British Empire

For centuries, Britain was one of the greatest empires of the world. It all started with the British conquests of Iceland, on whose territory tribes of cattle-breeders lived back in the 11th millennium BC and where an island nation was formed that was genetically different from the peoples inhabiting the English island. In addition, the Irish accepted Catholicism as early as the 4th century AD. The official religion of England is Christianity, as practised by the Church of England (Anglican), in Scotland the official Church is the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. The conquest of Ireland began under the rule of the English king Henry II (1133-1189) and was accompanied by fierce struggle and terrible bloodshed. The Irish fought for their freedom for many centuries, until England finally settled in that part of the island, which is now called Northern Ireland. The British Empire began to actively form from the 16th century, when it began to claim the title of a maritime empire, having a strong navy and not disdaining even pirate robberies. In 1588, England defeated the Spanish Invincible Armada, which weakened Spain, and later Portugal, which, after the discovery of America by Columbus in 1492, monopolized for some time the sphere of influence in the New World. In 1588, the island of Newfoundland was captured, becoming a stronghold for the colonization of America, and in 1607 the first English enclave in continental North America - Virginia (eng. Virgin - maiden), so named after the "Queen Virgin" Elizabeth Tudor. During the seventeenth century England expanded its holdings on the east coast of America, entrenched in this region. The first settlers in addition to military sailors became the Puritans (lat. "Purity") - a radical wing that fled from religious persecution in their homeland. These religious dissidents could not admit that the dominant Anglican church was increasingly inclined to the ideas of Catholicism, they demanded the creation of an independent church. One of the underground communities in 1620, on a small merchant ship, the Mayflower, crossed the Atlantic Ocean and landed in Plymouth Bay in northern Virginia. The “Pilgrims” (as they called themselves) made up the first group of 102 colonists. https://d.radikal.ru/d23/1811/93/fa02e02a8ebf.jpg Gradually, on the Atlantic coast, 13 state colonies were formed, whose population was already impressive in size - about 2.5 million people. The commonality of the territory, the economic interests of the inhabitants of the colonies, the dominant ideology, commonality of language and religion laid the foundations of a new nation (WASP - White Anglo-Saxon Protestant). https://b.radikal.ru/b00/1811/9a/d0c2db4f7a25.jpg The Dutch had conquered New Amsterdam and renamed it to New York. At the same time began the colonization of India. English merchants founded the East India Company in 1600, which by 1640 had created a significant network of trading stations in India, the countries of Southeast Asia and the Far East, and in 1690 the company founded the city of Calcutta in India. Due to the import of cheap goods from England to India, the products of the local handicraft industry were almost completely superseded, which for a long time slowed down the development of the Indian economy. The expansion of England for colonial possessions by an increasing number of overseas territories was weakened by the struggle of the local population against the British. The result of this struggle was the crisis of the British Empire in North America, since the war for independence of the country in 1775-1783, led to the loss of the North American colonies and the emergence of a powerful new state on the world map. The reason for the war was a complex of reasons which the colonists actively opposed: 1. In 1763, the king forbade the colonists to move further west, beyond the Allegheny Mountains, which prevented the planters from moving from depleted lands to new, more fertile ones. And in those days, agriculture was extensive - due to the expansion of acreage without increasing yields. Tens of thousands of small tenants, who constitute the main driving force of the colonial society, wanted to go west and become independent farmers there. These measures caused a mass protest movement. 2. The metropolis introduced the Stamp Duty Act adopted in 1765 without representation of the colonial authorities in the Parliament of England, according to which a stamp fee is provided for all goods and civil documents. The lawyers of the colonies had to pay for the right to stamp 10 pounds, while in England - 2 pounds. 3. Forced quartering of the army of 10,000 British soldiers, who had to be provided with housing, furniture and supplies at the expense of the locals. Until that time, a tax in favor of England was not provided for, and local taxes were levied on the development of industry, commerce and infrastructure. The conflict of interests between England and the colonies led to popular discontent and escalated into clashes, massacres, and then into full-fledged military operations between patriots and loyalists (eng. "loyal”) - Tory colonists who lived in the English colonies of North America, and who took the side of the metropolis during the years of the war of independence 1775-1783. They were often called “Tory”, “royalist” or “King’s people”. Part of the population opposed the policies of the British in the colonies (patriots - small traders, artisans, farmers, tenants), and the other part, having interests in the metropolis, supported the British (loyalists - traders in the ports of New York, Boston, Charleston, merchants of fur and colonial goods, administration of colonies). The victory of the patriots led to the independence of the United States from England and forced the loyalists to flee (there were not so many of them - from 450 to 600 thousand) to the metropolis, Canada, the West Indies, Florida and other English-speaking countries and regions. But Britain did not even think to reduce its ambitions in the international arena, expanding its territory by developing the coasts of New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific Islands. In 1788, the first settlement in Australia appeared - Port Jackson (now Sydney). Officially, the colonial possessions of different countries were recognized at the Vienna Congress of 1814-1815, as a result of the Napoleonic wars and the division of Europe and the world. England received the Cape Colony in southern Africa, Malta, Ceylon and other territories in Southeast Asia, which were captured in the XVIII century, and their status was formalized only in the XIX century. At the beginning of the XIX century, India was finally colonized, and in 1840 - Australia. By the middle of the 19th century, an unequal treaty was imposed on China and a number of Chinese ports opened up for trade, including opium, which found the widest distribution among the Chinese population. Captured Hong Kong Island (now Hong Kong). Cyprus, Burma, Afghanistan, Southern and Northern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe and Zambia), Nigeria, Gold Coast (Ghana), Sierra Leone, Basutoland (Lesotho), Bechuanaland (Botswana), Uganda, Kenya were captured in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Established control over Egypt and the Suez Canal. The Boer War of 1899-1902 ended with the victory of England and the subordination of Transvaal (South Africa) and the Orange Free State united with the colonies of the Cape and Natal, creating the Union of South Africa. The conquests of new territories became possible not only because of the military power of the British, but also thanks to the skillful diplomacy that spread the myth of the disinterestedness and charity of England in favor of the backward peoples of the world. After World War I, the League of Nations gave England a mandate to manage the dependent territories of the German and Ottoman empires - Palestine, Iran, Trans-Jordan, Tanganyika, Cameroon and Togo. The colony of South Africa - on the ownership of Namibia, Australia - on the part of New Guinea and the adjacent islands of Oceania, and New Zealand - on the islands of Western Samoa. Thus, the territory of the empire has increased significantly, since in fact the mandates of the League of Nations (a prototype of the UN) were included in the sphere of influence of England. However, the struggle for independence did not subside in the colonial possessions, so we had to make concessions to those countries that were most actively fighting for independence. In 1919, Afghanistan became independent. In 1930, the mandate for governing Iraq expired, and in 1932 independence was granted to Egypt. The expansion of the borders of the empire, which covered the vast territories of Europe, Asia, North, Central and South America, Africa and Oceania, facilitated the emigration of the British and the spread of English throughout the world. Nowadays, more than 2 billion people in the world speak English. The metropolis had the opportunity to grow rich, to export to England the best goods, natural wealth and jewels, historical and cultural values, exoticism, art objects and in every possible way to develop their economy, science and technology at an unprecedented pace. In 1926, the British Commonwealth of Nations was founded at the imperial conference, which later became simply called the Commonwealth without mentioning the word "British", which causes negative associations with the colonial regime. After the Second World War, the irreversible processes of liberation of peoples from colonial dependence began, in whatever form it manifested itself. In 1946, Transjordan gained independence, and in 1947 India gained independence. But at the same time, the British managed to divide the country into two parts along religious lines - India and Pakistan, laying the foundation for territorial disputes between them. In 1947, the mandate to rule Palestine was terminated and two antagonists and the warring states, Palestine and Israel, were also created in its place. In 1948, Ceylon and Burma became independent, in 1956 - Sudan, in 1957 - the Gold Coast (Ghana) and Malaya. The sixties of the twentieth century went down in history as the years of Africa, when 17 states were freed from colonialism: 1960 - Kenya, Sommaleland, which merged with Somalia, which was under Italian control and created the Republic of Somalia; * 1961 - Sierra Leone, Kuwait, Tanganyika; * 1962 - Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda; * 1963 - Zanzibar (later merged with Tanganyika, forming the Republic of Tanzania); * 1964 - Nyasaland (Republic of Malawi), Northern Rhodesia (Republic of Zambia), Malta; * 1965 - Gambia, Maldives; * 1966 - British Guiana (Republic of Guyana), Basutoland (Lesotho), Barbados; * 1967 - Aden (Yemen); * 1968 - Mauritius, Swaziland. The collapse of the empire continued after the 1960s: * 1970 - Tonga, Fiji; * 1980 - Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe); * 1990 - Namibia; 1997 - Hong Kong (became part of China). In 1960, the Union of South Africa was transformed into the Republic of South Africa, which withdrew from the Commonwealth in 1991, but after the abolition of apartheid re-entered it in 1994. Now the Commonwealth includes 54 states or about a quarter of the states of the world, including in Europe - 3, America - 13, Asia - 8, Africa - 19, Australia and Oceania - 11. As can be seen from this review, it is impossible to unequivocally answer the question whether the British Empire remained as a community, where one country directly or indirectly controls other countries, but the modern form of the Commonwealth includes heterogeneous countries in their economic potential and therefore equal relations call fair. It is known that trade relations between commodity countries and industrial, and even more so with post-industrial ones, to which the UK belongs, are by definition discriminatory, therefore elements of imperial relations between the countries of the commonwealth still remain: the rich are getting rich and the poor are doomed to further impoverishment. The empire has not disappeared, it has transformed into a different state, which is softer, more flexible and more cultured than before, but in its essence it is based on the principles of exploitation and profit at the expense of other, less developed countries. Photo: [1](http://antiochherald.com/2011/11/where-did-thanksgiving-come-from-and-why-do-we-celebrate-it/the-first-thanksgiving-by-j-l-g-ferris/) Map: [1](http://dykesdodigital.org/maps-of-thirteen-colonies/pittsburgh-13-colonies-tribute-on-to-washington-s-crossing-inspiring-ideas-design/)