The British Empire

Right from the reign of Queen Victoria, Great Britain lived its most powerful time. The British Empire extended on an area of 4 million square miles. Moreover more than 400 million obeyed to this Empire.

As regards its imperial activity, it started in the second half of the 16^th century, the same period in which Queen Elizabeth I encouraged “plantations”(the settling of English and Scottish people in Ireland on land forcibly taken from the native Irish). During the same period it started also another important operation: the British East India Company in order to rule over Indian countries.

It follows that in 1877, Queen Victoria was crowned Empress of India.

But India wasn’t the only country Great Britain focused on, indeed they occupied also Australia, New Zealand and part of China. Also Africa was a strong goal of Great Britain colonialism, in particular: Egypt to protect its traffics with India(Suez Canal), Sudan, and after a strong war against the Boers(Dutch settlers) in South Africa too. It must be said that British managed to create an adapted kingdom basing on the different realities, but unified in name.

British retained the other races inferior to their, from that it developed an idea of Patriotism. In order to reinforce this “thesis”, there was a common belief according to that the races of the world were divided for physical and intellectual differences. And so the white men were sent by God to impose their lifestyle, institutions, politics on the inferior races all-over the world.