British policy Towards Korea (1816-1910)

Abstract

Since the late nineteenth century, the great powers of Europe have been advancing towards Asia and Africa. And it benefited from the Industrial Revolution to extend its influence to those two continents, and Korea was one of the countries that was attacked by Western powers, not only that, but it became an arena for competition between the United States, Russia, China and Japan.

     Historians usually focus on the influence of the United States of America, Russia, China and Japan when they study the international relations of Korea and stay away from the attempts of British hegemony over Korea because it was weak compared to other Western countries such as Russia and the United States. However, it is very important to understand Great Britain's influence over Korea because London was the dominant power all over the world until the late twentieth century and for that it had competitions with most of the colonial powers.

    Throughout the nineteenth century, free trade policy became the most important principle of British diplomatic policy even after Great Britain immersed itself in colonial imperialism, using military force as a basis for promoting trade. , Russia sought to reach the warm waters and advanced to the Black Sea, India and East Asia, which represented a threat to the economic and political interests of Great Britain in China and India. As a result, various tensions were aroused between Russia and Great Britain in the nineteenth century and one of the areas of this competition and tensions was Korea.

   Britain tried to maintain the balance of power in East Asia, so it maintained a friendly relationship with China before the First Sino-Japanese War, and also promoted friendly relations with Japan after the war. The ultimate goal of this policy was to prevent Russia's expansion in East Asia. Trade in it is relatively small as a tool for maintaining economic interests in China and its policy has proven very successful. Consequently, Britain maintained its economic priority in China for decades and peacefully dealt with military tensions such as the First Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War