The British Empire

Britain's imperial activity begun during the second half of the 16^th century. This was the time when Queen Elizabeth I encouraged 'plantations' (the settling of English and Scottish people in Ireland on land forcibly taken from the native Irish).

India came under direct rule by Britain, and Queen Victoria was crowned Empress of India by the British prime minister, Benjamin Disraeli.

Expansionist activity reached a crescendo with the 'scramble for Africa' in the 1880s and 1890s. Britain took over Egypt to protect its routes to India through the Suez Canal in 1882 and then Sudan in 1884.

In the end of the 19^th century the British Empire occupied an area of 4 million square miles.

Britain's empire were able to shape imperial and colonial policy gradually, adapting to different realities and producing an empire united in name but varied in fact.

The expressions of civil pride and national fervour among the British were frequent in the late 19^th century. Patriotism was deeply influenced by ideas of racial superiority. There was a belief that the 'races' of the world were divided by fundamental physical and intellectual differences imposed by God.

British Imperial Trading Routes

Britain developed its imperial expansion throughout the centuries thanks to its domination of the seas. In the Gulf of Guinea there were several safe harbours along the route to the Cape of Good Hope.

Interests in the Mediterranean increased with the opening of Suez Canal in 1869, which reduced the costs of travelling to India.

Britain also controlled most of the great transoceanic cables, which were a network of international communication used both for military and commercial purposes. Further evidence of British influence was the adoption of Greenwich Mean Time for fixing world time zones.