Peripheral Flashcards
Why does Darwin criticise Cain and Hopkins?
Uncertainty over who drove intervention: pressure groups? government or officials on the spot?
What drove expansion?
Plurality of british society, many groups with private interests. Pushed for different things at different times.
What does Darwin claim about informal empires?
They were not a matter of choice by ‘official mind’ but because it was all that could be done. Argentina example.
How did geo-politics constrain expansion?
China was not possible to annex as all of the western powers were in the area and Britain ran risk one allying with the Chinese.
Describe imperial policy?
experimental, complex and reversible. Colonisation not guaranteed to last.
What did Taylor say?
Governments at home are simply to weak to control colonies.
Why were bridgeheads important?
The way in which they settled in a new area and what they reported back helped inform decisions about colonisation. The man on the spot was the essential factor.
What could government do to colonisation?
regulate and facilitate but not control
