Analyzing the Role of Economics in the Spread of the British Empire

Analyzing the Role of Economics in the Spread of the British Empire

The British Empire established by the United Kingdom was for nearly a century the most powerful political, economic, cultural and scientific world. It has often been described as the first global superpower, mainly due to its hegemony and its extent. At its zenith in the early decades of the twentieth century, it had a population of 400 to 500 million people (about a quarter of humans) and extended over the territories covering 36.6 million km (about a quarter of land area), reaching well as the largest empire in history. This empire began about 300 years earlier in a succession of phases of expansion by trade, colonization or conquest, interspersed with intervals of peaceful activities or contractions. Its territories were scattered on every continent (Dovring, Pp.511).

The British Empire facilitated the spread of technology, increased trade, language and the British government around the globe. This hegemony contributed to the extraordinary economic expansion and considerably strengthened its influence on the evolution of the world. From the perspective of the colonies, the results are more mixed. They received the English language (the phenomenon of creolization was very marginal), an administrative and legal structure based on the British model at least at the top, a technological and economic development. However, British colonial policy was always conducted according to the commercial interests of the metropolis. As the economies of the settlement were developed with the infrastructure to support balanced development, those in tropical Africa were only intended to provide raw materials and a monoculture based on the principle of comparative advantage. Handling conflicts and ethnic identity in order not to allow that one league against the occupying power - the classic strategy of divide and rule - left a legacy of serious problems between communities with different status, such as Native Americans in North America with the worsening demographic imbalance (Gallagher, pp. 1).

Between 1870 and the outbreak of the First World War, the ideology of European colonial expansion is often called the new imperialism. This race took place mainly in Africa, which was not previously available due to lack of drugs such as quinine for treating endemic diseases, and Southeast Asia. Racism of slavery was implemented on these populations with large differences in treatment. The entrance to the UK dates back to 1875 when the Conservative government bought the head of Egypt Ismail Pasha in debt, its share of the Suez Canal to ensure control of this strategic waterway opened six years ago, only to occupy military area in 1882 (Merriman, pp.1412).

The fear of the secular expansion of Russia to the south was another decisive strategic factor: in 1878, the United Kingdom includes Cyprus in its empire as a base to counter a Russian attack against the Ottoman Empire after taking part in the Crimean War and invaded Afghanistan. In this country, the rebellion and the difficult field goals British and a complete army was ...