ABSTRACT
For two centuries the twin themes of self-interest, and the obligations of civilized states for less fortunate peoples had appeared as part of the raison d’etre for the possession of colonial territories. The history of the formation of the League of Nations, and the establishment of the mandates system, makes clear that in the twentieth century a new consideration was influencing attitudes to questions of colonial possessions. There were overtones of Marxist thought apparent in the arguments used by these critics of British colonial policies. The work of Lenin on imperialism relied to a considerable extent on the work of J. A. Hobson whose criticism of imperialism was published in 1902.5The Leninist interpretations of imperialism were used or assumed throughout the whole of the period by the contributors to the Labour Monthly. The propaganda of nationalist movements in Africa after the Second World War used the arguments of Hobson and Lenin on exploitation of African resources and of African labor.
