Study On British North Borneo Chartered Company (1877-1946)

In the 1880 s,the British government officially approved the establishment of the British North Borneo Chartered Company.Regarding the company’s related research,the academic community mainly focused on the company’s own case studies and analysis of the British colonial policy in North Borneo,but lacked an overall understanding of the relationship between the company’s development process and the British colonial policy.Ignore the company’s role and position in the history of North Borneo and the history of the United Kingdom.The purpose of this article is to connect the establishment,main activities and termination of the British North Borneo Chartered Company with the evolution of the British colonial policy by exploring the rise and fall of the British North Borneo Chartered Company,and to further explore the role and status of the company in the history of North Borneo and the United Kingdom.The main body of the thesis is divided into three parts: introduction,body and conclusion.The introduction part introduces the reasons for the topic selection of the thesis and the current research status at home and abroad.In the main text,according to the order of establishment,main activities and termination of the British North Borneo Chartered Company,the research of company is divided into four chapters for specific explanations:The first chapter describes the regional situation in North Borneo and analyzes the reasons for the establishment of the British North Borneo Chartered Company.For most of the 19 th century,Britain’s overall policy on Borneo remained within the framework of the traditional “Informal Empire” colonial policy of “trade,rather than territory”.In the late 1970 s,the situation in North Borneo changed,and the strategic and commercial value of this region urgently required British intervention.During the same period,“Formal Empire” colonial policy proposed by the British ruling Conservative Party supported the establishment of territorial ties with North Borneo,which caused the Conservative Party’s “Formal Empire” concept to conflict with the Liberal Party’s traditional “Informal Empire” concept.In the context of the dispute between the two empire concepts,the British government finally decided to approve the establishment of the British North Borneo Chartered Company.While avoiding overseas responsibilities,it prevented other European powers from interfering in the North Borneo region and successfully maintained overseas interests of the British Empire.The second chapter describes the territorial expansion process and nature of the British North Borneo Chartered Company.After the establishment of the company,the primary task was to expand the territory and consolidate the ruling foundation,which caused the situation in North Borneo to become more tense,requiring further intervention by the British government.During the same period,Britain entered the expansion phase of its “Formal Empire” colonial policy from the 1880 s to the beginning of the 20 th century.As a result,in 1888,North Borneo became a British protectorate,and the region was officially included in the British colonial system.This also means that the company’s territorial expansion in North Borneo has formally adopted the nature of colonial expansion,which led to the company’s continuous resistance from the Sultan of Brunei and the local people during the territorial expansion.As a competitor of the company,Sarawak protested the company’s expansion from the very beginning.In the end,under the aegis of the British government,the company succeeded in determining the current borders of North Borneo in 1904 and at the same time consolidated its presence in North Borneo.The third chapter discusses how the economic development activities of the British North Borneo Chartered Company led to the transformation of North Borneo’s local trading model into a new colonial trading system.After the company successfully consolidated its territory,its task focus shifted to the development of colonial economic products in order to seek commercial benefits.Although the company formulated new economic policies at the beginning of its establishment,the economic situation has been on the verge of bankruptcy.Until the beginning of the20 th century,driven by a variety of factors,especially the support of the colonial development strategy under the British “Formal Empire” colonial policy,the company not only promoted the prosperity of the company’s economy,but also successfully transformed North Borneo’s traditional domestic trading system into a new colonial trading system through the development of colonial economic products.This new type of colonial trading system made a lot of profits by developing the resources of North Borneo,but this profit mainly flowed into the United Kingdom,and companies rarely converted output into the improvement of the economic living standards of the people of North Borneo.The fourth chapter is to explain the reasons for the termination of the British North Borneo Chartered Company,and to evaluate the company’s role and historical status.After World War II,the British colonial policy and development direction needed to be adjusted according to the new international situation,and the company’s legal rule in North Borneo ended.The article believes that the company is political and commercial.The political nature of the company is reflected in the fact that the company is an agency of British colonial rule and a tool for the British to control North Borneo indirectly;the commerciality is reflected in the company’s active development of colonial economic products and the pursuit of commercial profits.Besides,the company not only occupies a certain position in the course of the colonial rule of the British Empire,but also has a profound influence on the regional development of North Borneo.The company expanded the territory of the British Empire and expanded the scope of British trade.In addition,the company also introduced new elements to the North Borneo region in terms of administrative management mechanism,trading system and economic development model.The conclusion part summarizes the company’s establishment,main activities and termination of the relationship with the evolution of British colonial policy,as well as the company’s role and status in the history of North Borneo and the United Kingdom.