The Great Rapprochement

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Uncle Sam embraces John Bull, and Britannia and Columbia hold hands and sit together in the background in The Great Rapprochement (1898).

The Great Rapprochement is a historical term referring to the convergence of diplomatic, political, military, and economic objectives of the United States and the British Empire from 1895 to 1915, the two decades before American entry into World War I.

The convergence was noted by statesmen and scholars of the time, but the term "Great Rapprochement" to refer to a distinct historical phenomenon may have been coined by the American historian of Anglo-American relations Bradford Perkins in his 1968 study of the period, The Great Rapprochement: England and the United States 1895–1914.

Background[]

American Anglophobia[]

American sentiment towards England and the British Empire was harshly negative for much of the 19th century.[1] Enmity between the two nations, largely driven from the American side, had peaked amid the American Civil War and the Trent affair. After 1872 and the settlement of the Alabama claims, direct hostilities declined. However, other incidents, such as the Murchison letter and disputes over borders and fishing rights between America and British Canada, stoked continued American popular resentment toward the British. Americans considered Britain their "natural enemy" and "prime villain," though acknowledged closer cultural and political affinity than with mainland European nations.[2]

Rapprochement[]

American industrialization[]

The fundamental differences that had separated an agrarian and isolationist United States from the industrialized imperial power of Britain rapidly diminished after 1865. The United States emerged from the Civil War as a major industrial power with a renewed commitment to a stronger federal government as opposed to one ruled by individual states. The Reconstruction period generated Anglo-American geopolitical and commercial networks in North America.[3]

Fishery treaties[]

The Atlantic Maritimes played an important role in furthering reconciliation on the eve of the Great Rapprochement. The 1890-93 appointment of Massachusetts Republican and fishing magnate Isaac C. Hall, a key figure in developing conceptions of "provincial reciprocity," as U.S. Consul to Prince Edward Island spurred Conservative calls for "Dominion reciprocity." The revived idea of "provincial reciprocity," distinguished from "Dominion reciprocity" by Harrison Administration construction of Article 33 in the 1871 Treaty of Washington, contributed to debates in the 31st General Assembly of Prince Edward Island.[4] These conflicts began with U.S. Senate Republicans' 1885 abrogation of fishery articles in the Treaty of Washington, U.S. Senate Republicans' rejection of the 1888 Bayard-Chamberlain Treaty (after passage of the Retaliation Act), and the 1888 U.S. presidential election.[5] Neil McLeod, Leader of the Opposition, held that any proposal for "provincial reciprocity" would pressure the "Dominion Government to go on their marrow bones to the American Republic and ask them for better trade relations...it would show the Americans that we were in some dire distress, and without some assistance from them in the shape of trade relations, we were at their mercy. I think that when an important case, such as the question of trade relations with the United States is pending, the local Legislature should remain quiet, and let the Dominion Government carry the burden."[6] McLeod also presaged his own proposed amendments to Liberal "reciprocity" trade resolutions--"we hope the negotiations will result in establishing the freest trade relations between the countries, consistent with the exigencies of the Dominion and our relations with Great Britain"—with his interpretations of lulls in "amalgamation" deliberations: "formerly our Liberal friends advocated doing away with the Legislative Council, but they do not advocate that now in this House. It would not be pleasing to some of their friends in the other branch of the Legislature."[7] Alterations to Liberal "reciprocity" resolutions proved more divisive within Conservative ranks than narratives of the origins of "amalgamation." Although nine Conservative delegates (in addition to McLeod) voted for his amendments, three joined the Liberal bloc in defeating the proposed revisions.[8]

In Prince Edward Island, Conservative challenges against "provincial reciprocity" did not preclude Conservative advocacy for U.S. trade treaties by "Dominion reciprocity" with "provincial" support. For example, when a Liberal delegate accused Conservatives of attempting to "press upon the Dominion Government to get a treaty with the United States," Neil McLeod countered that "when the Dominion Government want[s] to undertake some great measure, such as a treaty with the United States, he [the Liberal delegate] knows that instead of being weakened by the assistance of Local Parliaments, they will be strengthened by that assistance. I do not mean to say that we ought to raise any factious difficulties or anything of that kind, but we should in any and every way show the Dominion Government that when they have a really bona-fide measure to propose, we are in unison with them."[9] Conservative appraisals of "provincial reciprocity" as a question of legislative sovereignty, rather than solely international commerce and political economy, became crucial for fictional and nonfictional narratives of Anglo-American reunion as well as burgeoning New England tourism in the Atlantic Maritimes.[10]

Spanish-American War and empire[]

The most notable sign of a warming in Anglo-American relations was Britain's support of the US during the Spanish–American War in 1898. Britain had previously favored Spanish control over Cuba because the possession of Cuba by an unfriendly United States might harm British trade in the Caribbean. However, the warming of Anglo-American relations and a guarantee of Cuban independence by the US in 1898 made Britain abandon their policy and support the US position on Cuba and the war although Britain was officially neutral. Also, Washington refused to give support to the Boers during the Second Boer War.[11]

At the start of the Spanish–American War, most Continental European powers remained neutral and cool but warned Spain repeatedly not to provoke a war with the more-powerful United States. Britain also officially remained neutral but openly sided with the US.[12] During the 90-day war, Britain sold coal to the US Navy and allowed the US military to use Britain's submarine communications cables to communicate.[13][14] When Commodore George Dewey's fleet sailed out of Hong Kong's harbor for Manila, the British soldiers and sailors in the harbor openly cheered for the US.[15]

The US emerged from the Spanish–American War (1898) as an imperial power with possessions around the globe, and a special interest in the approaches to what in 1914 became the Panama Canal. At the same time, the British Empire was coming under increasing pressure from the growth of the German Empire's economy and navy, and it was cutting back on potential conflicts on its periphery to focus on the rising threat across the North Sea.[16] As part of the process of imperial retrenchment, Britain resolved a border conflict between Canada and Alaska, withdrew its objections to an American-controlled canal in the Hay–Pauncefote Treaty of 1901, and agreed in 1902 to arbitrate a debt collection dispute with Venezuela. Perhaps foreseeing the coming Anglo-German conflict in his old age, Otto von Bismarck remarked in 1898 that the most significant event of the 20th century would be "the fact that the North Americans speak English."[17]

By 1901, many influential Britons advocated for a closer relationship between the two countries. W. T. Stead even proposed that year in The Americanization of the World for both to merge to unify the English-speaking world, as doing so would help Britain "continue for all time to be an integral part of the greatest of all World-Powers, supreme on sea and unassailable on land, permanently delivered from all fear of hostile attack, and capable of wielding irresistible influence in all parts of this planet." The Scottish-born American Andrew Carnegie shared the goal by telling Stead, "We are heading straight to the Re-United States."[18] As US Anglophobia declined, London realized the value of a long-term ally that would prevent an upset in Britain's balance of power, which Germany and Russia appeared to threaten. The US seemed to understand and to some extent agree with British imperial aspirations, if not always with the methods used in their pursuit. Britain's adoption of US Secretary of State John Hay's "Open Door Policy" toward China garnered much goodwill on the western side of the Atlantic and further accelerated the pace of rapprochement after 1900. After a final British flirtation with Germany's anti-American designs during the Venezuelan crisis of 1902–03, Britain and the US embraced unreservedly during the Theodore Roosevelt administration (1901-1909).

American culture and language largely derived from those of Britain. However, Irish Americans were strongly hostile to Britain because they wanted independence for Ireland. They pushed the Democratic Party, which most of them supported, towards hostile measures like the dispute over the Venezuela boundary.[19]

In Fiction[]

In The Moon Maid, American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs envisioned a future in which the US and Britain would form a close military alliance and in a decades-long war defeat and subdue all other nations, uniting the world under their joint rule - with Washington D.C. and London serving as joint planetary capitals and the US President and British Monarch being the joint Heads of State of this World State.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Perkins, p. 4.
  2. ^ Perkins, pp. 4–6.
  3. ^ Tuffnell, Stephen (2020). Made in Britain: Nation and Emigration in Nineteenth-Century America. Oakland, California: University of California Press. pp. 97 and 118. ISBN 9780520344709.
  4. ^ Harrison, Benjamin (1893). Public Papers and Addresses: 1889-93. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. pp. 201–14.
  5. ^ Kennedy, Robert C. ""Our Next Haul:" Complete HarpWeek Explanation". HarpWeek. Harper's Weekly.
  6. ^ Crosskill, William (1892). The Parliamentary Reporter, or Debates and Proceedings of the House of Assembly, of Prince Edward Island, for the Year 1892. Queen Street: George Gardiner, Steam Printer. pp. 11–12.
  7. ^ Crosskill, William (1892). The Parliamentary Reporter, or Debates and Proceedings of the House of Assembly, of Prince Edward Island, for the Year 1892. Queen Street: George Gardiner, Steam Printer. p. 472.
  8. ^ Crosskill, William (1892). The Parliamentary Reporter, or Debates and Proceedings of the House of Assembly, of Prince Edward Island, for the Year 1892. Queen Street: George Gardiner, Steam Printer. pp. 477–78.
  9. ^ Crosskill, William (1892). The Parliamentary Reporter, or Debates and Proceedings of the House of Assembly, of Prince Edward Island, for the Year 1892. Queen Street: George Gardiner, Steam Printer. p. 15.
  10. ^ Bell, Duncan (2020). Dreamworlds of Race: Empire and the Utopian Destiny of Anglo-America. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. pp. 43–64. ISBN 9780691194011.
  11. ^ Will Kaufman; Heidi Slettedahl Macpherson (2005). Britain and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History: A Multidisciplinary Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. pp. 48–49. ISBN 9781851094318.
  12. ^ David F. Trask (1996). The War With Spain in 1898. U of Nebraska Press. pp. 45–48. ISBN 0803294298.
  13. ^ "Home - Theodore Roosevelt Association". Theodoreroosevelt.org. Retrieved 2017-01-10.
  14. ^ Risk, Robert K. (1908). America at College. Glasgow: John Smith & Son. p. 174.
  15. ^ The Relations of the United States and Spain: The Spanish–American War "French Ensor Chadwick," p. 156.
  16. ^ http://www.siwps.org/wp-content/uploads/Mitrovich-THE-FATEFUL-TRIANGLE.pdf
  17. ^ Jasone Cenoz, "English in Europe: The Acquisition of a Third Language"
  18. ^ Stead, W. T. (1901). The Americanization of the World. Horace Markley. pp. 396–399, 405–407.
  19. ^ Michael Edward Brown; Sean M. Lynn-Jones; Steven E. Miller (1996). Debating the Democratic Peace. MIT Press. p. 147. ISBN 9780262522137.

Bibliography[]

  • Adams, Iestyn (2005). Brothers Across The Ocean: British Foreign Policy and the Origins of the Anglo-American 'Special Relationship'.
  • Anderson, Stuart (1981). Race and Rapprochement: Anglo-Saxonism and Anglo-American Relations, 1895-1904. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press.
  • Bennet, James C. (2004). The Anglosphere Challenge.
  • Burton, David H. (1999). British-American Diplomacy 1895-1917: Early Years of the Special Relationship.
  • Campbell, Charles S. (1957). Anglo-American Understanding, 1898-1903. Johns Hopkins University Press.
  • Neale, Robert G. (1953). "British‐American Relations During the Spanish‐American War: Some Problems". Australian Historical Studies. 6#21: 72–89.
  • Perkins, Bradford (1968). The Great Rapprochement: England and the United States, 1895—1914. New York City: Atheneum.
  • Watt, Donald Cameron (1984). Succeeding John Bull: America in Britain's Place, 1900-1975. Cambridge University Press.
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