This document discusses the importance of adhering to an imperial mentality in the metropoles of Britain and France from 1870-1914. It explores how imperialism influenced politics, culture through art and propaganda, and education in the metropoles. While imperialist thinking was clearly evident and important in British society through governmental support, popular culture, and ensuring imperialism was taught in schools, the document argues imperialism was less central to French culture and public opinion remained skeptical of colonialism until the 1920s.

1. TO WHAT EXTENT WAS IT
IMPORTANT FOR THE
METROPOLE TO ADHERE TO THE
IMPERIAL MENTALITY?
By Lewis Horne

2. CONTENTS
 Background: British and French Societies (1870-1914)
 Imperialism and politics in the metropoles
 Culture in the metropoles: Art & Propaganda
 Education and imperialism
 Conclusion
 Bibliography

3. BRITISH AND FRENCH SOCIETIES (1870-
1914)
 Age of New Imperialism- fuelled by industrial revolution and colonialism
 Growing nationalism- influenced all colonizers
 Class societies
Imperial Spectrum:
 Minimalists- M. K. Booker, F. Madden, B. Porter
 Maximalists- A. Burton, C. Hall, J. M. Mackenzie, J. Richards
France
 Debate over ‘popular imperialism’ within France
 Clash between imperialist advocates and colonialist oppositionists
Britain
 Jameson: Split between ‘modernism’ and ‘popular culture’
 Literature used as a means of spreading imperialism in the late 19th century

4. IMPERIALISM AND POLITICS IN THE METROPOLES
Politics in Britain
 W. E. Gladstone (1868-74)- Liberal
 Benjamin Disraeli (1874-1880)- Conservative
 W. E. Gladstone- (1880-1885)- Liberal
 Lord Salisbury (1885, 1886-1892, 1895-1902)- Conservative
 Herbert Asquith (1908-1916)- Liberal
 Britain acted as the model that most liberals throughout Europe sought to copy
Enoch Powell (Conservative)- ‘The British empire had been a ‘myth’ , a ‘deception’, an ‘invention’, all along’.
 Parliamentary Reform Acts of 1867 and 1884
Politics in France
 Opportunist Republicans: Jules Grevy (1879-1887), Armand Fallieres (1906-1913)
 Political debate over African intervention
 Clashes between pro- and anti-expansionists
 ‘Colonial group’- led by Eugene Etienne

5. CULTURE IN THE METROPOLES- ART
British imperialist art
 Captured British imagination through: ‘hero-worship and sensational glory, adventure and the
sporting spirit’
 Largely dictated by class
 Artists 1880’s and 1890’s: (Artists) Lady Elizabeth Butler, Richard Woodville, (War Artists) Melton
Prior and Frederic Villiers
 Utilized alongside propaganda and the news
 Provided a heroic and romanticised vision of Empire
French imperialist art
Artists: Gustave Guillaumet, Etienne Dinet, Auguste Renoir, Jean Geiser
 Imperial locations as sources of inspiration
 Algeria, Bou Saâda
 French public opinion was not systematically enthusiastic about new imperial acquisitions
 Colonialism still heavily influenced a notable amount of cultural producers

6. CULTURE IN THE METROPOLES- PROPAGANDA
British Propaganda
 Promoted using: postcards, textbooks, toys and games, popular music, religious tracts and consumer
goods
 Empire sold to British public in terms of John Hobson’s view
 Ideological Cluster: renewed militarism, a devotion to royalty, an identification and worship of
national heroes, a contemporary cult of personality and racial ideas associated with Social Darwinism
 Exhibitions- use of imperial themes
 Primrose League
French Propaganda
 ‘Scramble for Africa’ caused an increase in pro- and anti-imperialist propaganda
 Parti colonial
 ‘colonial exhibitions’ in the metropole

7. EDUCATION AND IMPERIALISM
Britain
 Propaganda utilized to encourage imperialism amongst younger generations
 Particularly evident in public schools towards the end of the 19th century
 Propagandists usually targeted the tertiary sector- universities
 Royal Colonial Institute
France
 Dramatic expansion of literacy between 1871-1900
 history teaching in schools justified imperialism
 Books about the Orient used as school prizes
 Colonial developments and discoveries were integrated into medicine schools and universities

8. CONCLUSIONS
Britain- Imperialism Important
 The imperialist mentality was unquestionably evident in the metropoles
 Agree with Mackenzie- ‘governmental imperial support’, ‘imperial cluster’
 ‘popular imperialism’ constituted a large holding in British culture during the age of new
imperialism- yet consciousness of this is debateable
 1870’s and 1880’s the empire and society began to need each other
 Education was vital for the development of imperialism
France- Imperialism Less important
Berny Sebe- highlights the visibility of the colonial theme in the metropole
James. R. Akerman – The new French empire created after 1870 was not a manifestation of the
popular will, as public opinion was deeply sceptical about the benefits of overseas colonies until at
least the 1920’s’.
 1890’s new popular imperialism in France was merely old popular nationalism in disguise

9. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Andrew, C. M., ‘The French Colonialist Movement during the Third Republic: The Unofficial Mind of Imperialism’, Cambridge University
Press, Vol.26, (1976), 143-166.
Christophe, C., A Social History of France n the Nineteenth Century, (Oxford, 1994).
Hall, C., At Home With The Empire: Metropolitan Culture and the Imperial World, (Cambridge, 2006).
Kennedy, D., Britain and Empire, 1880-1945, (New York, 2002).
Mackenzie, J. M., European empires and the people, (Manchester, 2011).
Mackenzie, J. M, Imperialism and Popular Culture, (Manchester, 1986).
Mackenzie, J. M, Propaganda and Empire, (Manchester, 1984).
Mayhall, L. E., The Military Suffrage Movement: Citizenship and Resistance in Britain, 1860-1930, (Oxford, 2003), p.12.
Mitchener, K. J., and Weidenmier, M., ‘Trade and Empire’, The Economic Journal, Vol.118, No.533, (2008), 1805-1834.
Nord, P., ‘The Welfare Sate in France, 1870-1914, French Historical Studies, Vol.18, No.3, (1994), 821-838.
Page, M. E., Colonialism: an international, social, cultural and political encyclopaedia, (California, 2003).
Parsons, T., The British Imperial Century. 1815-1914: A World History Perspective, (Maryland, 1999), 23-24.
Podmore, W., British Foreign Policy Since 1870, (Illinois, 2008).
Porter, A., ‘Britain, the Cape Colony, and Natal, 1870-1914: Capital, Shipping, and the Imperial Connexion’, The Economic History
Review, Vol.34, No.4, (1981), 554-557.
Porter, B., The Absent-Minded Imperialists, (Oxford, 2006).
Rotenberg, R., ‘Metropolitanism and the Transformation of Urban Space in Nineteenth-Century Colonial Metropoles’, American
Anthropologist, Vol.103, No.1, (2001), 7-15.
Springhall, J., ‘Up Guards and at Them!’ British Imperialism and Popular Art, 1880-1914’, in J. M., Mackenzie, Imperialism and Popular
Culture, (Manchester, 1986).
Trotha, T., ‘Colonialism’, in S. Berger (ed.), A Companion to Nineteenth-Century Europe: 1789-1914, (Oxford, 2006), 433-444.
Vann, M. G., ‘The Third Republic and Colonialism, 1870-1918’, University of Portsmouth, 19th January 2015, www.port.ac.uk.

10. QUESTIONS?