The British Empire as a Superpower, 1919–39

558 Pages·1986·58.555 MB·English

by  Anthony Clayton (auth.)

THE BRITISH EMPIRE AS A SUPERPOWER, 1919-39
By the same author
GOVERNMENT AND LABOUR IN KENYA, 1895-1963
(with Donald C. Savage)
THE ZANZIBAR REVOLUTION AND ITS AFTERMATH
THE BRITISH EMPIRE
AS A SUPERPOWER,
1919-39
Anthony Clayton
Senior Lecturer in Modern History
Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst
M
MACMILLAN
© Anthony Clayton 1986
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1986
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission
of this publication may be made without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied
or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance
with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended).
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to
this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and
civil claims for damages.
First published 1986
Published by
THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS
and London
Companies and representatives
throughout the world
Typeset in Great Britain by Acorn Bookwork,
Salisbury, Wiltshire
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Clayton, Anthony
The British Empire as a superpower, 1919-39.
1. Great Britain-Armed forces-Colonial forces
-History 2. Great Britain-History, Military
-20th century
I. Title
909' .09712410822 UA647
ISBN 978-1-349-08611-5 ISBN 978-1-349-08609-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-08609-2
In memory ofmy parents,
Irene and Emilius Clayton
Contents
List of Maps ix
Author's Note xi
1 THE EMPIRE: ITS NATURE AND THE CONCEPT OF
POWER
Introduction 1
The Imperial Structure 3
Sea Power 9
The Concept of Power on Land 11
2 STRATEGIC POLICY AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF
FORCES, 1919-29
Economy and Disarmament 17
The British Armed Services 19
Dominion, Indian and Colonial Forces 30
3 MILITARY COMMITMENTS IN THE 1919-29 PERIOD
(1) INTERVENTIONS
Russia 45
Iran 60
Turkey 63
Germany, Austria and the Danube 71
The Mediterranean, 1923-29 74
4 MILITARY COMMITMENTS IN THE 1919-29 PERIOD
(2) SECURITY
Introduction 77
Ireland 82
British Domestic Commitments 98
The Middle East 112
The Indian Empire; Burma 152
China 189
The Colonial Empire: The Caribbean, Africa, the Far East 212
Vll
viii Contents
The Dominions 229
Britain Beyond the Imperial Frontiers 247
5 STRATEGIC POLICY 1930-39
Introduction 250
Rearmament: General Policy 254
Rearmament: the Armed Services, Intelligence 259
Rearmament: India, the Dominions, the Colonial Empire 294
6 MILITARY COMMITMENTS IN THE 1930-39 PERIOD
(1) RESPONSES TO AGGRESSION
Introduction 322
The Far East, 1931-39 323
The Saar 335
The Ethiopian Crisis 335
The Rhineland 346
The Spanish Civil War 348
Austria and Munich 362
The Last Year of Peace 3 70
7 MILITARY COMMITMENTS IN THE 1930-39 PERIOD
(2) SECURITY
Introduction 380
The Indian Empire 386
Burma 415
The Colonial Empire 420
The Dominions 435
Britain Beyond the Imperial Frontiers 447
British Domestic Commitments 449
Eire 460
The Middle East 465
Palestine 1936-39 487
8 CONCLUSION
Discipline and Morale 508
A Balance Sheet 513
Bibliography and Sources 519
Index 538
List of Maps
Map 1 Murmansk and Archangel 47
Map 2 South Russia and North Persia 49
Map 3 The Baltic, 1919-20 57
Map 4 Western Turkey 65
Map 5 The Island of Ireland 83
Map6 Egypt 115
Map 7 The Middle East 118
Map 8 Palestine 139
Map 9 Aden 149
Map 10 India 153
Map 11 The North-West Frontier of India 159
Map 12 The River Y angtse-Kiang 195
Map 13 The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan 215
Map 14 East Africa 221
Map 15 Burma 417
NOTE The place-names shown on the maps are those in use at the
time of the events described.
IX
Author's Note
Any reader of a work of history is entitled to know, and should
indeed ascertain, the background and nature of the author of that
work. He will then learn what formative processes have led the
author to his research and cast the mould into which the author has
poured his facts for selection as to their significance. This note will
provide the reader with some illustration of the author; the reader
must excuse, therefore, a certain subjectivity.
Above my father's writing desk used to hang a calendar with a
colour photograph of King George v in Army uniform. Each year the
calendar tag was changed, the King remained. In an adjoining book
case lay Sir George MacMunn's Armies of India, with as its frontis
piece a plate of Major A. C. Lovett's water-colour painting of the
King-Emperor, in full ceremonial uniform, mounted on horseback.
My parents were both gifted. My father was exceptionally so, combin
ing a career as a Regular Army artillery officer with a gentle scholarly
linguistic and academic ability which extended to archaeology,
fluency in a number of languages and to the reading of the New
Testament in Greek each night. My mother had a delightful wit that
was never unkind. The family beliefs were clear: the values of God,
Sovereign, Empire and Army were self-evident, service in these
causes never needed to be questioned. Raised in this climate I served
in a British cololl'i.al government, that of Kenya, for the first fourteen
years of my working life. My actual duties, however, reflected the
post-1945 world; my first appointment involved helping a fledgling
African trade union movement, my second and last was concerned
with higher education and training schemes for our Kenyan succes
sors. Both were far from pro-consular but were infinitely rewarding. I
then had the fortune to become an academic at the Royal Military
Academy of Sandhurst where, near the Grand Entrance of the Old
Building, hangs the original of Lovett's equestrian painting of the
King-Emperor.
The academic world outside Sandhurst was, however, very differ
ent, analysing the imperial experience in increasingly critical terms. It
xi