British empire Flashcards
(3 cards)
How did the British empire rise to power?
- Industrial Revolution. B ritain would become the first nation to ha rness the power of steam which in tur n would unleash an Industrial Revolution and an avalanche of high quality, mass-produced goods that would flood the
markets around the world. They, in tur n, would provide a technology gap that non-European nations would find difficult to compete with.
-British domination of the maritime communication and trade routes; The Royal Navy would undoubtedly become a formidable military institution, but it was not always
inevitable that Britannia would rule the waves. Naturally, being an island nation, shipbuilding and sailing would be important skills and industries to a country like England.
How far did the British empire extend?
They extended far as they were known as the empire on which the sun would never set. This is because they were in every continent
What caused the decline of the British empire?
Money
Following the Second World War, the British
Empire was no longer super-rich compared to
other powers.
The British could not afford to hold territories
that were not making them profit, and so were
more inclined to grant these territories
independence.
Britain realised that fighting wars against
countries wanting independence was more
expensive than just letting them leave.
-The Second World War
Following the Second World War, Britain was no longer the ruler of the world as it had been. Two new superpowers controlled much of the world; the USA and the USSR (Russia). These powers had more nuclear weapons and larger populations than the British Empire. They had more money too. Britain found that they were increasingly relying on the USA to police parts of the world that they no longer had the money or manpower to do themselves. The British Empire was no longer needed to hold the world together.
