Editing British Armed Forces (section)

===British Empire===
[[File:Battle of Trafalgar Poster 1805.jpg|thumb|A modern reproduction of an 1805 poster commemorating the [[Battle of Trafalgar]]]]

During the later half of the 17th century, and in particular, throughout the 18th century, British foreign policy sought to contain the expansion of rival European powers through military, diplomatic and commercial means, especially of its chief competitors [[Spain]], the [[Netherlands]], and [[France]]. This saw Britain engage in a number of intense conflicts over colonial possessions and world trade, including a long string of Anglo-Spanish and Anglo-Dutch wars, as well as a series of "world wars" with France, such as; the [[Seven Years' War]] (1756–1763), the [[French Revolutionary Wars]] (1792–1802) and the [[Napoleonic Wars]] (1803–1815). During the Napoleonic wars, the Royal Navy victory at [[Battle of Trafalgar|Trafalgar]] (1805) under the command of [[Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson|Horatio Nelson]] (aboard [[HMS Victory|HMS ''Victory'']]) marked the culmination of British maritime supremacy, and left the Navy in a position of uncontested hegemony at sea.<ref>Nelson's Navy: The Ships, Men, and Organization, 1793-1815Brian Lavery</ref> By 1815 and the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars, Britain had risen to become the world's dominant [[great power]] and the [[British Empire]] subsequently presided over a period of relative peace, known as [[Pax Britannica]].<ref name=Johnston>{{cite book|last1=Johnston|first1=Douglas M.|last2=Reisman|first2=W. Michael|title=The Historical Foundations of World Order|date=2008|publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers|location=Leiden|isbn=978-9047423935|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dVuwCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA508|ref=refJohnston2008}}, pp.&nbsp;508–10.</ref><ref>[[Brison D. Gooch]], ''Recent Literature on Queen Victoria's Little Wars'' ''Victorian Studies,'' 17#2 (1973): 217-224 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3826186 online].</ref>

With Britain's old rivals no-longer a threat, the 19th century saw the emergence of a new rival, the [[Russian Empire]], and a strategic competition in what became known as [[The Great Game]] for supremacy in [[Central Asia]].<ref name=keay419>{{cite book|last=Keay|first=John|title=India: A History|year=2010|publisher=Grove Press|location=New York, NY|isbn=978-0-8021-4558-1|edition=revised|author-link=John Keay|pages=418–9}}</ref> Britain feared that Russian expansionism in the region would eventually threaten the [[British Raj|Empire]] in India.<ref name=keay419/> In response, Britain undertook a number of pre-emptive actions against perceived Russian ambitions, including the [[First Anglo-Afghan War]] (1839–1842), the [[Second Anglo-Afghan War]] (1878–1880)<ref name=Schmidt>{{cite book|last=Schmidt|first=Karl J.|title=An Atlas and Survey of South Asian History|year=1995|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|isbn=978-1563243332|page=[https://archive.org/details/atlassurveyofsou0000schm/page/74 74]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/atlassurveyofsou0000schm/page/74}}</ref> and the [[British expedition to Tibet]] (1903–1904). During this period, Britain also sought to maintain the [[Balance of power (international relations)|balance of power]] in Europe, particularly against Russian expansionism,<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Hew Strachan | first1 = Hew | year = 1978 | title = Soldiers, Strategy and Sebastopol | journal = Historical Journal | volume = 21 | issue = 2| pages = 303–325 | doi=10.1017/s0018246x00000558 | jstor=2638262| s2cid = 154085359 }}</ref> who at the expense of the waning [[Ottoman Empire]] had ambitions to "carve up the European part of Turkey".<ref name=ALambert>{{cite web|last1=Lambert|first1=Andrew|title=The Crimean War|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/crimea_01.shtml|website=The BBC - History|publisher=The BBC|access-date=21 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151210171630/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/crimea_01.shtml|archive-date=10 December 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> This ultimately led to British involvement in the [[Crimean War]] (1854–1856) against the Russian Empire.<ref name=ALambert/>

[[File:Royal Irish Rifles ration party Somme July 1916.jpg|thumb|[[Royal Irish Rifles]] soldiers at the [[Battle of the Somme]] in 1916]]