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How Did Geography Support British Imperialism

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Imperialism was at its height from 1870-1925, a time in which 80% of the Earth’s land was under imperial control. Arguably, Britain is the most infamous nation in terms of colonisation, where at its precipice, ruled 20% of the world’s population and was the biggest empire in history. It was also at this time that contemporary Geography was attempting to carve a place for itself as a discipline amongst other subjects, to be taken seriously amongst scholars, academic institutions, societies, and governments. Geography in the Victorian era found its footing within theories like Environmental Determinism and literally applied Darwin’s ‘survival of the fittest’ to societies as a way of sorting people in a hierarchical manner to differentiate them …show more content…

One such institution that was responsible for deeply influencing the path which Victorian Geography took was the Royal Geographical Society (RGS). The RGS was founded in 1830 and consisted of elite white men who would fit the highest hierarchal rank of social construct at that time. It’s important to recognise the characteristics of the members of the RGS as it explains why many of the advocates for the society supported British Imperialism. One supports a cause if they benefit from it, and the expansion of the British Empire meant white men would be more powerful than ever. Perhaps this explains the reason why the RGS grew exponentially, from having 460 fellows in 1830 to 4,000 fellows in 1900. To further prove my point, I would like to point out that women were not admitted until 83 years after the society was founded. What this shows is that a young subject like Geography, that only became a university discipline in 1874 was shaped by the views of such powerful institutions that only presented a small group of people’s views, skewing the discipline. Heffernan explains in his essay the importance of the role of Geography in war, especially from 1914-1919 as revealed by the activities of institutions such as the RGS. The RGS were responsible for collecting foreign maps and related information on the military resources and topography of other countries to facilitate British imperial expansion around the world. For example, they produced a modified 1:1 million map of Europe which was designed and used as an important strategic and geopolitical device during war. This meant the RGS gained importance throughout the war and had a key role in influencing political decisions related to British expansionist policies

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