The British Empire may not have technically ruled the world but it was in fact the largest empire to exist at any point throughout history reaching across the globe and carrying on over multiple centuries the British Empire owes its success and ability to expand so widely the geographical position of Great Britain served as a major advantage to the growing Empire given that the nation was an island the likelihood of being invaded or conquered
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| How did The British Empire rule the World? |
maritime expeditions also gave Great Britain an upper hand when it came to reaching other countries
and continents needing only to cross over foreign land when
they wished to reach countries more inward on their continent the Brits
were able to sail to just about any coastal nation without much
resistance still oceanic adventures would not have been so effortless
for the British Empire without a strong naval fleet this is where the
size and power of the Royal Navy became a center point of British
success
while Great Britain did not always control the world's oceans the
reason they began to skyrocket as an unknowable maritime power by the
18th century is largely due to the fact that they invested more money
and ships and guns than other naval forces the government and citizens
of the British Empire truly believed that the future of their wealth was
to be found through the ocean recognizing the importance of overseas
trade as well as a fleet that could also defend their land if ever
required
the Brits made sure to adequately fund the Royal Navy the Empire's
focus on trade additionally contributed vastly to its triumphant
transcontinental growth intent more on gaining wealth and increasing
trade than on consolidating power through conquest the Brits were able
to create a more desirable environment for others to become a part of
after the successful colonization attempts in North America and the West
Indies during the 1600s the British Empire began to establish a
commercial
system that allowed for exponential success within Great
Britain and its overseas territories colonies were granted monopolies
for their products in the British market and therefore were to conduct
trade via British ships in 1651 the navigation act would prompt the
development of a closed economy between the Empire and its colonies thus
creating a system where all colonial imports were required to come from
Great Britain and all colonial exports were to be sent directly to the
British market by the way of British ships during the same century the
British East India Company was established as a means of trade between
Great Britain East Asia Southeast Asia and India initially focused on
the spice trade the East India Company later incorp rated other goods
such as silk cotton tea opium and more politics made its way into the
company later on despite the origin being purely based on establishing
more trade opportunities driven limitlessly by the concept of
controlling a global trade market the British Empire continued to extend
its reach across the continents of Europe Asia Africa Australia and the
Americas while the process of colonization varied from territory to
territory one thing that remained consistent was the form in which these
expeditions began unlike other empires who chose to expand
through
the use of military might and sovereign claims to power the British
facilitated most of their expansion through the establishment of trading
posts and systems nonetheless the British Empire was not a completely
nonviolent Authority on top of the anglo-dutch and anglo-spanish wars
near the start of British expansion the Empire also engaged in conflict
with its American colonies during the America Revolutionary War later
followed by the dissension in India succeeding the decline of the Mughal
Empire and leaving the British East India Company as a prominent
political power in the regio
the presence of Britain in India was also notably more
forceful than some of their other trade focused on claves demonstrated
by the expansion of the East India Company's power through the threat of
violence against those who protested the continued tensions betwe the
British and French were no longer secluded in India either as the
SevenYears War erupted in 1756 lasting until the Treaty of Paris was
signed in 1763 leaving Britain as the leading power across India and the
world's oceans when the American Revolutionary War came in 1775 after
the British Empire responded to thee no taxation without representation
movement of the Americans by sending troops to try and subdue the
colonies France and Spain chose once again to go to war with Britain now
as allies of the newly declared United States in 1783 at the Peace of
Paris the British Empire was forced to acknowledge American independence
in turn relinquish intraoral eni's devising a new strategy after such a
drastic loss of territory Great Britain now turned its attention toward
the continents of Asia Africa and Australia marketing what some
historians call the beginning of the second British Empire though trade
between the United States and Great Britain actually continued after the
installation of independence the Empire chose to utilize the colonized
coasts of Australia which had been discovered by a Dutch explorer Willem
Janzen in 1606 and later claimed for the British crown by James Cook in
1770 under the name of New South Wales still feeding their fresh
craving for expansion in
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| How did The British Empire rule the World? |
South Asia the British suddenly engaged in a
series of conflicts after the Battle of Plassey which had occurred in
1757 by 1774 the British Empire took on a chain of attacks the
Anglo-mysore wars were fought until 1799 followed by clashes with the
ponderous attacks on places like Sindh and Burma also accelerated the
new consolidation efforts of the British East India Company on top of
what was referred to as the doctrine lapse where the Brits forbid the
ascension to the throne of any Hindu ruler if they were not the natural
heir once the current Hindu leader either died or was removed in some
way the British would occupy his state and gain control these acts by
the British Empire combined with other forms of forced westernization of
the Hindus led to the Sepoy mutiny of 1857 to 1859 tired of the current
heavy-handed
British
rule the Indian troops of Maru sparked a rebellion that would spread
throughout the nation peace was finally declared in July of 1859 and the
British East India Company was scrapped although the Empire maintained a
level of control under the crown until 1947 during this span of time
Great Britain's
set about making its presence better known in Africa as well
although the Royal African company had been established back in the 17th
century finding ample profit in the slave trade until its abolition in
1807 it was not until the 19th century that the Brits realized the
potential benefit of forming a trade route across Africa with its eyes
set on establishing outposts spanning from Egypt down to the southern
half
of the continent the British Empire found itself in a race against the
other growing European powers such as Italy and Germany which eventually
led to the Berlin conference the conference which occurred in 1884 was
intended to create some harmony between the competing colonizers Great
Britain was ultimately awarded most of northeastern Africa and all of
southern Africa meaning that at its peak in the continent the British
Empire ruled over approximately 30 percent of the African population globally at the height of britain's domination it controlled roughly 22 to 25 percent of the world's land surface and by 1938 governed around 20% of the world's population this remarkable prosperity was accomplished through a geographical advantage supreme naval might and the strategic focus on trade
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