The origins of the term 'jingoism' are from a song by MacDermott and G. W. Hunt (*). There the main topic is that Britons will defeat the Russians, but it remains unclear why. The reasons listed state that the Britons 'got the ships, we've got the men, and got the money too!' and, in general, that the Russians are 'cruel' and that their ambitions should not be realised. The song's chorus begins: 'We don't want to fight...', but if the people in subject do not want to fight, then why is the song so full of words aimed at rising battle spirit? Obviously, the British believe that they are the one and only superpower in the world and do not want any rivalry. The description of characteristics of Britain go even further in the song: 'He's pleased when blood is shed'. This refers to 'The Lion', i.e. Britain. It shows it as a bloodthirsty beast, a metaphor that best describes it, in fact. The song also describes Russia as a 'Bear... All bent on blood and robbery has crawled out of its lair...', also 'That brute, and so he's out upon the asame old gamea...'. These lyrics express the commonly accepted view in Britain of the Great Game: they are strong and must defeat the bloody bear Russia, for no other reason but because it is cruel. In fact, there is another reason a" just to 'defend their interests', as they might say, but actually the reason is that they do not want to have any rival superpower in the world.
It seems to be a common 'feature' of all great powers to show jingoism. We are lucky, or perhaps unlucky, to observe another example of jingoism a" the aggressive foreign policy of the United States of America towards some Arabs. It was so in American past as well a" for example, Theodor Roosevelt said "There is much talk about 'jingoism'. If by 'jingoism' they mean a policy in pursuance of which Americans will with resolution and common sense insist upon our rights being respected by foreign powers, then we are 'jingoes'a in an October 8, 1895 New York Times interview. Although the term 'jingoism' emerged in a later period, Russia also showed signs of it towards Prussia and especially Turkey. Having power means, to them, to revenge strongly on any offence made to their country, however minor it might be. Also, jingoism is often used as a reason for military or political prevention of any potential danger to a great power's interests.
Pretty much the same reason made Britain interfere in the Congress of Berlin to destroy the contract of San Stefano and to return large parts of Bulgaria, including Macedonia, to the Ottoman Empire. That happened because none of the Great Powers wanted such a large country in the Balkans and, motivated by jingoism, they made changes in the Congress of Berlin. This is one of the many examples of why the Great Powers dealt with problems on the basis of jingoism to prevent any potential problems for their countries.
About the period after the Boer Wars, also known as the Edwardian period, jingoism was still present, but took a different shape. During this period, it still existed, but this time the British thought that they were a 'better' nation than the others, because of the prosperity of music, arts, fashion and tourism among the people. This made the British people look upon imperialism even further as a way of supplying the country with exotic goods. Even nowadays, the common British person chooses food because of the way its name sounds. Thus, the British adopted only what they found interesting from other cultures. Also, during this period were accepted the second Aliens Act (1905) and the third Aliens Act (1914) in British History. The second was aimed at restricting Polish and Russian Jews from immigrating to the country. Still, it should be admitted that the British accepted the act because of the overflow of Jews to the country, but the United States had a larger amount of Jews that entered their country and never adopted such a policy. Also, Britain demanded from those who enter the country to fulfil certain conditions. The Aliens Act of 1914 restricted immigrants' right of work and required police registration, etc. from them. This is a form of jingoism that Britain has always shown. Even nowadays it would not miss the chance to adopt the same Act for Bulgarians and Romanians if it could. It also wanted to restrict the access of other peoples to the Isles many times in the past, this is no news. This is nothing else but jingoism at the greatest way it could ever be expressed.
In all forms that jingoism can be observed, the best example ever is the United Kingdom. Its self-esteem comes from that it once had colonies all over the world, now it has only economic-dependants. Being the world's greatest superpower, Britain could interfere with other nations' personal issues and did not miss the chance to do so. The origins of the word 'jingoism', the lyrics of a song from 1878 called 'Macdermott's War Song', best describes in metaphors the British attitude towards jingoism. The United Kingdom never wanted foreigners to live within their borders; the reason for this is that the British have always believed that they are a 'better' nation than the others and that the privileges that they enjoy should not be available to the others, but the others' privileges have to be available for them. There are more examples of jingoism around the globe, such as the United States, who attacked Serbia to 'defend the Kosovar interests', but no, they simply wanted to manifest their power over the world. Jingoism exists and it seems that it will never become extinct.
Word Count: 1266
Notes: (*) Aline Waites and Robin Hunter, The Illustrated Victorian Songbook, Michael Joseph Ltd., London, 1984; pp. 180-184.
B I B L I O G R A P H Y
1.Hobsbawn, E., Age of Empire: Europe 1875 a" 1914, London 1989 2.Briggs, A. & Clavin, P., Modern Europe 1879 a" present, Harlow: Pearson 1997 3.Biddiss, M., The Age of the Masses, London 1977 4.Joll, J., Europe since 1870, Harper & Row 1973 5.Porter, B., The Lion's Share: A Short History of British Imperialism 1850 a" 1995, Longman 1996 6.Mangan, J.A., The Games Ethic and Imperialism: Aspects of the Diffusion of an Ideal, Viking 1986 7.Porter, B., Critics of Empire: British Radical Attitudes to Colonialism, MacMillan 1968