Editing Imperialism (section)

=== United Kingdom ===
{{Main|Historiography of the British Empire|British Empire}}
[[File:Henry Singleton - The Last Effort and Fall of Tippoo Sultan - WGA21457.jpg|thumb|''[[The Last Effort and Fall of Tippoo Sultaun]]'' by [[Henry Singleton (painter)|Henry Singleton]], c.1800. [[Tipu Sultan|Tipu]], [[Kingdom of Mysore|Sultan of Mysore]], an ally of [[Napoleone Bonaparte]], confronted [[Presidency armies|British East India Company forces]] at the [[Siege of Seringapatam (1799)|Siege of Srirangapatna]], where he was killed.]]
[[File:Resa del bacino del Brandewater.jpg|thumb|The result of the [[Boer Wars]] was the annexation of the [[Boer Republics]] to the British Empire in 1902.]]

==== England ====

England's imperialist ambitions can be seen as early as the 16th century as the [[Tudor conquest of Ireland]] began in the 1530s. In 1599 the British [[East India Company]] was established and was chartered by Queen Elizabeth in the following year.<ref name="Painter & Jeffrey"/>{{Rp|174}} With the establishment of trading posts in India, the British were able to maintain strength relative to other empires such as the Portuguese who already had set up trading posts in India.<ref name="Painter & Jeffrey"/>{{Rp|174}}

==== Scotland ====

Between 1621 and 1699, the [[Kingdom of Scotland]] authorised [[Scottish colonization of the Americas|several colonies in the Americas]]. Most of these colonies were either closed down or collapsed quickly for various reasons.

==== United Kingdom ====

Under the [[Acts of Union 1707]], the English and Scottish kingdoms were merged, and their colonies collectively became subject to [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] (also known as the United Kingdom). The empire Great Britain would go on to found was the largest empire that the world has ever seen both in terms of landmass and population. Its power, both military and economic, remained unmatched for a few decades.

In 1767, the [[Anglo-Mysore Wars]] and other political activity caused exploitation of the East India Company causing the plundering of the local economy, almost bringing the company into bankruptcy.<ref name="ReferenceC">"British Empire" British Empire | historical state, United Kingdom | Encyclopædia Britannica Online</ref> By the year 1670 Britain's imperialist ambitions were well off as she had colonies in Virginia, Massachusetts, Bermuda, [[Honduras]], [[Antigua]], [[Barbados]], [[Jamaica]] and [[Nova Scotia]].<ref name="ReferenceC"/>
Due to the vast imperialist ambitions of European countries, Britain had several clashes with France. This competition was evident in the colonization of what is now known as Canada. [[John Cabot]] claimed Newfoundland for the British while the French established colonies along the St. Lawrence River and claiming it as "New France".<ref>{{Cite web |title=New France (1608–1763) |url=http://www.canadiana.ca/citm/themes/pioneers/pioneers3_e.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141008091712/http://www.canadiana.ca/citm/themes/pioneers/pioneers3_e.html |archive-date=October 8, 2014 |access-date=February 3, 2015 |website=Canada in the Making}}</ref> Britain continued to expand by colonizing countries such as New Zealand and Australia, both of which were not empty land as they had their own locals and cultures.<ref name="Painter & Jeffrey"/>{{Rp|175}} Britain's nationalistic movements were evident with the creation of the commonwealth countries where there was a shared nature of national identity.<ref name="Painter & Jeffrey"/>{{Rp|147}}

Following the [[proto-industrialization]], the "First" [[British Empire#"First" British Empire (1707–1783)|British Empire]] was based on [[mercantilism]], and involved colonies and holdings primarily in North America, the Caribbean, and India. Its growth was reversed by the loss of the American colonies in 1776. Britain made compensating gains in India, Australia, and in constructing an informal economic empire through control of trade and finance in Latin America after the independence of Spanish and Portuguese colonies in about 1820.<ref>Piers Brendon, ''The Decline and Fall of the British Empire, 1781–1997'' (2008) p. 61</ref> By the 1840s, the United Kingdom had adopted a highly successful policy of [[Economic history of the United Kingdom#19th century|free trade]] that gave it dominance in the trade of much of the world.<ref>Lawrence James, ''The Rise and Fall of the British Empire'' (1997) pp. 169–83</ref> After losing its first Empire to the Americans, Britain then turned its attention towards Asia, Africa, and the Pacific. Following the defeat of Napoleonic France in 1815, the United Kingdom enjoyed a century of almost unchallenged dominance and expanded its imperial holdings around the globe. [[Royal Navy#1815–1914|Unchallenged at sea]], British dominance was later described as ''[[Pax Britannica]]'' ("British Peace"), a period of relative peace in Europe and the world (1815–1914) during which the British Empire became the global [[hegemon]] and adopted the role of global policeman. However, this peace was mostly a perceived one from Europe, and the period was still an almost uninterrupted series of colonial wars and disputes. The [[British Raj|British Conquest of India]], its intervention against [[Mehemet Ali]], the [[Anglo-Burmese Wars]], the [[Crimean War]], the [[Opium Wars]] and the [[Scramble for Africa]] to name the most notable conflicts mobilised ample military means to press Britain's lead in the global conquest Europe led across the century.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Johnston |first1=Douglas M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dVuwCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA508 |title=The Historical Foundations of World Order |last2=Reisman |first2=W. Michael |date=2008 |isbn=978-9047423935 |pages=508–510|publisher=BRILL }}</ref><ref name="ReferenceB">[[#refOHBEv3|Porter]], p.&nbsp;332.</ref><ref>Sondhaus, L. (2004). ''Navies in Modern World History''. London: Reaktion Books. p. 9. {{ISBN|1-86189-202-0}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Porter |first=Andrew |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oo3F2X8IDeEC |title=The Nineteenth Century, The Oxford History of the British Empire Volume III |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-19-924678-6 |page=332 |publisher=Oxford University Press |ref=refOHBEv3}}</ref>

In the early 19th century, the [[Industrial Revolution]] began to transform Britain; by the time of [[the Great Exhibition]] in 1851 the country was described as the "workshop of the world".<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=The Workshop of the World |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/workshop_of_the_world_01.shtml |magazine=BBC History |access-date=28 April 2013}}</ref> The British Empire expanded to include [[British Raj|India]], large [[British Empire#Cape to Cairo|parts of Africa]] and many other territories throughout the world. Alongside the formal control it exerted over its own colonies, British dominance of much of world trade meant that it effectively [[Informal Empire|controlled the economies of many regions]], such as Asia and Latin America.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Porter |first=Andrew |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oo3F2X8IDeEC |title=The Nineteenth Century, The Oxford History of the British Empire Volume III |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-19-924678-6 |page=8 |publisher=Oxford University Press |ref=refOHBEv3}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Marshall |first=P.J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S2EXN8JTwAEC |title=The Cambridge Illustrated History of the British Empire |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-521-00254-7 |pages=156–57 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |ref=refMarshall}}</ref> Domestically, political attitudes favoured free trade and laissez-faire policies and a gradual widening of the voting franchise. During this century, the population increased at a dramatic rate, accompanied by rapid urbanisation, causing significant social and economic stresses.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tompson |first=Richard S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H5kcJqmXk2oC&pg=PA63 |title=Great Britain: a reference guide from the Renaissance to the present |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-8160-4474-0 |page=63|publisher=Infobase }}</ref> To seek new markets and sources of raw materials, the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] under [[Disraeli]] launched a period of imperialist expansion in Egypt, South Africa, and elsewhere. Canada, Australia, and New Zealand became self-governing dominions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hosch, William L. |title=World War I: People, Politics, and Power |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-61530-048-8 |series=America at War |page=21}}</ref><ref>James, ''The Rise and Fall of the British Empire'' (1997) pp. 307–18</ref>
[[File:British Empire 1921.png|thumb|upright=1.5|Map of the British Empire at its territorial peak in 1921]]
A resurgence came in the late 19th century with the [[Scramble for Africa]] and major additions in Asia and the Middle East. The British spirit of imperialism was expressed by [[Joseph Chamberlain]] and [[Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery|Lord Rosebury]], and implemented in Africa by [[Cecil Rhodes]]. The pseudo-sciences of Social Darwinism and theories of race formed an ideological underpinning and legitimation during this time. Other influential spokesmen included [[Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer|Lord Cromer]], [[George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston|Lord Curzon]], [[Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener|General Kitchener]], [[Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner|Lord Milner]], and the writer [[Rudyard Kipling]].<ref>William L. Langer, ''The Diplomacy of Imperialism: 1890–1902'' (2nd ed. 1950) pp. 67–100</ref> After the [[First Boer War]], the [[South African Republic]] and [[Orange Free State]] were recognised by the United Kingdom but eventually re-annexed after the [[Second Boer War]]. But British power was fading, as the reunited [[Germany|German state founded by the Kingdom of Prussia]] posed a growing threat to Britain's dominance. As of 1913, the United Kingdom was the world's fourth economy, behind the U.S., Russia and Germany.

[[Irish War of Independence]] in 1919–1921 led to the сreation of the Irish Free State. But the United Kingdom gained control of former German and Ottoman colonies with the [[League of Nations mandate]]. The United Kingdom now had a practically continuous line of controlled territories from Egypt to Burma and another one from Cairo to Cape Town. However, this period was also one of emergence of independence movements based on nationalism and new experiences the colonists had gained in the war.

[[World War II]] decisively weakened Britain's position in the world, especially financially. [[Decolonization]] movements arose nearly everywhere in the Empire, resulting in [[Indian independence movement|Indian independence and partition]] in 1947, the self-governing dominions break away from the empire in 1949, and the establishment of independent states in the 1950s. British imperialism showed its frailty in Egypt during the [[Suez Crisis]] in 1956. However, with the United States and Soviet Union emerging from World War II as the sole superpowers, Britain's role as a worldwide power declined significantly and rapidly.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Darwin |first=John |title=Britain, the Commonwealth and the End of Empire |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/endofempire_overview_01.shtml |access-date=13 April 2017 |publisher=BBC}}</ref>