Business and empire: A reassessment of the British conquest of Burma in 1885

Historical Journal

Volumn 43, Issue 4, 2000, Pages 1003-1025

  Webster, Anthony ^a  

^a EDGE HILL UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 2542494900     PISSN: 0018246X     EISSN: 14695103     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0018246X00001461     Document Type: Article

References (109)

1. See for example: Thant Myint U, 'The crisis of the Burmese state and the foundation of British colonial rule in Upper Burma, 1853-1900' (Ph. D. thesis, Cambridge, 1995).
2. E. Chew, 'The fall of the Burmese kingdom in 1885: review and reconsideration', Journal of Southeast Asian Studies (JSEAS), 10 (1979), pp. 372-80.
3. Some, but not all, of the arguments and evidence presented here are to be found in: A. Webster, Gentlemen capitalists: British imperialism in south east Asia (London, 1998).
4. The 'gentlemanly capitalist' thesis has been outlined in numerous texts, the most significant for this article being: P. J. Cain and A. G. Hopkins, British imperialism: innovation and expansion, 1688-1914 (London, 1993).
5. R. E. Dumett, ed., Gentlemanly capitalism and British imperialism (London, 1999).
6. See particularly N. J. White, 'Gentlemanly capitalism and empire in the twentieth century: the forgotten case of Malaya, 1914-1965'
7. and E. H. H. Green, 'Gentlemanly capitalism and British economic policy, 1880-1914: the debate over bimetallism and protectionism', both in Dumett ed., Gentlemanly capitalism.
8. R. Dumett, 'Introduction: exploring the Cain/Hopkins paradigm: issues for debate; critique and topics for new research', in Dumett, ed., Gentlemanly capitalism, pp. 10-11.
9. Green, 'Gentlemanly capitalism and British economic policy', pp. 46-7.
10. Ibid., pp. 66-7.
11. L. Kitzan, 'Lord Amherst and Pegu: the annexation issue', JSEAS, 8 (1977), pp. 176-94;
12. G. P. Ramachandra, 'The outbreak of the first Anglo-Burmese war', Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (JMBRAS), 51 (1978), pp. 69-100.
13. O. B. Pollak, Empires in collision: Anglo-Burmese relations in the mid-nineteenth century (Westport, 1979). pp. 69-73
14. Thant Myint U, 'The crisis of the Burmese state', pp. 112, 123.
15. Maung Htin Aung, Lord Randolph Churchill and the dancing peacock: British conquest of Burma, 1885 (New Delhi, 1990), pp. 24-5.
16. Thant Myint U, 'The crisis of the Burmese state', p. 112.
17. Maung Htin Aung, Lord Randolph Churchill, pp. 47-8.
18. A. C. Pointon, The Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation (Southampton, 1964), pp. 18-19.
19. P. Tuck, 1The French wolf and the Siamese lamb: the French threat to Siamese independence, 1858-1907 (Bangkok, 1995), pp. 71-7.
20. Ibid., p. 76.
21. Ibid., p. 76.
22. J. A. Bryce of Wallace Brothers to Randolph Churchill, Secretary of State for India, 25 July 1885, home correspondence of the India Office, L/P & S/3/264, pp. 427-33, India Office Collections (IOC), British Library (BL).
23. A. T. Q. Stewart, The pagoda war: Lord Dufferin and the fall of the kingdom of Ava, 1885-1886 (London, 1972), p. 64.
24. Memorandum on the affairs of Burma and Siam, by J. A. Bryce, Alexander F. Wallace to Richardson, 4 Nov. 1884, Indian letters, volume commencing 25 Jan. 1884, p. 330, Wallace Brothers papers, Guildhall Library, London.
25. R. Foster, Lord Randolph Churchill: a political life (Oxford, 1988), p. 208.
26. Maung Htin Aung, Lord Randolph Churchill, p. 142.
27. For example, the London chamber of commerce petition to Churchill, 23 Oct. 1885, home correspondence of the India Office, L/P & S/3/265, pp. 1361-7, IOC, BL.
28. Chew, 'The fall of the Burmese kingdom'.
29. J. Hobson, Imperialism: a study (London, 1902);
30. V. I. Lenin, Imperialism: the highest stage of capitalism (Moscow, 1916).
31. J. Gallagher and R. Robinson, 'The imperialism of free trade', Economic History Review, 6 (1953). pp. 1-13.
32. See D. K. Fieldhouse, Economics and empire, 1880-1914 (New York, 1973).
33. J. S. Galbraith, 'The turbulent frontier as a factor in British expansion', Comparative Studies in Society and History, 2 (1960), pp. 150-68.
34. J. Furnivall, Colonial policy and practice: a comparative Study of Burma and Netherlands India (Cambridge, 1948), pp. 70-1;
35. D. G. E. Hall, A history of southeast Asia (London, 1955), p. 130;
36. J. F. H. Cady, A history of modern Burma (New York, 1958), pp. 116-21;
37. Keeton, King Thebaw, pp. 336-7;
38. Fieldhouse, Economics and empire, pp. 384-93;
39. Chew, 'The fall of the Burmese kingdom', pp. 374-5.
40. D. P. Singhal, The annexation of Upper Burma (2nd edn, Singapore, 1981), pp. 88-9;
41. D. Woodman, The making of modern Burma (London, 1962), pp. 226-8;
42. Maung Htin Aung, The stricken peacock: Anglo-Burmese relations, 1752-1948 (The Hague, 1965), ch. 5.
43. Woodman, The making of modern Burma, pp. 226-7.
44. D. R. SarDesai, British trade and expansion in southeast Asia, 1830-1914 (New Delhi, 1977), p. 179.
45. Fieldhouse, Economics and empire, p. 391.
46. Chew, 'The fall of the Burmese kingdom', p. 378.
47. Keeton, King Thebaw, p. 337.
48. A. Mukherjee, British colonial policy in Burma: an aspect of colonialism in south east Asia, 1840-1885 (New Delhi, 1988), p. 490.
49. Ibid., p. 512.
50. Maung Htin Aung, Lord Randolph Churchill.
51. R. Turrell, 'Conquest and concession: the case of the Burma ruby mines', Modem Asian Studies, 22 (1988), pp. 141-63.
52. Ibid., p. 161.
53. Thant Myint U, 'The crisis of the Burmese state'.
54. Ibid., p. 112.
55. Pollak, Empires in collision, p. 123.
56. Thant Myint U, 'The crisis of the Burmese state', p. 123.
57. Tuck, The French wolf and the Siamese lamb, pp. 71-7.
58. Mukherjee, British colonial policy in Burma, pp. 479-83.
59. Walsham to Lord Salisbury, 6 Oct. 1885, home correspondence of the IO, L/P & 8/3/265, pp. 579-81, IOC, BL.
60. Mukherjee, British colonial policy, p. 486.
61. S. Chapman, The rise of merchant banking (London 1984), p. 143..
62. J. A. Bryce to Moore, 26 Aug. 1885, home correspondence of the IO, L/P & S/3/264, p. 497, IOC, BL.
63. Meeting of London Burma merchants, 5 Mar. 1885, recorded in Chamber of Commerce Journal, 10 Mar. 1885, 4, p. 62, British Newspaper Library (BNL), Colindale, London.
64. Chamber of Commerce Journal, 4 Apr. 1885, 4, p. 96, BNL.
65. S. S. Gladstone's connection with Ogilvy and Gillanders is recorded in Chamber of Commerce Journal Supplement, 5 May 1885, 4, p. 9, BNL. Interestingly, Ogilvy and Gillanders emerged as rivals of Lord Rothschild for control of the Burmese ruby mines in the years following annexation. See Turrell, 'Conquest and concession ', p. 148.
66. London chamber of commerce to Churchill, 23 Oct. 1885, home correspondence of the IO, L/P & S/3/265, p. 1361, IOC, BL.
67. A. F. Wallace to Richardson, 4 Nov. 1885, Indian letters, Wallace Brothers papers, Guildhall Library, London.
68. Colquhoun to Churchill, 17 Aug. 1883, home correspondence of the IO, L/P & S/3/264, pp. 57-69, IOC, BL.
69. Proceedings of the Manchester chamber of commerce (PMCC), 21 Apr. 1885, M8/2/9, p. 763
70. Manchester Central Library; Minutes of the Glasgow chamber of commerce (MGCC), 27 May 1885, microfilm n, pp. 512-13, Mitchell Library, Glasgow.
71. PMCC, 27 Apr. 1885, M8/2/9, p. 778.
72. Special meeting of the board of directors of the Manchester chamber, PMCC, 12 May 1885, M8/2/9, p. 791.
73. Ordinary meeting of the board of directors of the Manchester chamber, PMCC, 29 July 1885, M8/2/9, pp. 822-3.
74. Wallace to Richardson, 4 Nov. 1884, Wallace Brothers papers.
75. Minutes of the Indian committee of the Manchester chamber, PMCC, 20 July 1885, M8/2/9, p. 814.
76. MGCC, 12 Jan. 1885, microfilm 11, p. 422, Glasgow.
77. MGCC, 13 Apr. 1885, microfilm 11, p. 524.
78. Deliberations of the India Office on the memorial of the Glasgow chamber of 1 June 1885, 1 July 1885, home correspondence of the IO, L/P & S/3/262, pp. 455-6, IOC, BL.
79. Bryce's memorandum on the affairs of Burma and Siam, Wallace Brothers papers, Indian letters commencing 25 Jan. 1884, p. 332, Guildhall Library.
80. Ibid., p. 332.
81. Glasgow chamber to Lord Kimberley, MGCC, 18 Apr. 1885, microfilm 11, p. 501.
82. Glasgow chamber to the IO, 14 July 1885, home correspondence of the IO, L/P & S/3/262, p. 1173, IOC, BL.
83. London chamber to Churchill, 13 Oct. 1885, home correspondence of the IO, L/P & S/3/265, p. 791, IOC, BL.
84. MGCC, 29 Oct. 1885, microfilm 11, p. 567.
85. D. Guthrie, vice president of the Glasgow chamber to Churchill, 29 Oct. 1885, home correspondence of the IO, L/P & S/3/266, pp. 149-55, IOC, BL.
86. Liverpool chamber of commerce minutes (June 1883-January 1890), 29 July 1885, report of the East India and China section, 380 COM/1/2, p. 76, Liverpool Record Office; Liverpool chamber to the IO, 29 July 1885, home correspondence of the IO, L/P & S/3/263, pp. 597-9, IOC, BL.
87. Telegram from the BBTC in Rangoon to Wallace Brothers in London, 13 Aug. 1885, Wallace Brothers papers, private BBTC letters and telegrams, Guildhall Library.
88. A. F. Wallace to Bryce, 16 Aug. 1885, Wallace Brothers papers, home letters commencing Jan. 1883, p. 579.
89. James Finlay had lobbied the Glasgow chamber on Burmese matters in January 1885, MGCC, 12 Jan. 1885, microfilm n, p. 421.
90. Bryce to Churchill, 17 Aug. 1885, home correspondence of the IO, L/P & S/3/264, 85-6, IOC, BL.
91. Bryce to Moore, 26 Aug. 1885, home correspondence of the IO, L/P & S/3/264, p. 497, IOC, BL.
92. Foster, Lord Randolph Churchill, p. 208;
93. E. H. H. Green, The crisis of Conservatism: the politics, economics and ideology of the British Conservative party, 1880-1914 (London, 1995), pp. 67-9.
94. Commerce: an illustrated weekly with which is incorporated the London Chamber of Commerce Journal, 2 Mar. 1893, p. 209, BNL.
95. Turrell, 'Conquest and concession', pp. 151-3
96. and N. Ferguson, The world's banker: the history of the house of Rothschild (London, 1998), p. 856.
97. A. F. Wallace to D. J. Robertson, 30 Dec. 1885, Wallace Brothers papers, home letters commencing Jan. 1883, p. 616.
98. Cain and Hopkins, British Imperialism: innovation and expansion.
99. M. J. Daunton, 'Gentlemanly capitalism and British industry, 1820-1914', Past and Present, 122 (1989), p. 147.
100. A. C. Howe, 'Free trade and the City of London', History, 77 (1992), p. 408.
101. J. Darwin, 'Imperialism and the Victorians: the dynamics of territorial expansion', English Historical Review (June 1997), pp. 614-42.
102. See also: P. J. Marshall, Bengal: the British bridgehead, eastern India, 1740-1820 (Cambridge, I987).
103. D. Kynaston, The City of London: a world of its own, 1815-1890 (London, 1995), pp. 377-8.
104. Howe, 'Free trade and the City of London', p. 409;
105. Green, 'Gentlemanly capitalism and British economic policy, 1880-1914', in Dumett, ed., Gentlemanly capitalism, p. 51.
106. Howe, 'Free trade', p. 408.
107. Darwin, 'Imperialism and the Victorians', p. 616.
108. Bayly, Empire and information: intelligence gathering and social communication in India, 1780-1870 (Cambridge, 1996), pp. 3-4.
109. S. Chapman, The rise of merchant banking (London, 1984), p. 143.