The Empire on which

the sun never sets

The phases of an empire

Phase 1 – Growth
Phase 2 – Maturation
Phase 3 - Decline and/or Failure

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The phases of the Empire

□ Origins (1497–1583)
□ "First British Empire" (1583–1783)
□ "Second British Empire" (1783–1815)
□ Britain's imperial century (1815–1914)
□ World wars (1914–1945)
□ Decolonisation and decline (1945–1997)
□ Legacy

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 Types of colonies
□ Company Rule - when private companies - capitalised from Britain - tried to
set up their own colonies as private commercial concerns. They frequently
found the administration far more expensive than they expected and so often
turned to the British govt for help – mainly when wars or rebellions occurred.
□ Colonies - those areas directly ruled by a governor on behalf of the British
govt and representing the Crown. The governor was responsible to the Colonial
Office in London, although he usually had wide powers of discretion. These
were the most common form of imperial control.
□ Protectorates - territories where the local rulers could continue ruling
domestically but they had ceded the foreign and defence aspects of their
government to the British. In return, the British respected and were prepared
to defend the ruler from foreign or internal threats.
□ Dominions - those colonies that were granted significant freedom to rule
themselves. The settler colonies were afforded this freedom. Dominions were
fully independent countries after the 1931 Statute of Westminster, although
their Head of State continued to be the British sovereign.
□ Mandates - set up after WWI as German and Turkish colonies were passed to
Britain and France to prepare for self govt on behalf of the League of Nations.
After WWII, the United Nations issued further mandates.
□ Other colonies set up by individuals, missionaries or even - in the case of
Pitcairn Island - by escaped mutineers
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Origins (1497–1583)

Henry VII (1457-1585-1509)

Henry VIII (1491-1509-1547)
Edward VI (1537-1547-1553)
Mary I (1516-1553-1558)
Elizabeth I (1533-1558-1603)

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1497 John Cabot sailed to the northern
part of present day Canada and called
the new territories Newfoundland
In 1584 Sir Walter Raleigh established
the first settlements in Virginia.
By the early 1600s Britain began to set
up settlements in Bermuda and in the
Caribbean, dominated at this time by
the Spanish.

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"First British Empire" (1583–1783)

The First Empire revolved primarily, but

not exclusively, around the settler
colonies of the Americas.
These would be termed the Thirteen
Colonies and would gain their
independence from Britain in 1783.

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Britain had a long history of contact
with India, mainly through trading
goods. In the 1600s France and
Holland established strong trading
links with India and China. In the
later 1600s British traders and British
governments were determined to
build strong links there as well.

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“… this vast empire on which the sun never sets, and
whose bounds nature has not yet ascertained.“
1773, G.Macartney

"On her dominions the sun never sets; before his evening
rays leave the spires of Quebec, his morning beams have
shone three hours on Port Jackson, and while sinking
from the waters of Lake Superior, his eye opens upon the
Mouth of the Ganges.“ 1821, Caledonian Mercury

“A power which has dotted over the surface of the whole

globe with her possessions and military posts, whose
morning drumbeat, following the sun and keeping
company with the hours, circles the earth with one
continuous and unbroken strain of the martial airs of
England.” 1834, D. Webster
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"Second British Empire" (1783–1815)

The Second Empire developed from the

remnants of the First - particularly
India - and were added to during the
Napoleonic Wars and then throughout
the 19th century and even into the
beginning of the 20th century.
It is this Second, predominantly
Victorian, Empire that most people
associate with the British Empire.
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Britain's imperial century (1815–1914)

Britain's empire in Africa developed

much later than in India or America.
However, Britain had strong links with
different parts of Africa long before
the 19th century. It began with the
slave trade in the 1700s. By the late
1800s Britain had taken control of
huge territories in north, central and
southern Africa.
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The first Europeans to gain a really strong foothold
in the Pacific Ocean were the Dutch. Their main
concern was to build up their trade with China.
However, Dutch explorers became aware that
there was a large land in the southern Pacific,
which they called New Holland.
After discovery by Dutch explorers in 1606,
Australia's eastern half was claimed by Britain in
1770; the continent was explored and an
additional 5 self-governing Crown Colonies were
established.
In 1901, the six colonies became a federation and
the Commonwealth of Australia was formed.
Australia remained a dominion until 1942.
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In 1909 the British Empire encompassed 20% of the
land area of the Earth and 23% of its population.

The British Empire was the first genuinely global

empire, an empire that ranged, at times, from the
American colonies in the West, Australia and New
Zealand in the East, Canada and her dominions in
the North and huge chunks of Africa in the South,
including Egypt and Rhodesia. These huge
landmasses, and many other smaller islands and
places besides, were to be shaped, controlled,
dominated and otherwise brought under the
dominion of a nation which, prior to colonial
ambitions, was a small and perhaps dull and
uninspiring set of countries.

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World wars (1914–1945)

In 1937 the Sun never set on the British

Empire (British possessions
represented all 24 time zones of the
Earth).

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Evolution of the Empire: 1688-1763-1899-1920

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The British Empire seemed to have been a
complete commercial and strategic power.

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However the growth of Germany and the US had
eroded Britain's economic lead by the end of the
19th century.
The Edwardian era (1901-10) was one of intense
concern over the decline of Britain's naval and
commercial dominance. German firms shouldered
aside the British in numerous markets, and its navy
menaced Britain in her home waters. The French
and Russian fleets, not to mention the Japanese,
outnumbered the Royal Navy's Asian squadron. The
French, Italian, and potential Russian presence in
the Mediterranean threatened the British lifeline to
India. Soon the Panama Canal would enable the US
to deploy a two-ocean navy.

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The foreign secretary, Lord Lansdowne, set about reducing
Britain's potential opponents. He cemented friendly
relations with the US (1901) and concluded a military
alliance with Japan (1902), securing British interests in
East Asia and allowing the empire to concentrate its
regional forces on India.
But when growing tension between Russia and Japan over
Manchuria appeared likely to erupt in war in 1904,
France (Russia's ally) and Britain (Japan's ally) faced a
quandary. To prevent being dragged into the conflict, the
French and British shrugged off their rivalry and
concluded an Entente Cordiale (France gave up
opposition to British rule in Egypt, and Britain recognized
French rights in Morocco).
Though strictly a colonial arrangement, it marked another
step away from isolation for both Britain and France and
another step toward it for the frustrated Germans.
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Subsequent military and economic tensions between
Britain and Germany were major causes of the
WWI, during which Britain relied heavily upon its
Empire. The conflict placed enormous financial
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.
The WWII saw Britain's colonies in South-East Asia
occupied by Japan, which damaged British prestige
and accelerated the decline of the Empire, despite
the eventual victory of Britain and its allies. India,
Britain's most valuable and populous colony, won
independence within two years of the end of the
war.

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Decolonisation and decline (1945–97)

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 Legacy

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

England; Northern Ireland; Scotland; Wales
3 Crown Dependencies
Guernsey; Jersey; Isle of Man
14 Overseas Territories
Anguilla; Bermuda; British Antarctic Territory; British Indian Ocean
Territory; British Virgin Islands; Cayman Islands; Falkland Islands;
Gibraltar; Montserrat; Pitcairn Islands; St. Helena; South Georgia and
South Sandwich Islands; Turks and Caicos Islands
2 Sovereign Base Areas
Akrotiri; Dhekelia
16 Commonwealth Realms
…
53 Members of the Commonwealth of Nations
…
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The territories that were at one time or another part of
the British Empire.
The British Overseas Territories are underlined in red.

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An anachronous map from 2010 of all the official territorial claims of the British Empire
that it ever held which identifies what type of holding was present on all possessions
during their territorial, historical, and/or geographical peak. (Do keep in mind that
Oregon Territory was shared with the US and that some do not consider the Trust
Territories captured from Italian colonial rule to be part of the empire).

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