ABSTRACT
One of the most prevalent and influential themes in the literature on European imperialism has been the dichotomy between conditions in an area threatened by European conquest prior to and following the imposition of colonial rule. The belief in the decadence or barbarism of the indigenous regime provided both motive and justification for European writers and political leaders who advocated empire-building overseas. The views of Chamberlain and other leaders were shaped to a large extent by the reports, correspondence and published writings of European “men-on-the-spot” in Asia and Africa. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the accounts of travellers, missionaries and colonial administrators provided the main sources of information for European historians of Asia and Africa. The first major challenges to the interpretations of the proponents of the “imperial” school have come from anti-imperialist, Marxist or leftist, and “nationalist” historians.
