The Great Illusion · Chapter
VII: How Colonies Are Owned explained
This chapter dismantles the notion that a foreign power could threaten England by 'taking' its colonies.
What happens
This chapter dismantles the notion that a foreign power could threaten England by 'taking' its colonies. Angell argues that the world has moved beyond eighteenth-century methods of colonial exploitation. Modern colonies, particularly self-governing ones like Canada, are not 'owned' in any meaningful economic sense; they are independent nations in alliance with the Mother Country, free to set their own economic policies and even refuse military support. Conquest would be futile, as the conqueror would inherit no economic advantage and would face the same impossibility of ruling these communities by force. The chapter uses the examples of British colonial policy, the South African War, and statements by British statesmen to illustrate the paradox that England has less influence over its own colonies than over foreign nations, concluding that the entire colonial conquest enterprise is a 'reductio ad absurdum'.
Themes in this chapter
Economic Futility of War
The chapter argues that conquering colonies is economically pointless, as a conqueror would still have to pay for goods and could not extract tribute, making the entire enterprise a waste of resources.
Illusion of Political Power
Angell exposes the illusion that 'owning' colonies confers power, showing that self-governing colonies are masters of their own destiny and that the Mother Country has no real political control over them.
Interdependence of Nations
The chapter highlights that modern colonies function as trading partners, and their value is derived from economic exchange, not political domination, illustrating the growing economic interdependence between nations.
Characters to notice
- Sir C. P. Lucas
Quoted as a leading authority on colonial questions, his description of British colonial policy highlights that colonists must be left to rule themselves and cannot be made amenable by force.
- Norman Angell
The author, who systematically argues that the conquest of British colonies would be futile and that Great Britain would not suffer material damage from their loss.
- M. J. Novikow
Referenced in a footnote as a source for the argument that the era of emigration has stopped due to the compound steam-engine, which is part of the chapter's reasoning on the changed colonial problem.
Key passages
“About as reasonably could one say that, as certain tribes and nations in the past enriched themselves by capturing slaves and women among neighboring tribes, the desire to capture slaves and women will always be an operative motive in warfare between nations”
It is as logical to claim that nations will always fight to capture slaves and women because they did so in the past, as it is to claim that they will always fight to conquer colonies because they did so in the past.
Angell uses this analogy to argue that methods of acquiring wealth and power have fundamentally changed, rendering old motivations for conquest obsolete.
“England has more influence—that is to say, a freer opportunity of enforcing her point of view—with foreign nations than with her own Colonies.”
Great Britain has a greater ability to persuade or pressure foreign countries than it does its own self-governing colonies.
This paradoxical statement is used to illustrate the lack of real political power England holds over its colonies, undermining the idea of 'ownership'.
“But what in the name of common sense is the advantage of conquering them if the only policy is to let them do as they like, 'whether they are right, or whether they are wrong—more, perhaps, when they are wrong than when they are right'?”
What is the point of conquering colonies if the only viable policy is to allow them complete autonomy, even when they make mistakes?
Angell highlights the absurdity of conquest when the conqueror cannot actually exert control over the conquered territory.