial interests in India, which enabled their empire to survive and later to grow.
KAREN O’BRIEN
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197262795
- eISBN:
- 9780191753954
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197262795.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History
This chapter situates Milton's vehement anti-imperialism at the beginning of a poetic tradition, stretching as far as Shelley and beyond, which was global in sensibility and in which opposition to ...
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This chapter situates Milton's vehement anti-imperialism at the beginning of a poetic tradition, stretching as far as Shelley and beyond, which was global in sensibility and in which opposition to empire was a central form of imagination. It argues that the major poets of this era not only articulated a powerfully anti-imperial vision of the world, but also contended that artistic culture could not flourish under the political conditions of modern imperialism. This is partly a historical claim, and one which assumes that poetry in this period played an important role in the public contestation of Britain's changing place in the world; but it is also a literary claim about the continuing salience of the classical and early modern traditions which governed poetic forms of imagination right up to the Romantic age. The purpose is not simply to record a series of improvised poetic responses to the growth of the British Empire. Rather, it is to show how a poetry grounded since the Renaissance in universal habits of thought and expansive modes of territorial vision was transposed onto an evolving historical reality, and how this process of imaginative transposition took on a heightened sense of political urgency as the implications of Britain's imperial activities broke upon public consciousness.Less
This chapter situates Milton's vehement anti-imperialism at the beginning of a poetic tradition, stretching as far as Shelley and beyond, which was global in sensibility and in which opposition to empire was a central form of imagination. It argues that the major poets of this era not only articulated a powerfully anti-imperial vision of the world, but also contended that artistic culture could not flourish under the political conditions of modern imperialism. This is partly a historical claim, and one which assumes that poetry in this period played an important role in the public contestation of Britain's changing place in the world; but it is also a literary claim about the continuing salience of the classical and early modern traditions which governed poetic forms of imagination right up to the Romantic age. The purpose is not simply to record a series of improvised poetic responses to the growth of the British Empire. Rather, it is to show how a poetry grounded since the Renaissance in universal habits of thought and expansive modes of territorial vision was transposed onto an evolving historical reality, and how this process of imaginative transposition took on a heightened sense of political urgency as the implications of Britain's imperial activities broke upon public consciousness.
P. J. MARSHALL
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199226665
- eISBN:
- 9780191706813
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199226665.003.0012
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History, Political History
What began as a conflict over ultimate authority in Britain's American colonies became a worldwide war, as France, Spain, and the Netherlands joined in against Britain. The French sent forces to ...
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What began as a conflict over ultimate authority in Britain's American colonies became a worldwide war, as France, Spain, and the Netherlands joined in against Britain. The French sent forces to America and intervened in wars which Britain was fighting with Indian states. British authority was also challenged in Ireland. The British Empire was severely strained and had to make major concessions. Above all, the war in America proved to be unwinnable, and the independence of the thirteen colonies had to be accepted. Full autonomy had to be conceded to Ireland. Canada and Jamaica were, however, defended, and challenges to Britain's position in India were fought off. The empire survived, soon to expand again.Less
What began as a conflict over ultimate authority in Britain's American colonies became a worldwide war, as France, Spain, and the Netherlands joined in against Britain. The French sent forces to America and intervened in wars which Britain was fighting with Indian states. British authority was also challenged in Ireland. The British Empire was severely strained and had to make major concessions. Above all, the war in America proved to be unwinnable, and the independence of the thirteen colonies had to be accepted. Full autonomy had to be conceded to Ireland. Canada and Jamaica were, however, defended, and challenges to Britain's position in India were fought off. The empire survived, soon to expand again.
Niall Ferguson
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199269495
- eISBN:
- 9780191710162
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199269495.003.0004
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Finance, Accounting, and Banking
This chapter seeks to reassert the importance of Britain's formal empire in the ‘unofficial mind’ of the late 19th-century City of London, suggesting that even if they did not initially see ...
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This chapter seeks to reassert the importance of Britain's formal empire in the ‘unofficial mind’ of the late 19th-century City of London, suggesting that even if they did not initially see independent gold standard countries as more risky than colonies, investors learned through experience that they were. The reality was that membership of the British Empire was a more reliable ‘no default’ guarantee than adherence to the gold standard by itself. The political upheavals of the period before, during, and after the First World War revealed the limits of commitments to gold in the face of war and revolution. By the 1920s, bitter experience combined with a new regulatory environment to increase substantially the proportion of overseas investment going to the Empire.Less
This chapter seeks to reassert the importance of Britain's formal empire in the ‘unofficial mind’ of the late 19th-century City of London, suggesting that even if they did not initially see independent gold standard countries as more risky than colonies, investors learned through experience that they were. The reality was that membership of the British Empire was a more reliable ‘no default’ guarantee than adherence to the gold standard by itself. The political upheavals of the period before, during, and after the First World War revealed the limits of commitments to gold in the face of war and revolution. By the 1920s, bitter experience combined with a new regulatory environment to increase substantially the proportion of overseas investment going to the Empire.
Seyyed Vali Reza Nasr
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195144260
- eISBN:
- 9780199833931
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195144260.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
In Malaya and India, the British devised a system of indirect rule whereby they relied on local norms, social organizations, and indigenous institutions of authority such as landlords and sultans who ...
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In Malaya and India, the British devised a system of indirect rule whereby they relied on local norms, social organizations, and indigenous institutions of authority such as landlords and sultans who managed the daily lives of their subjects but were controlled by the British through treaties. Both the colonial states used patronage to rule, creating dependencies between local authorities and the colonial state, and also creating economic, legal, and social structures that, along with the patronage, divided the society vertically.Less
In Malaya and India, the British devised a system of indirect rule whereby they relied on local norms, social organizations, and indigenous institutions of authority such as landlords and sultans who managed the daily lives of their subjects but were controlled by the British through treaties. Both the colonial states used patronage to rule, creating dependencies between local authorities and the colonial state, and also creating economic, legal, and social structures that, along with the patronage, divided the society vertically.
Emily Greenwood
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199575244
- eISBN:
- 9780191722189
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199575244.003.0004
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter proposes that one of the ways in which Caribbean Classics has been liberated from the colonial curriculum is through the rejection of the idea of a continuous transmission of empire from ...
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This chapter proposes that one of the ways in which Caribbean Classics has been liberated from the colonial curriculum is through the rejection of the idea of a continuous transmission of empire from Rome's empire to the British Empire. Starting with Austin Clarke's The Polished Hoe (2002), the chapter traces variations on this theme in V. S. Naipaul (The Mimic Men (1967), and A Bend in the River (1979) ), and the poetry of Derek Walcott. These writers each play with the misquotation and mistranslation of Latin in modern Caribbean literature in order to expose gaps and elisions in British colonial appropriations of Classics. It transpires that the misquotation of Latin in these texts is not a simple matter. Particularly in Clarke and Naipaul, misquotation shows up a miscarriage in the process of translation and, correspondingly, a miscarriage in the succession of empire. If the classical texts quoted in colonial contexts mean something else, or are misquoted, then the narrative of imperial continuity (the translatio studii et imperii) loses cogency.Less
This chapter proposes that one of the ways in which Caribbean Classics has been liberated from the colonial curriculum is through the rejection of the idea of a continuous transmission of empire from Rome's empire to the British Empire. Starting with Austin Clarke's The Polished Hoe (2002), the chapter traces variations on this theme in V. S. Naipaul (The Mimic Men (1967), and A Bend in the River (1979) ), and the poetry of Derek Walcott. These writers each play with the misquotation and mistranslation of Latin in modern Caribbean literature in order to expose gaps and elisions in British colonial appropriations of Classics. It transpires that the misquotation of Latin in these texts is not a simple matter. Particularly in Clarke and Naipaul, misquotation shows up a miscarriage in the process of translation and, correspondingly, a miscarriage in the succession of empire. If the classical texts quoted in colonial contexts mean something else, or are misquoted, then the narrative of imperial continuity (the translatio studii et imperii) loses cogency.
WM. ROGER LOUIS
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198205647
- eISBN:
- 9780191676727
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205647.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, British and Irish Modern History
The 20th-century British Empire cannot be understood without taking into account its Victorian origins. Thus, the volume begins with a chapter on the Empire before 1914, but the thematic design ...
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The 20th-century British Empire cannot be understood without taking into account its Victorian origins. Thus, the volume begins with a chapter on the Empire before 1914, but the thematic design emphasizes the period from the outbreak of the First World War to the principal era of decolonization in the 1960s. In line with this, it highlights the contemporary view that the British Empire rested on sea power, that India was far and away its single most important component, and that the ‘Colonial Empire’ still included the Dominions as well as the colonies. This introductory chapter draws out of the regional chapters the dominating themes of nationalism and the granting of independence by the British. There are seven organizing themes that can be determined in the first half of the volume that help in understanding its overall design and purpose.Less
The 20th-century British Empire cannot be understood without taking into account its Victorian origins. Thus, the volume begins with a chapter on the Empire before 1914, but the thematic design emphasizes the period from the outbreak of the First World War to the principal era of decolonization in the 1960s. In line with this, it highlights the contemporary view that the British Empire rested on sea power, that India was far and away its single most important component, and that the ‘Colonial Empire’ still included the Dominions as well as the colonies. This introductory chapter draws out of the regional chapters the dominating themes of nationalism and the granting of independence by the British. There are seven organizing themes that can be determined in the first half of the volume that help in understanding its overall design and purpose.
Judith Brown and Wm Roger Louis (eds)
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198205647
- eISBN:
- 9780191676727
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205647.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, British and Irish Modern History
This book, which is volume IV in a series, is an assessment of the British Empire in the light of recent scholarship and the progressive opening of historical records. This series helps to understand ...
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This book, which is volume IV in a series, is an assessment of the British Empire in the light of recent scholarship and the progressive opening of historical records. This series helps to understand the end of Empire in relation to its beginning, the meaning of British imperialism for the ruled as well as for the rulers, and the significance of the British Empire as a theme in world history. This 20th-century volume considers many aspects of the ‘imperial experience’ in the final years of the British Empire, culminating in the mid-century's rapid processes of decolonization. It seeks to understand the men who managed the empire, their priorities and vision, and the mechanisms of control and connection that held the empire together. There are chapters on imperial centres, on the geographical ‘periphery’ of empire, and on all its connecting mechanisms, including institutions and the flow of people, money, goods, and services. The volume also explores the experience of ‘imperial subjects’ in terms of culture, politics, and economics; an experience which culminated in the growth of vibrant, often new, national identities and movements and, ultimately, new nation-states. It concludes with the processes of decolonization, which reshaped the political map of the late 20th-century world.Less
This book, which is volume IV in a series, is an assessment of the British Empire in the light of recent scholarship and the progressive opening of historical records. This series helps to understand the end of Empire in relation to its beginning, the meaning of British imperialism for the ruled as well as for the rulers, and the significance of the British Empire as a theme in world history. This 20th-century volume considers many aspects of the ‘imperial experience’ in the final years of the British Empire, culminating in the mid-century's rapid processes of decolonization. It seeks to understand the men who managed the empire, their priorities and vision, and the mechanisms of control and connection that held the empire together. There are chapters on imperial centres, on the geographical ‘periphery’ of empire, and on all its connecting mechanisms, including institutions and the flow of people, money, goods, and services. The volume also explores the experience of ‘imperial subjects’ in terms of culture, politics, and economics; an experience which culminated in the growth of vibrant, often new, national identities and movements and, ultimately, new nation-states. It concludes with the processes of decolonization, which reshaped the political map of the late 20th-century world.
WM. Roger Louis
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198205661
- eISBN:
- 9780191676741
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205661.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, British and Irish Modern History
The word ‘historiography’ is used in the sense of the evolving or changing interpretations of the history of the British Empire. How did historians of the Empire go about their tasks and what were ...
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The word ‘historiography’ is used in the sense of the evolving or changing interpretations of the history of the British Empire. How did historians of the Empire go about their tasks and what were their assumptions? How were their accounts influenced by the political and cultural climate of their age? Above all, which of the historians of the Empire had the strength of intellect and personality to write works that have stood the test of time? This introductory chapter addresses itself to those questions through the historiographical revolution of the early 1960s. The issue of economic decline has been the specific Gibbonian theme applied to the history of the Empire. The focus of the present volume is principally on the work of professional historians since the 1880s. As this volume makes clear, the historiography of the Empire, as it entered a new century, was as rich and diverse as ever before.Less
The word ‘historiography’ is used in the sense of the evolving or changing interpretations of the history of the British Empire. How did historians of the Empire go about their tasks and what were their assumptions? How were their accounts influenced by the political and cultural climate of their age? Above all, which of the historians of the Empire had the strength of intellect and personality to write works that have stood the test of time? This introductory chapter addresses itself to those questions through the historiographical revolution of the early 1960s. The issue of economic decline has been the specific Gibbonian theme applied to the history of the Empire. The focus of the present volume is principally on the work of professional historians since the 1880s. As this volume makes clear, the historiography of the Empire, as it entered a new century, was as rich and diverse as ever before.
Astrid Swenson
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780197265413
- eISBN:
- 9780191760464
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265413.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History
This chapter maps the relationships between heritage and empire in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and their impact on notions of world heritage. It connects the history of heritage in ...
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This chapter maps the relationships between heritage and empire in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and their impact on notions of world heritage. It connects the history of heritage in the metropole with that in the colonies, and relates imperial entanglements to other emerging transnational connections. It outlines commonalities and differences across the British empire and compares the British situation with developments elsewhere. Mapping shifting attitudes to ‘plunder’ and ‘preservation’, it shows how imperialism and preservationism were mutually constitutive as preservation was increasingly promoted as an instrument of good governance. However, it also shows how, across the British empire, a rhetoric of imperial preservation masked the appropriation of indigenous knowledge by the imperialists, while imperial notions of heritage were subverted and reclaimed by the colonized.Less
This chapter maps the relationships between heritage and empire in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and their impact on notions of world heritage. It connects the history of heritage in the metropole with that in the colonies, and relates imperial entanglements to other emerging transnational connections. It outlines commonalities and differences across the British empire and compares the British situation with developments elsewhere. Mapping shifting attitudes to ‘plunder’ and ‘preservation’, it shows how imperialism and preservationism were mutually constitutive as preservation was increasingly promoted as an instrument of good governance. However, it also shows how, across the British empire, a rhetoric of imperial preservation masked the appropriation of indigenous knowledge by the imperialists, while imperial notions of heritage were subverted and reclaimed by the colonized.
P. J. Marshall
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198205630
- eISBN:
- 9780191676710
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205630.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, British and Irish Modern History
For this book the 18th century has been extended at both ends. Although strict uniformity has not been imposed on all chapters, this volume is for the most part set between two dates traditionally ...
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For this book the 18th century has been extended at both ends. Although strict uniformity has not been imposed on all chapters, this volume is for the most part set between two dates traditionally taken as marking eras in British history: 1689, the year of the Glorious Revolution, an event seen by most English people as a time which ensured their liberties, and 1815, the year of Waterloo, the last battle in wars between Britain and France that had begun in 1689. During the first half of this century, occasional British ships defied Spanish claims to a monopoly of the navigation of the Pacific. In the second half, voyages of exploration were despatched to the Pacific, most notably those of James Cook. The British Empire of the first half of the 18th century was essentially an Atlantic one, peopled by inhabitants of British origin, and held together by economic and cultural ties with Britain, as much as by the exertion of authority. By the end of the 18th century, British economic interests were certainly becoming increasingly ‘global’, in the sense that they were spreading beyond the limits of the Empire.Less
For this book the 18th century has been extended at both ends. Although strict uniformity has not been imposed on all chapters, this volume is for the most part set between two dates traditionally taken as marking eras in British history: 1689, the year of the Glorious Revolution, an event seen by most English people as a time which ensured their liberties, and 1815, the year of Waterloo, the last battle in wars between Britain and France that had begun in 1689. During the first half of this century, occasional British ships defied Spanish claims to a monopoly of the navigation of the Pacific. In the second half, voyages of exploration were despatched to the Pacific, most notably those of James Cook. The British Empire of the first half of the 18th century was essentially an Atlantic one, peopled by inhabitants of British origin, and held together by economic and cultural ties with Britain, as much as by the exertion of authority. By the end of the 18th century, British economic interests were certainly becoming increasingly ‘global’, in the sense that they were spreading beyond the limits of the Empire.
Mark Bradley
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199584727
- eISBN:
- 9780191595301
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199584727.003.0006
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter examines the reception in Victorian and Edwardian Britain of Tacitus' Agricola, an encomiastic biography of the historian's father‐in‐law Agricola, governor, subjugator, and ...
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This chapter examines the reception in Victorian and Edwardian Britain of Tacitus' Agricola, an encomiastic biography of the historian's father‐in‐law Agricola, governor, subjugator, and arch‐Romanizer of Britain. The Agricola set Britain on the receiving end of imperial conquest and scrutinized the moral and ethical ambivalence of empire that also permeated British intellectual and popular debates in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This chapter explores the impact of Tacitus' provocative text on the formation of nationalist attitudes and experiences in the context of contemporary political, social, and educational developments, as well as how imperial culture influenced editions, translations, and interpretations of Tacitus' work.Less
This chapter examines the reception in Victorian and Edwardian Britain of Tacitus' Agricola, an encomiastic biography of the historian's father‐in‐law Agricola, governor, subjugator, and arch‐Romanizer of Britain. The Agricola set Britain on the receiving end of imperial conquest and scrutinized the moral and ethical ambivalence of empire that also permeated British intellectual and popular debates in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This chapter explores the impact of Tacitus' provocative text on the formation of nationalist attitudes and experiences in the context of contemporary political, social, and educational developments, as well as how imperial culture influenced editions, translations, and interpretations of Tacitus' work.
Emma Reisz
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199584727
- eISBN:
- 9780191595301
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199584727.003.0009
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter examines links between British fears about the decline of empire during the Edwardian period, and Edwardian scholarship examining the collapse of classical empires. In a climate of ...
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This chapter examines links between British fears about the decline of empire during the Edwardian period, and Edwardian scholarship examining the collapse of classical empires. In a climate of rising anti‐imperial nationalism, some Edwardian imperial apologists considered the British Empire to be weak compared to its ancient counterparts, and attributed this vulnerability to the multi‐racial character of modern imperialism. However, some Edwardian classical scholars argued that race and racial difference had been equally significant in the decline of ancient empires, invoking supposed racial differences in antiquity to explain the decline of both Greece and Rome. Examples examined in detail in this chapter include Cromer's Ancient and modern imperialism and Goetze's Foreign Office murals. The chapter also contains an extended discussion of W. H. S. Jones's studies of malaria in ancient Greece and Rome, including consideration of the role played in Jones's research by Ronald Ross and other experts in tropical medicine.Less
This chapter examines links between British fears about the decline of empire during the Edwardian period, and Edwardian scholarship examining the collapse of classical empires. In a climate of rising anti‐imperial nationalism, some Edwardian imperial apologists considered the British Empire to be weak compared to its ancient counterparts, and attributed this vulnerability to the multi‐racial character of modern imperialism. However, some Edwardian classical scholars argued that race and racial difference had been equally significant in the decline of ancient empires, invoking supposed racial differences in antiquity to explain the decline of both Greece and Rome. Examples examined in detail in this chapter include Cromer's Ancient and modern imperialism and Goetze's Foreign Office murals. The chapter also contains an extended discussion of W. H. S. Jones's studies of malaria in ancient Greece and Rome, including consideration of the role played in Jones's research by Ronald Ross and other experts in tropical medicine.
