British Empire

TheBritish Empirecomprised thedominions,colonies,protectorates,mandates,and otherterritoriesruled or administered by theUnited Kingdomand its predecessor states. It began with theoverseas possessionsandtrading postsestablished byEnglandin the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height in the 19th and early 20th centuries, it was thelargest empire in historyand, for a century, was the foremost global power.By 1913, the British Empire held sway over 412 million people,23 percent of the world population at the time,and by 1920, it covered 35.5 million km²(13.7 million sq mi),24 per cent of the Earth's total land area. As a result,its constitutional,legal,linguistic,andculturallegacy is widespread. At the peak of its power, it was described as "the empire on which the sun never sets",as the sun was always shining on at least one of its territories.

British Empire
Left:Flag of Great Britain(1707–1801) Right:Flag of the United Kingdom(1801–present)
Areas of the world that were part of the British Empire at various points in history with currentBritish Overseas Territoriesunderlined in red. Mandates and protected states are shown in a lighter shade.

During theAge of Discoveryin the 15th and 16th centuries,PortugalandSpainpioneered European exploration of the globe, and in the process established large overseas empires. Envious of the great wealth these empires generated,England,France,and theNetherlandsbegan to establish colonies and trade networks of their own in theAmericasandAsia.A series of wars in the 17th and 18th centuries with the Netherlands and France leftBritainthe dominantcolonial powerinNorth America.Britain became a major power in theIndian subcontinentafter theEast India Company'sconquestofMughal Bengalat theBattle of Plasseyin 1757.

TheAmerican War of Independenceresulted in Britain losing some of its oldest and most populous colonies in North America by 1783. While retaining control ofBritish North America(nowCanada) and territories in and near theCaribbeanin theBritish West Indies,British colonial expansion turned towards Asia,Africa,and thePacific.After the defeat of France in theNapoleonic Wars(1803–1815), Britain emerged as the principalnavaland imperial power of the 19th century and expanded its imperial holdings. It pursued trade concessions in China and Japan, and territory inSoutheast Asia.The "Great Game"and"Scramble for Africa"also ensued. The period of relative peace (1815–1914) during which the British Empire became the globalhegemonwas later described asPax Britannica(Latin for "British Peace" ). Alongside the formal control that Britain exerted over its colonies, its dominance of much of world trade, and of its oceans, meant that it effectivelycontrolled the economies of, and readily enforced its interests in, many regions,such as Asia andLatin America.It also came to dominate theMiddle East.Increasing degrees of autonomy were granted to its whitesettler colonies,some of which were formally reclassified asDominionsby the 1920s. By the start of the 20th century,Germanyand theUnited Stateshad begun to challenge Britain's economic lead. Military, economic and colonial tensions between Britain and Germany were major causes of theFirst World War,during which Britain relied heavily on its empire. The conflict placed enormous strain on its military, financial, and manpower resources. Although the empire achieved its largest territorial extent immediately after the First World War, Britain was no longer the world's preeminent industrial or military power.

In theSecond World War,Britain's colonies inEast AsiaandSoutheast Asiawere occupied by theEmpire of Japan.Despite the final victory of Britain andits allies,the damage to British prestige and theBritish economyhelped accelerate the decline of the empire.India,Britain's most valuable and populous possession, achievedindependencein 1947 as part of a largerdecolonisationmovement, in which Britain granted independence to most territories of the empire. TheSuez Crisisof 1956 confirmed Britain's decline as a global power, and thehandover of Hong Kong to Chinaon 1 July 1997 symbolised for many the end of the British Empire,though fourteenoverseas territoriesthat are remnants of the empire remain underBritish sovereignty.After independence, many former British colonies, along with most of the dominions, joined theCommonwealth of Nations,a free association of independent states. Fifteen of these, including the United Kingdom,retain the same person as monarch,currentlyKing Charles III.

Origins (1497–1583)

A replica of theMatthew,John Cabot's ship used for his second voyage to theNew Worldin 1497

The foundations of the British Empire were laid whenEnglandandScotlandwere separate kingdoms. In 1496, KingHenry VII of England,following the successes ofSpainandPortugalin overseas exploration, commissionedJohn Cabotto lead an expedition to discover anorthwest passageto Asia via the North Atlantic.Cabot sailed in 1497, five years after thefirst voyage of Christopher Columbus,and made landfall on the coast ofNewfoundland.He believed he had reached Asia,and there was no attempt to found a colony. Cabot led another voyage to the Americas the following year but did not return; it is unknown what happened to his ships.

No further attempts to establish English colonies in the Americas were made until well into thereign of Queen Elizabeth I,during the last decades of the 16th century.In the meantime,Henry VIII's 1533Statute in Restraint of Appealshad declared "that this realm of England is an Empire".TheProtestant ReformationturnedEnglandandCatholicSpain into implacable enemies.In 1562, Elizabeth I encouraged theprivateersJohn HawkinsandFrancis Draketo engage inslave-raiding attacksagainst Spanish and Portuguese ships off the coast ofWest Africawith the aim of establishing anAtlantic slave trade.This effort was rebuffed and later, as theAnglo-Spanish Warsintensified,Elizabeth Igave her blessing to further privateering raids against Spanish ports in the Americas and shipping that was returning across the Atlantic,laden with treasurefrom theNew World.At the same time, influential writers such asRichard HakluytandJohn Dee(who was the first to use the term "British Empire" )were beginning to press for the establishment of England's own empire. By this time, Spain had become the dominant power in the Americas and was exploring the Pacific Ocean, Portugal had established trading posts and forts from the coasts ofAfricaandBraziltoChina,and France had begun to settle theSaint Lawrence Riverarea, later to becomeNew France.

Although England tended to trail behind Portugal, Spain, and France in establishing overseas colonies, it carried out its first modern colonisation, referred to as theMunster Plantations,in 16th centuryIrelandby settling it with English and Welsh Protestant settlers. England had already colonised part of the country following theNorman invasion of Irelandin 1169.Several people who helped establish the Munster plantations later played a part in the early colonisation of North America, particularly a group known as theWest Country Men.

English overseas possessions (1583–1707)

Main article:English overseas possessions

In 1578,Elizabeth Igranted a patent toHumphrey Gilbertfor discovery and overseas exploration.That year, Gilbert sailed for theCaribbeanwith the intention of engaging inpiracyand establishing a colony in North America, but the expedition was aborted before it had crossed the Atlantic.In 1583, he embarked on a second attempt. On this occasion, he formally claimed the harbour of the island of Newfoundland, although no settlers were left behind. Gilbert did not survive the return journey to England and was succeeded by his half-brother,Walter Raleigh,who was granted his own patent by Elizabeth in 1584. Later that year, Raleigh founded theRoanoke Colonyon the coast of present-dayNorth Carolina,but lack of supplies caused the colony to fail.

In 1603,James VI of Scotlandascended (as James I) to the English throne and in 1604 negotiated theTreaty of London,ending hostilities with Spain. Now at peace with its main rival, English attention shifted from preying on other nations' colonial infrastructures to the business of establishing its own overseas colonies.The British Empire began to take shape during the early 17th century, with theEnglish settlementof North America and the smaller islands of the Caribbean, and the establishment ofjoint-stock companies,most notably theEast India Company,to administer colonies and overseas trade. This period, until the loss of theThirteen Coloniesafter theAmerican War of Independencetowards the end of the 18th century, has been referred to by some historians as the "First British Empire".

Americas, Africa and the slave trade

Main articles:British colonisation of the Americas,British America,Thirteen Colonies,British West Indies,andAtlantic slave trade

A 1670 illustration of African slaves working in 17th-centurycolonial VirginiainBritish America

England's early efforts at colonisation in the Americas met with mixed success. An attempt to establish a colony inGuianain 1604 lasted only two years and failed in its main objective to find gold deposits.Colonies on the Caribbean islands ofSt Lucia(1605) andGrenada(1609) rapidly folded.The first permanent English settlement in the Americas was founded in 1607 inJamestownby CaptainJohn Smith,and managed by theVirginia Company;the Crown took direct control of the venture in 1624, thereby founding theColony of Virginia.Bermudawas settled and claimed by England as a result of the 1609 shipwreck of the Virginia Company'sflagship,whileattempts to settle Newfoundlandwere largely unsuccessful.In 1620,Plymouthwas founded as a haven byPuritanreligious separatists, later known as thePilgrims.Fleeing fromreligious persecutionwould become the motive for many English would-be colonists to risk the arduoustrans-Atlantic voyage:Marylandwas established byEnglish Roman Catholics(1634),Rhode Island(1636) as a colonytolerant of all religionsand Connecticut (1639) forCongregationalists.England's North American holdings were further expanded by the annexation of the Dutch colony ofNew Netherlandin 1664, following the capture ofNew Amsterdam,which was renamedNew York.Although less financially successful than colonies in the Caribbean, these territories had large areas of good agricultural land and attracted far greater numbers of English emigrants, who preferred their temperate climates.

TheBritish West Indiesinitially provided England's most important and lucrative colonies.Settlements were successfully established inSt. Kitts(1624),Barbados(1627) andNevis(1628),but struggled until the "Sugar Revolution" transformed the Caribbean economy in the mid-17th century.Largesugarcane plantationswere first established in the 1640s on Barbados, with assistance from Dutch merchants andSephardic JewsfleeingPortuguese Brazil.At first, sugar was grown primarily using whiteindentured labour,but rising costs soon led English traders to embrace the use of imported African slaves.The enormous wealth generated by slave-produced sugar made Barbados the most successful colony in the Americas,and one of the most densely populated places in the world.This boom led to the spread of sugar cultivation across the Caribbean, financed the development of non-plantation colonies in North America, and accelerated the growth of theAtlantic slave trade,particularly thetriangular tradeof slaves, sugar and provisions between Africa, the West Indies and Europe.

To ensure that the increasingly healthy profits of colonial trade remained in English hands, Parliamentdecreedin 1651 that only English ships would be able to ply their trade in English colonies. This led to hostilities with theUnited Dutch Provinces—a series ofAnglo-Dutch Wars—which would eventually strengthen England's position in the Americas at the expense of the Dutch.In 1655, England annexed the island ofJamaicafrom the Spanish, and in 1666 succeeded in colonising theBahamas. In 1670,Charles IIincorporated by royal charter theHudson's Bay Company(HBC), granting it a monopoly on thefur tradein the area known asRupert's Land,which would later form a large proportion of theDominion of Canada.Forts and trading posts established by the HBC were frequently the subject of attacks by the French, who had established their own fur trading colony in adjacentNew France.

Two years later, theRoyal African Companywas granted a monopoly on the supply of slaves to the British colonies in the Caribbean.The company would transport more slaves across the Atlantic than any other, and significantly grew England's share of the trade, from 33 per cent in 1673 to 74 per cent in 1683.The removal of this monopoly between 1688 and 1712 allowed independent British slave traders to thrive, leading to a rapid escalation in the number of slaves transported.British ships carried a third of all slaves shipped across the Atlantic—approximately 3.5 million Africans—until the abolition of the trade by Parliament in 1807 (see§ Abolition of slavery).To facilitate the shipment of slaves, forts were established on the coast of West Africa, such asJames Island,AccraandBunce Island.In the British Caribbean, the percentage of the population of African descent rose from 25 per cent in 1650 to around 80 per cent in 1780, and in the Thirteen Colonies from 10 per cent to 40 per cent over the same period (the majority in the southern colonies).The transatlantic slave trade played a pervasive role in British economic life, and became a major economic mainstay for western port cities.Ships registered inBristol,LiverpoolandLondonwere responsible for the bulk of British slave trading.For the transported, harsh and unhygienic conditions on the slaving ships and poor diets meant that the averagemortality rateduring theMiddle Passagewas one in seven.

Rivalry with other European empires

Main article:East India Company

Fort St. GeorgeinMadras,India was founded in 1639.

At the end of the 16th century, England and theDutch Empirebegan to challenge thePortuguese Empire's monopoly of trade with Asia, forming private joint-stock companies to finance the voyages—the English, later British, East India Company and theDutch East India Company,chartered in 1600 and 1602 respectively. The primary aim of these companies was to tap into the lucrativespice trade,an effort focused mainly on two regions: theEast Indies archipelago,and an important hub in the trade network, India. There, they competed for trade supremacy with Portugal and with each other.Although England eclipsed the Netherlands as a colonial power, in the short term the Netherlands' more advanced financial systemand the threeAnglo-Dutch Warsof the 17th century left it with a stronger position in Asia. Hostilities ceased after theGlorious Revolutionof 1688 when the DutchWilliam of Orangeascended the English throne, bringing peace between theDutch Republicand England. A deal between the two nations left thespice tradeof theEast Indiesarchipelago to the Netherlands and thetextiles industry of Indiato England, but textiles soon overtook spices in terms of profitability.

Peace between England and the Netherlands in 1688 meant the two countries entered theNine Years' Waras allies, but the conflict—waged in Europe and overseas between France, Spain and the Anglo-Dutch alliance—left the English a stronger colonial power than the Dutch, who were forced to devote a larger proportion of theirmilitary budgetto the costly land war in Europe.The death ofCharles II of Spainin 1700 and his bequeathal of Spain and its colonial empire toPhilip V of Spain,a grandson of theKing of France,raised the prospect of the unification of France, Spain and their respective colonies, an unacceptable state of affairs for England and the other powers of Europe.In 1701, England, Portugal and the Netherlands sided with theHoly Roman Empireagainst Spain and France in theWar of the Spanish Succession,which lasted for thirteen years.

Scottish attempt to expand overseas

Main article:Scottish colonization of the Americas

In 1695, theParliament of Scotlandgranted a charter to theCompany of Scotland,which established a settlement in 1698 on theIsthmus of Panama.Besieged by neighbouringSpanishcolonists ofNew Granada,and affected bymalaria,the colony was abandoned two years later. TheDarien schemewas a financial disaster for Scotland: a quarter of Scottish capital was lost in the enterprise.The episode had major political consequences, helping to persuade the government of theKingdom of Scotlandof the merits of turning thepersonal unionwithEnglandinto a political and economic one under theKingdom of Great Britainestablished by theActs of Union 1707.

British Empire (1707–1783)

Robert Clive's victory at theBattle of Plasseyestablished theEast India Companyas both a military and commercial power.

The 18th century saw thenewly unitedGreat Britain rise to be the world's dominant colonial power, with France becoming its main rival on the imperial stage.Great Britain, Portugal, the Netherlands, and the Holy Roman Empire continued the War of the Spanish Succession, which lasted until 1714 and was concluded by theTreaty of Utrecht.Philip V of Spainrenounced his and his descendants' claim to the French throne, and Spain lost its empire in Europe.The British Empire was territorially enlarged: from France, Britain gainedNewfoundlandandAcadia,and from Spain,GibraltarandMenorca.Gibraltar became acritical naval baseand allowed Britain to control theAtlantic entry and exit pointto theMediterranean.Spain ceded the rights to the lucrativeasiento(permission to sell African slaves inSpanish America) to Britain.With the outbreak of the Anglo-SpanishWar of Jenkins' Earin 1739, Spanish privateers attacked British merchant shipping along theTriangle Traderoutes. In 1746, the Spanish and British began peace talks, with the King of Spain agreeing to stop all attacks on British shipping; however, in the1750 Treaty of MadridBritain lost its slave-trading rights inLatin America.

In the East Indies, British and Dutch merchants continued to compete in spices and textiles. With textiles becoming the larger trade, by 1720, in terms of sales, the British company had overtaken the Dutch.During the middle decades of the 18th century, there wereseveral outbreaks of military conflicton theIndian subcontinent,as the English East India Company and itsFrench counterpart,struggled alongside local rulers to fill the vacuum that had been left by the decline of theMughal Empire.TheBattle of Plasseyin 1757, in which the British defeated theNawab of Bengaland his French allies, left the British East India Company in control ofBengaland as a major military and political power in India.France was left control of itsenclavesbut with military restrictions and an obligation to support Britishclient states,ending French hopes of controlling India.In the following decades the British East India Company gradually increased the size of the territories under its control, either ruling directly or via local rulers under the threat of force from thePresidency Armies,the vast majority of which was composed of Indiansepoys,led by British officers.The British and French struggles in India became but one theatre of the globalSeven Years' War(1756–1763) involving France, Britain, and the other major European powers.

The signing of theTreaty of Paris of 1763had important consequences for the future of the British Empire. In North America, France's future as a colonial power effectively ended with the recognition of British claims to Rupert's Land,and theceding of New France to Britain(leaving a sizeableFrench-speaking populationunder British control) andLouisianato Spain. Spain ceded Florida to Britain. Along with its victory over France in India, the Seven Years' War therefore left Britain as the world's most powerfulmaritime power.

Loss of the Thirteen American Colonies

Main articles:American Revolution,American Revolutionary War,Decolonization of the Americas,British North America,History of Canada (1763–1867),andWar of 1812

During the 1760s and early 1770s, relations between the Thirteen Colonies and Britain became increasingly strained, primarily because of resentment of the British Parliament's attempts to govern and tax American colonists without their consent.This was summarised at the time by the colonists' slogan "No taxation without representation",a perceived violation of the guaranteedRights of Englishmen.TheAmerican Revolutionbegan with a rejection of Parliamentary authority and moves towards self-government. In response, Britain sent troops to reimpose direct rule, leading to the outbreak of war in 1775. The following year, in 1776, theSecond Continental Congressissued theDeclaration of Independenceproclaiming the colonies' sovereignty from the British Empire as the newUnited States of America.The entry ofFrenchandSpanish forcesinto the war tipped the military balance in the Americans' favour and after a decisive defeat atYorktownin 1781, Britain began negotiating peace terms. American independence was acknowledged at thePeace of Parisin 1783.

The loss of such a large portion ofBritish America,at the time Britain's most populous overseas possession, is seen by some historians as the event defining the transition between the first and second empires,in which Britain shifted its attention away from the Americas to Asia, the Pacific and later Africa.Adam Smith'sWealth of Nations,published in 1776, had argued that colonies were redundant, and thatfree tradeshould replace the oldmercantilistpolicies that had characterised the first period of colonial expansion, dating back to theprotectionismof Spain and Portugal.The growth of trade between the newly independentUnited Statesand Britain after 1783 seemed to confirm Smith's view that political control was not necessary for economic success.

The war to the south influenced British policy in Canada, where between 40,000 and 100,000defeatedLoyalistshad migrated from the new United States following independence.The 14,000 Loyalists who went to theSaint JohnandSaint Croix rivervalleys, then part ofNova Scotia,felt too far removed from the provincial government inHalifax,so London split offNew Brunswickas a separate colony in 1784.TheConstitutional Act of 1791created the provinces ofUpper Canada(mainlyEnglish speaking) andLower Canada(mainlyFrench-speaking) to defuse tensions between the French and British communities, and implemented governmental systems similar to those employed in Britain, with the intention of asserting imperial authority and not allowing the sort of popular control of government that was perceived to have led to the American Revolution.

Tensions between Britain and the United States escalated again during theNapoleonic Wars,as Britain tried to cut off American trade with France and boarded American ships toimpressmen into theRoyal Navy.TheUnited States Congressdeclared war, theWar of 1812,and invaded Canadian territory. In response, Britain invaded the US, but the pre-war boundaries were reaffirmed by the 1814Treaty of Ghent,ensuring Canada's future would be separate from that of the United States.

British Empire (1783–1815)

Exploration of the Pacific

Main articles:History of Australia (1788–1850)andHistory of New Zealand

James Cook's mission was to find the alleged southern continentTerra Australis.

Since 1718,transportationto the American colonies had been a penalty for various offences in Britain, with approximately one thousand convicts transported per year.Forced to find an alternative location after the loss of the Thirteen Colonies in 1783, the British government looked for an alternative, eventually turning toAustralia.On his first of three voyages commissioned by the government,James Cookreached New Zealand in October 1769. He was the first European to circumnavigate and map the country.From the late 18th century, the country was regularly visited by explorers and other sailors,missionaries,traders and adventurers but no attempt was made to settle the country or establish possession. Thecoast of Australiahad been discovered for Europeans by the Dutchin 1606,but there was no attempt to colonise it. In 1770, after leaving New Zealand,James Cookcharted the eastern coast, claimed the continent for Britain, and named itNew South Wales.In 1778,Joseph Banks,Cook'sbotaniston the voyage, presented evidence to the government on the suitability ofBotany Bayfor the establishment of apenal settlement,and in 1787 the first shipment ofconvictsset sail, arriving in 1788.Unusually, Australia was claimed through proclamation.Indigenous Australianswere considered too uncivilised to require treaties,and colonisation brought disease and violence that together with the deliberate dispossession of land and culture were devastating to these peoples.Britain continued to transport convicts to New South Wales until 1840, toTasmaniauntil 1853 and toWestern Australiauntil 1868.The Australian colonies became profitable exporters of wool and gold,mainly because of theVictorian gold rush,making its capitalMelbournefor a time the richest city in the world.

The British also expanded their mercantile interests in the North Pacific. Spain and Britain had become rivals in the area, culminating in theNootka Crisisin 1789. Both sides mobilised for war, but when France refused to support Spain it was forced to back down, leading to theNootka Convention.The outcome was a humiliation for Spain, which practically renounced all sovereignty on the North Pacific coast.This opened the way to British expansion in the area, and a number of expeditions took place; firstly anaval expeditionled byGeorge Vancouverwhich explored the inlets around the Pacific North West, particularly aroundVancouver Island.On land, expeditions sought to discover a river route to the Pacific for the extension of theNorth American fur trade.Alexander Mackenzieof theNorth West Companyled the first, starting out in 1792, and a year later he became the first European to reach the Pacific overland north of theRio Grande,reaching the ocean near present-dayBella Coola.This preceded theLewis and Clark Expeditionby twelve years. Shortly thereafter, Mackenzie's companion,John Finlay,founded the first permanent European settlement inBritish Columbia,Fort St. John.The North West Company sought further exploration and backed expeditions byDavid Thompson,starting in 1797, and later bySimon Fraser.These pushed into the wilderness territories of theRocky MountainsandInterior Plateauto theStrait of Georgiaon the Pacific Coast, expandingBritish North Americawestward.

Continued conquest in India

Maps of theIndian subcontinentin 1765 (left) and 1858 (right) showing British expansion in the region.

The East India Company fought a series ofAnglo-Mysore warsinSouthern Indiawith theSultanate of MysoreunderHyder Aliand thenTipu Sultan.Defeats in theFirst Anglo-Mysore warand stalemate in theSecondwere followed by victories in theThirdand theFourth.Following Tipu Sultan's death in the fourth war in theSiege of Seringapatam (1799),the kingdom became a protectorate of the company.

The East India Company fought three Anglo-Maratha Wars with theMaratha Confederacy.TheFirst Anglo-Maratha Warended in 1782 with a restoration of the pre-warstatus quo.TheSecondandThird Anglo-Marathawars resulted in British victories.After the surrender of PeshwaBajirao IIon 1818, the East India Company acquired control of a large majority of the Indian subcontinent.

Wars with France

Main article:French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars

TheBattle of Waterlooin 1815 ended in the defeat ofNapoleonand marked the beginning ofPax Britannica.

Britain was challenged again by France under Napoleon, in a struggle that, unlike previous wars, represented a contest of ideologies between the two nations.It was not only Britain's position on the world stage that was at risk: Napoleon threatened to invade Britain itself, just as his armies had overrun many countries ofcontinental Europe.

The Napoleonic Wars were therefore ones in which Britain invested large amounts of capital and resources to win. French ports were blockaded by theRoyal Navy,which won a decisive victory over aFrench Imperial Navy-Spanish Navyfleet at theBattle of Trafalgarin 1805. Overseas colonies were attacked and occupied, including those of the Netherlands, which was annexed by Napoleon in 1810. France was finally defeated by a coalition of European armies in 1815.Britain was again the beneficiary of peace treaties: France ceded theIonian Islands,Malta(which it had occupied in 1798),Mauritius,St Lucia,theSeychelles,andTobago;Spain cededTrinidad;the Netherlands cededGuiana,Ceylonand theCape Colony,while the Danish cededHeligoland.Britain returnedGuadeloupe,Martinique,French Guiana,andRéunionto France;Menorcato Spain;Danish West Indiesto Denmark andJavaandSurinameto the Netherlands.

Abolition of slavery

Main article:Abolitionism in the United Kingdom

With the advent of theIndustrial Revolution,goods produced by slavery became less important to theBritish economy.Added to this was the cost of suppressing regularslave rebellions.With support from the Britishabolitionistmovement,Parliamentenacted theSlave Trade Actin 1807, which abolished theslave tradein the empire. In 1808,Sierra Leone Colonywas designated an official British colony for freed slaves.Parliamentary reform in 1832 saw the influence of theWest India Committeedecline. TheSlavery Abolition Act,passed the following year, abolished slavery in the British Empire on 1 August 1834, finally bringing the empire into line with the law in the UK (with the exception of the territories administered by the East India Company and Ceylon, where slavery was ended in 1844). Under the Act, slaves were granted full emancipation after a period of four to six years of "apprenticeship".Facing further opposition from abolitionists, the apprenticeship system was abolished in 1838.The British government compensated slave-owners.

Britain's imperial century (1815–1914)

See also:Timeline of British diplomatic history § 1815–1860,Industrial Revolution,andPolitical and diplomatic history of the Victorian era

Between 1815 and 1914, a period referred to as Britain's "imperial century" by some historians,around 10 million sq mi (26 million km²) of territory and roughly 400 million people were added to the British Empire.Victory over Napoleon left Britain without any serious international rival, other thanRussia in Central Asia.Unchallenged at sea, Britain adopted the role of global policeman, a state of affairs later known as thePax Britannica,and a foreign policy of "splendid isolation".Alongside the formal control it exerted over its own colonies, Britain's dominant position in world trade meant that it effectively controlled the economies of many countries, such as China, Argentina andSiam,which has been described by some historians as an "Informal Empire".

An 1876 political cartoon ofBenjamin Disraelimaking Queen VictoriaEmpress of India.The caption reads "New crowns for old ones!"

British imperial strength was underpinned by thesteamshipand thetelegraph,new technologies invented in the second half of the 19th century, allowing it to control and defend the empire. By 1902, the British Empire was linked together by a network of telegraph cables, called theAll Red Line.

East India Company rule and the British Raj in India

Main article:Presidencies and provinces of British India

See also:Company rule in IndiaandBritish Raj

The East India Company drove the expansion of the British Empire in Asia. The company's army had first joined forces with the Royal Navy during the Seven Years' War, and the two continued to co-operate in arenas outside India: the eviction of the French from Egypt (1799),thecapture of Javafrom the Netherlands (1811), theacquisition of Penang Island(1786),Singapore(1819) andMalacca(1824), and thedefeat of Burma(1826).

From its base in India, the company had been engaged in an increasingly profitable opium export trade toQing Chinasince the 1730s. This trade, illegal since it was outlawed by China in 1729, helped reverse the trade imbalances resulting from the British imports of tea, which saw large outflows of silver from Britain to China.In 1839, the confiscation by the Chinese authorities atCantonof 20,000 chests of opium led Britain to attack China in theFirst Opium War,and resulted in the seizure by Britain ofHong Kong Island,at that time a minor settlement, and othertreaty portsincludingShanghai.

During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the British Crown began to assume an increasingly large role in the affairs of the company. A series of Acts of Parliament were passed, including theRegulating Act of 1773,Pitt's India Actof 1784 and theCharter Act of 1813which regulated the company's affairs and established the sovereignty of the Crown over the territories that it had acquired.The company's eventual end was precipitated by theIndian Rebellionin 1857, a conflict that had begun with the mutiny of sepoys, Indian troops under British officers and discipline.The rebellion took six months to suppress, with heavy loss of life on both sides. The following year the British government dissolved the company and assumed direct control over India through theGovernment of India Act 1858,establishing theBritish Raj,where an appointedgovernor-generaladministered India and Queen Victoria was crowned theEmpress of India.India became the empire's most valuable possession, "the Jewel in the Crown", and was the most important source of Britain's strength.

A series of serious crop failures in the late 19th century led towidespread famineson the subcontinent in which it is estimated that over 15 million people died. The East India Company had failed to implement any coordinated policy to deal with the famines during its period of rule. Later, under direct British rule, commissions were set up after each famine to investigate the causes and implement new policies, which took until the early 1900s to have an effect.

New Zealand

Main article:Colony of New Zealand

On each of his three voyages to the Pacific between 1769 and 1777, James Cook visitedNew Zealand.He was followed by an assortment of Europeans and Americans which including whalers, sealers, escaped convicts from New South Wales, missionaries and adventurers. Initially, contact with the indigenousMāori peoplewas limited to the trading of goods, although interaction increased during the early decades of the 19th century with many trading and missionary stations being set up, especially in the north. The first of several Church of England missionaries arrived in 1814 and as well as their missionary role, they soon become the only form of European authority in a land that was not subject to British jurisdiction: the closest authority being the New South Wales governor in Sydney. The sale of weapons to Māori resulted from 1818 on in the intertribal warfare of theMusket Wars,with devastating consequences for the Māori population.

The UK government finally decided to act, dispatching CaptainWilliam Hobsonwith instructions to take formal possession after obtaining native consent. There was no central Māori authority able to represent all New Zealand so, on 6 February 1840, Hobson and many Māori chiefs signed theTreaty of Waitangiin the Bay of Islands; most other chiefs signing in stages over the following months.William Hobson declared British sovereignty over all New Zealand on 21 May 1840, over the North Island by cession and over the South Islnd by discovery (the island was sparsely populated and deemedterra nullius). Hobson became Lieutenant-Governor, subject to Governor SirGeorge Gippsin Sydney,with British possession of New Zealand initially administered from Australia as a dependency of the New South Wales colony. From 16 June 1840 New South Wales laws applied in New Zealand.This transitional arrangement ended with the Charter for Erecting the Colony of New Zealand on 16 November 1840. The Charter stated that New Zealand would be established as a separateCrown colonyon 3 May 1841 with Hobson as its governor.

Rivalry with Russia

Main article:The Great Game

British cavalry charging against Russian forces atBalaclavain 1854

During the 19th century, Britain and theRussian Empirevied to fill the power vacuums that had been left by the decliningOttoman Empire,Qajar dynastyandQing dynasty.This rivalry in Central Asia came to be known as the "Great Game".As far as Britain was concerned, defeats inflicted by Russia onPersiaandTurkeydemonstrated its imperial ambitions and capabilities and stoked fears in Britain of an overland invasion of India.In 1839, Britain moved to pre-empt this by invadingAfghanistan,but theFirst Anglo-Afghan Warwas a disaster for Britain.

When Russia invaded theOttoman Balkansin 1853, fears of Russian dominance in the Mediterranean and the Middle East led Britain and France to enter the war in support of theOttoman Empireand invade theCrimean Peninsulato destroy Russian naval capabilities.The ensuingCrimean War(1854–1856), which involved new techniques ofmodern warfare,was the onlyglobal warfought between Britain and anotherimperial powerduring thePax Britannicaand was a resounding defeat for Russia.The situation remained unresolved in Central Asia for two more decades, with Britain annexingBaluchistanin 1876 and Russia annexingKirghizia,Kazakhstan,andTurkmenistan.For a while, it appeared that another war would be inevitable, but the two countries reached an agreement on their respectivespheres of influencein the region in 1878 and on all outstanding matters in 1907 with the signing of theAnglo-Russian Entente.The destruction of theImperial Russian Navyby theImperial Japanese Navyat theBattle of Tsushimaduring theRusso-Japanese Warof 1904–1905 limited its threat to the British.

Cape to Cairo

Main articles:History of South Africa (1815–1910),History of Egypt under the British,andScramble for Africa

The Rhodes Colossus—Cecil Rhodesspanning "Cape to Cairo"

The Dutch East India Company had founded theDutch Cape Colonyon thesouthern tip of Africain 1652 as a way station for its ships travelling to and from its colonies in theEast Indies.Britain formally acquired the colony, and its largeAfrikaner(orBoer) population in 1806, having occupied it in 1795 to prevent its falling into French hands during theFlanders Campaign.British immigration to theCape Colonybegan to rise after 1820, and pushed thousands ofBoers,resentful of British rule, northwards to found their own—mostly short-lived—independent republics,during theGreat Trekof the late 1830s and early 1840s.In the process theVoortrekkersclashed repeatedly with the British, who had their own agenda with regard to colonial expansion in South Africa and to the various native African polities, including those of theSotho peopleand theZulu Kingdom.Eventually, the Boers established two republics that had a longer lifespan: theSouth African Republicor Transvaal Republic (1852–1877; 1881–1902) and theOrange Free State(1854–1902).In 1902 Britain occupied both republics, concluding a treaty with the twoBoer Republicsfollowing theSecond Boer War(1899–1902).

In 1869 theSuez Canalopened underNapoleon III,linkingtheMediterranean Seawith theIndian Ocean.Initially the Canal was opposed by the British;but once opened, its strategic value was quickly recognised and became the "jugular vein of the Empire".In 1875, theConservativegovernment ofBenjamin Disraelibought the indebted Egyptian rulerIsma'il Pasha's 44 per cent shareholding in the Suez Canal for £4 million (equivalent to £480 million in 2023). Although this did not grant outright control of the strategic waterway, it did give Britain leverage. Joint Anglo-French financial control over Egypt ended in outright British occupation in 1882.Although Britain controlled theKhedivate of Egyptinto the 20th century, it was officially avassal state of the Ottoman Empireand not part of the British Empire. The French were still majority shareholders and attempted to weaken the British position,but a compromise was reached with the 1888Convention of Constantinople,which made the Canal officially neutral territory.

With competitive French,Belgianand Portuguese activity in the lowerCongo Riverregion undermining orderly colonisation of tropical Africa, theBerlin Conferenceof 1884–85 was held to regulate the competition between the European powers in what was called the "Scramble for Africa"by defining" effective occupation "as the criterion for international recognition of territorial claims.The scramble continued into the 1890s, and caused Britain to reconsider its decision in 1885 to withdraw fromSudan.A joint force of British and Egyptian troops defeated theMahdist Armyin 1896 and rebuffed an attempted French invasionat Fashodain 1898. Sudan was nominally made anAnglo-Egyptian condominium,but a British colony in reality.

British gains in Southern and East Africa promptedCecil Rhodes,pioneer of British expansion inSouthern Africa,to urge a "Cape to Cairo"railway linking the strategically important Suez Canal to the mineral-rich south of the continent.During the 1880s and 1890s, Rhodes, with his privately ownedBritish South Africa Company,occupied and annexedterritories named after him,Rhodesia.

Changing status of the white colonies

Main articles:Dominions,Canadian Confederation,Federation of Australia,Irish Home Rule movement,andIndependence of New Zealand

ABritish Empire flagcombining the arms of the dominions to represent their growing significance

The path to independence for the white colonies of the British Empire began with the 1839Durham Report,which proposed unification and self-government for Upper and Lower Canada, as a solution to political unrest which had erupted inarmed rebellionsin 1837.This began with the passing of theAct of Unionin 1840, which created theProvince of Canada.Responsible governmentwas first granted to Nova Scotia in 1848, and was soon extended to the other British North American colonies. With the passage of theBritish North America Act, 1867by theBritish Parliament,the Province of Canada, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia were formed into Canada, a confederation enjoying full self-government with the exception ofinternational relations.Australia and New Zealand achieved similar levels of self-government after 1900, with the Australian coloniesfederating in 1901.The term "dominion status" was officially introduced at the1907 Imperial Conference.As the dominions gained greater autonomy, they would come to be recognized as distinct realms of the empire with unique customs and symbols of their own. Imperial identity, through imagery such as patriotic artworks and banners, began developing into a form that attempted to be more inclusive by showcasing the empire as a family of newly birthed nations with common roots.

The last decades of the 19th century saw concertedpolitical campaignsfor Irishhome rule.Ireland had been united with Britain into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland with theAct of Union 1800after theIrish Rebellion of 1798,and had suffered a severefaminebetween 1845 and 1852. Home rule was supported by the Britishprime minister,William Gladstone,who hoped that Ireland might follow in Canada's footsteps as a Dominion within the empire, but his 1886Home Rule billwas defeated in Parliament. Although the bill, if passed, would have granted Ireland less autonomy within the UK than the Canadian provinces had within their own federation,many MPs feared that a partially independent Ireland might pose a security threat to Great Britain or mark the beginning of the break-up of the empire.Asecond Home Rule billwas defeated for similar reasons.Athird billwas passed by Parliament in 1914, but not implemented because of the outbreak of theFirst World Warleading to the 1916Easter Rising.

World wars (1914–1945)

A poster urging men from countries of the British Empire to enlist

By the turn of the 20th century, fears had begun to grow in Britain that it would no longer be able to defend themetropoleand the entirety of the empire while at the same time maintaining the policy of "splendid isolation".Germanywas rapidly rising as a military and industrial power and was now seen as the most likely opponent in any future war. Recognising that it was overstretched in the Pacificand threatened at home by theImperial German Navy,Britainformed an alliance with Japanin 1902 and with its old enemiesFranceand Russia in 1904 and 1907, respectively.

First World War

Main article:History of the United Kingdom during the First World War

Britain's fears of war with Germany were realised in 1914 with the outbreak of the First World War. Britain quickly invaded and occupied most of Germany's overseas colonies in Africa. In the Pacific, Australia and New Zealand occupiedGerman New GuineaandGerman Samoarespectively. Plans for a post-war division of the Ottoman Empire, which had joined the war on Germany's side, were secretly drawn up by Britain and France under the 1916Sykes–Picot Agreement.This agreement was not divulged to theSharif of Mecca,who the British had been encouraging to launch an Arab revolt against their Ottoman rulers, giving the impression that Britain was supporting the creation of an independent Arab state.

The British declaration of war on Germany and its allies committed the colonies and Dominions, which provided invaluable military, financial and material support. Over 2.5 million men served in the armies of theDominions,as well as many thousands of volunteers from the Crown colonies.The contributions of Australian and New Zealand troops during the 1915Gallipoli Campaignagainst the Ottoman Empire had a great impact on the national consciousness at home and marked a watershed in the transition of Australia and New Zealand from colonies to nations in their own right. The countries continue to commemorate this occasion onAnzac Day.Canadians viewed theBattle of Vimy Ridgein a similar light.The important contribution of the Dominions to thewar effortwas recognised in 1917 by British prime ministerDavid Lloyd Georgewhen he invited each of the Dominion prime ministers to join anImperial War Cabinetto co-ordinate imperial policy.

Under the terms of the concludingTreaty of Versaillessigned in 1919, the empire reached its greatest extent with the addition of 1.8 million sq mi (4.7 million km²) and 13 million new subjects.The colonies of Germany and the Ottoman Empire were distributed to the Allied powers asLeague of Nations mandates.Britain gained control ofPalestine,Transjordan,Iraq,parts ofCameroonandTogoland,andTanganyika.The Dominions themselves acquired mandates of their own: theUnion of South Africagained South West Africa (modern-dayNamibia), Australia gainedNew Guinea,and New ZealandWestern Samoa.Nauruwas made a combined mandate of Britain and the two Pacific Dominions.

Inter-war period

Main articles:Interwar Britain,Irish revolutionary period,Indian independence movement,Partition of the Ottoman Empire,andCommonwealth of Nations

The British Empire at its territorial peak in 1921

The changing world order that the war had brought about, in particular the growth of the United States and Japan as naval powers, and the rise of independence movements in India and Ireland, caused a major reassessment of British imperial policy.Forced to choose between alignment with the United States or Japan, Britain opted not to renew itsAnglo-Japanese Allianceand instead signed the 1922Washington Naval Treaty,where Britain accepted naval parity with the United States.This decision was the source of much debate in Britain during the 1930sas militaristic governments took hold in Germany and Japan helped in part by theGreat Depression,for it was feared that the empire could not survive a simultaneous attack by both nations.The issue of the empire's security was a serious concern in Britain, as it was vital to theBritish economy.

In 1919, the frustrations caused by delays toIrish home ruleled the MPs ofSinn Féin,a pro-independence party that had won a majority of the Irish seats in the1918 British general election,to establish anindependent parliamentinDublin,at whichIrish independence was declared.TheIrish Republican Armysimultaneously began aguerrilla waragainst the British administration.TheIrish War of Independenceended in 1921 with a stalemate and the signing of theAnglo-Irish Treaty,creating theIrish Free State,a Dominion within the British Empire, with effective internal independence but still constitutionally linked with the British Crown.Northern Ireland,consisting of six of the 32Irish countieswhich had been established as a devolved region under the 1920Government of Ireland Act,immediately exercised its option under the treaty to retain its existing status within the United Kingdom.

George V(Seated front) with British and Dominion prime ministers at the1926 Imperial Conference.Standing (left to right):W.S. Monroe(Newfoundland),Gordon Coates(New Zealand),Stanley Bruce(Australia),J. B. M. Hertzog(Union of South Africa),W. T. Cosgrave(Irish Free State). Seated left:Stanley Baldwin(United Kingdom), seated right:William Mackenzie King(Canada)

A similar struggle began in India when theGovernment of India Act 1919failed to satisfy the demand for independence.Concerns over communist and foreign plots following theGhadar conspiracyensured that war-time strictures were renewed by theRowlatt Acts.This led to tension,particularly in thePunjab region,where repressive measures culminated in theAmritsar Massacre.In Britain, public opinion was divided over the morality of the massacre, between those who saw it as having saved India from anarchy, and those who viewed it with revulsion.Thenon-cooperation movementwas called off in March 1922 following theChauri Chaura incident,and discontent continued to simmer for the next 25 years.

In 1922, Egypt, which had been declared a Britishprotectorateat the outbreak of the First World War, wasgranted formal independence,though it continued to be a British client state until 1954.British troopsremained stationed in Egypt until the signing of theAnglo-Egyptian Treatyin 1936,under which it was agreed that the troops would withdraw but continue to occupy and defend the Suez Canal zone. In return, Egypt was assisted in joining theLeague of Nations.Iraq, a British mandate since 1920, gained membership of the League in its own right after achieving independence from Britain in 1932.In Palestine, Britain was presented with the problem of mediating between the Arabs and increasing numbers of Jews. TheBalfour Declaration,which had been incorporated into the terms of the mandate, stated that a national home for the Jewish people would be established in Palestine, and Jewish immigration allowed up to a limit that would be determined by the mandatory power.This led to increasing conflict with the Arab population, who openlyrevolted in 1936.As the threat of war with Germany increased during the 1930s, Britain judged the support of Arabs as more important than the establishment of a Jewish homeland, and shifted to a pro-Arab stance, limiting Jewish immigration and in turn triggering aJewish insurgency.

The right of the Dominions to set their own foreign policy, independent of Britain, was recognised at the1923 Imperial Conference.Britain's request for military assistance from the Dominions at the outbreak of theChanak Crisisthe previous year had been turned down by Canada and South Africa, and Canada had refused to be bound by the1923 Treaty of Lausanne.After pressure from the Irish Free State and South Africa, the1926 Imperial Conferenceissued theBalfour Declaration of 1926,declaring Britain and the Dominions to be "autonomous Communities within the British Empire, equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another" within a "British Commonwealth of Nations".This declaration was given legal substance under the 1931Statute of Westminster.The parliaments of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, the Irish Free State andNewfoundlandwere now independent of British legislative control, they could nullifyBritish lawsand Britain could no longer pass laws for them without their consent.Newfoundland reverted to colonial status in 1933, suffering from financial difficulties during the Great Depression.In 1937 the Irish Free State introduced arepublican constitutionrenaming itselfIreland.

Second World War

Main article:British Empire in World War II

During theSecond World War,theEighth Armywas made up of units from many different countries in the British Empire and Commonwealth; it fought in theNorth AfricanandItaliancampaigns.

Britain's declaration of war againstNazi Germanyin September 1939 included the Crown colonies and India but did not automatically commit the Dominions of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Newfoundland and South Africa. All soon declared war on Germany. While Britain continued to regard Ireland as still within the British Commonwealth, Ireland chose to remainlegally neutralthroughoutthe war.

After theFall of Francein June 1940, Britain and the empire stood alone against Germany, until theGerman invasion of Greeceon 7 April 1941. British Prime MinisterWinston Churchillsuccessfully lobbied PresidentFranklin D. Rooseveltformilitary aidfrom the United States, but Roosevelt was not yet ready to askCongressto commit the country to war.In August 1941, Churchill and Roosevelt met and signed theAtlantic Charter,which included the statement that "the rights of all peoples to choose theform of governmentunder which they live "should be respected. This wording was ambiguous as to whether it referred to European countries invaded by Germany and Italy, or the peoples colonised by European nations, and would later be interpreted differently by the British, Americans, and nationalist movements.Nevertheless, Churchill rejected its universal applicability when it came to the self-determination of subject nations including theBritish Indian Empire.Churchill further added that he did not become Prime Minister to oversee the liquidation of the empire.

For Churchill, the entry of the United States into the war was the "greatest joy".He felt that Britain was now assured of victory,but failed to recognise that the "many disasters, immeasurable costs and tribulations [which he knew] lay ahead"in December 1941 would have permanent consequences for the future of the empire. The manner in which British forces were rapidly defeated in the Far East irreversibly harmed Britain's standing and prestige as an imperial power,including, particularly, theFall of Singapore,which had previously been hailed as an impregnable fortress and the eastern equivalent of Gibraltar.The realisation that Britain could not defend its entire empire pushed Australia and New Zealand, which now appeared threatened by Japanese forces, into closer ties with the United States and, ultimately, the 1951ANZUS Pact.The war weakened the empire in other ways: undermining Britain's control of politics in India, inflicting long-term economic damage, and irrevocably changinggeopoliticsby pushing the Soviet Union and the United States to the centre of the global stage.

Decolonisation and decline (1945–1997)

Further information:Decolonization

Though Britain and the empire emerged victorious from the Second World War, the effects of the conflict were profound, both at home and abroad. Much of Europe, a continent that had dominated the world for several centuries, was in ruins, and host to the armies of the United States and the Soviet Union, who now held the balance of global power.Britain was left essentially bankrupt, with insolvency only averted in 1946 after the negotiation ofa US$3.75 billion loanfrom the United States,the last instalment of which was repaid in 2006.At the same time, anti-colonial movements were on the rise in the colonies of European nations. The situation was complicated further by the increasingCold Warrivalry of the United States and the Soviet Union. In principle, both nations were opposed to European colonialism.In practice, Americananti-communismprevailed overanti-imperialism,and therefore the United States supported the continued existence of the British Empire to keep Communist expansion in check.At first, British politicians believed it would be possible to maintain Britain's role as a world power at the head of a re-imagined Commonwealth,but by 1960 they were forced to recognise that there was an irresistible "wind of change"blowing. Their priorities changed to maintaining an extensive zone of British influenceand ensuring that stable, non-Communist governments were established in former colonies.In this context, while other European powers such as France and Portugal waged costly and unsuccessful wars to keep their empires intact, Britain generally adopted a policy of peaceful disengagement from its colonies, although violence occurred inMalaya,KenyaandPalestine.Between 1945 and 1965, the number of people under British rule outside the UK itself fell from 700 million to 5 million, 3 million of whom were in Hong Kong.

Initial disengagement

Main articles:Partition of India,1947–1949 Palestine war,andMalayan Emergency

About 14.5 million people lost their homes as a result of thepartition of Indiain 1947.

The pro-decolonisationLabourgovernment, elected at the1945 general electionand led byClement Attlee,moved quickly to tackle the most pressing issue facing the empire:Indian independence.India's major political party—theIndian National Congress(led byMahatma Gandhi) — had been campaigning for independence for decades, but disagreed withMuslim League(led byMuhammad Ali Jinnah) as to how it should be implemented. Congress favoured a unified secular Indian state, whereas the League, fearing domination by the Hindu majority, desired a separateIslamic statefor Muslim-majority regions. Increasingcivil unrestled Attlee to promise independence no later than 30 June 1948. When the urgency of the situation and risk of civil war became apparent, the newly appointed (and last) Viceroy,Lord Mountbatten,hastily brought forward the date to 15 August 1947.The borders drawn by the British to broadlypartition Indiainto Hindu and Muslim areas left tens of millions as minorities in the newly independent states of India andPakistan.Theprincely stateswere provided with a choice to either remain independent or join India or Pakistan.Millions of Muslims crossed from India to Pakistan and Hindus vice versa, and violence between the two communities cost hundreds of thousands of lives. Burma, which had been administered as part ofBritish Indiauntil 1937 gained independence the following year in 1948 along withSri Lanka(formerly known asBritish Ceylon). India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka became members of the Commonwealth, while Burma chose not to join.That same year, theBritish Nationality Actwas enacted, in hopes of strengthening and unifying the Commonwealth: it provided British citizenship and right of entry to all those living within its jurisdiction.

The British Mandate in Palestine, where an Arab majority lived alongside a Jewish minority, presented the British with a similar problem to that of India.The matter was complicated by large numbers ofJewish refugeesseeking to be admitted to Palestine following theHolocaust,while Arabs were opposed to the creation of a Jewish state. Frustrated by the intractability of the problem, attacks by Jewish paramilitary organisations and the increasing cost of maintaining its military presence, Britain announced in 1947 that it would withdraw in 1948 and leave the matter to the United Nations to solve.TheUN General Assemblysubsequently voted for aplan to partition Palestineinto a Jewish and an Arab state. It was immediately followed by the outbreak of acivil warbetween the Arabs and Jews of Palestine, and British forces withdrew amid the fighting. The British Mandate for Palestine officially terminated at midnight on 15 May 1948 as the State ofIsraeldeclared independence and the1948 Arab-Israeli Warbroke out, during which the territory of the former Mandate was partitioned between Israel and the surrounding Arab states. Amid the fighting, British forces continued to withdraw from Israel, with the last British troops departing fromHaifaon 30 June 1948.

Following thesurrender of Japanin the Second World War, anti-Japaneseresistance movementsin Malaya turned their attention towards the British, who had moved to quickly retake control of the colony, valuing it as a source of rubber and tin.The fact that the guerrillas were primarilyMalaysian ChineseCommunists meant that the British attempt to quell the uprising was supported by theMuslim Malaymajority, on the understanding that once the insurgency had been quelled, independence would be granted.TheMalayan Emergency,as it was called, began in 1948 and lasted until 1960, but by 1957, Britain felt confident enough to grant independence to theFederation of Malayawithin the Commonwealth. In 1963, the 11 states of the federation together with Singapore, Sarawak andNorth Borneojoined to formMalaysia,but in 1965 Chinese-majoritySingaporewas expelled from the union following tensions between the Malay and Chinese populations and became an independent city-state.Brunei,which had been a British protectorate since 1888, declined to join the union.

Suez and its aftermath

Main article:Suez Crisis

Eden's decision to invadeEgyptin 1956 revealed Britain's post-war weaknesses.

In the1951 general election,theConservative Partyreturned to power in Britain under the leadership of Winston Churchill. Churchill and the Conservatives believed that Britain's position as a world power relied on the continued existence of the empire, with the base at the Suez Canal allowing Britain to maintain its pre-eminent position in the Middle East in spite of the loss of India. Churchill could not ignoreGamal Abdul Nasser's new revolutionarygovernment of Egyptthat hadtaken power in 1952,and the following year it was agreed that British troops would withdraw from the Suez Canal zone and that Sudan would be granted self-determination by 1955, with independence to followSudan wasgranted independenceon 1 January 1956.

In July 1956, Nasser unilaterally nationalised the Suez Canal. The response ofAnthony Eden,who had succeeded Churchill as Prime Minister, was to collude with France to engineer an Israeli attack onEgyptthat would give Britain and France an excuse to intervene militarily and retake the canal.Eden infuriated US PresidentDwight D. Eisenhowerby his lack of consultation, and Eisenhower refused to back the invasion.Another of Eisenhower's concerns was the possibility of a wider war with theSoviet Unionafter it threatened to intervene on the Egyptian side. Eisenhower appliedfinancial leverageby threatening to sell US reserves of theBritish poundand thereby precipitate a collapse of the British currency.Though the invasion force was militarily successful in its objectives,UN intervention and US pressure forced Britain into a humiliating withdrawal of its forces, and Eden resigned.

TheSuez Crisisvery publicly exposed Britain's limitations to the world and confirmed Britain's decline on the world stage and its end as a first-rate power,demonstrating that henceforth it could no longer act without at least the acquiescence, if not the full support, of the United States.The events at Suez wounded Britishnational pride,leading oneMember of Parliament(MP) to describe it as "Britain'sWaterloo"and another to suggest that the country had become an "Americansatellite".Margaret Thatcherlater described the mindset she believed had befallen Britain's political leaders after Suez where they "went from believing that Britain could do anything to an almost neurotic belief that Britain could do nothing", from which Britain did not recover until the successful recapture of theFalkland Islandsfrom Argentina in 1982.

While the Suez Crisis caused British power in the Middle East to weaken, it did not collapse.Britain again deployed its armed forces to the region, intervening inOman(1957),Jordan(1958) andKuwait(1961), though on these occasions with American approval,as the new Prime MinisterHarold Macmillan's foreign policy was to remain firmly aligned with the United States.Although Britain granted Kuwait independence in 1961, it continued to maintain a military presence in the Middle East for another decade. On 16 January 1968, a few weeks after thedevaluation of the pound,Prime MinisterHarold Wilsonand his Defence SecretaryDenis Healeyannounced thatBritish Armed Forcestroops would be withdrawn from major military basesEast of Suez,which included the ones in the Middle East, and primarily from Malaysia and Singapore by the end of 1971, instead of 1975 as earlier planned.By that time over 50,000 British military personnel were still stationed in the Far East, including 30,000 in Singapore.The British granted independence to theMaldivesin 1965 but continued to station a garrison there until 1976, withdrew fromAdenin 1967, and granted independence toBahrain,Qatar,and theUnited Arab Emiratesin 1971.

Wind of change

Main articles:Decolonisation of AfricaandDecolonization of Asia

Further information:Wind of Change (speech)

British decolonisation in Africa. By the end of the 1960s, all butRhodesia(the future Zimbabwe) and the South African mandate of South West Africa (Namibia) had achieved recognised independence.

Macmillan gave a speech inCape Town,South Africa in February 1960 where he spoke of "the wind of change blowing through this continent".Macmillan wished to avoid the same kind ofcolonial warthat France was fighting inAlgeria,and under his premiership decolonisation proceeded rapidly.To the three colonies that had been granted independence in the 1950s—Sudan, theGold Coastand Malaya—were added nearly ten times that number during the 1960s.Owing to the rapid pace of decolonisation during this period, the cabinet post ofSecretary of State for the Colonieswas abolished in 1966, along with theColonial Office,which merged with the Commonwealth Relations Office to form the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (now theForeign, Commonwealth and Development Office) in October 1968.

Britain's remaining colonies in Africa, except for self-governingSouthern Rhodesia,were all granted independence by 1968. British withdrawal from the southern and eastern parts of Africa was not a peaceful process. From 1952 theKenya Colonysaw the eight-year longMau Mau rebellion,in which tens of thousands of suspected rebels were interned by the colonial government in detention camps to suppress the rebellion and over 1000 convicts executed, with records systematically destroyed.Throughout the 1960s, the British government took a "No independence until majority rule"policy towards decolonising the empire, leading the white minority government of Southern Rhodesia to enact the 1965Unilateral Declaration of Independencefrom Britain, resulting in acivil warthat lasted until the British-mediatedLancaster House Agreementof 1979.The agreement saw the British Empire temporarily re-establish the Colony of Southern Rhodesia from 1979 to 1980 as a transitionary government to a majority ruleRepublic of Zimbabwe.This was the last British possession in Africa.

InCyprus,a guerrilla war waged by theGreek CypriotorganisationEOKAagainst British rule, was ended in 1959 by theLondon and Zürich Agreements,which resulted in Cyprus being granted independence in 1960. The UK retained the military bases ofAkrotiri and Dhekeliaas sovereign base areas. TheMediterraneancolony ofMaltawas amicably granted independence from the UK in 1964 and became the country ofMalta,though the idea had been raised in 1955 ofintegration with Britain.

Most of the UK's Caribbean territories achieved independence after the departure in 1961 and 1962 of Jamaica and Trinidad from theWest Indies Federation,established in 1958 in an attempt to unite the British Caribbean colonies under one government, but which collapsed following the loss of its two largest members.Jamaica attained independence in 1962, as didTrinidad and Tobago.Barbados achieved independence in 1966 and the remainder of the eastern Caribbean islands, including theBahamas,in the 1970s and 1980s,butAnguillaand theTurks and Caicos Islandsopted to revert to British rule after they had already started on the path to independence.TheBritish Virgin Islands,TheCayman IslandsandMontserratopted to retain ties with Britain,while Guyana achieved independence in 1966. Britain's last colony on the American mainland,British Honduras,became a self-governing colony in 1964 and was renamedBelizein 1973, achieving full independence in 1981. Adispute with Guatemalaover claims to Belize was left unresolved.

British Overseas Territoriesin the Pacific acquired independence in the 1970s beginning withFijiin 1970 and ending withVanuatuin 1980. Vanuatu's independence was delayed because of political conflict between English and French-speaking communities, as the islands had been jointly administered as acondominiumwith France.Fiji,Papua New Guinea,Solomon IslandsandTuvalubecameCommonwealth realms.

End of empire

See also:Falklands War,Handover of Hong Kong,andPatriation

By 1981, aside from a scattering of islands and outposts, the process of decolonisation that had begun after the Second World War was largely complete. In 1982, Britain's resolve in defending its remaining overseas territories was tested whenArgentina invaded the Falkland Islands,acting on a long-standing claim that dated back to theSpanish Empire.Britain's successful military response to retake theFalkland Islandsduring the ensuingFalklands Warcontributed to reversing the downward trend in Britain's status as a world power.

The 1980s saw Canada, Australia, and New Zealand sever their final constitutional links with Britain. Although granted legislative independence by theStatute of Westminster 1931,vestigial constitutional links had remained in place. The British Parliament retained the power to amend key Canadian constitutional statutes, meaning that an act of the British Parliament was required to make certain changes to theCanadian Constitution.The British Parliament had the power to pass laws extending to Canada at Canadian request. Although no longer able to pass any laws that would apply to Australian Commonwealth law, the British Parliament retained the power to legislate for the individualAustralian states.With regard to New Zealand, the British Parliament retained the power to pass legislation applying to New Zealand with theNew Zealand Parliament's consent. In 1982, the last legal link between Canada and Britain was severed by theCanada Act 1982,which was passed by the British parliament, formallypatriatingthe Canadian Constitution. The act ended the need for British involvement in changes to the Canadian constitution.Similarly, theAustralia Act 1986(effective 3 March 1986) severed the constitutional link between Britain and the Australian states, while New Zealand'sConstitution Act 1986(effective 1 January 1987) reformed the constitution of New Zealand to sever its constitutional link with Britain.

On 1 January 1984, Brunei, Britain's last remaining Asian protectorate, was granted full independence.Independence had been delayed due to the opposition of theSultan,who had preferred British protection.

In September 1982 the Prime Minister,Margaret Thatcher,travelled to Beijing to negotiate with the Chinese Communist government, on the future of Britain's last major and most populous overseas territory, Hong Kong.Under the terms of the 1842Treaty of Nankingand 1860Convention of Peking,Hong Kong IslandandKowloon Peninsulahad been respectively ceded to Britainin perpetuity,but the majority of the colony consisted of theNew Territories,which had been acquired under a99-year lease in 1898,due to expire in 1997.Thatcher, seeing parallels with the Falkland Islands, initially wished to hold Hong Kong and proposed British administration with Chinese sovereignty, though this was rejected by China.A deal was reached in 1984—under the terms of theSino-British Joint Declaration,Hong Kong would become aspecial administrative region of the People's Republic of China.Thehandover ceremonyin 1997 marked for many,including King Charles III, then Prince of Wales, who was in attendance, "the end of Empire", though many British territories that are remnants of the empire still remain.

Legacy

Main articles:British Overseas Territories,Commonwealth of Nations,English-speaking world,Westminster system,andCommon law

The fourteenBritish Overseas Territories

Britain retains sovereignty over 14 territories outside the British Isles. In 1983, theBritish Nationality Act 1981renamed the existingCrown Coloniesas "British Dependent Territories",and in 2002 they were renamed theBritish Overseas Territories.Most former British colonies and protectorates are members of theCommonwealth of Nations,avoluntary associationof equal members, comprising a population of around 2.2 billion people.The United Kingdom and 14 other countries, all collectively known as theCommonwealth realms,voluntarily continue to share the same person—King Charles III—as their respective head of state. These 15 nations are distinct and equal legal entities: theUnited Kingdom,Australia,Canada,New Zealand,Antigua and Barbuda,The Bahamas,Belize,Grenada,Jamaica,Papua New Guinea,Saint Kitts and Nevis,Saint Lucia,Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,Solomon IslandsandTuvalu.

Decades, and in some cases centuries, of British rule andemigrationhave left their mark on the independent nations that rose from the British Empire. The empire established the use of theEnglish languagein regions around the world. Today it is the primary language of up to 460 million people and is spoken by about 1.5 billion as a first, second or foreign language.It has alsosignificantly influencedother languages.Individual and team sportsdeveloped in Britain,particularlyfootball,cricket,lawn tennis,andgolfwere exported.Britishmissionarieswho travelled around the globe often in advance of soldiers and civil servants spreadProtestantism(includingAnglicanism) to all continents. The British Empire provided refuge for religiously persecuted continental Europeans for hundreds of years.

Cricketbeing played in South Asia, whereit is popular.Sports developed in Britain or the former empire continue to be viewed and played.

Political boundaries drawn by the British did not always reflect homogeneous ethnicities or religions, contributing to conflicts in formerly colonised areas. The British Empire was responsible for large migrations of peoples (see also:Commonwealth diaspora). Millions left theBritish Isles,with the foundingsettler colonistpopulations of the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand coming mainly from Britain and Ireland. Millions of people moved between British colonies, with large numbers ofSouth Asian people emigratingto other parts of the empire, such as Malaysia and Fiji, andOverseas Chinesepeople to Malaysia, Singapore and the Caribbean.Thedemographics of the United Kingdomchanged after the Second World War owing toimmigration to Britainfrom its former colonies.

In the 19th century,innovation in Britainled to revolutionary changes in manufacturing, the development offactory systems,and the growth of transportation by railway and steamship.British colonial architecture, such as in churches, railway stations and government buildings, can be seen in many cities that were once part of the British Empire.The British choice of system of measurement, theimperial system,continues to be used in some countries in various ways. The convention ofdriving on the left-hand side of the roadhas been retained in much of the former empire.

TheWestminster systemofparliamentary democracyhas served as the template for the governments of many former colonies,andEnglish common lawfor legal systems.International commercial contracts are often based on English common law.The BritishJudicial Committee of the Privy Councilstill serves as the highest court of appeal for twelve former colonies.

Interpretations of Empire

Historians'approaches to understanding the British Empireare diverse and evolving.Two key sites of debate over recent decades have been the impact ofpost-colonial studies,which seek tocriticallyre-evaluate the history of imperialism, and the continued relevance of historiansRonald RobinsonandJohn Gallagher,whose work greatly influenced imperial historiography during the 1950s and 1960s. In addition, differing assessments of the empire's legacy remain relevant to debates over recent history and politics, such as the Anglo-Americaninvasions of IraqandAfghanistan,as well as Britain's role and identity in the contemporary world.

Historians such asCaroline Elkinshave argued against perceptions of the British Empire as a primarily liberalising and modernising enterprise, criticising its widespread use of violence andemergency lawsto maintain power.Common criticisms of the empire include the use of detention camps in its colonies, massacres ofindigenous peoples,and famine-response policies.Some scholars, includingAmartya Sen,assert that British policies worsened thefamines in Indiathat killed millions during British rule.Conversely, historians such asNiall Fergusonsay that the economic and institutional development the British Empire brought resulted in a net benefit to its colonies.Other historians treat its legacy as varied and ambiguous.Public attitudes towards the empire within 21st-century Britain have been broadly positive although sentiment towards the Commonwealth has been one of apathy and decline.

See also

• List of British Empire-related topics
• Historiography of the British Empire
• Demographics of the British Empire
• Economy of the British Empire
• Territorial evolution of the British Empire
• History of the foreign relations of the United Kingdom
• Historical flags of the British Empire and the overseas territories
• List of countries that have gained independence from the United Kingdom
• British overseas cities

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Further reading

• Brown, Derek E. (1 February 1984)."Brunei on the Morrow of Independence".Far Eastern Survey.24(2): 201–208.doi:10.2307/2644439.JSTOR2644439.Archivedfrom the original on 15 November 2020.Retrieved15 November2011.
• David, Saul(2003).The Indian Mutiny.Penguin.ISBN978-0-6709-1137-0.Archivedfrom the original on 3 January 2014.Retrieved22 July2009.
• Elkins, Caroline(2005).Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain's Gulag in Kenya.Owl Books.ISBN978-0-8050-8001-8.
• Ferguson, Niall(2004).Colossus: The Price of America's Empire.Penguin.ISBN978-1-5942-0013-7.OL17123297M.
• Goodlad, Graham David (2000).British foreign and imperial policy, 1865–1919.Psychology Press.ISBN978-0-4152-0338-8.Archivedfrom the original on 13 May 2011.Retrieved18 September2010.
• Hendry, Ian; Dickson, Susan (14 June 2018).British Overseas Territories Law.Bloomsbury Publishing.ISBN978-1-5099-1871-3.Archivedfrom the original on 15 August 2021.Retrieved29 November2020.
• Hollowell, Jonathan (1992).Britain Since 1945.Blackwell Publishing.ISBN978-0-6312-0968-3.Archivedfrom the original on 27 July 2020.Retrieved11 May2020.
• McLean, Iain (2001).Rational Choice and British Politics: An Analysis of Rhetoric and Manipulation from Peel to Blair.Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-1982-9529-7.Archivedfrom the original on 3 January 2014.Retrieved22 July2009.

External links

• British Empirefromthe National Archives
• Collection: "British Empire"from theUniversity of Michigan Museum of Art
• The New British Galleriesfrom theMetropolitan Museum of Art
• "Empire through the Lens"from theBristol City Museum and Art Gallery