Imperial Defence

This 1892 work argues that, to preserve peace, it is the duty of Government to maintain good defences.

Charles Wentworth Dilke (Author), Spenser Wilkinson (Author)

9781108044738, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 16 February 2012

248 pages, 4 maps
21.6 x 14 x 1.4 cm, 0.32 kg

The liberal Radical MP Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke (1843–1911) campaigned for (among many other causes) votes for women and labourers, legalisation of trade unions and universal education. His republican sentiments damaged his political reputation, and earned him the hostility of Queen Victoria. However, despite his views on the monarchy he was an imperialist, and his early work, Greater Britain (1868; also available in this series), was widely read. In the 1890s he became known as a parliamentary expert on military, colonial and foreign affairs. This 1892 work, co-written with Spenser Wilkinson (1853–1937), a journalist and military historian, together with Dilke's earlier work, Problems of Greater Britain, led to the founding of a parliamentary committee on imperial defence. The book argues that, while hoping to avert war by diplomacy, the Government has a duty to maintain a naval and military force to protect the interests of its citizens.

Introduction
1. The primacy of the Navy
2. The command of the sea
3. The peace of India
4. The North-West Frontier
5. The armies
6. The management of the Home Army.

Subject Areas: Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700 [HBLH]