Seven Lectures on the United Kingdom for use in India / Reissued for use in the United Kingdom

by Halford John Mackinder

THE DEFENCES OF THE EMPIRE.

Though we are so many miles away, I think you will agree that in the past six Lectures we have seen something of the two islands which are the centre of the British Empire. These islands are interesting to us because the great Empire of which we are a part has grown from them. Let us devote this last Lecture to the Empire as a whole. Let us learn how it is held together, and how it is defended, so that there may be peace and justice in all its parts.

1.
Map of Empire with Naval Bases.

In this map we see once more that the British Empire consists of a large number of separate lands scattered over the world. We have first of all the two British Islands set in the sea off the coast of Europe. They are separated by water from the military powers of Europe, and have no land frontier over which invasion may come. Then we have in North America the great Dominion of Canada, encompassed on the east and north and on most of the west by the ocean, with land frontiers only towards the United States. Next we have the Australasian Colonies, all of them islands, as in the case of the Mother Country. There are four considerable islands in the South Seas—Australia, Tasmania, and the North Island and the South Island of New Zealand. Crossing the Indian Ocean we come to South Africa, with water on three sides. Although South Africa appears to be neighboured by other States on the north, yet it is wholly different from India or Canada, or one of the great powers of Europe, because the adjacent territories are only thinly peopled, mainly by savages. South Africa is, therefore, isolated almost as effectively as is Australia. Then we come to India with ocean to the south-east and to the south-west, with the bleak tableland of Tibet to the north-east, and with accessible neighbours only to the north-west. Even Egypt and the Soudan, which appear to have great lengths of land frontier, are in effect detached by the desert, and hardly less secure than if they were surrounded by water. Lastly, we have on either side of the Atlantic West Africa and the West India colonies. These are the larger lands which form the British Empire, or are protected by it. In addition, there are many islands—some of them wealthy and important out of all proportion to their size, because they are trade centres or are covered with tropical plantations.

2.
The Cables of the Indian Ocean.

But the mere enumeration of the lands of the British Empire gives little idea of what that Empire really is. All these lands, severed by ocean and mountain and desert, would be separate countries were they not tied together by some 9,000 steamers and many thousand miles of submarine electric cable. Therefore, the steamers upon the ocean and the cables upon the bed of the ocean must be counted as important elements in the material fabric of the Empire. It is they, and they alone, which give it unity.

Now it is clear that for practical purposes the British Empire has only two land frontiers—the one on the north-west of India, the other on the south of Canada. It is therefore obvious that an attack upon any other part of the Empire must be conducted over the water. Even if there were attack upon the land frontiers, the enemy would undoubtedly operate also upon the ocean for the purpose of breaking the communications between the different parts of the Empire. He would seek to destroy the steamers and cables, so that one part of the Empire might not send help to another part. The first interest, therefore, of every section of the British Empire, is that there should be peace upon the ocean, so that the steamers may ply regularly and that the cables may not be disturbed. If the British Navy were defeated, the Empire could no longer exist.

Do you remember the map which was shown early in the first lecture, giving the lands of the world in black so that they might contrast with the blue sea? And do you remember that the object of that map was to prove that all the lands of the world, even the greatest continents, are surrounded by the ocean, and are in reality islands? The ocean, therefore, is a single vast sheet of water covering three-quarters of the globe. A squadron of ships can in a voyage of about a month go to any point on the coasts of the world. Clearly then one Navy will suffice for the sea defence of every land in the British Empire, for if the enemy’s fleet is attacking one part, a British fleet can go to that part, sure that the opponent fleet is not in any other part of the world. But if the enemy divided his fleet then the British fleet can be divided to meet him. The battleships of Britain are moving fortresses, which can be carried over three-quarters of the world instead of being fixed at a single point as they would be if they were on land.

I need hardly remind you, however, that a ship can only keep the sea while it has coal and food. Therefore, although one Navy is enough—providing it be strong—for the defence of every part of the British Empire, yet it is essential that wherever a British fleet may go it should find at no great distance British ports ready from time to time to equip it afresh. It is in Britain’s power in one short month to send a great fleet of battleships to any part of the ocean where they may be required. They would arrive ready for action, because at each stage of their journey there would be British harbours to replenish their stores and to make good defects. On the direct route to India, for instance, we have Gibraltar, Malta, and Aden. On the alternative route, round the Cape of Good Hope, are Sierra Leone, Ascension, St. Helena, Simonstown, and Mauritius. Therefore, while the Navy defends all parts of the Empire, each part has also a duty to the Navy.

The most necessary lesson to learn in regard to the sea power of Britain is that even though no battle fleet should during long years visit our own waters, yet our commerce and our peace depend upon the Navy. Owing to the British sea power Hong Kong, for instance, now stands fourth among all the ports of the world in the tonnage of its shipping. It is solely because the battleships of the world, except those of our ally, Japan, are at present in western waters that the British battleships are concentrated there to watch them.