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History's Hinge - 'Ain Jalut

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Levant Company

In English trading history, the Levant Company, or Turkey Company, was a chartered company formed in 1581,[1] after London merchants petitioned Queen Elizabeth I in 1580 for a charter to begin trading in the Levant, a trade that had fallen away to near nothing in the previous decades, [2] with guarantees of exclusivity. No colonial venture, the Company established trade centers in already-established commercial centers, such as the Levant Factory in Aleppo, as well as Constantinople, Alexandria and Smyrna. Throughout the Company's history, Aleppo served as headquarters for the whole company in the Middle East. By 1588, the Levant Company had been converted to a regulated monopoly on an established trade, from its initial character as a joint-stock company. The prime movers in the conversion were Sir Edward Osborne and Richard Staper. A new charter was granted in January 1592, and by 1595 its character as a regulated company had become clear[3]

Following Queen Elizabeth, James I confirmed the company's charter in 1606, adding new privileges. During the Civil Wars, some innovations were made in the government of the company, allowing many people to become members who were not qualified by the charters of Elizabeth and James, or who did not conform to the regulations prescribed. Charles II, upon his restoration, endeavored to set the company upon its original basis; to which end, he gave them a charter, containing not only a confirmation of their old one, but also several new articles of reformation.

By the charter of Charles II, the company was erected into a body politic, capable of making laws, etc, under the title of the Company of Merchants of England trading to the Seas of the Levant. The number of members was not limited, but averaged about 300. The principal qualification required was that the candidate be a wholesale merchant, either by family, or by serving an apprenticeship of seven years. Those under 25 years of age paid 25 pounds sterling at their admission; those above, twice as much. Each made an oath, at his entrance, not to send any merchandise to the Levant, except on his own account; and not to consign them to any but the company's agents, or factors. The company governed itself by a plurality of voices.

The company had a court, or board at London, composed of a governor, sub-governor, and twelve directors, or assistants; who were all actually to live in London, or the suburbs. They also had a deputy-governor, in every city and port where there were any members of the company. This assembly at London sent out the vessels, regulated the tariff for the price at which the European merchandise sent to the Levant were to be sold; and for the quality of those returned. It raised taxes on merchandise, to defray impositions, and the common expense of the company; presented the ambassador, which the King was to keep at the port; elected two consuls for Smyrna and Constantinople, etc. As the post of ambassador to the Sublime Porte became increasingly important, the Crown had to assume control of the appointment.

One of the best regulations of the company was not to leave the consuls, or even the ambassador, to fix the impositions on the vessels for defraying the common expenses�something that was fatal to the companies of most other nations�but to allow a pension to the ambassador and consuls, and even to the chief officers�including the chancellor, secretary, chaplain, interpreters, and janissaries�so that there was no pretence for their raising any sum at all on the merchants or merchandises. It was true that the ambassador and consul might act alone on these occasions, but the pensions being offered to them on condition of declining them, they chose not to act.

In extraordinary cases, the consuls, and even ambassador himself, had recourse to two deputies of the company, residing in the Levant, or if the affair be very important, assemble the whole nation. Here were regulated the presents to be given, the voyages to be made, and every thing to be deliberated; and on the resolutions here taken, the deputies appointed the treasurer to furnish the required funds. The ordinary commerce of this company employed from 20 to 25 vessels, of between 25 and 30 pieces of cannon.


Borders of the Ottomans in 1680

The merchandises exported there were limited in quality and range, suggesting an imbalance of trade; they included traditional cloths, especially shortcloth and kerseys, tin, pewter, lead, pepper, re-exported cochineal, black rabbit skins and a great deal of American silver, which the English took up at Cadiz. The more valuable returns were in raw silk, cotton wool and yarn, currants and "Damascus raisins", nutmeg, pepper, indigo, galls, camlets, wool and cotton cloth, marroquins, soda ash for making glass and soap, and several gums and medicinal drugs.

The commerce of this company to Smyrna, Constantinople, and İskenderun, was much less considerable than that of the East India Company; but was, doubtless, much more advantageous to England, because it took off much more of the English products than the other, which was chiefly carried on in money.

The places reserved for the commerce of this company included all the states of Venice, in the Gulf of Venice; the state of Ragusa; all the states of the "Grand Signior" (the Sultan of Turkey), and the ports of the Levant and Mediterranean Basin; excepting Cartagena, Alicante, Barcelona, Valencia, Marseilles, Toulon, Genoa, Leghorn, Civita Vecchia, Palermo, Messina, Malta, Majorca, Minorca, and Corsica; and other places on the coasts of France, Spain, and Italy.

Membership began declining in the early eighteenth century. In its decline the Company was looked upon as an abuse, a drain on the resources of Britain. The Company's purview was thrown open to free trade in 1754, but continued its activities until dissolution in 1825.

Notes
   1. The charter of 11 September 1581 was good for seven years; it was not renewed when it expired in 1588. (T. S. Willan, "Some Aspects of English Trade with the Levant in the Sixteenth Century" The English Historical Review 70.276 (July 1955, pp. 399-410) p 405.
   2. The London Port Books from the 1560s and 70s do not record any shipments by English merchants to or from the Levant, when Venice filled the role of intermediary and Antwerp retained its position as entrep�t. (Willan 1955:400ff).
   3. Willan 1955:405-07.

This article incorporates content from the 1728 Cyclopaedia

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The Battle of Waterloo marked the end of the Napoleonic Wars and the beginning of the Pax Britannica

Napoleon and the birth of the second British Empire

The old British colonial system began to decline in the 18th century. During the long period of unbroken Whig dominance of domestic political life (1714�62), the Empire became less important and less well-regarded, until an ill-fated attempt (largely involving taxes, monopolies, and zoning) to reverse the resulting "salutary neglect" (or "benign neglect") provoked the American War of Independence (1775�83), depriving Britain of her most populous colonies, although British investment continued to play a major role in the United States economy until the First World War.

The period is sometimes referred to as the end of the "first British Empire", indicating the shift of British expansion from the Americas in the 17th and 18th centuries to the "second British Empire" in Asia and later also Africa from the 18th century. The loss of the Thirteen Colonies showed that colonies were not necessarily particularly beneficial in economic terms, since Britain could still profit from trade with the ex-colonies without having to pay for their defence and administration.

A series of wars fought during Napoleon Bonaparte's rule over France (1799 - 1815) continued to some extent the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789. French power rose quickly, conquering most of Europe, but collapsed rapidly after France's disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812.

The economic blockade of Napoleonic Europe forced Britain to look elsewhere for trade. As the Seven Years' War impelled Britain to build her first empire, so the Napoleonic wars created the second.

Napoleon's empire ultimately suffered complete military defeat. Meanwhile the Spanish Empire began to unravel as French occupation of Spain weakened the Spanish hold over its colonies, providing an opening for nationalist revolutions in Latin America.

By 1815, Britain possessed a global empire that was hugely impressive in scale, and stronger in both the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, and around their shores, than that of any other European state.

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The Royal Navy 1707�1914

The early 18th century saw the Royal Navy with more ships than other navies. Although it suffered severe financial problems throughout the earlier part of this period, modern methods of financing government and in particular, the Navy were developed. This financing enabled the navy to become the powerful force of the later 18th century without bankrupting the country. Naval operations in the War of the Spanish Succession were at first focused on the acquisition of a Mediterranean base, culminating in an alliance with Portugal and the capture of Gibraltar (1704) and Port Mahon (1708). The middle part of the century was occupied with the War of the Austrian Succession and the lesser known War of Jenkin's Ear against Spain. In the latter war, the British deployed a very large force under Admiral Edward Vernon in the Battle of Cartagena, aiming to capture this major Spanish colonial port in modern day Colombia. Following an able defense assisted by strong fortifications, and the ravages of disease, the British failed in their attempts. The Navy also saw action in the Seven Years' War which was later described by Winston Churchill as the first world war. The latter part of the century saw action in the American Revolutionary War where the Navy was defeating the fledgling Continental Navy until French intervention in 1778. The most important operation of the war came in 1781 when during the Battle of the Chesapeake the British failed to lift the French blockade of Lord Cornwallis, resulting in a British surrender in the Battle of Yorktown. Although combat was over in North America, it continued in the Caribbean (Battle of the Saintes) and India, where the British experienced both successes and failures.

The Napoleonic Wars saw the Royal Navy reach a peak of efficiency, dominating the navies of all Britain's adversaries. Initially Britain did not involve itself in the French Revolution, but in 1793 France declared war. The next 12 years saw battles such as the Cape St Vincent and the Nile and short lived truces such as the Peace of Amiens. The height of the Navy's achievements though came on 21 October 1805 at the Battle of Trafalgar where a numerically smaller but more experienced British fleet under the command of Admiral Lord Nelson decisively defeated a combined French and Spanish fleet. This eventually led to almost uncontested power over the world's oceans from 1805 to 1914, when it came to be said that "Britannia ruled the waves".

In the years following the battle of Trafalgar there was increasing tension at sea between Britain and the United States. American traders took advantage of their country's neutrality to trade with both the French-controlled parts of Europe and Britain. Both France and Britain tried to prevent each other's trade, but only the Royal Navy was in a position to enforce a blockade. In 1812, the United States declared war on the United Kingdom and invaded Canada. At sea, the American War of 1812 was characterised by single-ship actions between small ships, and disruption of merchant shipping. Between 1793 and 1815 the Royal Navy lost 344 vessels due to non-combat causes: 75 by foundering, 254 shipwrecked and 15 from accidental burnings or explosions. In the same period it lost 103,660 seamen: 84,440 by disease and accidents, 12,680 by shipwreck or foundering, and 6,540 by enemy action. During the 19th century the Royal Navy enforced a ban on the slave trade, acted to suppress piracy, and continued to map the world. To this day, Admiralty charts are maintained by the Royal Navy. Royal Navy vessels on surveying missions carried out extensive scientific work. Charles Darwin travelled around the world on HMS Beagle, making scientific observations which led him to the theory of evolution.

The end of the 19th century saw structural changes brought about by the First Sea Lord (Chief of Staff) Jackie Fisher who retired, scrapped, or placed into reserve many of the older vessels, making funds and manpower available for newer ships. He also oversaw the development of HMS Dreadnought, the first all-big-gun ship and one of the most influential ships in naval history. This ship rendered all other battleships then existing obsolete, and started an arms race in Europe. Admiral Percy Scott introduced several new programs such as gunnery training programs which greatly nd a central fire control the effectiveness in battle of the Navy's ships. The First Lord of the Admirality is a civilian and a member of the Government.

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Breakdown of Pax Britannica

Britain's overseas commercial dominance had been able to draw on most of the accessible world for raw materials and markets. This dominance was won through major territorial acquisitions at the expense of the Dutch and the French in the 18th and 19th centuries, beginning with the Seven Years War. Utilising its naval supremacy, Britain mastered control of the world's raw materials and markets. Under its mercantilistic and protectionist policies, this ensured a near permanent dominance of world trade, which fed British industrialisation. However, under similar programmes practised by its progeny in the now independent United States, that dominance was slowly being challenged. Additionally Britain abandoned its protectionist policies in favour of free trade simultaneously as other Continental powers implemented their own protectionist and government promoted industrialisation programmes. Under the influence of commercial and financial vested interests this policy of free trade continued to be practised under successive ministries despite Britain's declining global relative industrial and trade economic value. This situation gradually deteriorated during the late 19th century as other powers began to advance their protectionist programmes and sought to use the state to guarantee their markets and sources of supply. By the 1870s, British manufactures in the staple industries of the Industrial Revolution were beginning to experience real competition abroad.[citation needed]

Industrialisation progressed rapidly in Germany and the United States, allowing them to catch up with the British economy as world leaders. By 1870, the German textile and metal industries had surpassed those of the United Kingdom in organisation and technical efficiency and usurped British manufactures in the domestic market. By the turn of the century, the German metals and engineering industries would even be producing for the free trade market of the former "workshop of the world".[citation needed]

While invisible exports (banking, insurance and shipping services) kept the United Kingdom "out of the red," her share of world trade fell from a quarter in 1880 to a sixth in 1913. The United Kingdom was losing out not only in the markets of newly industrialising countries, but also against third-party competition in less-developed countries. The United Kingdom was even losing her former overwhelming dominance in trade with India, China, Latin America, and the coasts of Africa.[citation needed] However, this loss of supremacy was not so much a matter of the United Kingdom falling behind as it was a matter of other regions catching up in industrialisation.

As a result, the United Kingdom's commercial difficulties deepened with the onset of the "Long Depression" of 1873�96. This was a prolonged period of price deflation punctuated by severe business downturns. After nearly twenty years of self-evident failure of its free-trade policies, the combined results finally pressured the commercial and financial interests out of government dominance and returned a more protectionist oriented policy crowd. This retrenchment of the United Kingdom's trade system caused the other European Continental Powers to quickly move on their objective of abandoning the vestigial remnants of the early 19th century British Free-Trade system particularly by Germany in 1879 and in France in 1881 when they ended their former trade agreements with the British Empire.

The resulting limitation of the British Empire's domestic markets to European governments led the French government to attempt engineering a recreation of its earlier Empire in Africa. Soon Germany and finally the United Kingdom pushed forward in demarching respective colonial spheres in Africa, all with the goal of establishing newer sheltered overseas markets united to the home country behind imperial tariff barriers under which new overseas subjects would provide export markets free of foreign competition, while supplying cheap raw materials. Although she continued at times to attempt to adhere to free trade until 1932, the United Kingdom mitigated its risk by joining the renewed scramble for formal empire rather than allow areas under her influence to be seized by rivals.

[Administration]

The Commonwealth of Nations as of 2006

The Commonwealth is an association of 53 independent states consulting and co-operating in the common interests of their peoples and in the promotion of international understanding and world peace. The Commonwealth's 2 billion citizens, about 30 per cent of the world's population, are drawn from the broadest range of faiths, races, cultures and traditions.

History

Though the modern Commonwealth is just over 50 years old, the idea took root in the 19th century.

In 1867, Canada became the first colony to be transformed into a selfgoverning 'Dominion', a newly constituted status that implied equality with Britain. The empire was gradually changing and Lord Rosebury, a British politician, described it in Australia in 1884 as a "Commonwealth of Nations".

Other parts of the empire became Dominions too: Australia (1900), New Zealand (1907), South Africa (1910) and the Irish Free State (1921).  All except the Irish Free State (that did not exist at the time) participated as separate entities in the First World War and were separate signatories to the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. Subsequently, they became members of the League of Nations.

After the end of the First World War, the Dominions began seeking a new constitutional definition and reshaping their relationship with Britain. The Conferences of Dominions begun in 1887 were resumed and at the Imperial Conference in 1926, the prime ministers of the participating countries adopted the Balfour Report which defined the Dominions as autonomous communities within the British Empire, equal in status, in no way subordinate to one another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by common allegiance to the Crown, and freely associated as members of the British Commonwealth of Nations.

This definition was incorporated into British law in 1931 as the Statute of Westminster. It was adopted immediately in Canada, the Irish Free State, Newfoundland (which joined Canada in 1949) and South Africa. Australia and New Zealand followed. India, Britain's largest colony at the time, had still not achieved self-government  and remained a Dominion under the India Act of 1935 until its independence in 1947.

Modern Commonwealth

After the Second World War, the shape of the British empire began changing drastically. India gained independence in 1947, the new state of Pakistan was simultaneously created, and a wave of decolonisation followed which saw several colonies become independent and sovereign states.

The London Declaration of 1949 was a milestone on the road to developing the modern Commonwealth. India provided an interesting test case: it desired to become a republic yet wanted to remain a member of the Commonwealth and this posed a fresh challenge to the entire concept. Would Commonwealth membership only be for countries "owing an allegiance to the Crown" as the Balfour Report had stated? A conference of Commonwealth Prime Ministers in 1949 decided to revise this criterion and to accept and recognise India's continued membership as a republic, paving the way for other newly independent countries to join. At the same time, the word 'British' was dropped from the association's title to reflect the Commonwealth's changing character.

The first member to be ruled by an African majority was Ghana which joined in 1957. From 1960 onwards, new members from Africa, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean and the Pacific joined, increasing the diversity and variety that has enhanced the Commonwealth to this day.

With its commitment to racial equality and national sovereignty, joining the Commonwealth became a natural choice for many new nations that were emerging out of the decolonisation process of the 1950s and 1960s. Since then, the Commonwealth has grown in size and shape, expanding its reach and range of priorities. It is now involved in a wide spectrum of activities, all feeding the greater goals of good governance, respect for human rights, and peace and co-operation in the member countries and beyond.

In 1965, the leaders of the Commonwealth established the Commonwealth Secretariat in London, which became the association's independent civil service, headed by a Secretary-General. A year later, the Commonwealth Foundation was launched to assist the growing number of Commonwealth professional associations and, subsequently,NGOs.

Two significant events in the history of the Commonwealth occurred in 1971. The first was the Singapore Declaration of Commonwealth Principles, which gave the association a formal code of ethics and committed members to improving human rights and seeking racial and economic justice. The second was the creation of the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation (CFTC), which advanced the idea of technical co-operation among developing countries.

COMMONWEALTH MEMBERS
Antigua & Barbuda    Jamaica    Sierra Leone
Australia    Kenya    Singapore
The Bahamas    Kiribati    Solomons
Bangladesh    Lesotho    South Africa
Barbados    Malawi    Sri Lanka
Belize    Malaysia    St Kitts
Botswana    Maldives    St Lucia
Brunei    Malta    St Vincent
Cameroon    Mauritius    Swaziland
Canada    Mozambique    Tanzania
Cyprus    Namibia    Tonga
Dominica    Nauru    Trinidad
Fiji (suspended)    New Zealand    Tuvalu
The Gambia    Nigeria    Uganda
Ghana    Pakistan    United Kingdom
Grenada    Papua NG    Vanuatu
Guyana    Seychelles    Zambia
India    Samoa    Zimbabwe (out)

Headquarters    Marlborough House, London, UK
Official languages    English
Membership    53 sovereign states

Leaders
 -     Head of the Commonwealth    Queen Elizabeth II
 -     Secretary-General    Don McKinnon (since 1 April 2000)

Establishment    
 -     Balfour Declaration    18 November 1926
 -     Statute of Westminster    11 December 1931
 -     London Declaration    28 April 1949

Area
 -     Total    31,462,574 km�
12,147,768 sq mi

Population
 -     2005 estimate    1,921,974,000
 -     Density    61.09 /km�
158.2 /sq mi

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Colonial empires are very largely gone, with those of Russia and China being the largest remaining. Some empires of the 20th century, such as that of the Ottomans, were dismantled by force.

Britain abandoned most of her colonies, sometimes against the fervent hopes of the local people. India was an exception, because Britain needed her men to fight in WW2.

What made Britain give up hope for her possessions?

My own view is that post-WW2, Britain made the calculation that a modern industrial state would have less benefit from the developing world than trading with the new European Union. That is, her colonies were not the appropriate market for modern vehicles (aircraft and cars especially), consumer electronics (e.g. television) and other products of Britain in the second half of the 20th century. Europe was.

An empire built on trading raw materials from her colonies for the first products of the Industrial Revolution became redundant. For the developing world to become useful markets would take massive investment when Britain was rebuilding herself from bomb-blasted cities. Britain regarded such investment as too much and too risky.

It is easy to forget now the enormous death rate of British colonials to disease. It was often the case that when a shipload of young colonial officers arrived in West Africa, nearly all the young men from the previous ship had already died. Colonial settlers and officers were always prey to the enemy during European wars. Two world wars inside a few decades had devastated two successive generations of young people at home, as well as in the colonies.

Britain had invested money and blood in an empire which looked to economists and the hard-headed as a luxury no longer affordable in post-war austerity.

There is a widespread belief today that Britain abandoned many of her colonies - in Africa particularly - in an unprepared state. Maybe that judgment is right. History will be the judge.

India is now the largest democracy in the world. Many of the Tiger economies are members of the Commonwealth. Commonwealth forces serve as UN peacekeepers in many of the world's trouble spots. English is the global lingua franca and parliamentary democracy the accepted standard for legitimate and just government.

In many respects, Britain has passed on the baton to her dominions and the USA - the English-speaking peoples as Churchill put it. This legacy is neither a sad nor bad fate. Maybe this is how history should unfold.

�I am here to tell you that, whatever form your system of world security may take, however the nations are grouped and ranged, whatever derogations are made from national sovereignty for the sake of the larger synthesis, nothing will work soundly or for long without the united effort of the British and American peoples. If we are together nothing is impossible. If we are divided all will fail. I therefore preach continually the doctrine of fraternal association of our two peoples . . . for the sake of service to Mankind and for the honour that comes to those who faithfully serve great causes.� -- Winston Churchill, Harvard University, 6 September 1943