EUROPEAN IMPERIALISM, 1860-1914 Studies in European History Series Editors: john Breuilly julian jackson Peter Wilson jeremy Black A Military Revolution? Military Change and European Society, 1550-1800 T.C.W. Blanning The French Revolution: Class War or Culture Clash? (2ndedn) john Breuilly The Formation of the First German Nation-State, 1800-1871 Peter Burke The Renaissance (2nd edn) Michael L. Dockrill and Michael F. Hopkins The Cold War 1945-1991 (2nd edn) William Doyle The Ancien Regime (2nd edn) William Doyle jansenism Andy Durgan The Spanish Civil War Geoffrey Ellis The Napoleonic Empire (2nd edn) Donald A. Filtzer The Krushchev Era Mary Fulbrook Interpretations of the Two Germanies, 1945-1990 (2nd edn) Graeme Gill Stalinism (2nd edn) Hugh Gough The Terror in the French Revolution john Henry The Scientific Revolution and the Origins of Modem Science (3rdedn) Stefan-Ludwig Hoffmann CivilSodety, 17~1914 Henry Kamen Golden Age Spain (2nd edn) Richard Mackenney The City-State, 1500-1700 Andrew Porter European Imperialism, 1860-1914 Roy Porter The Enlightenment (2nd edn) Roger Price The Revolutions of 1848 james Retallack Germany in the Age of Kaiser Wilhelm II Geoffrey Scarre Witchcraft and Magic in 16th- and 17th- Century and john Callan Europe (2nd edn) R.W. Scribner and C. Scott Dixon The German Reformation (2nd edn) Robert Service The Russian Revolution, 1900-1927(3rd edn) jeremy Smith The Fall ofSoviet Communism, 1985-1991 David Stevenson The Outbreak of the First World War Peter H. Wilson The Holy Roman Empire, 1495-1806 Oliver Zimmer Nationalism in Europe, 1890-1940 Studies In European History Series Standing Order ISBN 0-333-79365-X (outside North America only} You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a standing order. Please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address below with your name and address, the title of the series and the ISBN quoted above. Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS, England EUROPEAN IMPERIALISM, 1860-1914 ANDREW PORTER Rlwtks Professor of Imperial History, Kmg's College Universi9 of Lmdon C> Andrew Porter 1994 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. 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Transferred to digital printing 2002 Contents A Note on Rqerences Vl Acknowledgements VI Editor's Priface Vll A Chronology qf Events Vlll Definitions and Theories 2 'Metropolitan' Explanations: Political 14 3 'Metropolitan' Explanations: Social and Economic 30 4 'Peripheral' Explanations 50 5 Other Recent Approaches 59 6 Expansion and Empire 69 Select Bibliography 78 List qf Maps and Tables 99 Maps 100 Index 116 v A Note on References References are cited throughout in brackets according to the numbering in the select bibliography, with page references where necessary indicated by a colon after the bibliography number. Acknowledgements My thanks go to my London colleagues, in particular to Peter Marshall and Tony Stockwell (who, obliging as ever, both commented on sections of this manuscript) and Rob Holland. From all of them I have learnt much over the years, and I hope this may be of some use to their students as well as to my own. The author and publishers are grateful for permission to use copyright material. Every effort has been made to trace all the copyright holders but if any have been inadvertently over­ looked the publishers will be pleased to make the necessary arrangement at the first opportunity. Vl Editor's Preface The main purpose of this new series of studies is to make available to teacher and student alike developments in a field of history that has become increasingly specialised with the sheer volume of new research and literature now produced. These studies are designed to present the 'state of the debate' on important themes and episodes in European history since the sixteenth century, presented in a clear and critical way by someone who is closely concerned himself with the debate in question. The studies are not intended to be read as extended biblio­ graphical essays, though each will contain a detailed guide to further reading which will lead students and the general reader quickly to key publications. Each book carries its own interpretation and conclusions, while locating the discussion firmly in the centre of the current issues as historians see them. It is intended that the series will introduce students to historical approaches which are in some cases very new and which, in the normal course of things, would take many years to filter down into the textbooks and school histories. I hope it will demonstrate some of the excitement historians, like scien­ tists, feel as they work away in the vanguard of their subject. The format of the series conforms closely with that of the companion volumes of studies in economic and social history which has already established a major reputation since its inception in 1968. Both series have an important contribution to make in publicising what it is that historians are doing and in making history more open and accessible. It is vital for history to communicate if it is to survive. R.J. OVERY Vll A Chronology of Events 1858 June: Treaties of Tientsin between China and Britain, France, USA, and Russia; Russo-Chinese treaty cedes control of Amur region to Russia. French occupation of Saigon. 1860 October: Peking Conventions signed with Britain and France. 1861 August: British annexation of Lagos. 1862 June: Treaty of Saigon, recognises French protec­ torate over three eastern provinces of Cochin-China. British representative established at Mandalay. 1863 August: French protectorate over Cambodia. Inter­ national settlement founded at Shanghai. Dutch complete annexation of Borneo. 1864 France annexes Loyalty Islands. 1865 Russia captures Tashkent. 1866-76 Russia subdues Central Asian khanates of Kokand, Khiva and Bokhara. 1867 France annexes western provinces of Cochin-China; declares protectorate over Rapa. USA acquires Midway Is. 1868 Britain's Abyssinian Expedition. August: French Treaty of Commerce and Friendship with Hova rulers of Madagascar. 1869 November: Suez Canal opened. 1870 June: massacre of foreigners in Tientsin. July: out­ break of Franco-Prussian war. 1871 Japan claims sovereignty over Ryuku Islands. Anglo­ Dutch Treaty of Sumatra. Spanish conquest of Sulu (1871-8). October: Britain annexes Griqualand West. Vlll 1873-4 Japan considers occupation of Formosa; French interventiOn at Hanoi (Garnier Affair); Second Anglo-Ashanti War; beginnings of Dutch war with Acheh (1873-1903). 1874 March: Annam a French protectorate, and Cochin­ China a French colony; June: British Treaty of Pangkor, with Perak rulers, and Perak, Selangor and Sungei Ujong brought under control; October: Britain annexes Fiji. 1875 November: Britain purchases Suez Canal shares from the Khedive of Egypt. 1876 Anglo-Chinese Chefoo Convention; Germany annexes bases in Marshall Islands (1876, 1878); September: International Geographical Conference in Brussels, convened by Leopold II of the Belgians, who forms the International Mrican Association. 1877 April: British annexation of South Mrican Republic (Transvaal). Russo-Turkish War (April 1877-March 1878). 1878 March: Russo-Turkish Treaty of San Stefano; June­ July: Congress of Berlin, and British occupation of Cyprus. Leopold II establishes Comite d'etudes du Haut Congo. March: British protectorate over Walvis Bay, South-West Mrica. Anglo-German­ USA treaties recognise independence of Samoa (1878-9), and USA secures use of Pago Pago harbour. Second Anglo-Mghan War (1878-9). 1879 January-September: Anglo-Zulu War. May: Treaty of Gandamak between Britain and Mghanistan. September: Anglo-French Dual Control of Egyptian finances confirmed. 1880 Tahiti a French colony, and French protectorates over Raiatea and Leeward Islands. July: interna­ tional Madrid Convention recognises independence and integrity of Morocco. First Anglo-Boer War (December 1880-March 1881). 1881 Charter granted to British North Borneo Company. April-May: French occupation of Tunis followed by Treaty of Bardo, establishing French protec­ torate. IX 1882 July-September: British occupation of Egypt; November: French approval of S. de Brazza's Congo treaties; December: British recognition of Portuguese claims to the Congo. Italian occupation of Assab. 1883 August: Treaty of Hue results in French protec­ torate over Annam. December: French occupy Tonkin, and Sino-French war begins. German New Guinea Company granted a charter. 1884 February: Anglo-Portuguese Congo Treaty; April, July: German protectorates at Angra Pequena, Togoland and Cameroons.