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Greater Britain was a term that arose in the second half of the 19th century in British discourse about the
British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...
. The term was used in different ways by different people and sometimes in different ways by the same person. Many were associated with the
Imperial Federation League The Imperial Federation League was a 19th-century organisation which aimed to promote the reorganisation of the British Empire into an Imperial Federation, similarly to the way the majority of British North America confederated into the Dominion ...
, a political grouping that encompassed political activists from a broad range of backgrounds in supporting a more active approach to the empire in the policies of the
British government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
. During the 20th century,
Oswald Mosley Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980), was a British aristocrat and politician who rose to fame during the 1920s and 1930s when he, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, turned to fascism. ...
revived the term with his book ''The Greater Britain'', which was published by the
British Union of Fascists The British Union of Fascists (BUF) was a British fascist political party formed in 1932 by Oswald Mosley. Mosley changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists in 1936 and, in 1937, to the British Union. In 1939, f ...
in 1932 to launch his party. In 1964, far-right activist
John Tyndall John Tyndall (; 2 August 1820 – 4 December 1893) was an Irish physicist. His scientific fame arose in the 1850s from his study of diamagnetism. Later he made discoveries in the realms of infrared radiation and the physical properties of air ...
founded the
Greater Britain Movement The Greater Britain Movement was a British far right political group formed by John Tyndall in 1964 after he split from Colin Jordan's National Socialist Movement. The name of the group was derived from ''The Greater Britain'', a 1932 book by Osw ...
(GBM) and derived its name from Moseley's earlier book.David Boothroyd, '' Politico's Guide to the History of British Political Parties'', London: Politico's, 2001, p. 93 Although Tyndall initially aimed to link up with other
Neo-Nazis Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy (often white supremacy), to att ...
internationally, such open espousal of
Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...
was disavowed in 1966, and the GBM was dissolved with Tyndall calling on its members to join the recently formed National Front.Billig, Michael (1978). Fascists: A Social Psychological View of the National Front. London: Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-150-04004-0.


Late-19th-century debates

Duncan Bell has identified three principal meanings during this period: #The whole of the British Empire #The
settler colonies Settler colonialism is a logic and structure of displacement by settlers, using colonial rule, over an environment for replacing it and its indigenous peoples with settlements and the society of the settlers. Settler colonialism is a form of ...
within that empire #The English-speaking world, now called the
anglosphere The Anglosphere, also known as the Anglo-American world, is a Western-led sphere of influence among the Anglophone countries. The core group of this sphere of influence comprises five developed countries that maintain close social, cultura ...
, including the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...


''Greater Britain'' (1869)

The discourse was initiated by
Charles Wentworth Dilke Charles Wentworth Dilke (1789–1864) was an English liberal critic and writer on literature. Professional life He served for many years in the Navy Pay-Office, on retiring from which in 1830 he devoted himself to literary pursuits. Lite ...
with the publication of ''Greater Britain: A Record of Travel in English-Speaking Countries During 1866-7''. Dilkes begins the work by stating in its preface: "The idea which in all the length of my travels has been at once my fellow and my guide—a key wherewith to unlock the hidden things of strange new lands—is a conception, however imperfect, of the grandeur of our race, already girding the earth, which it is destined, perhaps, eventually to overspread". Dilke continues by arguing that "There are men who say that Britain in her age will claim the glory of having planted greater Englands across the seas. They fail to perceive that she has done more than found plantations of her own—that she has imposed her institutions upon the offshoots of Germany, of Ireland, of Scandinavia, and of Spain. Through America, England is speaking to the world". He toured the United States shortly after the defeat of the
Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), also known as the Confederate States (C.S.), the Confederacy, or Dixieland, was an List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United State ...
in the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
and the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery. In his final chapter he concludes: "In America we have seen the struggle of the dear races against the cheap—the endeavors of the English to hold their own against the Irish and Chinese. In New Zealand, we found the stronger and more energetic race pushing from the earth the shrewd and laborious descendants of the Asian Malays; in Australia, the English triumphant, and the cheaper races excluded from the soil not by distance merely, but by arbitrary legislation; in India, we saw the solution of the problem of the officering of the cheaper by the dearer race. Everywhere we have found that the difficulties which impede the progress to universal dominion of the English people lie in the conflict with the cheaper races. The result of our survey is such as to give us reason for the belief that race distinctions will long continue, that miscegenation will go but little way toward blending races; that the dearer are, on the whole, likely to destroy the cheaper peoples, and that Saxondom will rise triumphant from the doubtful struggle." (Chapter 23: The English)


''The Defence of Great and Greater Britain'' (1880)

John Colomb produced ''The Defence of Great and Greater Britain'' after the announcement of the
Royal Commission Appointed to Enquire into the Defence of British Possessions and Commerce Abroad The Royal Commission Appointed to Enquire into the Defence of British Possessions and Commerce Abroad was a British Royal Commission appointed on 8 September 1879 under the chairmanship of Lord Carnarvon.W. C. B. Tunstall, 'Imperial Defence, 1870� ...
in 1879. Chapter II was published in '' The British Trade Journal'' in 1872. Chapter III and IV were read before the Royal Colonial Institute in 1873 and 1877. Chapters V and VI were read before the
Royal United Services Institute The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI, Rusi) is a defence and security think tank with its headquarters in London, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1831 by the Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley ...
in 1879.


Sources

* Bell, D. (2007) ''The Idea of Greater Britain: Empire and the Future of World Order, 1860-1900''. Oxford: Princeton University. * Dr Duncan Bell and Prof Stephen Howe. ''Greater Britain''. Online at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeGYaUFf83I


References

{{Reflist Great Britain British Empire British fascist movements