Новосёлова О.А. Британская политическая элита и проблема управления колониями в 1760–1780-е гг.

Научная статья
УДК 94(410).073
https://doi.org/10.24158/fik.2026.6.31
 
Британская политическая элита
и проблема управления колониями в 1760–1780-е гг.
 
Ольга Анатольевна Новосёлова
Тихоокеанский государственный университет, Хабаровск, Россия,
helganovoselova97@gmail.com
 
Аннотация. В статье рассматривается проблема управления колониями в политике британской элиты 1760–1780-х гг. Показано, что кризис имперского управления не сводился только к североамериканскому конфликту и был связан с более широкой трансформацией Британской империи после Семилетней войны. Особое внимание уделяется противоречию между принципом парламентского суверенитета и стремлением колониальных обществ сохранить пространство внутреннего самоуправления. Анализируются позиции короны, кабинета, парламентских групп, колониальных элит и Ост-Индской компании. Делается вывод, что британская политическая элита не имела единой модели управления империей: в Северной Америке, Канаде, Карибском регионе и Индии применялись разные механизмы контроля, основанные на сочетании правовой асимметрии, торговых интересов, военного присутствия и административного надзора. Североамериканский кризис выявил пределы прежней системы, в которой юридическое верховенство парламента не было подкреплено устойчивыми механизмами политического согласия. Потеря тринадцати колоний не уничтожила Британскую империю, но ускорила перестройку управленческого мышления и переход к более регулярным формам имперского контроля.
Ключевые слова: Британская империя, политическая элита, колониальное управление, парламентский суверенитет, североамериканские колонии, Ост-Индская компания, имперский кризис
Финансирование: инициативная работа.
Для цитирования: Новосёлова О.А. Британская политическая элита и проблема управления колониями в 1760–1780-е гг. // Общество: философия, история, культура. 2026. № 6. С. 236–242. https://doi.org/10.24158/fik.2026.6.31.
 
Original article
 
The British Political Elite
and the Problem of Colonial Governance in the 1760^s–1780^s
 
Olga A. Novoselova
Pacific National University, Khabarovsk, Russia,
helganovoselova97@gmail.com
 
Abstract. The article examines the problem of colonial governance in the policies of the British political elite in the 1760s–1780^s. It argues that the crisis of imperial governance was not limited to the North American conflict and was also tied to the broader transformation of the British Empire following the Seven Years’ War. Particular attention is paid to the contradiction between the principle of parliamentary sovereignty and the desire of colonial societies to preserve their space for internal self-government. The article analyzes the positions of the Crown, the cabinet, parliamentary groups, colonial elites, and the East India Company. The conclusion is drawn that the British political elite did not have a single model of imperial governance: different mechanisms of control were applied in North America, Canada, the Caribbean, and India. There were based on a combination of legal asymmetry, trade interests, military presence, and administrative supervision. The North American crisis revealed the limits of the previous system, in which the legal supremacy of Parliament was not supported by stable mechanisms of political consensus. The loss of the thirteen colonies did not destroy the British Empire but accelerated a restructuring of managerial thinking and a transition to more regular forms of imperial control.
Keywords: British Empire, political elite, colonial governance, parliamentary sovereignty, North American colonies, East India Company, imperial crisis
Funding: Independent work.
For citation: Novoselova, O.A. (2026) The British Political Elite and the Problem of Colonial Governance in the 1760^s–1780^s. Society: Philosophy, History, Culture. (6), 236–242. Available from: doi:10.24158/fik.2026.6.31 (In Russian).

© Новосёлова О.А., 2026

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Bowen, H.V. (2006) The Business of Empire: The East India Company and Imperial Britain, 1756–1833. Cambridge University Press. 304 p.
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Brewer, J. (1976) Party Ideology and Popular Politics at the Accession of George III. Cambridge University Press. 382 p.
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