XIII Международная студенческая научная конференция Студенческий научный форум - 2021

The naval power of the country, the constant exploitation of the colonies, activity in the financial sector, art, as well as the experience of the diplomatic corps glorified Britain as one of the richest and most influential states in the world, which for many centuries allowed Britain to play the role of the leader in the global political arena influencing the ruling elites of other large states, forcing them to recognize the supremacy of England in many political and economic issues and without any objection to accept everything dictated by the British diplomatic representatives.

For all these reasons, British foreign policy is of particular interest, that is, policy, which, despite the fact that it has been studied and analyzed in a mass of historical and scientific works, has not yet been studied enough. Its general directions and principles are considered in many works of historians and political scientists, but certain British diplomatic measures, in particular, the principles of its colonial policy regarding a number of states or individual regions, still require deep research.

Colonialism is the foreign policy of the state, aimed at seizing the territories of other countries and peoples for the purpose of economic exploitation, turning into robbery and actual enslavement of the local population by the aggressor. Currently, colonial policy is considered criminal and completely liquidated. Almost all former colonial countries had gained independence by the middle of the 20th century. A number of small territories, mainly islands, can be considered colonies to some extent even now - they are under the rule of the USA, Great Britain, France and other advanced states; however, the legal status of these territories and their inhabitants is reduced to a single standard of the metropolitan country, which provides the remote territory with economic and social support.

The policy of Great Britain, conducted in the late XIX - early XX centuries, had colonial character.

Britain’s loss of industrial monopoly prompted the British bourgeoisie to strengthen colonial expansion. In the 70s, the conservative party proclaimed the expansion of colonial possessions as the main task of British politics. The government led by the conservative Disraeli, which came to power in 1874, captured Balochistan and tried to subjugate Afghanistan. Its plans included penetration into Turkmenistan and other Central Asian regions. It, however, was hindered by Russia. Due to the expansion of both powers in Central Asia and the struggle for influence in Turkey and the Balkan Peninsula, Anglo-Russian relations were very tense. They were especially complicated during the Russian-Turkish war. The British government sought to use this war to subjugate Turkey to its influence. Under the pretext of its “protection” from tsarist Russia, England forced the Turkish sultan to cede the island of Cyprus. In 1878 the English occupation forces landed on Crete, an important naval base in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea on the outskirts of the Suez Canal.

The Government of Disraeli launched a war with Afghanistan. This war was more severe than expected in England. The Afghan people rose against the colonialists and inflicted several defeats on the British troops.

England's failure in the colonial wars with the Afghans and Boers shook the position of the conservatives, and Disraeli was forced to resign, losing power to the liberals led by Gladstone. The liberals sharply criticized the conservatives for “costly adventurism” in foreign policy and promised the people peace, budget savings and reforms. But in fact, when they came to power, the liberals continued an aggressive policy. They did not abandon the enslavement of Afghanistan and imposed a protectorate of England on it. During the Gladstone ministry in 1882, the British occupied Egypt. The possession of Egypt was crucial for the rule of England over the Suez Canal.

Having occupied Egypt, the British troops moved further south to conquer East Sudan. However, they met strong resistance from the local population there. In 1885, Sudanese surrounded an English detachment in Khartoum and destroyed it. Only later, in 1896-1897, England, already under the conservative government, managed to conquer the eastern part of Sudan.

Since the 80s of the XIX century Britain had been actively attempting to annex the 2 Boer republics - Transvaal and Orange in Southern Africa. The Boers were the descendants of the Dutch colonists who had arrived in southern Africa in the 18th century. They were mainly engaged in farming and cattle breeding. But the British were interested in the diamond wealth of these republics.

In 1896 Jameson's raid took place. It was one of the first attempts by the British to capture the Boer republics. It ended in failure.

The reason for the Anglo-Boer war was the position of the Whitlenders – English immigrants in the Boer republics who arrived to develop diamond copies. Their number was constantly growing, but the policy in relation to them was limited – the Boers refused to grant civil and electoral rights to the Whitlenders. On April 22, 1899, the Whitlenders were sent to the British Parliament with a petition, where they asked for help in gaining rights in the Boer republics. The British Foreign Ministry considered this sufficient for annexation.

From May to October 1899, negotiations were held between the Boer President Krueger and the British Minister. In the end, it became clear that war could not be avoided. On October 9, 1899, the Boers attacked the Cape (owned by Britain) colony in Africa. The war began.

In 1902, all the partisan Boer detachments surrendered, and the people were declared to be citizens of the British Empire.

For the first time, Africa became a testing ground for the latest technology and weapons. For the first time, a Maxim type machine gun, a multi-shot rifle, and doom-doom explosive bullets, blockhouses (armored trains and cars) were used. British soldiers changed their red uniforms to khaki uniforms.

The world community condemned the behavior of Britain. According to various estimates, 2-4 thousand people fought on the side of the Boers.

In the 90s of the XIX century relations between England and Germany began to deteriorate sharply. German goods had long successfully competed with the English and crowded out a large number of countries. Germany wanted to get the championship of England in the maritime and colonial sphere. The German imperialists began to seek redistribution of the colonies in their favor and even dreamed of gaining world domination. England began to prepare for the war against Germany, as its most dangerous enemy. Due to the fact that Germany was building a large navy, the British government set about strengthening its fleet. Fearing Germany, it took steps towards rapprochement with France and Russia.

In 1904, an Anglo-French agreement was concluded, known as the Entente (“agreement”). This agreement settled the colonial disputes of the two imperialist powers: France recognized the dominant position of England in Egypt, and in return England pledged not to prevent France from capturing Morocco.

In 1907, the Anglo-Russian agreement was signed. Its meaning was that England and Russia resolved mutual disputes in Iran (Persia), Afghanistan and Tibet. At the same time, Iran was divided between Russia and England into "spheres of influence": in the southern part the British imperialists ruled, and in the northern - the Russians.

The agreements concluded by England with France and Russia were important in preparing for the First World War.

References

http://history-doc.ru

http://hist-world.com

https://ru.wikipedia.org

http://vek-noviy.ru

https://knowhistory.ru

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Богомолов С.А. Имперская идея в Великобритании в 70-80-е гг. XIX в. Монография Ульяновского государственного университета, 2000.

Виноградов К.Б., Лихарев Д.В. Адмирал Фишер и борьба Великобритании за господство на морях в начале XX в. // Новая и новейшая история. 1993. №3. С. 158-176.

Дронова Н.В. Люди и идеи: Судьбы Британской империи в оценке современников (70-е годы 19 века). Тамбов: Изд-во ТГУ им. Г. Р. Державина, 1998.

Малышев Н.И. Англия и Кипр: отношения двух государств (18-20 века) // Очерки истории. 2009. № 8. С.11-18.