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The origins of empire -

The British Empire began its formative years in the late 1500s with attempts by England to colonize pockets of North America and territory in the Caribbean.

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Queen Elizabeth I (1533–1603) -

Queen Elizabeth I enthusiastically supported voyages undertaken by the likes of Humphrey Gilbert, Francis Drake, and Walter Raleigh, explorers who were tasked with claiming new lands for the English Crown.

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East India Company -

In December 1600, the East India Company was founded. It was formed for the exploitation of trade with East and Southeast Asia and India, and played a hugely significant role in the foundation of the British Empire.

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First English settlement -

In 1607, the first permanent English settlement in the Americas was established at Jamestown in Virginia.

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Thirteen Colonies -

British settlers eventually founded a total of 13 colonies, which were part of Britain's possessions in the New World.

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Treaty of Paris -

The Treaty of Paris signed in 1763 formally ended the conflict between France and Great Britain over control of North America. The British prize was Canada and a scattering of Caribbean island nations.

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Colonization of the Caribbean -

English settlers had earlier colonized St. Kitts (1624), Barbados (1627), and Nevis (1628). Florida had also been part of the burgeoning British Empire until ceded to Spain under the Paris treaty.

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Britain and the slave trade -

What this all meant was that Great Britain was a nation instrumental in promoting the Atlantic slave trade, the West Indies region being a major cultivator of sugarcane and tobacco (Britain would later ban the trading of enslaved people in its empire in 1807).

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Australia is colonized -

On the other side of the world, Captain James Cook claimed New South Wales for Great Britain in 1770. On January 26, 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip raised the Union Jack at Sydney Cove to formally declare  British possession of New South Wales and the founding of Australia.

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Britain loses America -

Great Britain's grip on the Thirteen Colonies, meanwhile, had ended with the American Revolutionary War and the ratification of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. Britain formally recognized the United States of America as an independent country in 1783.

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The empire strikes back -

Humiliated in defeat, Great Britain vowed not to lose any more of its territory. It began spreading the country's rule and power East, through a process called imperialism. The East India Company had already begun to wield its muscle in this region of the world, with British industry in particular enjoying the spoils of profit.

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Expansion eastwards -

In fact, the East India Company together with British military strength drove the expansion of the empire in Asia. The British had already acquired Penang Island in 1786, and in 1811 captured Java from the Netherlands. Singapore became a colony in 1819, as did Malacca in 1824. And the defeat of Burma in 1826 consolidated the British Crown's hold on the entire region.

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New Zealand becomes a colony -

New Zealand officially became a British colony on November 16, 1840. Colonial administrator Sir George Grey (pictured) was twice Governor of New Zealand, and responsible for the purchase and annexation of Māori land.

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Hong Kong is seized -

Another Far East possession was Hong Kong, ceded to the British Empire by the Qing dynasty in 1842. Hong Kong would remain in British hands for 155 years.

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The "jewel in the crown" -

In 1858, India became an official colony and the "jewel in the crown" of the British Empire. Great Britain's rule on the subcontinent lasted 89 years, until 1948. This period became known as the British Raj.

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Queen Victoria, the Empress of India -

The acquisition of India meant rule of the powerful East India Company was transferred to the Crown in the person of Queen Victoria. The monarch eventually took the title Empress of India.

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The British Raj -

India was Britain's most valuable and populous possession. British presence saw the introduction of Western education methods, a centralized administrative system, and a nationwide rail network still in use today.

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Social and economic impact -

Another major economic impact of the British policies in India was the introduction of a large number of commercial crops such as tea, coffee, indigo, cotton, jute, sugarcane, and oilseed, plus the jobs agriculture created.

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The dark side of the Raj -

But the negative aspects of imperialism in India were equally apparent. The British forced the idea of monoculture, were racist, created unfair trade and economic distress, and were often ruthless when dealing with insurrection. The Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919, for example, left over 500 dead and sparked the first calls for independence.

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The scramble for Africa -

During the period between 1880 and 1890, Britain gained control over or occupied what are now known as Egypt, Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, Gambia, Sierra Leone, northwestern Somalia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, Nigeria, Ghana, and Malawi. That meant that the British ruled 30% of Africa's people at one time. British mining magnate and imperialist Cecil Rhodes was an enthusiastic and controversial proponent of British expansion across the continent, and even had a country, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe and Zambia), named after him.

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Anglo-Zulu War -

The Zulu Kingdom resented British boots on their land to the point where war erupted in 1879. The Zulus were victorious at the Battle of Isandlwana, leaving 1,329 of their enemy dead. The British replied in kind at the Battle of Kambula. The most famous confrontation was the Battle of Rorke's Drift, immortalized in the 1964 film 'Zulu.'

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Second Boer War -

British presence in Southern Africa also precipitated the Second Boer War, a short but bloody conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South African Republic and the Orange Free State) between 1899 and 1902.

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Dominion status and the path to independence -

The path to independence for the so-called white colonies of the British Empire was taken as early as 1839 by Canada. Ottawa eventually became the seat of Canada's parliament when the Canadian Confederation created the Dominion of Canada in 1867. Australia and New Zealand followed suit in 1901 and 1907, respectively.

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Impact of the First World War -

After the First World War and under the terms of the concluding Treaty of Versailles signed in 1919, the British Empire reached its greatest extent, ruling over 450 million people and making it the largest empire in history. But a feeling of post-war nationalism was sweeping the globe, and the first cracks in the empire's formidable armor started to appear.

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The Easter Rising -

In fact, during the war, the Easter Rising of 1916 had taken place, launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland.

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The British Commonwealth of Nations -

Perhaps sensing the beginning of the end, the British government in 1926 declared a Commonwealth of Nations, where Britain and its Dominions agreed that they were all equal members of a community within the British Empire. In 1931 the Statute of Westminster gave Dominions constitutional autonomy.

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The Quit India Movement -

Ultimately, however, the empire was unable to strike back. In 1947, Great Britain lost its prized asset after India won independence. To complicate matters, independence coincided with the partition of India, in which British India was divided along religious lines into the Dominions of India and Pakistan. Pictured sipping tea together is Mahatma Gandhi and the last Viceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten.

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British withdrawal from Palestine -

The cost of the Second World War both in terms of lives lost and economic exhaustion saw the British Empire begin to crumble. In 1948, British troops withdrew from Palestine. The establishment of the State of Israel quickly followed.

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Decolonization of Africa -

Across Africa, anti-British sentiment became prevalent, notably in Kenya in 1952 where the Mau Mau rebellion broke out in opposition to white British colonial rule.

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Wind of change -

One by one throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Britain's colonies gained their independence, including Sudan and Ghana.

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"Independence Benefits All" -

In 1981, Belize celebrated its independence. The banners stretched across the country's capital (pictured) variously read: "Independence Benefits All" and "A United Freedom-Loving People Can Never Be Defeated." Three years later, on January 1, 1984, Brunei, Britain's last remaining Asian protectorate, was granted independence.

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End of an empire -

And the most symbolic of all handovers took place on July 1, 1997, when Hong Kong reverted back to Chinese rule. The ceremony marked the definitive end of the British Empire.

Sources: (Historic UK) (NZ History) (Britannica) (Indian Culture)  

See also: African countries and their independence days

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