The Importance of Being British

Abstract

From the 1880s onwards the Colonial Conferences and empire chamber of commerce movements promoted ‘British World’ trade connections and schemes for imperial preference in particular. Much of the appeal of schemes for promoting preferential trade within the empire rested on widespread beliefs about the vast future population capacity of the Dominions. However, Joseph Chamberlain’s subsequent tariff reform campaign proved highly divisive, and efforts to promote British World collaboration more broadly sharpened divisions between ‘British’ and Indian and colonial business elites. The development of British World trade networks led to the establishment of competing trade organizations, particularly amongst ethnic Indian and Chinese communities, which began to challenge the economic subordination of their communities within the imperial trade system.