Areas of the world that were part of the British Empire at various points in history with currentBritish Overseas Territories underlined in red. Mandates and protected states are shown in a lighter shade.
TheBritish Empire comprised thedominions,colonies,protectorates,mandates, and otherterritories ruled or administered by theUnited Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with theoverseas possessions andtrading posts established byEngland in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, and colonisation attempts byScotland during the 17th century.[1] At its height in the 19th and early 20th centuries, it became thelargest empire in history and, for a century, was the foremost global power.[2] By 1913, the British Empire held sway over 412 million people,23 percent of the world population at the time,[3] and by 1920, it covered 35.5 million km2 (13.7 million sq mi),[4]24 per cent of the Earth's total land area. As a result,its constitutional,legal,linguistic, andcultural legacy 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.[5]
TheAmerican War of Independence resulted 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 theCaribbean in 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 principalnaval and imperial power of the 19th century and expanded its imperial holdings. It pursued trade concessions in China and Japan, and territory inSoutheast Asia. TheGreat Game andScramble for Africa also ensued. The period of relative peace (1815–1914) during which the British Empire became the globalhegemon was 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.[7] It also came to dominate theMiddle East. Increasing degrees of autonomy were granted to its whitesettler colonies, some of which were formally reclassified asDominions by the 1920s. By the start of the 20th century,Germany and theUnited States had 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.
The foundations of the British Empire were laid whenEngland andScotland were separate kingdoms. In 1496, KingHenry VII of England, following the successes ofSpain andPortugal in overseas exploration, commissionedJohn Cabot to lead an expedition to discover anorthwest passage to Asia via the North Atlantic.[9] 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,[10] 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.[11]
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 centuryIreland by settling it with English and Welsh Protestant settlers. England had already colonised part of the country following theNorman invasion of Ireland in 1169.[18] 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.[19]
In 1578,Elizabeth I granted a patent toHumphrey Gilbert for discovery and overseas exploration.[20] That year, Gilbert sailed for theCaribbean with the intention of engaging inpiracy and establishing a colony in North America, but the expedition was aborted before it had crossed the Atlantic.[21] 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 Colony on the coast of present-dayNorth Carolina, but lack of supplies caused the colony to fail.[22]
In 1603,James VI of Scotland ascended (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.[23] The British Empire began to take shape during the early 17th century, with theEnglish settlement of 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 Colonies after theAmerican War of Independence towards the end of the 18th century, has been referred to by some historians as the "First British Empire".[24]
England's early efforts at colonisation in the Americas met with mixed success. An attempt to establish a colony inGuiana in 1604 lasted only two years and failed in its main objective to find gold deposits.[25] Colonies on the Caribbean islands ofSt Lucia (1605) andGrenada (1609) rapidly folded.[26] The first permanent English settlement in the Americas was founded in 1607 inJamestown by CaptainJohn Smith, and managed by theVirginia Company; the Crown took direct control of the venture in 1624, thereby founding theColony of Virginia.[27]Bermuda was settled and claimed by England as a result of the 1609 shipwreck of the Virginia Company'sflagship,[28] whileattempts to settle Newfoundland were largely unsuccessful.[29] In 1620,Plymouth was founded as a haven byPuritan religious separatists, later known as thePilgrims.[30] Fleeing fromreligious persecution would become the motive for many English would-be colonists to risk the arduoustrans-Atlantic voyage:Maryland was established byEnglish Roman Catholics (1634),Rhode Island (1636) as a colonytolerant of all religions and Connecticut (1639) forCongregationalists. England's North American holdings were further expanded by the annexation of the Dutch colony ofNew Netherland in 1664, following the capture ofNew Amsterdam, which was renamedNew York.[31] 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.[32]
TheBritish West Indies initially provided England's most important and lucrative colonies.[33] Settlements were successfully established inSt. Kitts (1624),Barbados (1627) andNevis (1628),[26] but struggled until the "Sugar Revolution" transformed the Caribbean economy in the mid-17th century.[34] Largesugarcane plantations were first established in the 1640s on Barbados, with assistance from Dutch merchants andSephardic Jews fleeingPortuguese 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.[35] The enormous wealth generated by slave-produced sugar made Barbados the most successful colony in the Americas,[36] and one of the most densely populated places in the world.[34] 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 trade of slaves, sugar and provisions between Africa, the West Indies and Europe.[37]
To ensure that the increasingly healthy profits of colonial trade remained in English hands, Parliamentdecreed in 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.[38] In 1655, England annexed the island ofJamaica from the Spanish, and in 1666 succeeded in colonising theBahamas.[39]In 1670,Charles II incorporated by royal charter theHudson's Bay Company (HBC), granting it a monopoly on thefur trade in 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.[40]
Two years later, theRoyal African Company was granted a monopoly on the supply of slaves to the British colonies in the Caribbean.[41] 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.[42] 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.[43] British ships carried a third of all slaves shipped across the Atlantic—approximately 3.5 million Africans[44]—until the abolition of the trade by Parliament in 1807 (see§ Abolition of slavery).[45] To facilitate the shipment of slaves, forts were established on the coast of West Africa, such asJames Island,Accra andBunce 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).[46] The transatlantic slave trade played a pervasive role in British economic life, and became a major economic mainstay for western port cities.[47] Ships registered inBristol,Liverpool andLondon were responsible for the bulk of British slave trading.[48] For the transported, harsh and unhygienic conditions on the slaving ships and poor diets meant that the averagemortality rate during theMiddle Passage was one in seven.[49]
At the end of the 16th century, England and theDutch Empire began 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.[50] Although England eclipsed the Netherlands as a colonial power, in the short term the Netherlands' more advanced financial system[51] and the threeAnglo-Dutch Wars of the 17th century left it with a stronger position in Asia. Hostilities ceased after theGlorious Revolution of 1688 when the DutchWilliam of Orange ascended the English throne, bringing peace between theDutch Republic and England. A deal between the two nations left thespice trade of theEast Indies archipelago to the Netherlands and thetextiles industry of India to England, but textiles soon overtook spices in terms of profitability.[51]
Peace between England and the Netherlands in 1688 meant the two countries entered theNine Years' War as 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 budget to the costly land war in Europe.[52] The death ofCharles II of Spain in 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.[53] In 1701, England, Portugal and the Netherlands sided with theHoly Roman Empire against Spain and France in theWar of the Spanish Succession, which lasted for thirteen years.[53]
Colonisation attempts by theKingdom of Scotland predates the establishment of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and the British Empire. During the 17th century, the Kingdom of Scotland made attempts to establish trading schemes inIreland andCanada.Nova Scotia, today a province of Canada, was a short lived scheme in theMi'kmaq people territory.[54] Additionally, there was a high number of Scots in Ireland, particularly in the region ofUlster, who settled there as planters.[55]
North America
The first documented Scottish settlement in the Americas was ofNova Scotia in 1629. On 29 September 1621, the charter for the foundation of a colony was granted byJames VI of Scotland to SirWilliam Alexander.[56] Between 1622 and 1628, Sir William launched four attempts to send colonists to Nova Scotia; all failed for various reasons. A successful settlement of Nova Scotia was finally achieved in 1629. The colony's charter, in law, made Nova Scotia (defined as all land betweenNewfoundland andNew England; i.e.,The Maritimes) a part of mainland Scotland; this was later used to get around the Englishnavigation acts.
As a country, Scotland engaged in two ventures in an attempt to establish colonies within English colonies during the 1680s inCarolina andEast New Jersey. The attempt to establish themselves in Carolina was largely in part due to Scottish Presbyterians fleeing from the threat of religious persecution in Scotland, and were assisted in their efforts by Scottish merchants who were aiming to develop transatlantic trade which was not subjected to the English Navigation Acts. The Act restricted Scottish trade with English colonies. Scottish settlement attempts in Carolina began in 1682, and was eventually defeated by the dissolution of the Scottish settlement of Stewartstoun, which was established in 1684, by the Spanish in 1686.[57]
The 18th century saw thenewly united Great Britain rise to be the world's dominant colonial power, with France becoming its main rival on the imperial stage.[60] 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 Spain renounced his and his descendants' claim to the French throne, and Spain lost its empire in Europe.[53] The British Empire was territorially enlarged: from France, Britain gainedNewfoundland andAcadia, and from Spain,Gibraltar andMenorca. Gibraltar became acritical naval base and allowed Britain to control theAtlantic entry and exit point to theMediterranean. Spain ceded the rights to the lucrativeasiento (permission to sell African slaves inSpanish America) to Britain.[61] With the outbreak of the Anglo-SpanishWar of Jenkins' Ear in 1739, Spanish privateers attacked British merchant shipping along theTriangle Trade routes. 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 Madrid Britain lost its slave-trading rights inLatin America.[62]
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.[51] During the middle decades of the 18th century, there wereseveral outbreaks of military conflict on 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 Plassey in 1757, in which the British defeated theNawab of Bengal and his French allies, left the British East India Company in control ofBengal and as a major military and political power in India.[63] France was left control of itsenclaves but with military restrictions and an obligation to support Britishclient states, ending French hopes of controlling India.[64] 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.[65] 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.[40]
The signing of theTreaty of Paris of 1763 had 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,[40] and theceding of New France to Britain (leaving a sizeableFrench-speaking population under British control) andLouisiana to 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.[66]
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.[67] This was summarised at the time by the colonists' slogan "No taxation without representation", a perceived violation of the guaranteedRights of Englishmen. TheAmerican Revolution began 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 Congress issued theDeclaration of Independence proclaiming the colonies' sovereignty from the British Empire as the newUnited States of America. The entry ofFrench andSpanish forces into the war tipped the military balance in the Americans' favour and after a decisive defeat atYorktown in 1781, Britain began negotiating peace terms. American independence was acknowledged at thePeace of Paris in 1783.[68]
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,[69] in which Britain shifted its attention away from the Americas to Asia, the Pacific and later Africa.[70]Adam Smith'sWealth of Nations, published in 1776, had argued that colonies were redundant, and thatfree trade should replace the oldmercantilist policies that had characterised the first period of colonial expansion, dating back to theprotectionism of Spain and Portugal.[71] The growth of trade between the newly independentUnited States and Britain after 1783 seemed to confirm Smith's view that political control was not necessary for economic success.[72]
The war to the south influenced British policy in Canada, where between 40,000 and 100,000[73] defeatedLoyalists had migrated from the new United States following independence.[74] The 14,000 Loyalists who went to theSaint John andSaint Croix river valleys, then part ofNova Scotia, felt too far removed from the provincial government inHalifax, so London split offNew Brunswick as a separate colony in 1784.[75] TheConstitutional Act 1791 created 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.[76]
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 toimpress men into theRoyal Navy. TheUnited States Congress declared 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.[77]
Since 1718,transportation to the American colonies had been a penalty for various offences in Britain, with approximately one thousand convicts transported per year.[78] 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.[79] On his first of three voyages commissioned by the government,James Cook reached New Zealand in October 1769. He was the first European to circumnavigate and map the country.[80] 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 Australia had been discovered for Europeans by the Dutchin 1606,[81] but there was no attempt to colonise it. In 1770, after leaving New Zealand,James Cook charted the eastern coast, claimed the continent for Britain, and named itNew South Wales.[82] In 1778,Joseph Banks, Cook'sbotanist on the voyage, presented evidence to the government on the suitability ofBotany Bay for the establishment of apenal settlement, and in 1787 the first shipment ofconvicts set sail, arriving in 1788.[83] Unusually, Australia was claimed through proclamation.Indigenous Australians were considered too uncivilised to require treaties,[84] and colonisation brought disease and violence that together with the deliberate dispossession of land and culture were devastating to these peoples.[85] Britain continued to transport convicts to New South Wales until 1840, toTasmania until 1853 and toWestern Australia until 1868.[86] The Australian colonies became profitable exporters of wool and gold,[87] mainly because of theVictorian gold rush, making its capitalMelbourne for a time the richest city in the world.[88]
The British also expanded their mercantile interests in the North Pacific. Spain and Britain had become rivals in the area, culminating in theNootka Crisis in 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.[89] This opened the way to British expansion in the area, and a number of expeditions took place; firstly anaval expedition led byGeorge Vancouver which explored the inlets around the Pacific North West, particularly aroundVancouver Island.[90] On land, expeditions sought to discover a river route to the Pacific for the extension of theNorth American fur trade.Alexander Mackenzie of theNorth West Company led 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 Expedition by 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 Mountains andInterior Plateau to theStrait of Georgia on the Pacific Coast, expandingBritish North America westward.[91]
Continued conquest in India
Maps of theIndian subcontinent in 1765 (left) and 1858 (right) showing British expansion in the region.
The East India Company fought three Anglo-Maratha Wars with theMaratha Confederacy. TheFirst Anglo-Maratha War ended in 1782 with a restoration of the pre-warstatus quo.[93] TheSecond andThird Anglo-Maratha wars resulted in British victories.[94] After the surrender of PeshwaBajirao II on 1818, the East India Company acquired control of a large majority of the Indian subcontinent.[95]
Britain was challenged again by France under Napoleon, in a struggle that, unlike previous wars, represented a contest of ideologies between the two nations.[96] 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.[97]
With the advent of theIndustrial Revolution, goods produced by slavery became less important to theBritish economy.[100] Added to this was the cost of suppressing regularslave rebellions. With support from the Britishabolitionist movement,Parliament enacted theSlave Trade Act in 1807, which abolished theslave trade in the empire. In 1808,Sierra Leone Colony was designated an official British colony for freed slaves.[101] Parliamentary reform in 1832 saw the influence of theWest India Committee decline. 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".[102] Facing further opposition from abolitionists, the apprenticeship system was abolished in 1838.[103] The British government compensated slave-owners.[104][105]
Between 1815 and 1914, a period referred to as Britain's "imperial century" by some historians,[106] around 10 million sq mi (26 million km2) of territory and roughly 400 million people were added to the British Empire.[107] Victory over Napoleon left Britain without any serious international rival, other thanRussia in Central Asia.[108] Unchallenged at sea, Britain adopted the role of global policeman, a state of affairs later known as thePax Britannica,[109] and a foreign policy of "splendid isolation".[110] 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".[7]
British imperial strength was underpinned by thesteamship and 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.[111]
East India Company rule and the British Raj in India
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),[112] thecapture of Java from the Netherlands (1811), theacquisition of Penang Island (1786),Singapore (1819) andMalacca (1824), and thedefeat of Burma (1826).[108]
From its base in India, the company had been engaged in an increasingly profitable opium export trade toQing China since 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.[113] In 1839, the confiscation by the Chinese authorities atCanton of 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 ports includingShanghai.[114]
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 1773,East India Company Act 1784 and theCharter Act 1813 which regulated the company's affairs and established the sovereignty of the Crown over the territories that it had acquired.[115] The company's eventual end was precipitated by theIndian Rebellion in 1857, a conflict that had begun with the mutiny of sepoys, Indian troops under British officers and discipline.[116] 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-general administered India and Queen Victoria was crowned theEmpress of India.[117] India became the empire's most valuable possession, "the Jewel in the Crown", and was the most important source of Britain's strength.[118]
A series of serious crop failures in the late 19th century led towidespread famines on 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.[119]
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 people was 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.[120]
The UK government finally decided to act, dispatching CaptainWilliam Hobson with 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 Waitangi in the Bay of Islands; most other chiefs signing in stages over the following months.[121] William Hobson declared British sovereignty over all New Zealand on 21 May 1840, over the North Island by cession and over the South Island by discovery (the island was sparsely populated and deemedterra nullius). Hobson became Lieutenant-Governor, subject to Governor SirGeorge Gipps in Sydney,[122] 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.[123] 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 colony on 3 May 1841 with Hobson as its governor.[124]
British cavalry charging against Russian forces atBalaclava in 1854
During the 19th century, Britain and theRussian Empire vied to fill the power vacuums that had been left by the decliningOttoman Empire,Qajar dynasty andQing dynasty. This rivalry in Central Asia came to be known as the "Great Game".[125] As far as Britain was concerned, defeats inflicted by Russia onPersia andTurkey demonstrated its imperial ambitions and capabilities and stoked fears in Britain of an overland invasion of India.[126] In 1839, Britain moved to pre-empt this by invadingAfghanistan, but theFirst Anglo-Afghan War was a disaster for Britain.[127]
The Dutch East India Company had founded theDutch Cape Colony on thesouthern tip of Africa in 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.[131] British immigration to theCape Colony began to rise after 1820, and pushed thousands ofBoers, resentful of British rule, northwards to found their own—mostly short-lived—independent republics, during theGreat Trek of the late 1830s and early 1840s.[132] In the process theVoortrekkers clashed 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 people and theZulu Kingdom. Eventually, the Boers established two republics that had a longer lifespan: theSouth African Republic or Transvaal Republic (1852–1877; 1881–1902) and theOrange Free State (1854–1902).[133] In 1902 Britain occupied both republics, concluding a treaty with the twoBoer Republics following theSecond Boer War (1899–1902).[134]
In 1869 theSuez Canal opened underNapoleon III,linking theMediterranean Sea with theIndian Ocean. Initially the Canal was opposed by the British;[135] but once opened, its strategic value was quickly recognised and became the "jugular vein of the Empire".[136] In 1875, theConservative government ofBenjamin Disraeli bought 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.[137] Although Britain controlled theKhedivate of Egypt into the 20th century, it was officially avassal state of the Ottoman Empire and not part of the British Empire. The French were still majority shareholders and attempted to weaken the British position,[138] but a compromise was reached with the 1888Convention of Constantinople, which made the Canal officially neutral territory.[139]
With competitive French,Belgian and Portuguese activity in the lowerCongo River region undermining orderly colonisation of tropical Africa, theBerlin Conference of 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.[140] 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 Army in 1896 and rebuffed an attempted French invasionat Fashoda in 1898. Sudan was nominally made anAnglo-Egyptian condominium, but a British colony in reality.[141]
ABritish Empire flag combining 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 rebellions in 1837.[144] This began with the passing of theAct of Union in 1840, which created theProvince of Canada.Responsible government was 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, 1867 by 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.[145] Australia and New Zealand achieved similar levels of self-government after 1900, with the Australian coloniesfederating in 1901.[146] The term "dominion status" was officially introduced at the1907 Imperial Conference.[147] 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.[148][149]
The last decades of the 19th century saw concertedpolitical campaigns for Irishhome rule. Ireland had been united with Britain into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland with theAct of Union 1800 after theIrish Rebellion of 1798, and had suffered a severefamine between 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 bill was 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,[150] 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.[151] Asecond Home Rule bill was defeated for similar reasons.[151] Athird bill was passed by Parliament in 1914, but not implemented because of the outbreak of theFirst World War leading to the 1916Easter Rising.[152]
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 themetropole and the entirety of the empire while at the same time maintaining the policy of "splendid isolation".[153]Germany was 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 Pacific[154] and threatened at home by theImperial German Navy, Britainformed an alliance with Japan in 1902 and with its old enemiesFrance and Russia in 1904 and 1907, respectively.[155]
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 Guinea andGerman Samoa respectively. 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.[156]
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.[157] The contributions of Australian and New Zealand troops during the 1915Gallipoli Campaign against 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 Ridge in a similar light.[158] The important contribution of the Dominions to thewar effort was recognised in 1917 by British prime ministerDavid Lloyd George when he invited each of the Dominion prime ministers to join anImperial War Cabinet to co-ordinate imperial policy.[159]
Under the terms of the concludingTreaty of Versailles signed 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.[160] 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 ofCameroon andTogoland, andTanganyika. The Dominions themselves acquired mandates of their own: theUnion of South Africa gained South West Africa (modern-dayNamibia), Australia gainedNew Guinea, and New ZealandWestern Samoa.Nauru was made a combined mandate of Britain and the two Pacific Dominions.[161]
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.[162] Forced to choose between alignment with the United States or Japan, Britain opted not to renew itsAnglo-Japanese Alliance and instead signed the 1922Washington Naval Treaty, where Britain accepted naval parity with the United States.[163] This decision was the source of much debate in Britain during the 1930s[164] as 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.[165] The issue of the empire's security was a serious concern in Britain, as it was vital to theBritish economy.[166]
A similar struggle began in India when theGovernment of India Act 1919 failed to satisfy the demand for independence.[170] Concerns over communist and foreign plots following theGhadar conspiracy ensured that war-time strictures were renewed by theRowlatt Acts. This led to tension,[171] 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.[171] Thenon-cooperation movement was called off in March 1922 following theChauri Chaura incident, and discontent continued to simmer for the next 25 years.[172]
In 1922, Egypt, which had been declared a Britishprotectorate at the outbreak of the First World War, wasgranted formal independence, though it continued to be a British client state until 1954.British troops remained stationed in Egypt until the signing of theAnglo-Egyptian Treaty in 1936,[173] 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.[174] Iraq, a British mandate since 1920, gained membership of the League in its own right after achieving independence from Britain in 1932.[175] 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.[176] 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.[156]
The right of the Dominions to set their own foreign policy, independent of Britain, was recognised at the1923 Imperial Conference.[177] Britain's request for military assistance from the Dominions at the outbreak of theChanak Crisis the previous year had been turned down by Canada and South Africa, and Canada had refused to be bound by the1923 Treaty of Lausanne.[178] After pressure from the Irish Free State and South Africa, the1926 Imperial Conference issued 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".[179] This declaration was given legal substance under the 1931Statute of Westminster.[147] The parliaments of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, the Irish Free State andNewfoundland were now independent of British legislative control, they could nullifyBritish laws and Britain could no longer pass laws for them without their consent.[180] Newfoundland reverted to colonial status in 1933, suffering from financial difficulties during the Great Depression.[181] In 1937 the Irish Free State introduced arepublican constitution renaming itselfIreland.[182]
Britain's declaration of war againstNazi Germany in 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 neutral throughoutthe war.[183]
After theFall of France in June 1940, Britain and the empire stood alone against Germany, until theGerman invasion of Greece on 7 April 1941. British Prime MinisterWinston Churchill successfully lobbied PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt formilitary aid from the United States, but Roosevelt was not yet ready to askCongress to commit the country to war.[184] 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 government under 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.[185] 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.[186]
For Churchill, the entry of the United States into the war was the "greatest joy".[187] He felt that Britain was now assured of victory,[188] but failed to recognise that the "many disasters, immeasurable costs and tribulations [which he knew] lay ahead"[189] 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,[190] including, particularly, theFall of Singapore, which had previously been hailed as an impregnable fortress and the eastern equivalent of Gibraltar.[191] 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.[192] The war weakened the empire in other ways: undermining Britain's control of politics in India, inflicting long-term economic damage, and irrevocably changinggeopolitics by pushing the Soviet Union and the United States to the centre of the global stage.[193]
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.[194] Britain was left essentially bankrupt, with insolvency only averted in 1946 after the negotiation ofa US$3.75 billion loan from the United States,[195][196] the last instalment of which was repaid in 2006.[197] 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 War rivalry of the United States and the Soviet Union. In principle, both nations were opposed to European colonialism.[198] In practice, Americananti-communism prevailed overanti-imperialism, and therefore the United States supported the continued existence of the British Empire to keep Communist expansion in check.[199] 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,[200] 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 influence[201] and ensuring that stable, non-Communist governments were established in former colonies.[202] 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,Kenya andPalestine.[203] 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.[204]
About 14.5 million people lost their homes as a result of thepartition of India in 1947.
The pro-decolonisationLabour government, elected at the1945 general election and led byClement Attlee, moved quickly to tackle the most pressing issue facing the empire:Indian independence.[205] 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 state for Muslim-majority regions. Increasingcivil unrest led 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.[206] The borders drawn by the British to broadlypartition India into Hindu and Muslim areas left tens of millions as minorities in the newly independent states of India andPakistan.[207] Theprincely states were provided with a choice to either remain independent or join India or Pakistan.[208] 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 India until 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.[209] That same year, theBritish Nationality Act was enacted, in hopes of strengthening and unifying the Commonwealth: it provided British citizenship and right of entry to all those living within its jurisdiction.[210]
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.[211] The matter was complicated by large numbers ofJewish refugees seeking 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.[212] TheUN General Assembly subsequently voted for aplan to partition Palestine into a Jewish and an Arab state. It was immediately followed by the outbreak of acivil war between 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 ofIsrael declared independence and the1948 Arab-Israeli War broke 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 fromHaifa on 30 June 1948.[213]
Following thesurrender of Japan in the Second World War, anti-Japaneseresistance movements in 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.[214] The fact that the guerrillas were primarilyMalaysian Chinese Communists meant that the British attempt to quell the uprising was supported by theMuslim Malay majority, on the understanding that once the insurgency had been quelled, independence would be granted.[214] 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 Malaya within the Commonwealth. In 1963, the 11 states of the federation together with Singapore, Sarawak andNorth Borneo joined to formMalaysia, but in 1965 Chinese-majoritySingapore was expelled from the union following tensions between the Malay and Chinese populations and became an independent city-state.[215]Brunei, which had been a British protectorate since 1888, declined to join the union.[216]
Eden's decision to invadeEgypt in 1956 revealed Britain's post-war weaknesses.
In the1951 general election, theConservative Party returned 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 Egypt that 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 follow[217] Sudan wasgranted independence on 1 January 1956.[218]
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 onEgypt that would give Britain and France an excuse to intervene militarily and retake the canal.[219] Eden infuriated US PresidentDwight D. Eisenhower by his lack of consultation, and Eisenhower refused to back the invasion.[220] Another of Eisenhower's concerns was the possibility of a wider war with theSoviet Union after it threatened to intervene on the Egyptian side. Eisenhower appliedfinancial leverage by threatening to sell US reserves of theBritish pound and thereby precipitate a collapse of the British currency.[221] Though the invasion force was militarily successful in its objectives,[222] UN intervention and US pressure forced Britain into a humiliating withdrawal of its forces, and Eden resigned.[223][224]
TheSuez Crisis very 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,[225][226] demonstrating that henceforth it could no longer act without at least the acquiescence, if not the full support, of the United States.[227] The events at Suez wounded Britishnational pride, leading oneMember of Parliament (MP) to describe it as "Britain'sWaterloo"[228] and another to suggest that the country had become an "Americansatellite".[229]Margaret Thatcher later 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 Islands from Argentina in 1982.[230]
While the Suez Crisis caused British power in the Middle East to weaken, it did not collapse.[231] Britain again deployed its armed forces to the region, intervening inOman (1957),Jordan (1958) andKuwait (1961), though on these occasions with American approval,[232] as the new Prime MinisterHarold Macmillan's foreign policy was to remain firmly aligned with the United States.[228] 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 Wilson and his Defence SecretaryDenis Healey announced thatBritish Armed Forces troops 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.[233] By that time over 50,000 British military personnel were still stationed in the Far East, including 30,000 in Singapore.[234] The British granted independence to theMaldives in 1965 but continued to station a garrison there until 1976, withdrew fromAden in 1967, and granted independence toBahrain,Qatar, and theUnited Arab Emirates in 1971.[235]
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".[236] Macmillan wished to avoid the same kind ofcolonial war that France was fighting inAlgeria, and under his premiership decolonisation proceeded rapidly.[237] To the three colonies that had been granted independence in the 1950s—Sudan, theGold Coast and Malaya—were added nearly ten times that number during the 1960s.[238] Owing to the rapid pace of decolonisation during this period, the cabinet post ofSecretary of State for the Colonies was 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.[239]
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 Colony saw 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.[240][241] 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 Independence from Britain, resulting in acivil war that lasted until the British-mediatedLancaster House Agreement of 1979.[242] 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.
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.[244] 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,[244] butAnguilla and theTurks and Caicos Islands opted to revert to British rule after they had already started on the path to independence.[245] TheBritish Virgin Islands,[246] TheCayman Islands andMontserrat opted to retain ties with Britain,[247] 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 renamedBelize in 1973, achieving full independence in 1981. Adispute with Guatemala over claims to Belize was left unresolved.[248]
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.[251] Britain's successful military response to retake theFalkland Islands during the ensuingFalklands War contributed to reversing the downward trend in Britain's status as a world power.[252]
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.[253] 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, formallypatriating the Canadian Constitution. The act ended the need for British involvement in changes to the Canadian constitution.[254] 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.[255]
On 1 January 1984, Brunei, Britain's last remaining Asian protectorate, was granted full independence.[256] Independence had been delayed due to the opposition of theSultan, who had preferred British protection.[257]
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.[258] Under the terms of the 1842Treaty of Nanking and 1860Convention of Peking,Hong Kong Island andKowloon Peninsula had 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.[259] 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.[260] 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.[261] Thehandover ceremony in 1997 marked for many,[262] 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.[254]
American and British interactions shaped the British Empire's breakup and resulting world order[268]
During the colonial era, emphasis was given to study of the classicalGreco-Roman heritage and their experience with empire, aiming to parse how that heritage could be applied to improve the future of the colonies.[269]American hegemony, which throughout its early rise had challenged British claims of being the "New Rome",[270] became the successor to British dominance in the mid-20th century; the two countries'historical ties and wartime collaboration supported a peaceful handoff of power afterWorld War II.[271] As for the United Kingdom itself, British views of the former Empire are more positive than is the case with other post-imperial nations;[272] discourse around the former Empire has continued to impact the nation's present-day understanding of itself, as seen in the debate leading up to its decision toleave the European Union in 2016.[273]
Decades, and in some cases centuries, of British rule andemigration have left their mark on the independent nations that rose from the British Empire. The empire established the use of theEnglish language inregions 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.[274] It has alsosignificantly influenced other languages.[275] Individual and team sportsdeveloped in Britain, particularlyfootball,cricket,lawn tennis, andgolf were exported.[276] Some sports were also invented or standardised in the former colonies, such asbadminton,polo, andsnooker in India (see also:Sport in British India).[277] Britishmissionaries who 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.[278] British educational institutions also remain popular in the present day, in part due to the importance of the English language and similarity of British curriculums to those in the former colonies.[279]
Cricket being 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 colonist populations 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 emigrating to other parts of the empire, such as Malaysia and Fiji, andOverseas Chinese people to Malaysia, Singapore and the Caribbean;[280] about half of all modern immigration to the Commonwealth nations continues to occur between them.[281] Thedemographics of the United Kingdom changed after the Second World War owing toimmigration to Britain from its former colonies.[282]
In the 19th century,innovation in Britain led to revolutionary changes in manufacturing, the development offactory systems, and the growth of transportation by railway and steamship.[283] Debate has also occurred as to what extent theIndustrial Revolution, originating from the United Kingdom, was facilitated by or dependent on imperialism.[284] 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;[285] Western technologies and architecture had been globalised in part due to the Empire's military and administrative requirements.[286] Integration of former colonies into the global economy was also a major legacy.[287] 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 road has been retained in much of the former empire.[288]
TheWestminster system ofparliamentary democracy has served as the template for the governments of many former colonies,[289][290] andEnglish common law for legal systems.[291] It has been observed that almost every former colony that emerged as an independent democratic state is a former British colony,[292] though this correlation greatly declines in strength after 30 years of an ex-colony's independence.[293] International commercial contracts are often based on English common law.[294] The BritishJudicial Committee of the Privy Council still serves as the highest court of appeal for twelve former colonies.[295]
Interpretations of Empire
Historians'approaches to understanding the British Empire are diverse and evolving.[296] Two key sites of debate over recent decades have been the impact ofpost-colonial studies, which seek tocritically re-evaluate the history of imperialism, and the continued relevance of historiansRonald Robinson andJohn 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 Iraq andAfghanistan, as well as Britain's role and identity in the contemporary world.[297][298]
Historians such asCaroline Elkins have argued against perceptions of the British Empire as a primarily liberalising and modernising enterprise, criticising its widespread use of violence andemergency laws to maintain power.[298][299] Common criticisms of the empire include the use of detention camps in its colonies, massacres ofindigenous peoples,[300] and famine-response policies.[301][302] Some scholars, includingAmartya Sen, assert that British policies worsened thefamines in India that killed millions during British rule.[303] Conversely, historians such asNiall Ferguson say that the economic and institutional development the British Empire brought resulted in a net benefit to its colonies.[304] Other historians treat its legacy as varied and ambiguous.[298] 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.[302][305][210]
^Schedule 6 of theBritish Nationality Act 1981[263] reclassified the remaining Crown colonies as "British Dependent Territories". The act entered into force on 1 January 1983[264]
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^Russo 2012, p. 15, chapter 1 'Great Expectations': "The dramatic rise in Spanish fortunes sparked both envy and fear among northern, mostly Protestant, Europeans.".
^"Slavery After 1807". Historic England.Archived from the original on 15 August 2021. Retrieved24 November 2019.As a result of public pressure apprenticeships were abolished early, in 1838.
^Kelly, Ralph (8 August 2017)."A Flag for the Empire"(PDF).The Flag Institute.Archived(PDF) from the original on 13 August 2023. Retrieved13 August 2023.
^Ford, Lisa (2021).The King's Peace: Law and Order in the British Empire. Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England: Harvard University Press.ISBN978-0-6742-4907-3.
^Hogg 2008, p. 424, chapter 9English Worldwide byDavid Crystal: "approximately one in four of the worlds population are capable of communicating to a useful level in English".
^Howe, Stephen (2010). "Colonising and Exterminating? Memories of Imperial Violence in Britain and France".Histoire Politique.11 (2):13–15.doi:10.3917/hp.011.0012.
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24Claimed in 1908; territory formed 1962; overlaps portions of Argentine and Chilean claims, borders not enforced but claim not renounced under theAntarctic Treaty.
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