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The British Empire

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Look at this map and the diagram about the British Empire in 1922

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An 'empire' is a group of countries ruled over by a single monarch or country.

An empire doesn't need an 'emperor'.

The British Empire comprised Britain, the 'mother country', and the colonies, territories located out of Britain but ruled by the British.

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The British began to conquer colonies in the 16th century.

By 1783 Britain had a large empire, with colonies in America and the West Indies. This 'first British Empire' came to end after the American Revolution.

However, in the 19th century, the British built a second worldwide empire with colonies in Asia and Africa.

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The first British Empire (16th-18th centuries)

Some important facts:

In 1497, only five years after Christopher Columbus sailed to the America, the Italian explorer John Cabot, financed by English merchants, discovered new lands in Canada.
After 1612, the East India Company began to build up a small empire of trading posts in India.
The first English colonies were formed in North America: Captain John Smith founded a permanent colony at Jamestown in Virginia.

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HOWEVER…..

Britain was defeated in the American War of Independence (1775‒1783) and this meant the loss of the American colonies and the end of the 'first British Empire'.

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More than 400 million people were part of the British Empire.
Britain became the 'Mother Country of a fifth (⅕) of the land in the world.
Countries such as New Zealand, Australia, China, India, Malaysia and part of Africa became British colonies.

The second British empire (18-19th centuries)

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The British Empire after 1924

After the First World War it became increasingly difficult for Britain to hold on to her Empire. It became clear that:

Britain could no longer afford an Empire
Britain had no right to rule peoples who did not want to be ruled by Britain
Britain realised that the Royal Navy was not strong enough to protect all the Empire anywhere in the world

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The British Empire after 1924

As a consequence:

Ireland rebelled between 1919 and 1921. In 1920‒1921 it was divided into Northern Ireland, which was part of the UK, and the Irish Free State which in 1949 became the completely independent Republic of Ireland and left the Commonwealth.

There was a strong independence movement in India:
Mohandas Gandhi led a non-cooperation movement which refused to obey British

laws, eg the Salt March, 1930

In 1935 the Government gave Indians control of everything except foreign

policy.

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The Commonwealth

The British Empire was over and replaced by a voluntary organisation of former colonies called the Commonwealth:

In 1926, the British government agreed the Balfour Declaration – that Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa were completely independent countries, "freely associated as members of the British Commonwealth of Nations".
In 1947, India and Pakistan were given independence.
Most of Britain's African and Caribbean colonies achieved independence in the 1960s.
In 1997, Britain formally handed Hong Kong back to China.

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TIME TO PLAY IN GROUPS!!!

Use the information above and your knowledge about countries worldwide to play in groups of 4 or 5 the game on the link below. The group with most correct answers in 5 minutes will be the winner. Don’t forget to read the “How to play” before starting to play:

http://www.sporcle.com/games/zeppelinoid/countries_of_the_british_empire