Leopold II Quotes
The British should leave Egypt and … as the price of that policy and the favor England would thereby win from France, you should be able, without spending a shilling or losing a man, to annex China to the Indian Empire.
Leopold II, 1835-1909, King of Belgium, Proposal made to British Prime Minister Salisbury, 1895
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
In contrast to Queen Victoria and the Conservative Government before him, Gladstone opposed most colonial expansionism. However, in a policy analysis that in later years would come to be called “the Domino Theory,” Gladstone felt compelled to put down the revolt.
Grey’s statement which had been made without any coordination with the Prime Minister, came to be called the “Grey Declaration,” and was the talk of diplomatic Europe. Grey claimed to be only talking about a hypothetical possibility, but the French actually had designs on the “other side” of Africa. They perceived that Grey was threatening war and referred to the declaration as the “fameuse manifestation.” The French sought and obtained a rapprochement and left the Niger valley to the British.
The United States and England maintained officially that their stance was moral and ethical. And it was for most Americans and Britons. However, there were some, whose motivation was economically self-serving as this quotation suggests. The less control Japan had over China, the more other countries could freely trade with China.
This speech to over 100,000 people galvanized the Indian nationalists They had been asking the British to change the constitution to give India more independence. Churchill was opposed to any policy that would diminish the British Empire, but needed the Indians as men of India served in the British Army in every major theater of WWII. So instead of saying "No" Churchill held out the possibility but at a later time. He argued that it was inopportune to alter the Constitution in the midst of a world war.
The Gladstone government delayes and the force did not arrive on time. The town fell to the Madhi’s forces. Gordon was killed.
The British had, after earlier defeats, finally had great military success in India/Afghanistan on the one hand and China on the other. Note that the objects of the military expeditions were always twofold: First to expand trade and trading opportunities for England. Second to retrieve “honor” that had been lost by earlier military defeats.
The Punjab, like Afghanistan and some other areas had no real tradition of government. The Sikhs of the Punjab had initiated a war with the British Colonial Empire—The 1st Anglo-Sikh War—which ended with a decisive British victory and a peace treaty where the rulers of the Punjab agreed to keep the peace. However, they really could not control the population and some Sikhs again attacked British and Muslim interests. The Governor-General reported that treaties and commitments with the Punjab leaders really meant little. The British also won the 2nd Anglo-Sikh War-. The Governor-General was determined that there would not be a 3rd war with the Sikhs of the Punjab.
This is a fascinating historical quotation. The English Foreign Minister and sent a draft of his proposed policy of English involvement to make Spain more democratic to counteract the influence of France which was then England’s arch enemy. The French had a military-oriented right wing government. The Queen, although only 27 years old at the time, had a brilliant grasp of foreign policy and the sagacity of an elder statesman. (And women in the United Kingdom could not even vote.) She realized that once England was involved in nation building and backing one party in Spain, England would be responsible for whatever that party ended up doing, and yet England really could not control the situation. Corruption, violations of civil rights, impoverishment all might occur, and England would have to defend those things lest the French who would then support the opposition would gain an upper hand in a proxy war. The situation was very similar to the United States getting involved in Vietnam and supporting the South Vietnam government which, despite U. S. efforts to the contrary, was totally corrupt, inept, religiously discriminatory, and totally inept in providing good government to the people. A similar situation occurred with the American intervention in Afghanistan where the President operated a totally corrupt and inept government and we were forced to support him. On other occasions she goes even further and actually writes new copy of policies personally. Note that the formality of the time required that the Queen refer to herself in the third person and not the first.
The Sepoys were Indian natives serving as enlisted men in the British Army in India. Napier had been the Commander of the British Forces in India and resigned over a dispute with the government. This quotation came from his negative report. Not long after he wrote this, the “Sepoy Rebellion” in 1857 almost destroyed English rule in India.
De Gaulle tended to see world affairs in terms of extreme, simplistic, and dramatic alternatives when reality is much more complex the truth was turned out to be for England a much more favorable outcome without either of these extremes.
That is exactly what happened. However it would not happen until after the Second World War.
The Gladstone government was opposed to the expansionist policies of the Conservatives who had preceded them. None the less, General Gordon being killed in the uprising at Khartoum, and the Egyptian revolution forced the government’s hand to send troops.
Nantucket was the center of the New England whaling fleet which at the time plied the Earth’s oceans and influenced non Western People the world over. It was a type of cultural imperialism although the whalers sized or claimed anyone’s land or controlled any nation’s trade.
The Punjab, like Afghanistan and some other areas had no real tradition of government. The Sikhs of the Punjab had initiated a war with the British Colonial Empire—The 1st Anglo-Sikh War—which ended with a decisive British victory and a peace treaty where the rulers of the Punjab agreed to keep the peace. However, they really could not control the population and some Sikhs again attacked British and Muslim interests. The Governor-General reported that treaties and commitments with the Punjab leaders really meant little. The British also won the 2nd Anglo-Sikh War.
Hong Kong was not always a successful city or colony. In 1844 the British were thinking of swapping it for a better colony. However, in a rare combination of synergistic development of a colony, the great strengths of the Chinese and that of the English combined to make Hong Kong one of the best and well developed cities in the world. Few imperial colonies turned out as well.
They were both children of Queen Victoria of England.
See {636935}for the policy decision that triggered this order.
