Humanitarian Imperialism: The Politics of Anti-Slavery Activism, 1880-1940

Abstract

Abstract Between the late 1880s and the onset of the Second World War, anti-slavery activism experienced a revival, with organizations in Britain, Italy, France, and Switzerland working together to fight the continued existence of slavery and slave-trading in Africa. The book focues on these anti-slavery groups in the interwar years, when slavery in Africa became a focal point of humanitarian and imperial interest, linking Catholic and Protestant philanthropists, missionaries of different faiths, colonial officials, diplomats, and political leaders in Africa and Europe. At the centre of the narrative is the publicity campaign against slavery in Ethiopia, an issue which served as a catalyst for the articulation of international humanitarian standards and geopolitical interests within the League of Nations in Geneva. By looking at the interplay between British and Italian supporters of the abolitionist cause, the book reveals how in the 1930s, Fascist imperialists increasingly borrowed the anti-slavery rhetoric to pursue expansionist claims. Thus, during the Italo-Ethiopian war of 1935, the anti-slavery argument became a propaganda tool to placate public opinion in Britain and elsewhere. The conflict generated worldwide protest that undermined the beliefs and certainties of anti-slavery campaigners, resulting in a crisis of humanitarian imperialism.