We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Leaders and Followers: The Development of International Maritime Policy in the Nineteenth Century.
- Authors
Palmer, Sarah
- Abstract
This article argues that progress was made in the late nineteenth century towards international agreement on maritime safety regulation. It begins by focussing on the 1889 Washington International Maritime Conference. It shows that Britain, the leading maritime nation, was hostile to reaching agreement on safety rules through discussions at international gatherings. It therefore actively opposed this and similar events. Nevertheless a proposal in 1889 by Scandinavian maritime interests for the establishment of a permanent International Maritime Commission, though rejected, was an indication of a wish by non-governmental maritime interests to make progress towards international regulation. Under the auspices of the Comité Maritime International (CMI), a federation of national groups, a series of conferences in the 1890s and 1900s arrived at agreements on aspects of maritime law. In 1912 the Titanic disaster forced Britain to convene the international conference which produced the First International Safety of Life at Sea convention, which was only prevented by war from coming into force. The article concludes that, despite Britain's promotion of signal systems and the load line, its preference for bilateral agreements with other powers was an impediment to wider acceptance. The United States and Germany were prepared on occasion to challenge Britain's policy dominance, but private international interests were the important players. It was these leaders, not followers, who forced the pace towards the development of international maritime policy.
- Subjects
UNITED Kingdom; MARITIME shipping policy; MARITIME law; SAFETY; MARINE accidents; TITANIC (Steamship); PREVENTION
- Publication
International Journal of Maritime History, 2005, Vol 17, Issue 2, p299
- ISSN
0843-8714
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1177/084387140501700217