An Analysis of the Impact of British Colonization: A Study of Mike Davis’ Late Victorian Holocausts: El Niño Famines and the Making of the Third World
Introduction
The late Nineteenth Century saw an increased political, economic, and social influence of the British Empire across many regions of the world, and especially in Asia. The British Empire spread across the Chinese and Indian sub-continents, where social philosophies, economic policies, and political practices of the British Empire were adopted, albeit to the detriment of the Asian nations and people.
Since these Asian nations were veritable colonies of the British Empire, the interests of the Empire and its socio-political and economic advancement took priority over such similar interests of these Asian territories. The human toll of such exploitative and colonialist endeavors of the British Empire was prodigious, and the poor masses of these territories bore the heaviest brunt.
British imperialistic aims led to avoidable deaths and untold agonies of many people due to famines and civil wars worsened by unsound agricultural practices instituted by the British, chauvinistic government policies, and a general lack of concern for the welfare of citizens in its dominion territories.
The Extent of the Human Toll
British Imperialism led to poverty of the countries that it colonized, for instance, Egypt, China, India, and Brazil. Unsound management of famines in India and China led to the deaths of many citizens. According to Davis, in the period between the 1870s and the late 1890s, about 30-60 million people died of famine in India, China, and Brazil (24).
This unusually high number of human deaths and the accompanying toll it took on families, communities, and the governments of these territories would not have occurred had the British bureaucrats, in these regions, adopted more customized mitigating policies suitable for these countries.
In the preface to the book, the author uses the observations of Ulysses S. Grant, then a retired US president taking a tour of the British territories in Egypt, India, and China (Davis 4). The ex-president of the US is disturbed by the images of poverty he encounters in his journeys, in these countries. Grant correctly observes that a lack of proper food distribution mechanisms was the principal cause of the famine experienced in India and China at the time.
Regional impact across the world
Given the Britain’s singular focus on the economic domination of administered territories, many of the countries under its domain declined socio-politically and economically while Britain advanced in these same areas.
Davis states that, although the trade balance of Britain with its leading trading partners, the US and Germany, had been unfavorable for the British in the years preceding its imperialistic activities in Asia in the late Nineteenth Century, the trade balance improved, in favor of Britain, to do its exploitation of Asian resources (119).
The economic importance of Asia, as a source of resources and cheap labor, extended to other realms of British governance; for instance, many military exploits of the British Empire were funded by India (Davis 120). Therefore, due to these and other benefits that Britain gained from its colonialist practices, the might, power, and influence of Britain throughout the world increased, eventually making it the global leader in industrial sector, economics, and finance.
Transformation of Agriculture
British leaders in the administered territories focused more on cash crops and their enormous financial benefits at the expense of food crops, and thus, the masses in these territories suffered from a lack of proper food and food reserves to offer recourse in times of drought.
For instance, British administrators in China were more concerned with maximizing on the proceeds of opium trade with the Chinese, encouraging mass production and trade of the same, while the ravages of famine continued to plague China (Davis 342). Additionally, although China was experiencing famine, Britain instituted an irrigation mechanism that was not suitable for the Chinese territory and agricultural practices, further exacerbating the effects of the famine on the Chinese.
Government Policies
Most of the fledgling and existing governments that were present in many countries and regions before the administration of these territories by British rulers, (or British appointed rulers), had to change or adopt government policies as directed and desired by Britain.
By default, many of these policies were geared towards maximizing the exploitative and imperialistic endeavors of the British government at the expense of the local resources and economy. Davis points out that, many of the administrators for the British Empire in these regions were biased against the locals.
For instance, in India, Lord Lytton incredibly delayed and refused to conduct a proper food distribution mechanism during famine time due to his ludicrous belief that food distribution would encourage laziness amongst the Indian natives (311). In the Nordeste region of Brazil, British merchants had virtually monopolized trade and import opportunities at the expense of the locals.
Davis states that, British merchants in this region of Brazil exercised so much power and control over the financial destiny and status of the area, that their influence rendered the Nordeste an “Informal Colony” Britain (378).
The British businesspeople in this region determined the interest rates for loans to be given to the natives, controlled business opportunities, and had first priority in the port arrivals (Davis 380). Therefore, the natives of these regions were at the mercy of the British whose ultimate allegiance was to their mother country, and thus, the local government and authorities were rendered obsolete.
Modern Philosophies
The present state of the world owes some of its practices to the British policies adopted by different countries during the height of dominance of the British Empire. The philosophy of democracy and democratic leadership through a parliamentary system of governance, though not practiced by many of the colonized territories during the period of occupation by the British, was adopted by many former British colonies.
Conclusion
The expansion of the British Empire coincided with the economic, social, and political decline of the colonized and administered territories. The imperialist aims of the British dictated that the economies, social welfare, and livelihoods of the people in the colonized territories come second to the aims of the British Empire.
Such a belief and inclination, as discussed in this paper, led to policies that ignored the plight of the natives, even in the event of famines that led to many avoidable deaths in countries like India, China, and Brazil, where the British exercised economic and/or political power. Thus, the human toll caused by the expansion of the British Empire has been immense, causing deaths, suffering, and disenfranchisement of the people under British rule.
Works Cited
Davis, Mike. Late Victorian Holocausts: El Niño Famines and the Making of the Third World. London: Verso, 2002. Print