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The Internationalization of Trusteeship

William Bain

in Between Anarchy and Society: Trusteeship and the Obligations of Power

Examines the internationalization of trusteeship as it arose in the context of British colonial administration in Africa, the Berlin and Brussels Conferences, and the experience of the Congo Free ... More

Examines the internationalization of trusteeship as it arose in the context of British colonial administration in Africa, the Berlin and Brussels Conferences, and the experience of the Congo Free State. It is out of these experiences and events that the idea of trusteeship emerges as a recognized and accepted practice of international society. The chapter has five sections: the first discusses British attitudes towards Africa; the second looks at Lord Lugard's ‘dual mandate’ principle of colonial administration—the proposal that the exploitation of Africa's natural wealth should reciprocally benefit the industrial classes of Europe and the native population of Africa; the third discusses the Berlin Conference of 1884–1885 and the Brussels Conference of 1890; the fourth describes trusteeship in relation to the Congo Free State. The fifth section of the chapter points out the progression from the idea of trusteeship in the East India Company's dominion in India—in which the improvement of native peoples would come about rapidly and result in institutional forms and practices that closely resembled those in Europe—to a new incrementalist approach in which societies and people were thought of as occupying different rungs on a progressive ‘ladder of civilization’, and, depending on their stage of development on this ladder, were suited to different forms of constitution.Less

India, 1818–1860: The Two Faces of Colonialism

D. A. Washbrook

in The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume III: The Nineteenth Century

India was subjected to a battery of changes aimed at drawing it more closely under the authority of Britain and converting its culture and institutions to Western and Anglicist norms and forms. Its ... More

India was subjected to a battery of changes aimed at drawing it more closely under the authority of Britain and converting its culture and institutions to Western and Anglicist norms and forms. Its social economy became increasingly agrarian and peasant-based. It addresses the following question: why and how did British rule itself affect the imperatives towards the reconstruction of a traditional India? The received historiography has been guilty of too eclectic an approach to the discourse(s) of colonialism, and also of overemphasizing the significance of discourse (and texts) at the expense of analyses of both institutional practice and politico-economic context. The economics of backwardness is elaborated. Next, it deals with the traditionalization of Indian society. The contradictions continued after the Mutiny, although taking on different forms. Technological transformation increased in intensity. These developments enabled Indian primary products to finally find outlets on world markets. After the Mutiny, the Westernizing and Orientalizing propensities of colonial rule still remained in tension, although as the century advanced a new element also began to enter their relationship.Less

“Where the Devil Has He Been?”

Harlow Robinson

in Lewis Milestone: Life and Films

This chapter covers Milestone’s life until his death in 1980. During this time he directed two high-profile features. Warner Brothers’ Ocean’s Eleven, a widely-imitated heist movie set in the Las ... More

This chapter covers Milestone’s life until his death in 1980. During this time he directed two high-profile features. Warner Brothers’ Ocean’s Eleven, a widely-imitated heist movie set in the Las Vegas casinos, starred the celebrated and notorious “Rat Pack” led by Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, as a group of army buddies out to make a fast buck. Milestone next took over from fired director Carol Reed MGM’s expensive blockbuster epic Mutiny on the Bounty, shot under difficult conditions in Tahiti, along with its difficult star, Marlon Brando. Warner Brothers then hired Milestone to direct PT-109, about John Kennedy, but fired him after a month. In his last years Milestone directed a few episodes for television, but found TV work unsatisfying.Less

Syed Ahmad Khan

B. R. Nanda

in Gandhi: Pan-Islamism, Imperialism and Nationalism in India

This chapter discusses Syed Ahmad Khan, whose family was closely connected to the Mughal court. The chapter begins with a section on Khan’s childhood and his decision to accept a job in the East ... More

This chapter discusses Syed Ahmad Khan, whose family was closely connected to the Mughal court. The chapter begins with a section on Khan’s childhood and his decision to accept a job in the East India Company, a decision protested by his family members. It then looks at the start of his official career as an apprentice in the court of the Sadr Amin at Delhi, and how he became a Sadr Amin in less than twenty years. It describes Khan as pro-British, and narrates his successful efforts to negotiate the release of the British officers and their families who were posted in Bijnor. The chapter also studies the Mutiny of 1857 and Khan’s role in bridging the gap between the Indian Muslims and the British government.Less

Nice, Amiable People!

Andrew Glazzard

in The Case of Sherlock Holmes: Secrets and Lies in Conan Doyle's Detective Fiction

The Sign of Four was Conan Doyle’s second attempt at rewriting Wilkie Collins’s landmark detective novel The Moonstone. His fi rst, published between A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four, was The ... More

The Sign of Four was Conan Doyle’s second attempt at rewriting Wilkie Collins’s landmark detective novel The Moonstone. His fi rst, published between A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four, was The Mystery of Cloomber (1888), a short novel that Doyle later came to regard as mere apprentice work. It is certainly derivative: its setting in a coastal village in south-west Scotland is strongly redolent of Stevenson, with an atmosphere recalling that of some of Doyle’s favourites, such as ‘The Pavilion on the Links’ (1880). Technically, though, it follows Collins in its use of multiple narrators presenting their testimony, some of which takes the form of legalised witness statements and other official documents. But the influence of Collins is even more apparent in The Mystery of Cloomber’s characters, plot and orientalist tropes.Less

Transportation across Intermediate States of Matter

Jacob Shell

in Transportation and Revolt: Pigeons, Mules, Canals, and the Vanishing Geographies of Subversive Mobility

The chapter links the topic of subversive transportation to a discussion of physical geography. Political regimes may perceive some geophysical settings as especially resistant to road-building ... More

The chapter links the topic of subversive transportation to a discussion of physical geography. Political regimes may perceive some geophysical settings as especially resistant to road-building projects. By extension, regimes may perceive (correctly, in many cases) that local forms of transportation whose niche is movement across these road-resistant geophysical zones must also hold a special value for subversive groups seeking mobility beyond the spaces of the state. As examples, the chapter discusses the use of elephants for transport across muddy rainforests; camels for transport across sandy deserts; and sled-dogs for transport across icy tundra and sea ice. Transport by carrier pigeon and watercraft are also briefly discussed. This discussion extends to many different places in the world: northern India, the uplands of Burma, central and east Africa, Australia, Siberia, and the canals and river docks of Shanghai.Less

An Identity Aloof: Baghdadi Jews of the Raj

Nathan Katz

in Who Are the Jews of India?

The Lal Dewal (Red Temple) is Pune's most famous landmark. Its steeple dominates much of the old British cantonment. The Mizrachi Jews acquired their Baghdadi identity via a series of encounters with ... More

The Lal Dewal (Red Temple) is Pune's most famous landmark. Its steeple dominates much of the old British cantonment. The Mizrachi Jews acquired their Baghdadi identity via a series of encounters with other groups, both Gentile and Jewish. Bene Israel significantly affected the Baghdadis. The Mutiny exploded deep tensions stemming from heavy-handed British rule and the Indians' furious sense of disenfranchisement. The poisoned atmosphere in the wake of the Mutiny made the Baghdadis' identity as middlemen untenable. During the twentieth century, English eclipsed Arabic as the mother language in most Baghdadi homes, led by the wealthy. Clothing and cuisine were expressions of identity among the Baghdadis in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Norman Nahoum perceives deep cultural similarities between Indic and Judaic civilizations. Nahoum recognizes that his new, proud Indian-Jewish identity is “an absolute reversal of the thought that has been inculcated in our minds for years”.Less

The Treasures of Asia

Rudolph J. Vecoli and Francesco Durante

Donna R. Gabaccia (ed.)

in Oh Capitano!: Celso Cesare Moreno - Adventurer, Cheater, and Scoundrel on Four Continents

This chapter chronicles Celso Cesare Moreno's exploits in Asia, beginning with his decision to take to the sea like other Italian missionaries, explorers, and traders before him, such as Marco Polo ... More

This chapter chronicles Celso Cesare Moreno's exploits in Asia, beginning with his decision to take to the sea like other Italian missionaries, explorers, and traders before him, such as Marco Polo and Vasco da Gama. Moreno's initial zone of activity was the Mediterranean, but he later made his way to the Cape of Good Hope, the Horn of Africa, the Red Sea, and finally, India. Arriving in Calcutta in June 1859, Moreno became entangled in a bitter dispute with Giovanni Casella, a successful merchant, and Father Vincenzo Bruno, a missionary. The chapter also considers Moreno's role in the Sepoy Mutiny during his time in India; his “discovery” of Sumatra; his sojourn in China, where he became involved in the Taiping Rebellion; his failed attempt to convince the Italian government to establish a colony in Sumatra; his efforts to sell Sumatra to Napoleon III; and his travel to Indochina to explore scantly known regions, among other objectives.Less

“Deeds of Our Own”: Loyalty, Soldier Rights, and Protest in Northern Regiments of the United States Colored Troops

Thaddeus M. Romansky

in Contested Loyalty: Debates over Patriotism in the Civil War North

In this essay, Thaddeus Romansky addresses expressions of national loyalty among African-Americans who joined the Union army. African-Americans both in and out of slavery were stigmatized and thought ... More

In this essay, Thaddeus Romansky addresses expressions of national loyalty among African-Americans who joined the Union army. African-Americans both in and out of slavery were stigmatized and thought by many to be incapable of loyalty and citizenship. Military service, however, opened a way to take agency in achieving emancipation while laying claim to the status of loyal men in American society. Focusing on military protests of abusive treatment by white officers, Romansky contends that black soldiers saw the loyalty of their military service as entitling them to equal and fair treatment in the ranks. The author characterizes these protests as reflecting the internalization of broadly held notions of rights, liberty, and resistance to tyranny that formed the core of republicanism. In other ways, however, the sensitivity to claims of equality stemmed from long-suffered racial discrimination. Thus notions of loyalty were complicated by the issue of their race.Less

God Protects Our Fatherland: Preached on the day of Humiliation and Prayer, as appointed by Her Majesty in Council to be held for the troubles in India

David Woolf Marks

in Jewish Preaching in Times of War, 1800 - 2001

This chapter presents a sermon unusual for David Woolf Marks, as a response to a specific historical event. The background to this address was the outbreak of violence on the Indian subcontinent in ... More

This chapter presents a sermon unusual for David Woolf Marks, as a response to a specific historical event. The background to this address was the outbreak of violence on the Indian subcontinent in May 1857, soon called the ‘Indian Mutiny’. The chapter compares the content of Marks' sermon to that of the Christian preachers of the day. Conversely, it shows how Marks emphasizes a theme that is understandably missing from the Christian preachers, who took it for granted: solidarity with Christian neighbours and the patriotism of the Jews of Britain. The other polemical thrust of the sermon is the reference to ‘whatever opinions we may entertain with respect to the causes which have produced this serious rebellion’. And throughout the text, there are passages that reveal the rhetorical power for which Marks was known.Less

Masks Theatricals in White

Julia A. Stern

in Mary Chesnut's Civil War Epic

This chapter turns to the strangely inappropriate-seeming amateur theatricals mounted by the Richmond elite at the lowest point of the South's military prospects in 1864. Their frivolity impressed ... More

This chapter turns to the strangely inappropriate-seeming amateur theatricals mounted by the Richmond elite at the lowest point of the South's military prospects in 1864. Their frivolity impressed Mary Chesnut's husband, recently promoted to brevet brigadier general, as fiddling while Rome burned. A less partisan onlooker might have understood the theatrical frenzy as the planter class's collective attempt at self-distraction from a political and military disaster over which they had no control. Chesnut alludes repeatedly to St. Domingo and the Indian Mutiny in her narrative. These two events, one past, one contemporary, serve as global analogues, shorthand for all she most fears about the potential for violence simmering under the surface of master–slave relations at home. The 1880s writer searched the globe for such examples, though the case of Virginia's Nat Turner had unfolded virtually in her own backyard.Less

From Christian Empire to Global Communion, 1850–70

Bob Tennant

in Corporate Holiness: Pulpit Preaching and the Church of England Missionary Societies, 1760-1870

The final chapter shows that by the mid-century the missionary societies were serving the colonial Churches rather than the home Church’s agenda. The anniversary sermons declined in status and then ... More

The final chapter shows that by the mid-century the missionary societies were serving the colonial Churches rather than the home Church’s agenda. The anniversary sermons declined in status and then (with the SPG and SPCK) ceased publication altogether, the anniversary events becoming merely ceremonial showcases. By contrast, the pulpit in Australia is shown exercising a central practical role in preaching the Church’s mission. In India the work of the new churches was disturbed by the ‘Indian Mutiny’ much less than was morale at home, while visits by colonial clergy began to be keynotes for the maintenance of missionary society activity less at national than diocesan and local level, where support of overseas missions continued to grow as an expression of faith.Less

The Popular Allure and Academic Neglect of Mutinies

Maggie Dwyer

in Soldiers in Revolt: Army Mutinies in Africa

This chapter introduces the study of mutinies and highlights the lack of academic attention on this type of revolt in an African context. It lays out the book’s two overarching themes. One is that ... More

This chapter introduces the study of mutinies and highlights the lack of academic attention on this type of revolt in an African context. It lays out the book’s two overarching themes. One is that mutineers are usually driven by a combination of material demands and a perceived injustice. The other theme is that soldiers use mutinies to communicate with senior leadership. The chapter then demonstrates how this interpretation challenges other understandings of mutinies.Less

Ferment in Maharashtra

B. R. Nanda

in Gokhale: The Indian Moderates and the British Raj

This chapter focuses on uprisings against the British in Maharashtra during the nineteenth century. The first uprising occurred in 1844 at Kolhapur, where the garrison, provoked by an Anglophile but ... More

This chapter focuses on uprisings against the British in Maharashtra during the nineteenth century. The first uprising occurred in 1844 at Kolhapur, where the garrison, provoked by an Anglophile but unscrupulous minister, refused to pay revenue. Thirteen years after this short-lived insurrection came the revolt of 1857, which shook the foundations of the British rule in northern India. The echoes of the Mutiny were heard in Kolhapur on 31 July 1857, when about 200 men of the 27th Native Infantry plundered the treasury and attacked the living quarters of British officers. The last armed revolt, twenty-two years after the Mutiny, was led not by a member of the princely order, but by an obscure Brahman youth by the name of Wasudeo Balwant Phadke.Less

Comparative Mutinies: Case Studies of Working-Class Agency in the 2nd Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment, 1863, and the Australian Imperial Force, 1918

Nathan Wise

in Frontiers of Labor: Comparative Histories of the United States and Australia

In May-June, 1863, over one hundred men of the 2nd Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment, veterans of over two years of hard fighting throughout the Eastern Theatre of the American Civil War, conducted a ... More

In May-June, 1863, over one hundred men of the 2nd Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment, veterans of over two years of hard fighting throughout the Eastern Theatre of the American Civil War, conducted a protest against their treatment by military authorities. Fifty-five years later, in September 1918, several battalions of volunteers from the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) conducted a similar series of protests on the Western Front, also as a form of resistance to their treatment by military authorities. These were very different fighting forces in two very different wars, but there are remarkable similarities in the causes of their respective actions, in the sentiment expressed by the soldiers, in the nonviolent nature of the action, and in the eventual resolution of the issues at the heart of the action. This chapter explores those key aspects of these protests through a close comparative analysis. It relies primarily on written accounts both from individuals involved in the strikes and from individuals involved in resolving the strikes, in order to understand common environmental factors and psychological concerns shared by men of the 2nd Maine Regiment in 1863 and the battalions of the Australian Imperial Force in 1918. Finally, the approach used in this paper focuses on the experiences of soldiers as workers within the military, and through this approach this paper seeks to draw out broader conclusions about the cultural links between civil society and military environments.Less

Racial difference: savages, mutinies and revolution

Peters Laura

in Dickens and race

Chapter four, ‘Racial Difference: Savages, Mutinies and Revolution’ explores the explosive Indian Mutiny of 1857, identifying Dickens’s response as multifaceted. The chapter reads both the ... More

Chapter four, ‘Racial Difference: Savages, Mutinies and Revolution’ explores the explosive Indian Mutiny of 1857, identifying Dickens’s response as multifaceted. The chapter reads both the co-authored ‘Perils of Certain English Prisoners and Their Treasure in Women, Children, Silver and Jewels’ and A Tale of Two Cities in a context of adventure narratives, expeditions, and racial shows revealing what Octave Mannoni terms a well established colonial complex.Less