Abstract
One of the characteristics of British Imperialism 1688–2000 written by P.J. Cain and A.G. Hopkins is the emphasis put on China as an area in which the working of British imperial policy propelled by gentlemanly capitalism was clearly discerned.1 Given the important place of China in the imperialist world order, this is a rewarding exercise, and the function of British financial interests in China is convincingly borne out in their work. In the case of the 1930s, which is the period discussed in this chapter, they stress the continuity of British policy towards China: ‘The main issues, as in the 1920s, were financial, and centred on securing payments on existing debts and creating the conditions for new investment.’2 And they point out that ‘the most ambitious reform was the attempt to draw China into the emerging Sterling Area after Britain left the gold standard in 1931’.3
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Notes
P.J. Cain and A.G. Hopkins, British Imperialism 1688–2000 (Harlow and New York, 2001), chs 13, 25.
See Peter Cain, ‘British Economic Imperialism in China in the 1930s: the Leith-Ross Mission’, Bulletin of Asia-Pacific Studies (Osaka University of Foreign Studies), Vol. 7 (1999).
I have already presented my analysis of Anglo-Japanese relations from 1931 to 1941. See Yoichi Kibata, ‘Anglo-Japanese Relations from the Manchurian Incident to Pearl Harbor: Missed Opportunities?’ in: Ian Nish and Yoichi Kibata (eds), The History of Anglo-Japanese Relations, 1600–2000, Vol. 2, The Political-Diplomatic Dimension, 1930–2000 (Basingstoke and London, 2000). This chapter contains some parts which overlap with my former article.
See John Darwin, ‘Imperialism in Decline? Tendencies in British Imperial Policy between the Wars’, Historical Journal, 23–3 (1980).
Alan Ereira, The Invergordon Mutiny (London, 1981).
Paul Haggie, Britannia at Bay. The Defence of the British Empire against Japan 1931–1941 (Oxford, 1981), p. 21.
Kaoru Sugihara, ‘Higashi ajia ni okeru kogyoka-gata tsuka chitsujo no seiritsu’ (The Formation of a Financial System of the Industrializing Type in East Asia), in: Shigeru Akita and Naoto Kagotani (eds), 1930 nendai no Ajia kokusai chitsujo (Asian International Order in the 1930s) (Kyoto, 2001).
S. Howson and D. Winch, The Economic Advisory Council 1930–1939 (Cambridge, 1977), p. 75.
A.J. Toynbee (ed.), Survey of International Affairs 1926 (London, 1928), p. 489.
As a recent assessment of the December Memorandum, see Harumi Goto-Shibata, Japan and Britain in Shanghai 1925–31 (Basingstoke and London, 1995), pp. 38–9.
Christopher Thorne, The Limits of Foreign Policy. The West, the League and the Far Eastern Crisis of 1931–1933 (London, 1972), p. 262.
Memo by Ashton-Gwatkin, 10 Oct. 1921, quoted in: Frank Furedi, The Silent War. Imperialism and the Changing Perception of Race (London, 1998), p. 30.
For example, see Clive to Simon, 8 Nov. 1934, FO 371/18185, PRO. This is a detailed report about Indian activities in Yokohama, Tokyo, Osaka and Kobe. See also T.R. Sareen, Indian Revolutionaries, Japan and British Imperialism (New Delhi, 1993), ch.1.
W. David McIntyre, The Rise and Fall of the Singapore Naval Base, 1919–1942 (Basingstoke and London, 1979), p. 1.
Shigeru Akita, ‘British Informal Empire in East Asia, 1880–1939: a Japanese Perspective’, in: Raymond E. Dumett (ed.), Gentlemanly Capitalism and British Imperialism. The New Debate on Empire (London and New York, 1999), pp. 147–52.
See also Yutaka Nozawa (ed.), Chugoku no heisei kaikaku to kokusai kankei (Currency Reform in China (1935) and China’s Relations with Japan, Britain and America) (Tokyo, 1981).
Robert A. Dayer, Finance and Empire. Sir Charles Addis 1861–1945 (Basingstoke and London, 1988), pp. 289–90.
Prof. Inoue Toshikazu puts forward an interesting interpretation about the meaning of the Barnby Mission. According to him, the Mission could have offered Japan the opportunity to construct a new regional order with economic co-operation between Japan, Britain and ‘Manchukuo’, which China could be invited to join. He ascribes the reason for the failure of the Mission not to Japan’s military ambition in China, but rather to Britain’s inability to provide ‘Manchukuo’ with the long-term investment necessary for its economic development. This argument, which discusses the problem in terms of financial capacity, has some bearings on the thesis of gentlemanly capitalism, but Inoue does not grapple with the British side. Toshikazu Inoue, Kiki no naka no kyocho gaiko (Co-operative Diplomacy at the Time of Crisis) (Tokyo, 1994), pp. 232–7. The Japanese diplomatic records reveal that there was a difference in attitude towards the Mission between the East Asian Department and the Commercial Department of the Japanese Foreign Ministry. While the former was rather critical of the British move, the latter was prepared to co-operate with Britain in ‘Manchukuo’. Nihon gaiko bunsho (Documents on Japanese Foreign Policy), Showa Period, II-2–3 (Tokyo, 1999), no. 201.
See Andrew J. Crozier, Appeasement and Germany’s Last Bid for Colonies (Basingstoke and London, 1988).
See Katsumi Usui, ‘Sato gaiko to Nitchu kankei’ (Sato Diplomacy and SinoJapanese Relations), in: Akira Iriye and Tadashi Aruga (eds), Senkanki no nihon gaiko (Japanese Diplomacy in the Interwar Years) (Tokyo, 1984).
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© 2002 Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
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Kibata, Y. (2002). Reasserting Imperial Power? Britain and East Asia in the 1930s. In: Gentlemanly Capitalism, Imperialism and Global History. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781403919403_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781403919403_9
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