The Consequences of Humiliation: Anger and Status in World Politics by Joslyn Barnhart

Author:Joslyn Barnhart [Barnhart, Joslyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: International Relations, Diplomacy, Political Science, World, General
ISBN: 9781501748684
Google: e8atDwAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 52126629
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Published: 2020-05-01T00:00:00+00:00

The Second Stage of the Scramble for Africa: The Pace Accelerates

By early 1885, events in Africa had started to take on “the character of a steeple-chase,” a transition prompted largely by Britain’s decision to finally adopt a forward policy in Africa.187 Despite that a significant number of existing colonies had proven to be economic failures,188 European states that wanted to be perceived as great powers pursued colonial acquisitions throughout the remainder of the century with abandon. And each state appeared to do so for a remarkably consistent reason. As we saw above, the British feared that if they did not match others’ colonial holdings in Africa that England would sink into slow decay as a lower ranked continental state. Foreign Minister, Ferry described French colonial policy in similar terms in July 1885: “We can see so many rivals increasing in stature around us … a policy of containment or abstention is nothing other than the broad road leading to decadence! France must put itself in a position where it can do what others are doing. If we do not, then we shall meet the fate which has overtaken other nations which played a great role on the world stage centuries ago but which today, for all their power and greatness past, are now third or fourth-rate powers.”189

German views on colonies also converged to this perspective. By the end of the 1880s, Bismarck had returned to his disillusionment with African colonies, abandoning his colonial initiative almost as quickly as he had adopted it because the colonies had proven, as he had expected, to be financially burdensome without the promise of future reward.190 Bismarck was removed from office in 1890 and with him went a moderate approach to German colonization.191 As Sanderson notes, on Bismarck’s departure, his “pragmatism gave way to an official conviction that Germany’s future greatness depended on further expansion overseas … and therefore to pressure for repartition.”192 A failure to do so would relegate Germany to second if not third-tier status as more of a continental than an international power. Announcing in 1896 that “nothing must henceforth be settled in the world without the intervention of Germany and the German Emperor,” the Kaiser indicated that African affairs would remain within Germany’s purview for the foreseeable future.

Thus, the accelerating pace of territorial acquisition as the 1890s wore on was guided by an almost internal, “self-propelled momentum” in which state desires for more territory depended largely on the amount of territory states perceived others were taking or wanted to take rather than on any material or strategic value that states perceived the desired territory to hold.193 Colonial expansion in Africa had become the mark of great seafaring powers, a great power club even higher within the status hierarchy than mere continental powers. Remaining a great imperial power necessitated “energetic vigor” aimed not only at imitating the policies of others but at matching their colonial acquisitions point by point. The Portuguese writer Eca de Quieroz describes the dynamic in this way: “Precisely

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.