19世纪英国孤立主义外交政策辨析

On the “Isolationism”of the British Foreign Policies( 1815-1914)

19世纪英国的强大必须依赖于一个幅员辽阔的帝国,因而其强大具有与生俱来的脆弱性,它必须依靠外部资源来支撑自己的强大。在其他国家进入工业化快速发展的轨道后,它的脆弱性就更加明显,表现出来的就是不再将国家关系作为制定外交政策的主要因素,而是全力保护帝国利益和海上通道的安全。孤立主义就是英国在这种脆弱性的单独强大之时,试图控制欧洲局势乃至世界局势的一种明智手段。而一旦英国失掉最强力量,即其他大国赶超上来,结盟外交就是唯一选择。战争对英国不利,即便与日本、法国和俄国签订了结盟协定,英国依然极力否认这是军事结盟的举动,在协定文字上非常谨慎,生怕因此迫使自己卷入欧洲大陆强国引发的战争,所以即使在结盟有助于欧洲均势的时候,英国外交的孤立主义思想依然存在。19世纪的英国外交政策的根本原则是:英帝国是重中之重,保持强大的海军力量,维护欧洲均势。从拿破仑战争到第一次世界大战前夕,英国外交政策的根本原则没有改变,而孤立主义则是19世纪英国外交的主线。只要不涉及自己的根本利益,英国就努力置身于局外,19世纪英国外交政策充分体现了这一点。

In the 19 th century,the British must rely on the external resources to balance its interior vulnerability.While other countries entered the fast track of industrialization,its vulnerability was more obvious,and it no longer took priority of national relations in making foreign policies. Instead,it took great efforts to protect the imperial interests and the safety of maritime channel. Thus isolationism was considered as a sensible means to control the European even the world situation. But Britain would take the alliance diplomacy once it lost its strength and was caught up by the other big powers. Involving in a war would be detrimental to Britain; even it signed a coalition agreement with Japan,France and Russia,Britain was very careful on the text,denied its military nature,in case that it would be involved in a war triggered by the continental powers. It maintained its diplomatic isolationism even when the alliance policy was advantageous to the balance of power in Europe. In the 19 thcentury the fundamental principle of British foreign policy was that the British Empire itself was the fundamental consideration; and it should keep a strong naval force to maintain the balance of European powers. From the Napoleonic Wars to the eve of the First World War,the fundamental principle of British foreign policy did not change,and the isolationism was the main line of British diplomacy during the 19 thcentury. So long as its fundamental interests could not be threatened,the UK would trying to stay out of the sidelines,and the British foreign policies fully reflected this point throughout the 19 th century.