British Empire
The British Empire was an imperial complex centered on the United Kingdom.
Contents
History
Early British colonies were not an empire by modern definitions.
- Most of the colonies were chartered companies. The business scheme was a perpetuation of the feudal system:
- The rising class of new wealth purchased titles from a higher (i.e., royal) authority...
- then organized militia to defend their claims...
- and finally bought the services of serfs to work the land.
- Among the actual royal colonies, the governorships were not powerful posts.
- They did not grant many opportunities to extract wealth.
They did not translate to influence in the Parliament.
- not a part of English/Welsh/Scottish/Irish peerages, so no seat in the House of Lords
- no representation in the House of Lords meant no amount of wealth could buy a pocket borough
Despite the best efforts of the monarch, royal influence in the colonies was limited.
Influential factions in the Parliament suspected that the colonies would be the steppingstone to establishing an absolute monarchy at home.
The Victorian era was a turning point.
The UK entered the Napoleonic Wars bankrupted by a long series of land wars over continental claims (especially, especially, Hanover; although Spain was insistent upon Menorca and Gibraltar) and a colonial rebellion that attracted opportunism from the Dutch and French.
The UK survived the Napoleonic Wars and became interested in...
- a rules-based international order that could perpetuate a (peaceful) status quo.
pax Britannica
- a reorientation of the empire towards trade.
- a rules-based international order that could perpetuate a (peaceful) status quo.
Gunboat diplomacy emerged as an efficient coercive force that could achieve both of the above goals, and was entirely consistent with the already-dominant Royal Navy.
TODO: learn more history!
Decolonization made the imperial structure inconvenient, even after many of the more self-sufficient colonies established de facto or actual independence. See the British Overseas Territories for the modern continuation of the imperial complex.
Structure
The empire rose as England was fast becoming a constitutional monarchy. While the monarchs did claim titles such as emperor of India, they were not the effective head of state.
TODO: learn some history of Home Office/Colonial Office