The British Essay Research Paper The British

The British Essay, Research Paper

The British Imperial Century

The British imperial century took place from 1815, the end of the Napoleonic Wars until

the year 1914, the beginning of World War I. During this century, the British empire stretched all

over the globe extending its language, its culture, and its economy throughout Africa, India, Asia,

and the Chinese and Ottoman empires, and further. For the most part, the British preferred to

rule its empire informally for reasons such as finances, fear of conflict, and governmental

responsibilities and burdens. There were times when formal rule was required, and Britain s self

image of power and superiority gave it the will to use force if necessary. Imperialism is the way in

which a group gains formal or informal influence over another group s politics, society, and

economy. The British imperialism that expanded the British empire in the nineteenth century

happened suddenly and unexpectedly and led to great global changes on the way to the first world

war.

Why Britain Sought to Gain the World

There is no one explanation for why Britain gained so much global power so suddenly. It

has been said that perhaps it was due to British superiority economically as well as its technology

and modern society. Because it was the first industrial nation in the world, the imperial power has

also been explained by the British needs for new markets for trade, materials, and such. Whatever

the reason, those who complied with British imperialism were offered many benefits such as

political powers and alliances, access to new trade opportunities, and exposure to Western culture

and education. For some, these benefits were worth it. For others, they were not.

The only way that Britain maintained such a huge empire as long as it did was due to its

support from at least part of many different populations of people. Without this support, Britain

would have been forced to use its military manpower and resources that it just really did not have.

The imperialism that occurred caused a mixing of people and culture that was considered to be

British but was actually made up of widely differing parts.

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One of the main reasons for Britain s desire to expand control over different parts of the

world had an economic basis. Regions that were in a good economic location were attractive to

Britain. During the beginnings of Britain s first empire, great changes took place. Mercantilism,

the old economic system, was not compatible with British ideals on free trading markets. The

British were also committed to ending slavery, which caused conflict due to lost labor, decrease in

production, economic demands, and the illegal continuation of the slave trade.

Another reason for the widespread British influence came from Christians who felt

obligated to bring Christianity to those non-Europeans, who were considered less fortunate and

backwards. This group of people was largely involved in the movement to abolish slavery,

considering it to be inhumane and immoral. The desire to spread Christianity coincided with

missions to spread British culture as well.

The mid-nineteenth century British empire was controlled mostly informally, but several

threats to the stability of the empire eventually began to point toward a need for formality. The

Indian Mutiny caused great discomfort and tension between the British and the Indians in 1857,

and in 1873, the Great Depression also tested Britain s strength. By the latter part of the century,

Britain shifted to a formal empire and was more likely to use force in controlling and adapting its

people to British ways. It was actually conceptualized that Charles Darwin s ideas about fitness

applied to non-Europeans. Those who could not adapt to modern society and recognize Britain s

superiority were less fit and seen as being at an early evolutionary stage. This was yet another

excuse for British imperialists to rule because they believed that the non-Europeans were

incapable of ruling themselves.

The entire British Empire was complete by the start of the twentieth century. It had

grown by 100,000 square miles per year at mid-nineteenth century, an awesome accomplishment.

Though impressively huge and widespread, the British empire never had a uniform society with

one language, religion, and body of laws. As mentioned before, Britain s empire was maintained

only by the imperialists gaining support from at least a small group of population. In order for

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this to be successful, they recruited local people in a population to serve as governors, officers,

and soldiers. This method of indirect rule allowed for many diverse cultures to maintain most of

their original beliefs, religions, and languages.

India s Place in the Empire

The greatest of Britain s possessions by far was India, which was ruled by Britain for over

two hundred years. It was important for Britain to maintain stabili

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