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The Fabians and the British Empire, Part VIII

© Joseph Sramek

Fabianism and the Empire, 1900, Part II

On a larger level - and this goes back to his opening argument about the inevitability of the world being split up among rival powers - Bernard Shaw supported the institution of imperialism. But even this support had its limitations. While generally arguing that small states had to go in the name of progress, he cautioned

The value of a state to the world lies in the quality of its civilization, not in the magnitude of its armaments.... The State which obstructs international civilization will have to go, be it big or little. That which advances it should be defended by all the Western powers. [1]

Thus, and this is the leitmotif that runs throughout Fabianism and the Empire, an empire such as that of the British had to be a force for progress and good in the world to be justifiable. It had to among other things

... lay the foundations of International Socialism... by making the British flag carry with it wherever it flies a factory code and a standard of living secured by a legal minimum wage.... It is not enough for trade to follow the flag when the flag has followed irresponsible explorers who 'purchase' concessions from tribal chiefs who did not know what concessions mean: civilization must follow the flag. [2]

Since all these conditions that would justify the British Empire's existence for Fabians such as Shaw did not exist in 1900, it does seem as though they were avid supporters of the Empire. In theory they were or could be, but in practice, the Empire left a lot to be desired, and many "imperialist" Fabians did not extend their automatic support.

Although openly calling himself an "imperialist" in a lecture he gave to the Fabian Society just prior to editing Fabianism and the Empire, and openly declaring that imperialism was something which the Fabians brought about, it is clear from the language used in the tract that a clearer distinction needs to be drawn between Shaw and most other imperialists of the time. [3] One of the major distinctions that can be made between Fabian supporters of imperialism and other imperialists was their vision of the British Empire as a vehicle of future world socialism. Tempered by this long-term goal, the Fabians advocated a completely different Empire in theory and in effect, one that few other imperialists would have countenanced.

All of this begs the question why Shaw or his fellow Fabians would still want to describe themselves as "imperialists," particularly when they were advocating an imperialism dramatically different from what then existed. Though there are no easy answers to this, one must remember first of all that the Fabian Society and its members were primarily involved in domestic policy and that many Fabians found the Boer War an impediment to their work, a distraction. As proponents of "permeation" and "the inevitability of gradualness," they were inhabitants of "the middle ground of British politics that was torn apart by the South African War..." [4] They were in effect forced to decide between the two extremes of being either "pro-imperialist" or "pro-Boer." If they chose the former, they would be able to continue their permeation tactics in influencing prominent politicians of all major political parties to move toward further collectivism. But if they chose the latter they would share the intellectual ground of fellow socialists but would seriously risk losing all influence they had worked so assiduously thus far to gain. Expediency and the need to get beyond a potentially very messy situation were therefore major considerations that prompted many Fabians to identify themselves with other imperialists. In reality, as can be seen from reading the tract, the Fabian "imperialists" were considerably different from other more mainstream imperialists. Nevertheless, since the Boer War was so polarizing an event, the Fabians were forced into a popular category "in which it had no true place" and in which it could be said, they did not really belong. [5]

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