19th century Britain and empire

The course is about the development of the British empire in the 19th century. It will examine the of different motivations of the multiple individuals and groups involved in creating it (both European and indigenous), forms of organisation and administration of the empire and the changing nature of the relationship between centre and peripheries.

It will consider how ideas about economic gain, royal/national status, social structure, religion and ideology, ethnicit , strategic issues , and the need to communicate led to different kinds of colonies and different relationships between the centre and the peripheries and between Europeans and indigenous people in the colonies themselves .

In particular it will examine how different motivations led to different kinds of empire in different places. each of which had different relations with the imperial centre. In particular it will examine the different experiences of the settler colonies, colonies of under direct rule, colonies of occupation an economic exploitation. It will treat India as a separate case study but show how these factors affect its development.

It will examine arguments that empire underwent different phases of development as metropolitan attitudes changed. It will examine the differences between formal and informal empire, in particular the way in which free trade may have led to a temporary withdrawal from formal empire and a new focus on informal empire but that this policy was later reversed as greater challenges from other powers became apparent leading to a phase of New Imperialism.