Suchergebnisse

In Defence of British India (1984) illustrates the problems arising from the British need to defend an Indian empire against the fluctuations in the European balance of power, preferably by isolating the empire from the European political system. The strategies devised by Britain to forestall and later to counter the expansion of European empires into the Middle East are known as the Great Game, which began in 1798 in response to the French invasion of Egypt. Later, the British planned an offensive in the Middle East itself as a means by which to defend their Indian empire.

Cover -- Half Title -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Preface -- List of Abbreviations -- PART I: SHIFTING SANDS -- 1 The Wonderland of the Political Scientist -- 2 Hegemony, Global Reach and World Power -- 3 The Vanishing Middle East -- 4 Rivalry as Formation Dance -- 5 Bellicism as Boomerang -- 6 'Blue Water'in the Middle East -- PART II LONG-TERM COMMITMENTS -- 7 The Decisive Choice -- 8 The Two-Power Threat -- 9 Real and Pretended Enemies -- 10 Drawing the Geopolitical Template -- Index

These ten studies analyse the steps of the formation dance the British danced in the Middle Eastern international system from the late 18th Century to the outbreak of the Cold War.

These twelve studies of empire-building and empire-builders range widely across the dream world that was the British Empire from the late eighteenth century to the Second World War. Nothing in the British Empire was as it seemed: victories were defeats, defeats were victories, and the use of power was disguised by the veneer of righteousness. The essays reinterpret the work of imperial heroes such as Marquis Wellesley, his more famous younger brother the Duke of Wellington, and Wellington's rival in the pantheon, Lord Nelson; of eminent historians such as A.J.P. Taylor; and of fictional heroines such as Rudyard Kipling's Mrs Hauksbee and George Orwell's Elizabeth Lackersteen. They illustrate the variety of techniques used by British empire-builders and the variety of explanations they gave to account for their behaviour. And they show that to the British image and self-image mattered as much as achievement. The presentation of the achievement was often more important than the achievement itself.