SOAS HISTORY RESOURCES
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      • The governance and administration of the Empire
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      • The impact of imperial power on the periphery and Britain
      • The British Empire and its impact on International Relations
    • Depth Studies >
      • British India: The War of 1857 and its consequences to 1876
      • Palestine 1914-1948
      • Nationalism in Kenya 1945 - 1965
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The governance and administration of the Empire

Key issue(s)
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Berlin Conference (1884–1885); imperial rivalry, metropolitan influence
Imperial rivalries are often referred to as part of the cause of World War I and many students will be familiar with this notion. This is likely to be one of the least ‘unknown’ or inaccessible aspects of the key topic.

Internet Resources

There are some very good links to sources on explanations of New Imperialism, motives and attitudes and contested responses at the following source website.

Here is an Animated Atlas of African History, and a list of the Colonial Names of African States.

There is an interesting Radio 4 discussion of the Berlin Conference on ‘In Our Time’, which is still available for download.

A basic but clear overview of ‘The Scramble’: Slavery and the 'Scramble for Africa (BBC).

​Full text of Treaty of Berlin.

An important element for metropolitan influence to include in discussion of the ‘costs-benefits’ is the degree to which metropolitan ‘interest groups’ such as industrialists, investors and workers themselves benefited from imperial growth. Other factors influencing the expansion of British imperialism is the role of ‘settler colonies’.
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Internet Resources

​The debates focused on the diverse opinions of Offer and Ferguson also include these issues: Offer in particular proposes that few in the metropole benefited as it led to a more unequal society.

The letters and diaries of Jesse Campbell, a settler who moved to New Zealand in the 1840s, give valuable insight into the experiences of settler communities.

The role of settler communities can also be factored into discussions of imperial rivalries e.g.: the South African War (formerly sometimes called the Boer Wars). See a basic background here from BBC.

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The British Empire (Y320)

​Key Topics

Governance and administration
Opposition
Periphery and Britain
Impact on international relation
​​Depth studies
​British India
Palestine
Kenya

Cold War in Asia

Key Topics
Western Policies
The Korean War
Indochina
​Wars in Vietnam and Cambodia
Picture
  • Home
  • About
  • The British Empire
    • Key Topics >
      • The governance and administration of the Empire
      • Opposition to British Rule
      • The impact of imperial power on the periphery and Britain
      • The British Empire and its impact on International Relations
    • Depth Studies >
      • British India: The War of 1857 and its consequences to 1876
      • Palestine 1914-1948
      • Nationalism in Kenya 1945 - 1965
  • Cold War in Asia
    • Western Policies in Post War Asia
    • The Korean War
    • Indochina
    • Vietnam and Cambodia
  • Contact