ABSTRACT
The word imperialism seldom appears in The Round Table. Since 1905 at least it had apparently stunk in the nostrils of British and colonial voters. Generally the word imperialism was used to refer to the designs of Britain's enemies. 'German imperialists' drove America into the World War, - a war of free nations against 'the evils of a military imperialism'. It is easy to be cynical about the Round Table programme. The early left-wing theorists of imperialism would have had no trouble in giving it an economic interpretation. 'Economic imperialism' was 'a vague but dire phrase'. It was not helpful 'to use that invidious word' to characterise the policy of the United States in Central America. The 'Bolshevik' theory of imperialism threatened the Round Table programme for a Commonwealth in four direct, practical ways. It threatened the programme of defence and customs union. South African historians of the Round Table included Eric Walker and W. M. Macmillan.
