Informal Empire

Informal empire describes the spheres of influence which an empire may develop that translate into a degree of influence over a region or country, which is not a formal colony in the empire, as a result of the extension of commercial, strategic or military interests of the empire.

In a 2010 article, Gregory Barton and Brett Bennett defined informal empire as:

The term is most commonly associated with the British Empire, where it is used to describe the extensive reach of British interests into regions and nations which were not formal parts of the Empire, in that they were not colonies and were not directly ruled by the British.

Among the most notable elements of the British informal empire was China, which played an important, if unwilling, role in British imperial trade, and South America, which was a significant region for British commercial interests and investments.

Informal empire, like many imperial relationships, is difficult to classify and reduce to a prescriptive definition. In the instance of the British informal empire, the character of the relationship varied widely. Chinese inclusion in the sphere of British informal empire was unwilling, and was maintained by the use of direct military coercion – the First and Second Opium Wars – and through the exertion of great diplomatic pressure. South American governments were often willing partners in the extension of British commercial ventures, but force was sometimes used against those who tried to apply protectionist policies (see for example, the Anglo-French blockade of the River Plate).

Informal empire is an important concept required to adequately explain the reach and influence of empire, and in the case of the British Empire, is vital to any holistic account of the British Imperial experience and intrinsic to describing the interests and purposes of the Empire as a whole. Informal empire, far from being distinctive and separate from formal empire, is often bound up with formal imperial interests. For example, British informal empire in China was a product of British formal control of India, resulting from the need to finance the activities of the British East India Company through the sale of opium to the Chinese.

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