The Making Of British Imperial Historiography

The writing of British imperial history shows the connection between academia and politics.From the beginning,it responds to the different political and ideological discourses.At the end of the nineteenth century,John Seeley,Charles Lucas and Hugh Egerton played important role in it,but they were not in the same academic and political context.In Seeley’s opinion,state was the most important object of historical research,and the British Empire was the product of the expansion of England,so he supported the political idea of Imperial Federation.Seeley wrote the British imperial history was just the continuation of his past idea,that is,cleaned up Macaulay’s historical heritage and reorganized the British historiography,so he didn’t have consciousness of opened up a new area of study.The beginning of British imperial historiography was mainly due the decline of Imperial Federation Movement and the upsurge of imperial studies.Education,especially the education of history became more and more people’s chose to maintained the unity of the British Empire,Lucas and Egerton played an important role in it,so they could be seen as the main promoter of the learning and research framework of British imperial history.In their history writing,the role of person and moral propaganda were more obvious,because they wanted to prove that the British Empire was a good empire and maintained the legitimacy of empire.This dissertation mainly focus on the writing of British imperial history during Th.e Expansion of England was published to the end of the First World War,and regards the academic achievements of Seeley,Lucas and Egerton as the core object of study,discusses how does the interaction between academia and politics in the writing of British imperial history.The part of introduction introduces the life of three core figures,the research situation at home and abroad,the research method and problems,and the framework of dissertation.The first chapter discusses the relationship between Seeley and the writing of British imperial history.Seeley absorbed the German and British academic achievements extensively,it was concentrated reflection in his view of state theory.In Seeley’s academic career,state was the most important subject,and thus state became the basis of his British imperial history writing.Seeley published The Expansion of England in 1883,was not intended to open up a new field of research,but criticized the historical trend represented by Macaulay,and explained that the growth of state was the subject of British history.So Seeley focused on the reconstruction of British historical studies,The Expansion of England was his template.The second chapter examines the two main imperial theories in Seeley’s era:ImperialFederalism’ and ’Greater Britain’.The former was concerned with the creation of formal empire,regarded the federal system as the basis of the united British Empire;the latter was more complex and flexible,on the one hand,there was an intersection between federalism and’Greater Britain’,on the other hand,it made prominent the importance of the invisible spiritual bond.The two imperial theories influenced the writing of British imperial history,especially the ’Greater Britain’,which became the important issue in historians’ studies.The intersection between federalism and ’Greater Britain’ reflected in Seeley’s The Expansion of England,and thus in the imperial concept,he was not exactly the same as most of the participants of Imperial Federation Movement.The third chapter discusses the rise of imperial studies and the creation of British imperial historiography.After the decline of Imperial Federation Movement,many politicians and scholars began to realize that it was too early to build a formal empire.Nowadays imperial education should be strengthened first,so through education to cultivate identity and imperial patriotism became more and more people’s choice.In advanced the education and research of British imperial history,’League of Empire’ and ’Royal Colonial Institute’ made a significant contribution.The creation of disciplinary and popularity of the British imperial historiography aslo took this opportunity to be realized,Lucas and Egerton played an important role in it.Because of the needed to cultivate identity and imperial patriotism,the writing of British imperial history was full of racial and moral superiority in this era.The fourth chapter discusses the relationship between Lucas,Egerton and British imperial historiography.In the elitism idea of education and concern about the ’Greater Britain’,Seeley,Lucas and Egerton were in the same academic lineage.But compared to Seeley,in Lucas and Egerton’s imperial thoughts,the importance of the invisible spiritual bond was more obvious.More importantly,Lucas and Egerton tried to refute the criticism of the British Empire,rather than to reorganize the British historical tradition,so unlike Seeley,in Lucas and Egerton’s historical writing,moral propaganda became more obvious,personal heroic legend also occupied a larger space.For the British imperial historiography during the early 20th century to the 1950s,Lucas and Egerton’s thinking has a greater influence.For example,in The Cambridge History of the British Empire,which published from 1929,and in the studies of British Commonwealth,their influence was everywhere.The conclusion discusses the influence of Seeley,Lucas and Egerton’s academic achievements on the thinking about the present situation.After the Second World War,British Empire gradually disintegrated,during the decolonization movement,the above three scholars’ thinking did not completely annihilate.Since 1970s,in the debate of ’New British History’ and ’Atlantic History’,Their name was often mentioned;in the current popular history,their ideas have been revived.Now,thinking about the British identity and the world order,their ideas can also bring inspiration to us.