{{New Imperialism
Gentlemanly capitalism is a theory of
New Imperialism
In historical contexts, New Imperialism characterizes a period of colonial expansion by European powers, the United States, and Japan during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Com
The period featured an unprecedented pursuit of ove ...
first put forward by the historians Peter J. Cain and
A. G. Hopkins
Antony "Tony" Gerald Hopkins, FBA (born 21 February 1938) is a British historian specialising in the economic history of Africa, European colonialism, and globalisation. He is Emeritus Smuts Professor of Commonwealth History at the Universi ...
in the 1980s and developed in their 1993 work ''British Imperialism''. The theory posits that British imperialism was driven by the business interests of the City of London and landed interests. It encourages a shift of emphasis, away from seeing provincial manufacturers and geopolitical strategy as important influences, and towards seeing the expansion of empire as emanating from London and the financial sector.Shigeru Akita, ed., ''Gentlemanly Capitalism, Imperialism, and Global History'' (2002 online /ref>