State-Empire Dissolution
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23417675 |
|---|---|
| Authors | P W Preston, Peter Preston (University of Birmingham, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2014 |
| Pages | 116-134 |
| Publication date | 2014-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | CHAPTER |
| Venue | After the Empires (SOURCE_BOOK) |
| Publisher | Palgrave Macmillan UK (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1057/9781137345684_6 |
| OpenAlex | W2490400999 |
| ISBN | 9781137345684 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 9 |
The downstream consequences of the collapse of state-empire systems have been much discussed. The familiar metropolitan view is cast in terms of the continuity of the core nation-state along with the more or less voluntary acquiescence of core elites in the wishes of peripheral nationalist groupings, which, in turn, in general, cast matters in terms of the long overdue achievement of independence, the precondition of the pursuit of development. These tales coincide in the view that in the main, state-empire systems faded peacefully and were succeeded by a largely stable system of sovereign states. In place of this familiar tale, an alternative position can be advanced. The state-empire systems were the outcome of the intermingled historical development trajectories of the communities involved, and the relationships between these participating communities were radically unequal. The clearest expression of this situation was the routine recourse to violence by the core powers and the equally familiar resistance of those who were subject to colonial rule. Unsurprisingly, therefore, the dissolution of state-empire systems was fraught, unpredictable and routinely violent. Thereafter, for the hitherto core areas, the collapse produced an experience of radical political down-sizing, thus post-crisis nation-states were in many respects novel creations; and for the hitherto peripheral areas, as events unfolded, as the territories of empire dissolved, it became clear that the route to the future was via the seizure of territory, the prerequisite of the pursuit of the novel experience of statehood, in turn requiring nation-building and thereafter the pursuit ofnational development.
Colonialism · Empire · Geography · Independence (probability theory) · Nationalism · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Sovereignty · State (computer science) · State formation · African history and culture studies · Chinese history and philosophy · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · History · Law
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |