British Nationalism, Imperialism and the City of London 1880-1900
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Based mainly on the records of the London Chamber of
Commerce, the study explores the role of the City in the
promotion of a form of British nationalism and the
pressure for an expansion of the British Empire and navy
in the last two decades of the nineteenth century.
In its propagation of a free-trade form of imperial
federation, the City struggled with protectionists within
the Imperial Federation League, at the Congresses of the
Chambers of Commerce of the Empire convened by the London
Chamber of Commerce, and by forming the British Empire
League. The City's concern to consolidate the existing
Empire, together with a demand for its expansion, was
presented as a 'National Commercial Policy' and justified
with rhetoric which included economic nationalism, the
civilising mission of the British, and free trade.
The close relationship between the City and the State
is revealed to have had two aspects: the one consciously
kept hidden and which admitted the political and specific
economic realities involved; the other publicly
performed, which denied the hidden aspect and was played
in general language to various audiences at home and
abroad, who were composed of interests which competed
politically or economically with the City. The activity
of committee members of the trade sections of the London
Chamber of Commerce for West Africa, South Africa, and
East India and China provide examples of this
relationship, and details of the economic interests of
those City businessmen involved are recorded. The City's often-ignored, leading role in the
pressure for a continuous and rapid expansion of the navy
during this period is demonstrated, in particular by the
activities of the Naval Defence Standing Committee of the
London Chamber of Commerce which brought together the
politicians, naval officers and businessmen who formed the
centre of the movement in the 1890s.
Authors
Smith, Steven Reginald BurdettCollections
- Theses [3831]