A Leading Actor in British Imperial Expansion in Africa: Cecil John Rhodes

Abstract

The colonial competition that accelerated following the Age of Geographical Discoveries reached its peak in the nineteenth century, during which Britain achieved a marked superiority over other European colonial powers. The period extending from the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to the First World War is commonly referred to in the literature as the “British Imperial Century.” Reducing this superiority to a single cause is impossible; nor can it be regarded merely as coincidence or fate. Britain’s global achievements were the outcome of multilayered and systematic policies implemented across a wide range of fields—from settlement and education to science, commerce, and missionary activity. Likewise, direct and indirect systems of governance, as well as administrative approaches that varied from region to region, must be mentioned within this framework. During this process, numerous influential actors emerged who shaped Britain’s imperial expansion. Among these figures, Cecil John Rhodes (1853–1902) stood out as one of the most consequential, leaving a significant mark on the final quarter of the nineteenth century and playing a decisive role in the British colonisation of the African continent, particularly its southern regions. So profound was his influence that he envisioned extending it from Cape to Cairo through a railway line designed to link the entire continent from one end to the other. Entering the business world as a miner, Rhodes soon became one of the leading names in the diamond industry; following this rapid ascent, he entered politics and came to regard the expansion of the British Empire not merely as an economic opportunity but as a mission. Indeed, he not only devoted his life to this mission but also bequeathed his fortune to ensure its continuation after his death. Thus, while celebrated by supporters of British imperialism as a pioneer who opened new trade routes and “brought civilisation to primitive communities,” he was denounced by critics as an opportunist and a despot who pursued his own colonial interests. This study examines Cecil John Rhodes’s role within imperial politics and analyses his contribution to Britain’s expansion in Africa, drawing upon contemporary texts and relevant scholarly works.

Keywords

• Cecil John Rhodes
• Africa
• British Imperialism
• Colonialism
• 19th century.

İngiliz Emperyal Yayılmasının Afrika’daki Öncü Aktörü: Cecil John Rhodes

Abstract

Coğrafî Keşiflerin ardından hız kazanan sömürgecilik yarışı, 19. yüzyılda doruk noktasına ulaşmış ve bu süreçte İngiltere, diğer Avrupalı sömürgeci devletlere kıyasla belirgin bir üstünlük elde etmiştir. 1815 Viyana Kongresi’nden I. Dünya Savaşına kadar uzanan dönem, literatürde “İngiliz Emperyal Yüzyılı” olarak anılmıştır. Bu üstünlüğü tek bir sebebe indirgemek mümkün olmadığı gibi, yalnızca bir rastlantı veya kaderin eseri olarak görmek de yanıltıcı olacaktır. İngilizlerin küresel ölçekteki kazanımları, iskândan eğitime, bilimden ticarete ve dahi misyonerlik faaliyetlerine kadar birçok alanda yürütülen çok yönlü ve sistemli politikaların sonucudur. Yine direkt veya dolaylı yönetim politikalarını ve bölgelere göre farklılık arz eden idarî yaklaşımlarını da bu bağlamda zikretmek gerekir. Bu süreçte, İngiltere’nin emperyal genişlemesine yön veren birçok etkili aktör ortaya çıkmıştır. Bu isimlerden biri olan Cecil John Rhodes (1853-1902), 19. yüzyılın son çeyreğine damgasını vurmuş, Afrika kıtasının özellikle güney kısmının İngilizler tarafından sömürgeleştirilmesinde belirleyici bir rol üstlenmiştir. Öyle ki, bu etkisini Cape’ten Kahire’ye kadar uzanmasını planladığı demiryoluyla kıtanın bir ucundan diğer ucuna kadar uzatmayı hedeflemiştir. İş dünyasına madenci olarak adım atan Rhodes, kısa zamanda özellikle pırlanta sektöründe sayılı birkaç isimden biri haline gelmiş; bu yükselişin ardından siyasete atılmış ve İngiliz İmparatorluğu’nun yayılmasını ekonomik bir kazanç kapısı olarak görmenin ötesinde, bir misyon olarak benimsemiştir. Öyle ki, bu misyona hayatını adamakla kalmamış, ölümünden sonraki gelişimini de düşünerek mirasını bu yola vakfetmiştir. Bu yönüyle İngiliz emperyalizminin destekçileri tarafından, ticaret yollarının açılmasını sağlayan ve “ilkel topluluklara medeniyet götüren” bir öncü olarak yüceltilirken, eleştirenler onu sömürgeci çıkarlarını gözeten bir fırsatçı ve despot olarak tanımlamıştır. Bu çalışmada, Cecil John Rhodes’un emperyal politikalar içindeki rolü ele alınarak, İngiliz yayılmacılığının Afrika’daki ilerleyişine sunduğu katkı, dönem metinleri ve konuyla ilgili araştırma eserleri ve akademik çalışmalar esas alınarak incelenecektir. Bu çalışmada, Cecil John Rhodes’un emperyal politikalar içindeki rolü ele alınarak, İngiliz yayılmacılığının Afrika’daki ilerleyişine sunduğu katkı incelenecektir.

Keywords

• Cecil John Rhodes
• Afrika
• İngiliz Emperyalizmi
• Sömürgecilik
• 19.yy.

References

1. Arneil, B. (1992). John Locke, natural law and colonialism. History of Political Thought 13.4: 587-603.
2. Beer, G. L. (1915). Lord Milner and British imperialism. Political Science Quarterly 30.2: 301-308.
3. Bilgrami, A. (2017), Foreword by Akeel Bilgrami, Utsa P. Ve Patnaik P. (Ed), A theory of imperialism, (s.IX-XXIII), Columbia University Press, New York.
4. Blake, R. (2024). A history of Rhodesia. Taylor & Francis.
5. Brown, R. (1965). Zambia and Rhodesia: a study in contrast. Current History, 48(284): 201-243.
6. Brunetti, M. (2019). Rhodesian sunset: factional politics, war, and the demise of an imperial order in British South Africa, Duke University, Basılmamış Yüksek Lisans Tezi.
7. Budil, I. T. (2014). War and history: transformation of the concept due to ascending racial ideology and social darwinism in the 19th century. Central European Papers 2.2: 8-22.
8. Buzan, B. (1993). From international system to international society: structural realism and regime theory meet the English school. International organization, 47(3), 327-352.

9. Chapman, S. D. (1985). Rhodes and the city of London: another view of imperialism." The Historical Journal 28.3: 647-666.
10. Culberton, M. L. (1940). Cecil Rhodes and the Cape to Cairo railroad. MS thesis. The Ohio State University. Daban, C. (2017). Dekolonizasyon süreci ve sonrası Afrika. Açılım Kitabevi Yayınları, İstanbul.
11. Daban, C. (2024). 19. yüzyıl sömürgecilik faaliyetlerinde İngiltere’nin rolü: Afrika kıtası örneği. Uluslararası İlişkiler Çalışmaları Dergisi, 4(2): 92-107.
12. Davidson, A. (1988). Cecil Rhodes and his time. Progress Publisher Moscow.
13. Eryücel, E. Batı’da Sömürgeciliğin Kaynakları, Batal, S. (Ed.). Siyaset Bilimi, Uluslararası İlişkiler ve Kamu Yönetimi Alanında Uluslararası Akademik Araştırma ve Çalışmalar (1. Baskı, s.53-66). Ankara: Serüven Yayınları.
14. Fenwick, L. (2009), British and French styles of influence in colonial and independent Africa: A Comperative study on Kenya and Senegal, Honors Capstone, American University Washington D.C.
15. Ferguson, N. (2003). "The British empire and globalization: a forum." Historically Speaking 4.4., (Development Research Institute working waper weries no.2, April 2003), New York University: 1-27.
16. Fiske, J. (1892). The discovery of America: with some account of ancient America and the spanish conquest, The Riverside Press, Cambridge Mass.
17. Fremont-Barnes, G. (2014). The boer war 1899–1902. Bloomsbury Publishing.
18. Galton, F. (1883). Inquiries into human faculty and its development, Macmillian.
19. Goswami, G. (2021). Revisiting Rhodes and the rhodesian genesis: dimensions of empire-building and racial othering. The Department of English: 19-30.
20. Gündüz, A. (2016). Sömürgecilik kavramı ve sömürgeci devletlerin uyguladıkları taktikler: ortadoğu örneği. Tarih Okulu Dergisi (TOD), Mart 2016 Yıl 9, Sayı XXV: 763.-784.
21. Günarslan, H. (2020). İngiliz ordusunu Boerlerle mücadelesi, Kırıkkale Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 10(2), 549-569.
22. Hakluyt, R. (1904). The principal navigations, voyages, traffiques & discoveries of the english nation made by sea or over-land to the remote and farthest distant quarters of the earth at any time within the compasse of these 1600 yeeres. J. MacLehose and Sons.
23. Harlow, B. (2003). The "Kimberley process": literary gems, civil wars, and historical resources." CR: The New Centennial Review 3.2: 219-240.
24. Harrisse, H. (1896). John Cabot: the discoverer of North America, and Sebastian, his son. BF Stevens.
25. Harvey, W. D. (2017), A commentary on A Theory of Imperialism, Utsa P. Ve Patnaik P. (Ed), A theory of imperialism, (s.154-172), Columbia University Press, New York.
26. Hensman, H. (1901). Cecil Rhodes: a study of a career. Edinburgh; London. 1901.
27. Hopkins, J. C. ve M. Halstead (1900), The Boer-British war-comprising a history of South Africa and its people, Including the war of 1899-1900, Volume I., Ottowa.
28. Horvath, R. J. (1972). A definition of colonialism. Current Anthropology 13.1: 45-57.
29. https://stratejikortak.com/2019/11/somurge-devletleri-somurge-haritalari.html (Erişim Tarihi: 25.12.2025).
30. https://www.rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk/scholarships/the-rhodes-scholarship/ (Erişim Tarihi: 12.12. 2024, 01:34)
31. https://www.rosalux.de/news/id/42834/kolonialismus-im-schulbuch (Erişim Tarihi: 06.03.2025).
32. Jenkins, S. J. (1951). The administration of Cecil John Rhodes as prime minister of the Cape Colony, 1890-1896, Cape Town University, Yayınlanmamış Yüksek Lisans Tezi.
33. Kerr, Ph. (1922). From empire to commonwealth. Foreign Affairs 1.2: 83-98.
34. King, M. ve King E. (1994). Herbert Rhodes’ grave, The Society of Malawi Journal, Vol.47, No. 1: 61-65.
35. Kohn, M. ve Reddy K. (2006). Colonialism. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Erişim Tarihi: 18.11.2024.
36. Kombo, P. (2019). The legacy of Cecil John Rhodes: His role in the expansion of the British empire. Machakos University: 402-417.
37. Lauterbach, A. T. (1944). Militarism in the western world: a comparative study. Journal of the History of Ideas 5.4: 446-478.
38. Leasor, J. (1997). Rhodes and Barnato: the premier and the prancer, Leo Cooper Books.
39. Lenin, V. I. (1999). Imperialism, the highest stage of capitalism. Resistance Books.
40. Maguire, J. R. (1897). Cecil Rhodes: a biography and appreciation. Chapman & Hall.
41. Massie, S. A. (2016). The imperialism of Cecil John Rhodes: metropolitan perceptions of a colonial reputation. Diss. Oxford Brookes University.
42. Maylam, P. (2002). Monuments, memorials and the mystique of empire: the immortalisation of Cecil Rhodes in the twentieth century. African Sociological Review/Revue Africaine de Sociologie 6.1: 138-147.
43. Maylam, P. (2005). Rhodes university: colonialism, segregation and apartheid, 1904-1970. African Sociological Review/Revue Africaine de Sociologie 9.1: 14-22.
44. Mcflarlane, A. (2014). The British in the Americas 1480-1815, Taylow&Francis.
45. Mensing, R. C. Jr. (1986). Cecil Rhodes’s ideas of race and empire, International Social Science Review, SUMMER 1986, Vol. 61, No. 3 (SUMMER): 99-106.
46. Milner, V. (1953). Cecil Rhodes. Journal of the Royal Society of Arts 101.4903: 602-614.
47. Morgan, K. O. (2002). The boer war and the media (1899–1902). Twentieth Century British History 13.1: 1-16.
48. Newbury, C. (1987). Technology, capital, and consolidation: the performance of De Beers mining company limited, 1880–1889. Business History Review 61.1: 1-42.
49. Newsinger, J. (2016). Why Rhodes must fall. Race & Class, 58(2): 70-78.
50. Nyamnjoh, F. B. (2021). Cecil John Rhodes:‘The Complete Gentleman’of imperial dominance. The Jugaad Project, 23. (Erişim Tarihi: 25.12.2024)
51. O'Brien, P. K. (1988). The costs and benefits of British imperialism 1846-1914. Past & Present 120: 163-200.
52. Officer, A. B. (1900). The responsibility of Cecil Rhodes. The North American Review (1900): 348-356.
53. Oti, M. (2018) Re-engaging with past, present, and future through collective memories: the case of Rhodes must fall. Center for African Studies of the University of Basel, (Yüksek lisans tezi-yurtdışı enstitü). YÖK Tez Merkezi veri tabanından erişildi. (https://tez.yok.gov.tr/UlusalTezMerkezi/tezSorguSonucYeni.jsp)
54. Palmer, R. H. (1971). War and land in Rhodesia, Transafrican Journal of History, July 1971, Vol. 1, No. 2: 43-62.
55. Phimister, I. R. (1974). Rhodes, Rhodesia and the Rand. Journal of Southern African Studies 1.1: 74-90.
56. Raymond, H. (1897). B. I. Barnato; a memoir, Ballantyne-Hanson&Co, London-Edinburgh.
57. Rhodes, C. (1877), Confession of faith. sources of the Western Tradition 2.
58. Roberts, R. S. (1970). Rhodes, Rhodesia and the Jameson raid. Zambezia 1.2: 77-80.
59. Rotberg, R. I. (1990). The founder: Cecil Rhodes and the pursuit of power. Oxford University Press.
60. Said, E. (2005). The pleasures of imperialism. Edwardian and Georgian Fiction, 245-78.
61. Sanderson, E. (1898). The British empire in the nineteenth century, Volume I Blackie&Son Limited, London-Glasgow-Edinburgh and Dublin.
62. Sandman, A., ve Ash E. H. (2004). Trading expertise: Sebastian Cabot between Spain and England. Renaissance Quarterly 57.3: 813-846.
63. Schaeper, T. J. ve Schaeper K. (2010). Rhodes scholars, Oxford, and the creation of an american elite. Berghahn Books.
64. Schumpeter, J. A. (2007). Imperialism and Social Classes: Two Essays. Ludwig von Mises Institute.
65. Scully, R. (2012). "Constructing the Colossus: the origins of Linley Sambourne's greatest' Punch cartoon." International Journal of Comic Art: 120-142.
66. Sinclair, W. (1901). The African Association of 1788. Journal of the Royal African Society, 1(1), 145-149.
67. Singer, B. (1991). Lyautey: an interpretation of the man and french imperialism. Journal of contemporary history 26.1: 131-157.
68. Soames, L. (1980). From Rhodesia to Zimbabwe. International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs 1944-), 56(3): 405-419.
69. Thornton, A. P. (1962). Colonialism. International Journal 17.4: 335-357.
70. Erkaya Topcu, F. ve Kartın, C. (2024). An Overview of the Royal Geographical Society and Its Activities. Vakanüvis-Uluslararası Tarih Araştırmaları Dergisi, 9 (Özel Sayı: Dr. Selma Pehlivan’a Armağan), 1959-1997.
71. Trollope, A. (1878). South Africa, Volume II, Leibzig Bernhard Tauchnitz.
72. Turrell, R. (1982). Rhodes, de beers, and monopoly. The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 10.3: 311-343.
73. Turrell, R. V. (1987). Capital and labour on the Kimberley diamond fields, 1871-1890. Vol. 54. Cambridge University Press.
74. Varley, H. L. (1953). Imperialism and Rudyard Kipling. Journal of the History of Ideas 14.1: 124-135.
75. Verschoyle, F. (1900). Cecil Rhodes: his political life and speeches, 1881-1900. Chapman and Hall, limited.
76. Waswo, R. (1996). The formation of natural law to justify colonialism, 1539-1689. New Literary History 27.4: 743-759.
77. William C. (1909). Diamonds, Harper&Brothers, London&New York.
78. Williams, R. (1921). The cape to Cairo railway. Journal of the Royal African Society, 20(80): 241-258.
79. Whittlesey, D. (1937). British and French colonial technique in West Africa. Foreign Affairs, 15(2): 362-373. Young, B. A. (1966). Bechuanaland. HM Stationery Office.
80. Zimmern, A. (1927). The third British empire: being a course of lectures delivered at Columbia university, New York.
81. Zins, H. (1997). "The international context of the creation of the Bechuanaland protectorate in 1885." PULA Journal of African Studies 11.1.:54-62.