| rdfs:comment
| - Its empire-building began during the late 16th century, inspired by the Age of Discovery, when Portugal and Spain conquered vast amounts of land in the Americas. Envious of the great wealth these empires generated, England, France, and the Netherlands, began to establish colonies and trade networks of their own in the Americas and Asia. During a series of wars with the Netherlands and France during the 17th and 18th centuries, Britain gained vast amounts of land in the Americas and India.
|
| abstract
| - Its empire-building began during the late 16th century, inspired by the Age of Discovery, when Portugal and Spain conquered vast amounts of land in the Americas. Envious of the great wealth these empires generated, England, France, and the Netherlands, began to establish colonies and trade networks of their own in the Americas and Asia. During a series of wars with the Netherlands and France during the 17th and 18th centuries, Britain gained vast amounts of land in the Americas and India. The independence of the Thirteen Colonies in North America in 1783 after the American Revolutionary War that created the United States of America caused the British imperial ambition then turned towards Asia, Africa, and the Pacific, particularly to India, created the second British Empire. Following the defeat of French Empire in 1815, Britain enjoyed a century of almost unchallenged dominance and expanded its imperial holdings across the globe. Increasing degrees of autonomy were granted to its white settler colonies, some of which were reclassified as dominions. With French, Belgian and Portuguese activity in the lower Congo River region undermining orderly incursion of Africa, the Berlin Conference of 1884–85 was held to regulate the competition between the European powers in what was called the "Scramble for Africa" that saw the transition from European imperial hegemony by military influence and economic dominance, to the direct rule of colonies. British gains in southern and East Africa prompted Cecil Rhodes, pioneer of British expansion in Africa, to urge a "Cape to Cairo" railway linking the strategically important Suez Canal to the mineral-rich southern portion of the continent. By the end of the 19th century, the German Empire and the United States had eroded Britain's economic lead. Subsequent military and economic tensions between the British and the Germans were major causes of World War I, during which Britain relied heavily upon its empire. The conflict placed enormous financial and population strain on Britain, and although the empire achieved its largest territorial extent immediately after the war, it was no longer a peerless industrial or military power. Despite the eventual victory of Britain and its allies in World War II, the British prestige was already damaged and accelerated the decline of the empire. British India, Britain's most valuable and populous possession, achieved independence two years after the end of the war. After the end of World War II, communal violence on the British colonies in South Asia and a bloody colonial war in Burma catalyzed a large decolonization movement. Britain then granted independence to most of the territories of the Empire. This process ended with the political transfer of Hong Kong to China in 1997. The 14 British Overseas Territories remain under British sovereignty. After independence, many former British colonies joined the Commonwealth Confederation, a free association of independent states. Sixteen Commonwealth nations share their head of state, Queen Elizabeth II, as Commonwealth realms.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)