The British Empire
Overview
The British empire: Regarded as the largest and greatest empire to of ever existed started life as a small kingdom in the 16th century yielding to the much larger power of its mighty European compatriots. However whispers of expansion were beginning to be heard. During Henry Vii reign expansion into Normandy, modern day France sent echoes around Europe that Britain was no longer a kingdom of sustenance farmers and tribes it was now an emerging civilisation rivalling that of mainland Europe. By the mid 17th century the act of union meant that Wales and Scotland were amalgamated with Britain (all being governed by Westminster) and became the kingdom of great Britain.
Seeing what the empires of Spain and Portugal were bringing back from the new world in the form of resources. England along with France and Holland embarked on a colonial mission to gain territory in America. Britain rather than fight the immensely more powerful Latin empires chose to establish its rule on the east coast or North America. Leaving Spain and Portugal to gain footholds in central and south America. In addition to establishing itself in the middle East, Far East and Pacific ocean eventually becoming the greatest empire to of graced the planet
Economy
With Britain gaining a larger foothold in trade with its newly formed kingdom it was now able to rival the larger powers of Europe. Not before modelling its own systems around though Britain for example took trade techniques from the Dutch empire to ensure that trade between its newly found colonies was centred around Britain in order to experience the full benefit of trade on a global scale. This saw previously unknown plants, foods and materials arriving in British ports and entering British markets. This in turn propelled Britain's economy skyward as demand for the materials of its empire grew. Demand grew ever further with the emergence of the Victorian middle class as working class families gained money and power they wanted items that consolidated themselves within the upper classes. Items and materials from around the world began to symbolise this consolidation. Things such as tobacco smoking became immensely popular and thus generating vast wealth and making Britain's economy the largest in the world.
Military power
The army relied heavily upon the technological upper hand if you look closely on the map below of the Empire below you can see that a majority of its territories were populated by indigenous people and it was relatively easy to conquer large plots of land using only a small force of trained men.
When the British army faced a more skilled opponent such as in the first world war. The empire relied heavily on its territories providing a large percentage of the man power to eventually overwhelm German defences. This paired with the previously stated technological superiority meant that any force at this time was no match for the empires army.
Size
As you can see by the map below the British empire was huge covering a distance of 33,700,000 km covering over a third of the world[1].
The British empire: Regarded as the largest and greatest empire to of ever existed started life as a small kingdom in the 16th century yielding to the much larger power of its mighty European compatriots. However whispers of expansion were beginning to be heard. During Henry Vii reign expansion into Normandy, modern day France sent echoes around Europe that Britain was no longer a kingdom of sustenance farmers and tribes it was now an emerging civilisation rivalling that of mainland Europe. By the mid 17th century the act of union meant that Wales and Scotland were amalgamated with Britain (all being governed by Westminster) and became the kingdom of great Britain.
Seeing what the empires of Spain and Portugal were bringing back from the new world in the form of resources. England along with France and Holland embarked on a colonial mission to gain territory in America. Britain rather than fight the immensely more powerful Latin empires chose to establish its rule on the east coast or North America. Leaving Spain and Portugal to gain footholds in central and south America. In addition to establishing itself in the middle East, Far East and Pacific ocean eventually becoming the greatest empire to of graced the planet
Economy
With Britain gaining a larger foothold in trade with its newly formed kingdom it was now able to rival the larger powers of Europe. Not before modelling its own systems around though Britain for example took trade techniques from the Dutch empire to ensure that trade between its newly found colonies was centred around Britain in order to experience the full benefit of trade on a global scale. This saw previously unknown plants, foods and materials arriving in British ports and entering British markets. This in turn propelled Britain's economy skyward as demand for the materials of its empire grew. Demand grew ever further with the emergence of the Victorian middle class as working class families gained money and power they wanted items that consolidated themselves within the upper classes. Items and materials from around the world began to symbolise this consolidation. Things such as tobacco smoking became immensely popular and thus generating vast wealth and making Britain's economy the largest in the world.
Military power
The army relied heavily upon the technological upper hand if you look closely on the map below of the Empire below you can see that a majority of its territories were populated by indigenous people and it was relatively easy to conquer large plots of land using only a small force of trained men.
When the British army faced a more skilled opponent such as in the first world war. The empire relied heavily on its territories providing a large percentage of the man power to eventually overwhelm German defences. This paired with the previously stated technological superiority meant that any force at this time was no match for the empires army.
Size
As you can see by the map below the British empire was huge covering a distance of 33,700,000 km covering over a third of the world[1].
Technology: [2]
Agriculture: The British Empire invented a vast amount of new technology throughout time. For example during the peak of the empires growth new farming methods has to be thought up in order to feed the growing population of the empire thus the plantation was born in which VAST amounts of land were bought up in order to grow a specific crop. This was the first time this technique was practised on such a large scale.
Communication: William Fothergill Cooke and Charles Wheatsone. Invented the telegraph which in turn gave birth to the telecommunications age, the telegraph meant that messages were able to be relayed much much faster than previous technologies and thus orders and information were carried out much quicker than before.
Medicine: The British expansion into tropical areas of the world came with great risk, much of these places were infested with life threatening bacteria and diseases. The rule that the warmer and more humid the colony the greater the chances was of contracting a fatal disease. Thus history shows that colonies that pretty much adapted the life style and diet of the destination began to build an immunity to the local diseases that posed a threat on the other hand evidence shows that colonials who didn't adapt and kept their diet English fell foul to many of the local diseased
Leadership
In terms of leadership, the British empire can be seen as somewhat unique as its renaissance was at a pivotal moment in history as the world was transitioning from a somewhat primitive state to a modern industrial central world. Therefore England had a mixture of both old-world leaders such as the monarch and religious leaders to its ultra modern industrialist families who expanded their wealth by exploiting newly acquired territories with many governing workers eventually forming townships
Population
During the height of the British empire it covered 33.7 million square km and had a population of 458 million over a 20% of the worlds population at the time
Longevity
The British empire is quite often called the empire in which the sun never sets as the empire held so much land that somewhere in the world a province governed by England would be experiencing daylight. This empire however is very hard to finalise a date for when it began and finished. Historians argue that Britain began its expansion into France in the 15th century however it can be argued that Britain began its expansion much earlier with the acquisition of Scotland and Wales. Then looking at the empires end many historians saying that the 1920's was the full of the empire. However is it though? To this day Britain still holds land all over the world in the form of the British commonwealth with countries such as Canada in the west to Vanuatu in the east.
[1] 'How large was the British empire'http://empires.findthebest.com/q/1/2513/How-large-was-the-British-Empire-at-its-greatest-extent
[2] David Fellhouse, ' In the Cambridge illustrated history of the British empire' at http://imperialbritain.tripod.com/trade-and-technology-in-the-british-empire.html
Agriculture: The British Empire invented a vast amount of new technology throughout time. For example during the peak of the empires growth new farming methods has to be thought up in order to feed the growing population of the empire thus the plantation was born in which VAST amounts of land were bought up in order to grow a specific crop. This was the first time this technique was practised on such a large scale.
Communication: William Fothergill Cooke and Charles Wheatsone. Invented the telegraph which in turn gave birth to the telecommunications age, the telegraph meant that messages were able to be relayed much much faster than previous technologies and thus orders and information were carried out much quicker than before.
Medicine: The British expansion into tropical areas of the world came with great risk, much of these places were infested with life threatening bacteria and diseases. The rule that the warmer and more humid the colony the greater the chances was of contracting a fatal disease. Thus history shows that colonies that pretty much adapted the life style and diet of the destination began to build an immunity to the local diseases that posed a threat on the other hand evidence shows that colonials who didn't adapt and kept their diet English fell foul to many of the local diseased
Leadership
In terms of leadership, the British empire can be seen as somewhat unique as its renaissance was at a pivotal moment in history as the world was transitioning from a somewhat primitive state to a modern industrial central world. Therefore England had a mixture of both old-world leaders such as the monarch and religious leaders to its ultra modern industrialist families who expanded their wealth by exploiting newly acquired territories with many governing workers eventually forming townships
Population
During the height of the British empire it covered 33.7 million square km and had a population of 458 million over a 20% of the worlds population at the time
Longevity
The British empire is quite often called the empire in which the sun never sets as the empire held so much land that somewhere in the world a province governed by England would be experiencing daylight. This empire however is very hard to finalise a date for when it began and finished. Historians argue that Britain began its expansion into France in the 15th century however it can be argued that Britain began its expansion much earlier with the acquisition of Scotland and Wales. Then looking at the empires end many historians saying that the 1920's was the full of the empire. However is it though? To this day Britain still holds land all over the world in the form of the British commonwealth with countries such as Canada in the west to Vanuatu in the east.
[1] 'How large was the British empire'http://empires.findthebest.com/q/1/2513/How-large-was-the-British-Empire-at-its-greatest-extent
[2] David Fellhouse, ' In the Cambridge illustrated history of the British empire' at http://imperialbritain.tripod.com/trade-and-technology-in-the-british-empire.html