The Union Jack, the flag of the British Empire and the present-day United Kingdom.

Many empires throughout history have tried to conquer the world. From Napoleon to Alexander the Great, leaders pushed their armies and economies to the limit in campaigns to gain as much territory and power as possible. Although both of these men took control of vast swathes of the planet, only one empire came close to controlling the globe: The British Empire. Through naval prowess, economic efficiency, brutal put-downs of revolts, genocides, brilliant leaders, and many other good and bad factors, a small island off the northeast coast of Europe came to dominate 25% of the earth’s entire land area, a feat that has not been matched since. At the height of the empire’s power, these holdings included areas on every continent except for Antarctica, making it a truly global nation.

British colonists investigating the mysterious disappearance of the Roanoke colony.

When Ireland declared itself a kingdom in 1541, this made the British, who had fought numerous wars to control Ireland, extremely unhappy. What do people do when they are unhappy? They take your stuff. In 1550, as a response to Ireland’s rebellion, Britain began to create colonies on the isle with Scottish and English settlers, and in these colonies were the first versions of plantations that would be copied throughout the world in the slew of new settlements that would soon be created. After the “colonization” (brutal takeover) of Ireland began, the explorers such as Sir Humphrey Gilbert and Sir Walter Raleigh expanded the tendrils of the creeping empire to North America, with the establishment of the colony of Newfoundland in 1583 and Roanoke in 1587. These colonies were short-lived but after the British ended hostilities with Spain, who had control of the seas and most of the New World at the time, the permanent settlement of Jamestown was established in 1607.

General Washington accepting the British surrender at the end of the Revolutionary War.

By 1760, Britain had won the French and Indian War and had control of large swaths of North America, including the 13 Colonies and most of what is now Canada. In addition to the continental holdings, the British had Carribean colonies who, along with the American colonies, cranked out valuable tobacco, cotton, and sugar to help finance the growing empire and navy. In the Pacific, the British began to settle Australia with prisoners in 1788 and controlled New Zealand by 1840, getting more wealth from the wool and gold produced there. However, those pesky American colonists (‘Murica!) decided to rebel against Britain, resulting in the loss of the 13 Colonies and a diminished influence on Canada and Australia by the central empire, ending the 1st British Empire, which was more like a phase than a separate empire.

British East India Company Coat of Arms.

The second phase of the empire is interesting because it was a company in the British Empire who was doing a lot of the conquering (there are no limits to corporate greed!). The British East India Company was granted a charter in 1600 that basically gave them a monopoly on all trade with the East, and this company soon became a corporate monster that took control of countries by military force. The force instance of privatized plunder was when the company had a conflict with the Bengali ruler and ended up going to war and taking over his state. After this point, the holdings of the corporation expanded to rule over most of the Indian subcontinent by the 1850’s, mostly due to the disunity between the many Indian kingdoms. In 1860, after beating China in a war after getting its citizens addicted to narcotics, the East India Company established Hong Kong as a controlled territory. The Empire took over the Company in 1840, and after WWI it began to deteriorate, although it fought mightily by gaining significant territory in Africa, Saudi Arabia, Iraq. and other areas.

British fighting against native Africans in South Africa.

Eventually, almost all of the British Colonies gained independence, starting with Canada in 1927, but its legacy lives on. Now, there are stable democracies across the world that were former British colonies. Also, slavery is no more in the developed world thanks in a large part to Britain’s banning of it. However, there were many grave consequences of the British Empire’s brutality. The entire population of Tasmania was systematically murdered, many indigenous peoples were killed across the world, and many geopolitical disputes are the result of the dissolution of the empire. Overall, it had a huge impact on the history of the world, and the present day United Kingdom still significantly influences global politics and economics today.

Sources (if you want more information):

http://www.britishempire.co.uk/

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/British_Empire