The second half of the nineteenth century was a period of big change on the

international stage. The main factors to drive such an evolution were the spread
of the industrial revolution and the new nationalist ideas. Britain had enjoyed a
relative period of peace and prosperity since the Napoleonic wars, and it had
stayed out of Europe as no serious threats against national interest were
perceived to be coming from the continent. From a political perspective the
unification of the German states, creating a powerful central European power
proved to be the biggest threat to the policy of “balance of power” in the next
century. It would not be such a serious threat to the international order, if it had
not been accompanied by the decline of the colonial powers, such as France and
Russia and of course Britain. But Germany wanted to change the status quo with
a view of gaining more influence and colonies as it needed markets for its fast
growing economy. Great Britain was on a trend of decline, especially economic
decline, demonstrated by the depressions that it had in the late Victorian years.
Both trends of the spread of the industrial revolution and the nationalist ideas
made the other countries stronger and more influential on the world stage. The
discovery of new territories stopped and the discovered colonies were ever more
sought after. In Africa the big European powers began to fight for their current
colonies and for the partition of new ones. China was another place where the
interests of the great powers were in conflict in the same way as in the Middle
East. The growing power of the other European countries pulled Britain again in
the affairs of the continent, but it did not mean that the British had given up their
policy of the “balance of power”. But what does this policy mean? We must
consider the whole British history if we want to give a serious answer. At the
beginning of the nineteenth century Britain had been forced to get involved in
the affairs of the continent as its national interests were at threat. Napoleonic
France represented a big danger for the island state and made England to unite
forces with the German states in order to defeat Napoleon. The purpose of this
involvement was the maintenance of the balance of power in order to preserve
the national interest. The British army was relatively weak compared to the other
European powers on the continent, but the Royal Navy was strong; consequently
Britain was not capable of getting involved constantly in the continental affairs
so its policy was to keep a low profile unless there might be a hegemonic power,
which represented a threat of invasion. In my opinion Britain had never given up
the policy of the “balance of power”. What happened at the beginning of the
twentieth century is just an exercise of this policy. A weak France could not
stand the mighty German Empire, and the weakening of Russia after the
Russian-Japanese war represented another problem of the Russian-French bloc.
The danger was that Britain might face the prospect of a German invasion also
considering the growing power of the Germany’s naval forces. Involvement in the
European affairs did not mean a renunciation of the “balance of power” policy.
Britain had to deal with the continental forces because the latter have become
involved on a global scale and they threatened the British Empire.

Britain did not give up the policy of the “ balance of power”, but if we are to
understand this idea from the point of view of Britain getting involved and
making alliances than the arguments , as earlier mentioned, are political,

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economical and military. The British had to find a partner and to collaborate on a
larger scale with the other powers because it was increasingly difficult to deal
alone with the new problems at the frontiers of the empire. Whenever there was
a conflict in the colonies Britain found itself isolated and against all the other
European powers. The problems in Egypt proved that even France and Germany
could work together against the British interest. The relative neutrality was good
for Great Britain until now, but the growing influence of other countries isolated
Britain even more and it worked against British interest. Consequently both the
politicians and the public opinion recognised that UK needed allies after the end
of the Boer War. The Boxers uprising in China and the agreement between
France, Germany, Russia and Japan, which excluded Britain, strengthened the
awareness that the British could not stand alone any more. The first break of the
policy of not making alliances was in the Far East. Here Britain formed a local
alliance with Japan, fearing that there was a threat from Russia in the Chinese
affair. This did not secure the position in Europe, but it had rather made Britain
more isolated. After successive attempts with Germany, the divergent interests
of the two countries made it impossible to reach a conclusive agreement. The
Germans wanted Britain to bargain their reduction of the growth in the naval
forces with the neutrality of Britain in the event of a European war. The British
Government did not agree of course with such a proposal because it might
create a hegemonic power in Europe, and the main scope of Britain in Europe
was to avoid this. Consequently the attention of the Whitehall was dragged by
France. An Agreement with France would secure some colonies and would satisfy
the public opinion. Moreover joining forces with France in the eventuality of a
war in Europe would strengthen the balance between the two diplomatic blocs in
Europe. Britain did not want to have a tensioned relation with Germany, but the
purpose of the latter was to change the status quo and to become the
hegemonic power of Europe. The German desire to have a powerful navy was
threatening the Royal Navy and the fear for invasion was dreadful in Britain.

In the first decade of the twentieth century the main problem in Europe was the
German greed for influence. The decline of both France and Russia made it
impossible for the two nations to face the danger of a war with Germany. Russia
was unreformed and the revolutionary forces were growing ever stronger, while
France could not stand up to the growing power of Germany. After its unification
in 1871 the German empire enjoyed a strong economic growth, it had the most
powerful army and a big population. Because it did not have colonies Germany
wanted to take some from the other countries and this made it to pursue war
against the colonial powers.

The general argument why Britain had to make alliances and to give up the
relative policy of neutrality was because the other European countries were
becoming more globalised and more powerful. Moreover because Britain was the
number one power in the world it made the other nations to be envy on the
British.

Beyond these political arguments, Britain did not enjoy in the second half of the
nineteenth century of an economic growth as it previously happened. There had
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been periods of depression and the domestic problems were also playing a role
against the Britain’s power in the world. The issue of social reforms and of voting
rights, along with the Irish question made the UK more vulnerable at the external
threats. The lack of economic success may be because a great deal of
investment was made in the financial area, while other European powers, like
Germany invested in the development of chemistry and other innovative
technologies. Furthermore investing abroad and not at home made the British
economy less competitive and there was also a relocation of production in the
colonies. The German products, along with the American ones invaded the
British markets and there was also a relative decline in exports.

The British Empire was also under threat from the movements for self
government in the colonies. This could not be considered such a big problem, but
some of these movements were violent and required military involvement. A well
known example is the second Boer war. Although the forces of the empire were
eventually successful, many weaknesses were revealed by this war. Problems of
health among many recruits made both the public opinion and the political elite
worried about the prospects of the empire. The army was weak as there were
many unfit soldiers due to the social problems of large parts of the population.
The Boer wars were also important because they revealed the dangers of the
isolationist policy. Britain had no allies and many problems in the relation with
the other powers. The alliance with Japan may be considered as an indirect
consequence of the second Boer War. Britain could not fight alone on so many
fronts. The problems in India, China, Africa, The Middle East and even South
America made it impossible for the British forces to cope with the threats.

But after 1907 the position of Britain in the world was more secure and the
relations with some countries mush improved. Britain signed a treaty
establishing an entente with France. But this was not a full alliance. Although the
military staffs were in great cooperation with the French staff, Sir Edward Grey
wanted to leave Britain an area of manoeuvre in the eventuality of a war in
Europe. Such an alliance made France to abstain from any provocation of war
against Germany, consequently preserving peace which was in the interest of
the British commerce and trade. The Germans might have also been reluctant
when considering war, but it did not mattered so much as history has proved.
Moreover the British refused to make an agreement with the Germans to remain
neutral in the event of a war, because it would have thrown Europe in conflict
immediately after such a deal. What the British did before the starting of the
First World War was to maintain peace for as long as possible, because no war
could serve the British interest more than peace. Moreover the entente with
France and Russia put Britain on the side much in need for help.

All things considered, I believe that Britain did not give up its policy of the
“balance of power”, but it had rather put it into practice. It is true that Britain
moved form a form of neutrality to a greater involvement in the international
affaires, especially in Europe, but it did so because it was forced by the
international circumstances, but this does not mean the renunciation of the
“balance of power” policy. Latter events demonstrated that the main purpose of
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the British foreign policy was to maintain the status quo and to avoid the
creation of a hegemonic power in Europe which might be a threat of invasion to
the island state. Germany became a real threat because it challenged the power
of the Royal Navy and also because of its imperialist actions. Consequently
Britain did not try to change its policy of the balance of power unless you refer to
the alliances aspect of the foreign affairs.

Bibliography:

Bell, P.M.H. (1996) France and Britain 1900-1940: Entente and Estrangement

Chamberlain, M.E. (1988) Pax Britannica? British Foreign Policy 1789-1914

Kennedy, P. (1981) The Realities Behind Diplomacy. Background Influences on

British External Policy, 1865-1980

Steiner, Z.S. (1977) Britain and the Origins of the First World War