Why the British Empire Fell: Many Wars and Their Impact

Introduction 

In the 17 th and 18 th centuries, the British empire was considered as being one of the greatest empires attributed to the hold that had on different countries around the world. Britain has been able to use its power and influence to create colonies in different parts of the world, which was seen as the main factor describing it as a great empire. Coming into the 20 th century, the grip that Britain had held on the world was declining, which signified the begin of its fall. It became hard for the empire to hold some of its colonies considering that majority of the countries that it had held were fighting for their independence. The fall of the British empire was predicted from different quotas with some of the analysts arguing that the empire was not as sustainable as Britain portrayed it. An example of an analysis of the British empire can be seen within the 1774 issue of the Lloyd's Evening Post, which provided readers with a futuristic view of London in ruins. 

This paper will seek to outline the decline of the British Empire by giving specific reasons that contributed to its decline and fall. The evaluation of Britain decline and fall creates a rather effective understanding on some of the key reasons leading to the need for countries to fight for their own independence while under the leadership of the British empire. The main events coming before the fall of the British empire were the fight within different countries in which most of the countries sought to gain their own independence from Britain. Additionally, this would also play a critical role towards understanding the extent to which Britain had been able to achieve overall growth throughout the years while losing grip in the early 20 th century. Generally, this would mean that the paper will provide readers with a rather proactive analysis of the British empire focusing on different aspects touching on its leadership in different parts of the world. 

The British Empire Spread and its Colonies 

The British Empire entailed protectorates, colonies, dominions, territories and the mandates that were ruled by the United Kingdom. In this essence, the British Empire originated from the trading posts and the overseas possessions that had been established by England from the late 16th Century to the early 18th Century. During this period, the British Empire was the largest empire over the centuries and historically. Given its expansiveness, it emerged at the leading global power considering by 1913, it accounted for 23% of the global population (Darwin, 2009) . This is because it had over 412 million people. By 1920, the British Empire accounted for 24% of the total land area on earth. Therefore, it had a widespread cultural, linguistic, legal and political legacy. 

It is for this reason that its legacy can still be felt even up to today. The available historical information suggests that the British Empire was both a British and world story, thus demonstrating its extent and expansiveness before it declined. Historically, its origin can be traced in the 16th Century when the British started to establish America’s colonies (Lloyd, 2006) . For instance, it should be noted that the expansion of the British Empire in the territories such as Asia was significantly facilitated by the trading posts that were being constructed by the London-based trade business. Despite such immense expansions, the French East India Company poised a great competition, thus forcing the organization to expand its territorial presence in India. However, this was facilitated using more than 260, 000 private armies. The Indian Rebellion further boosted such efforts in 1857, a phenomenon that enabled the British Crown to control the Indian subcontinent significantly, thus making it be the epicenter of the British Empire. 

Further expansions of the empire were further conducted through Asia. As a result, the British Empire ended up the largest ever empire to exist by 1913 (Gallagher, 2004) . By covering an approximated 25% of the global land surface, it should be acknowledged that the British Empire covered regions such as Asia, Africa, Australia, South America, and North America. From the analysis below, what is clear is that Britain experienced decline in its hold on the world leading to its ultimate fall. The analysis will seek to examine some of the key reasons as to why the hold that Britain has been able to maintain in different parts of the world was declining at the rate at which resulted in its ultimate fall. 

A Start to the fall 

The fall of the British empire began with a decline in the influence and hold that Britain has been able to maintain for a very long time over most of the countries around the world. The fall of the British empire was a steady process during which time the empire experienced a wide array of factors, discussed below, resulting in the overall losing of its position within the entire context of it being considered as one of the greatest empires in the world. The importance of having to examine the start of the fall is that it will help to place the ultimate fall into context. On the other hand, the analysis of the start of the fall is important, as it seeks to examine some of the key factors touching on Britain’s fall, which the leadership was not aware of; thus, paving the way for its ultimate fall. It is important to take note of the fact that Britain used different approaches to maintain its position in the world, which included having to show its military might. From a historical analysis, what can be noted is that Britain is among the countries that have engaged in the highest number of wars in different parts of the world, 

The Many Wars and Their Impact 

WWI and what this cost the British Empire 

The onset of the First World War ended up exposing significant shortcomings of the top leadership of the British military. During this period, embarrassing administrative messes were also experienced, further adding to the decline of the British Empire. On a different note, there were several warnings that key demands by the Irish nationalism had to meet. This was specifically communicated in terms of the Easter Uprising in Dublin in 1916 following the failure by Britain to fully implement the Third Irish Home Rule bill between 1913 and 1914. The passing of the bill sought to advance the need for Britain to engage in more borrowing as a way of building itself as one of the greatest empires. The money that it gets would be used to purchase weapons, as well as, help to maintain its control in the world through its leadership. Such incidents were later met by the growing demands that a huge loan is secured from the United States for the purpose of financing war efforts that were being fronted by Britain. 

Therefore, this indicated clearly that Britain, one of the greatest creditors back in the 19th century, had metamorphosed into an international debtor unable to meet its routine war expenses. Therefore, such incapacitation of Britain coupled with other prevailing economic and political aspects paved the way for Britain to experience a significant loss in its grip hold on the world. During this period, Britain was also faced with multiple internal conflicts even after the constitutional crisis that had lasted between 1909 and 1911 (Darwin, 2009) . Such conflicts led to calculated incidences of violence that escalated to serious death threats channeled to the serving members of the cabinet in Britain. The decline of the British Empire was further worsened by a series of strikes crafted by the alliance of dock, coal and transport workers. Such strikes caused major disturbances that weakened the grip of Britain on its territories. 

WWII and the lessening grip of the British Empire 

The decline and fall of the British Empire can also be attributed to the failed appeasement policy during the Second World War. This paved the way the fact that during this period, the British government led by Neville Chamberlain failed to offer a robust response to the aggrandizement policy that was being fronted by Hitler in Europe (Gallagher, 2004) . Given that during this period also Britain experienced interwar cuts with regard to the defense spending, it needed a significant amount of time to effectively rearm its military for it to challenge the Nazi aggression. This phenomenon resulted from the fact that the British army had lost many troops during the First World War, thus incapacitating its ability to take on the Nazis. This aspect further contributed to the fall of the British Empire. 

One of the traumatic events resulting in the rifts in Britain was the defeat of the Irish Home Rule bill that had been tabled. As a result, the phenomenon led to the split of the dominant Liberal party and the subsequent defection of key Liberal unionists such as Joseph Chamberlain. In particular, it should be noted that such defections make it difficult for the Liberals to win any convened elections. Following such happenings, it culminated into the coalition of Liberal unionists with the Conservatives, serving a big blow to the Liberal party. It is through such disagreements and rifts that the British Empire ended up declining (Darwin, 2009). In this case, the defeat of the fronted bill further meant that the contentious Irish question was going to remain unresolved. This was a major hiccup since it led to protracted controversy with the impact of threatening to destabilize the United States, thus causing its imminent decline. Therefore, the fall and decline of the British Empire can also be traced to the domestic political wrangles that were being experienced in the United Kingdom. 

The global supremacy that had been established by Britain threatened the rapid rise of the German Empire in terms of power and influence. For instance, Germany managed to dislodge the influence of Britain in the majority of its former territories. This was demonstrated when they offered moral support to the rebel groups that were clashing with Britain in Transvaal. Through such approaches, Germany managed to tame the influence of Britain by muscling it out on key African partitions (Darwin, 2009) . As such, it managed to divide the Cameroons that had initially formed part of the British Empire. Subsequently, Germany also adopted a massive naval building program aimed at rivaling Britain and significantly degrading its influence. Through such approaches, the British Empire was weakened, an aspect that subsequently led to its decline and fall. 

On the other hand, the abroad defeats that contributed to the decline of the empire were manifested in terms of the assassination of Lord Fredrick Cavendish, the chief secretary for Ireland by the Fenan splinter group. Similar defeats occurred in South Africa, especially during the Transvaal war stretching whereby the Africans ended up beating the British. Incidents of the defeat of British abroad was further manifested in Sudan, especially following the killing of General Gordon by the Mehdist rebels in Khartoum. More defeats faced by the British occurred when they suffered humiliation thrice during the South African war. This is because the British forces responsible for protecting the respective British Empire were defeated by the Boer civilian army. As a result, such multiple defeats experienced by the British military ended up exposing their shortcomings. 

Such an initial arrangement with France further helped Britain to be in good terms with Russia given that it was a formal ally of France. It is for this reason that Britain, which was the superpower in the 19th Century feared that it was no longer tenable for it to operate alone. This period was further characterized by other sobering events that contributed to the decline of the British Empire. Such events included the death of totemic queen Victoria and the adoption of the Treaty of Vereeniging, thus marking the end of the Boer war. Similar efforts were further replicated in other territories where the British have established their grip (Brown, & Louis, 1999) . For instance, this can be seen by the launch of the Muslim League and Sinn Fein in 1906 and 1905 respectively. 

The decline of the British Empire can also be attributed to the end of isolation that was being experienced by the United Kingdom prior to 1900s. This was the case when Britain signed an alliance with the rising power of Japan. According to the treaty that was later strengthened and renewed in 1905, either Britain or Japan was to come to the rescue of each other upon being attacked. For this arrangement to be effective, Britain was forced to terminate its relationship with France that had initially established frameworks for the two countries to lessen bilateral tensions with regard to the international and imperial rivalry. 

The Anglo-Irish treaty in 1921 further contributed to the decline of the British Empire. Despite the fact that the treaty aimed at providing resolution to the contentious Irish Question, it led to a civil war between the factions that were for and against the treaty. Such rivalry led to the acceptance of the Dominion of the Irish Free State as a temporary expedient by the Republicans. Such incidents marked the initial rapture of the union that had been established in 1801 in the United Kingdom. The decline of the British Empire was further made a reality when the constitutional status of the Dominions was defined by acknowledging their self-governance, thus giving them a choice to be excluded from the British foreign policy. This meant that the hope by the British Empire to fully retain a binding and coherent set of external policies was quickly depreciating, hence its subsequent fall and decline. 

A further decline was exacerbated by the general elections that were held in 1906 given that the elections helped in delivering an intuitionist landslide. There were several Liberal majority and Labor MPs having different affiliations to the House of Commons. After three years, the ferocious debate was ignited by Lloyd George with regard to taxation, thus leading to a serious constitutional crisis that ended up delaying and limiting the power of the House of Lords. The subsequent general election after these incidents resulted in a hung parliament and disarray with in the politics of Britain. 

Independence of India and the loss of other Asian Territories 

The fall of the expansive British Empire resulted from the Great Exhibition that took place in 1851. This is because the exhibition provided a platform for Britain to showcase its various aspects of the world, thus drawing global admiration and attention. At this time, Britain was perceived as the largest imperial power, industrial power, and the greatest naval power (Brown, & Louis, 1999) . Therefore, the Great Exhibition provided a platform for Britain to showcase its massive and extraordinary achievements. Besides this, it also provided an opportunity for Britain to show off its industrial and manufacturing wares. During the entire exhibition exercise, more than 100,000 objects were on display from an estimated 15,000 contributors. However, more than half of the items that were on display originated from Britain and its associated empires. Besides Britain, the other most significant foreign contributors during the Great Exhibition was France (Mawby, 2015) . Judging from the exhibited wares comprising an array of textiles, it became apparent that France was a significant competitor for Britain in the overseas markets. Russia was also another key contributor during the exhibition despite the fact that its exhibits were delayed on the way in the Baltic Sea. 

However, within a span of a few years, there were several signs that despite Britain successfully mounting the Great Exhibition, it became apparent that it was far from being reliable. This instigated the urgent need for reform to facilitate the combatting of such deprivation and inequalities. In the course of all these happenings, the Crimean War was adopted and a significant byword attributable to the inefficiency of the military (Brown, & Louis, 1999) . Therefore, it provided an ample opportunity for the Indian Rebellion to emerge, thus managing to overthrow the British rule in Bengal and Punjab territories. In this regard, it became evident that the self-confidence superiority shown by the British during the Great Exhibition was slowly declining. 

The colonial uprisings in its territories that were experienced in the 1860s. For instance, this can be evidenced by the Second Maori War experienced at the beginning of 1860 in New Zealand (Hall, 2000) . This was a major setback to the dominance that had been established by Britain, especially considering that the struggle lasted for more than 12 years until the regular troops' intervention by the British for the attainment of victory. In this case, the stubborn resistance exhibited by the Maoris during this period implied that the British had no other action than to admit them to the franchise. This meant that they qualify to enjoy a comparably higher status in the colonial society than the Aboriginals of Australia. Such phenomenon destabilized Britain’s grip in the territory. 

On an additional note, another colonial struggle in the British Empire erupted in 1865. This was manifested in terms of the Jamaica/Morant Bay Rebellion that took place when the slaves that had been freed at that time protested their lack of equality and impoverishment, especially after being crushed brutally by Governor Eyre. Even though the ringleaders of the uprising were hanged and a majority of them flogged and shot, it greatly destabilized the grip of the British Empire in the territory. This was manifested when many villages in the region ended up being burnt down. Besides this, the British Empire was further destabilized when the Fenian groups executed heinous acts of violence in 1867 by targeting Manchester and London (Brown, & Louis, 1999) . During the same year, British North America’s creation of the Dominion of Canada characterized by full internal self-governance, phased out the relevancy of the British Empire. Prior to these happenings, the First Communist internally had been set up by Karl Marx in 1864 in London. By 1869, the Suez Canal had been opened, thus further contributing to the systematic and slow decline of the British Empire. This is because by opening the Suez Canal, Britain was drawn into deep affairs with the Middle East and Egypt. The decline of the empire was further exacerbated by the Red River Rebellion that as taking place in Canada during the same period. 

Furthermore, the decline of the empire was further contributed by the invasion of Afghanistan during the similar year, a phenomenon that started disastrously. Even though Disraeli managed to purchase controlling shares to influence the Suez Canal for the purpose of easing the British control and access to the east, there was an incessant discontent among the working class at home, thus contributing to more troubles that befell the British Empire. The appalling loss of life during the Bengal famine further contributed to the decline of the British Empire. This is because it cast doubts over the claims of Britain that the warfare of Indian subjects by their queen played a central role to the civilization mission and rule of British (Lloyd, 2006). 

Conclusion 

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the British empire was considered as being one of the greatest empires attributed to the hold that had on different countries around the world. It is clear from the presented discussions that Britain was a superpower in the 19th Century. In this case, the British Empire had a population of over 412 million people and it accounted for an estimated 24% of the total land area on Earth. Despite such superiority, the paper has outlined a few reasons that can be attributed to the decline and fall of the British Empire. In this case, it has been outlined that the Great Exhibition, colonial uprisings, loss of life, defeats abroad and rifts at home, the rise of Germany and the end of isolation are some of the reasons accounting for the decline and fall of the British Empire. The fall of the British empire began with a decline in the influence and hold that Britain has been able to maintain for a very long time over most of the countries around the world. One of the traumatic events resulting in the rifts in Britain was the defeat of the Irish Home Rule bill that had been tabled. The decline of the British Empire can also be attributed to the end of isolation that was being experienced by the United Kingdom prior to 1900s. The decline of the empire was further contributed by the invasion of Afghanistan during the similar year, a phenomenon that started disastrously. 

References 

Brown, J., & Louis, W. R. (Eds.). (1999).  The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume IV: The Twentieth Century . OUP, Oxford. 

Darwin, J. (2009).  The empire project: the rise and fall of the British world-system, 1830– 1970 . Cambridge University Press. 

Gallagher, J. (2004).  The Decline, Revival and Fall of the British Empire: The Ford Lectures and Other Essays . Cambridge University Press. 

Hall, C. (Ed.). (2000).  Cultures of Empire: Colonizers in Britain and the Empire in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries: A Reader . Taylor & Francis. 

Lloyd, T. (2006).  Empire: A History of the British Empire . A&C Black. 

Mawby, S. (2015).  The Transformation and Decline of the British Empire: Decolonisation After the First World War . Macmillan International Higher Education.