From Empire to

Commonwealth
Simeon Dörr, English, Q2
 • Origins
• “First“ British Empire
• “Second“ British Empire
• Britain´s imperial century
Content • 1. and 2. World War
• Decolonisation (Decline)
• Legacy of the British Empire
• Commonwealth of Nations
Origins (1497–1583)
• John Cabot's voyage to
America in 1497 (5 years
after Columbus)
• Elizabeth I allowed (1562)
some privateers to attack
Spanish and Portuguese
galleons that were
returning from their
colonies

Vicereplica
AdmiralofSir
theFrancis Drake
Matthew
Origins (1497–1583)
Plantations in Ireland:
• English planters received the
permission to start plantations
in Ireland
(Henry VII – Oliver Cromwell)
• the Irish land-owning class was
expropriated during Cromwell's
reign and their land confiscated
• in the late 17th century
thousands of Scottish settlers
came to Ireland due to a famine
“First“ British Empire (1583-1783)

• Humphrey Gilbert received a permission for overseas

exploration by Elizabeth I in 1578
(he claimed the harbour of Newfoundland in 1583)
• his half-brother Sir Walter Raleigh founded the
Roanoke Colony on the coast of North-Carolina
(due to a supply problem the colony was unsuccessful)
• James I signed the “Treaty of London” which ended
the Anglo-Spanish War
→there was more attention towards the British Empire
• the end of the “First” British Empire was when the
Thirteen Colonies declared their independence
 Triangular Trade
• from the 16th to 17th century
• structure of the triangular trade:
1. manufactured goods from Britain to Africa
(copper, cloth, jewels, necklaces, guns and
ammunition)
2. slaves from Africa to America
3. cash crops from America to Britain
(sugar, rum, and tobacco)
 Triangular Trade
• from the 16th to 17th century
• structure of the triangular trade:
1. manufactured goods from Britain to Africa
(copper, cloth, jewels, necklaces, guns and
ammunition)
2. slaves from Africa to America
3. cash crops from America to Britain
(sugar, rum, and tobacco)
Rivalry with the
Netherlands
• the British and Dutch EIC´s challenged each
other
• the Dutch had a much more advanced
financial system which lead to their stronger
position after the three Anglo-Dutch wars
• solution of the rivalries:
1. in the Glorious Revolution (1688) the Dutch
Prince William of Orange became the
British monarch → peace between the
countries
2. the Netherlands got the spice trade in the
East Indies archipelago and Britain the
textiles industry in India
• William III reformed the British economy
Conflicts with France
• after Charles I of Spain´s death (1700) a grandson of
the French king wanted to be his successor (→unification of
Spain and France (and their colonies))
→War of the Spanish Succession in 1714
→due to the victory the Empire was enlarged and
Britain was allowed to sell slaves in Spain's Colonies)
• conflicts in the 18th century over the supremacy on the
Indian subcontinent
• victory of the British against the joined forces of the Nawab
of Bengal and the French East India Company
• after the Seven Year´s War France had to give their North
American possessions to the victors and Britain became the
superior maritime power
Loss of the US
• the Parliament planned to tax the
Thirteen Colonies
• rejection of the British authorities
• Britain sent troops to restore the
order in the colonies
• in 1775 the troublemakers started
an uprising and declared their
independence in 1776
• in 1778 France entered the war
• at the Peace of Paris the US-
American independence was
accepted
• about 100.000 loyal citizens fled to
Canada
 “Second“ British
Empire (1783-1815)
New colony for convicts:
• after the loss of the US, Britain turned
towards Australia and colonised it
• James Cook claimed Australia for Britain in
1770
• in 1788 the first ship of convicts arrived in
Botany Bay
• until 1840 convicts were transported to New
South Wales
(to Tasmania until 1853 and to Western
Australia until 1868)
Napoleonic Wars
• Napoleon tried to invade Britain
• victory over the Spanish-French fleet
at Trafalgar in 1805
• the French ports were blockaded
• in 1815 France was finally defeated
in the Battle of Waterloo
• result for Britain:
1. France handed over:
Ionian Islands, Malta, Mauritius,
Saint Lucia and Tobago
2. Spain handed over Trinidad
3. Netherlands handed over:
Guyana, Ceylon and Cape Colony
4. Britain returned:
Guadalupe, Martinique and
Réunion
Abolition of slavery
• trough the Industrial Revolution slavery lost importance
• the Slave Trade Act was created in 1807 in order to
abolish slave trade and a colony was created for them
• in 1834 slavery was abolished in the British Empire
(Slavery Abolition Act)
• the slaves received full emancipation and their former
owners received a severance pay
Britain´s imperial
century
• about 26 million km2 and 400 million
people were added to Britain´s Empire
• Britain started the “Pax Britannica” and the
“splendid isolation”
• Britain gained more power trough British
inventions (for example: the steamship or
the telegraph)
From HEIC´s India to the
“Jewel of the Crown”
• in 1773 the HEIC asked for assistance in
their financial crisis
• the British Government took over the
control of the HEIC
• Queen Victoria became Empress of India
and India the “Jewel of the Crown”
“The Great Game”
• the Ottoman-, Qajar- and Qing Dynasty were shrinking
• Britain and Russia competed in Central Asia, because
Britain was afraid facing an overland invasion of India
• Afghanistan was invaded in order to build a protection
zone to an Russian invasion in 1839
• in 1853 Russia invaded the Balkans which resulted fears of
a Russian dominance in the Mediterranean and Middle
East and led to the Crimean War (1854-56)
• the Crimean War was the only war between the European
imperial powers during the Pax Britannica
• Russia was defeated in the Crimean War
• until the Anglo-Russian Entente in 1907 the situation
remained tense
Cape to Cairo
• Britain´s Cape Colony expanded
→the “Boers” chose to go North
→building of independent republics
(Transvaal Republic and Orange Free State)
• after the Second Boer War (1899 - 1902) Britain
occupied the two colonies
• in 1869 Napoleon III opened the Suez Canal
→Britain bought the 44 % shareholding from
Egypt for £ 4 million
→in 1888 the Canal was made a neutral territory
• in 1884/1885 the Berlin Conference was held in
order to clarify the boundaries between the
interest areas of the European imperial powers
• idea of a “Cape to Cairo“-railway by Cecil Rhodes
 Independence for
white colonies
• self government and unification of Upper
and Lower Canada in 1839
• in 1840 the Province of Canada was created
• the British North America Act in 1867
formed the Dominion of Canada
• Australia and New Zealand followed in 1901
 Independence for
white colonies
• in 1800 the UK and Ireland were unified
(Act of Union)
• hopes of the British PM William Gladstone
that the Irish would become a Dominion
• in 1886 the Home Rule Bill did not pass
Parliament
• the second Home Rule bill was defeated
• the third bill passed the Parliament in 1914
but due to the war it was not executed
First World War
• in the beginning Britain occupied
all German Colonies
• 2.5 million soldiers from the
Dominions (and many thousand
volunteers from other colonies)
• change from colonies to nations
(→ Anzac Day)
• extension of the British Empire
with 4.7 million km2 and
13 million people
Inter-war period
• rise of Japan and the USA as naval powers
• the delay of the Irish home rule led to riots and
Ireland declared independence
• the IRA started a guerilla war
• in 1922 Egypt received independence
• In 1932 Iraq gained independence
• In 1923 the Dominions received the allowance
to handle foreign policy by their own
Second World War
• Britain declared war against Nazi Germany
→it included their colonies and India
→it did not include the Dominions but
they also declared war
• the Dominion of Ireland chose to stay
neutral
• when France was defeated in June 1940,
Britain fought alone until April 1941 when
Greece entered the war
• Churchill was able to make Franklin
Roosevelt provide military aid but the USA
did not want to enter the war against
Germany
• in December 1941 Japan attacked Pearl
Harbour which led to the USA entering war
• the British and their allies won the war
Decolonisation (Decline)
• in 1945 the pro-decolonization Labour party was elected
• Britain practiced a peaceful disengagement from its colonies
(in contrast to others who fought costly ineffective wars to keep
them)
• they established non-communist democratic governments
• the British Empire´s population sank from 700 million to 5 million
from 1945 to 1965
• until 1968 every African British colony gained freedom
 Legacy of the British
Empire

• English as a lingua franca

• sovereignty over 14 territories outside the
British Isles
• Queen Elizabeth II is the monarch with the
largest landmass
• English parliament system was the template
for many governments in their former colonies
• the British sports spread over the globe
Commonwealth of
Nations
• association of 53 members
• constituted in 1949 trough the London
Declaration
• the head is the current British monarch
• the members are dedicated to principles of world peace,
liberty, human rights, equality, and free trade
• they have to have English as a language and have to
accept the British monarch as the head of the
organisation
Sources:
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