Atrocities Wrapped in Glory

What was the view of the British regarding their Empire at the turn of the last century? A prevalent belief at that time was that they were doing good by bringing civilisation to the natives. This was expressed by John Ruskin who wrote in 1870 "[England as a] true daughter of the Sun [must] guide the human arts, and gather the divine knowledge of distant nations, transformed from savageness to manhood, and redeemed from despairing into peace". British rule was thought to be a...
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What was the view of the British regarding their Empire at the turn of the last century?
A prevalent belief at that time was that they were doing good by bringing civilisation to the natives. This was expressed by John Ruskin who wrote in 1870 "[England as a] true daughter of the Sun [must] guide the human arts, and gather the divine knowledge of distant nations, transformed from savageness to manhood, and redeemed from despairing into peace". British rule was thought to be a force for civilisation, a glorious and moral right.
The liberal-minded British imperialists tried to wrap up their practice of dominion with a layer of complexity. They said it was Britain and other nations locked in an imperial embrace of long-standing subtlety that it was no longer possible for them to know whether they hated or loved one another, what it was that held them together, thus confusing the image of their separate destinies.
In contrast, the hard-headed imperialists were keen to focus on the benefit of using native labour and gaining natural resources. Sometimes there were sexual connections between individuals on opposite sides, the colonisers and the colonised, engaging in intimate relationships. This is very well described in all its complexity in The Singing Grass by Doris Lessing.
The original inhabitants of the lands which had been colonised, who were fighting for their independence, had a much more straightforward view - they wanted their lands and their freedom back.
Having lived through the rule of Trump, and also the United Kingdom's tortuously slow and inept crawl toward the realisation of Brexit I found that these articles gave me some clues to understand what was happening. The rise and celebration of patriotism and nationalism has engulfed not only Britain, but sections of the American population, and also European countries. Xenophobic nationalist movements such as that of Marine Le Pen in France or Geert Wilders in the Netherlands celebrated the election of Trump. Living in England at that time, I came across a group of singularly uneducated and arrogant people who thought Trump was brilliant and who were so happy that Brexit was going to happen. My husband and I were Australians working in education in the north of England at the time and he was taunted at work with the cry that 'we're going to get the Empire back' and 'we'll go into India and Australia and they'll have to pay us tax and we'll be on top again.' It might have been insulting if such views were not so patently ridiculous. Obviously, the national unconscious in Jungian terms, or more importantly, the conscious still harboured icons and symbols regarding world superiority and dominance. An examination of the colonial mentality when Britain really was 'on top' makes it possible to understand the roots of such beliefs.
The texts in this volume were written at the turn of the last century and celebrate glamorous imperial adventure. One can discern certain themes and tropes that thread through such imperialist writing; the romance of far-flung and unknown spaces, seeking one's fortune, realms of limitless possibilities, eccentric and interesting humans, and sexual behaviour that goes beyond conventional standards.
Post-colonial literature is now a subject studied at A-level in the United Kingdom, and also at tertiary level and this book may be useful as preliminary reading to get an idea of the way in which things were during the colonial period. Post-colonial literature arose in opposition to imperialism. The colonial and the post-colonial perspectives focus the reader's attention on power relations. The colonial articles in this volume have the voice of those who believed they were superior. Post-colonial writing seeks to give a voice to those who are marginalised and subordinate in the power hierarchy.