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Beginnings The first time that the British came into contact from outside people since the disappearance of the land bridge connecting the British Isles to mainland Europe occured in the year 43 A. D. This was the year that Ceasar send a Roman expeditionary force under the command of August Plates to the British Isles. Although the indigenous Celtic tribesmen put up heavy initial resistance, superior armed and trained Roman Legionnairies were able to subdue them and successfully occupy Great Britian all the way up to the border of modern day Scotland. Over the course of the next 367 years, Great Britian experiences an era of relative peace under Roman rule. Celtic and Roman culture coalesced into a unique society, and Christianity was introduced to Britain.
The year 410 A. D. brought about great change though, when Rome withdrew all of its occupation forces from Britain in order to fight the Goths in western Germany. This abandonment left the British people very vulnerable, and almost immediately afterwards various Scandinavian and Germanic tribes began raiding the seemingly defenseless British Isles. Three of these groups, the Anglo's, the Saxons, and the Jutes, began establishing permanent settlements along England's southern coast (the word England actually descends from the country's ancient name Angliland, or Anglo Land. ) After years of widespread ethnic conflict, the Anglo-Saxons had driven the indigenous Britons back to modern day Scotland and Wales, and came to dominate most of the main island. Towards the end of the first century another group begins to plunder the British Isles, they called themselves the Vikings but were known as the Danes to the Anglo-Saxons.
Violent conflict erupted as the Vikings pillaged, looted, and terrorized coastal Britain. At one point, the Vikings under the leadership of King Harrod came close to actually taking over the entire island but were defeated at the battle of Dover. The British people, now united under a single government, continued to repel Viking invasion attempts until 1066, when William of Normandy defeated an exhausted and ill equiped British army at the battle of Hastings. William went to London and made himself the new king of Britain. Massive change resulted from Norman rule, establishing a new ruling class. During this period, King William, and King Henry II expanded their empire into France and Britian became a powerful nation in Europe.
After the death of king Henry though, social unrest arose, which eventually manifested itself into civil war, causing British holdings in mainland Europe to erode away in a period of time known as "The war of the Roses." The First British Empire Queen Elizabeth I was ruler of Britain during the European age of exploration. During this time, Spain had begun colonizing the new world. After seeing the vast amount of wealth being acquired, British explorers made expeditions to Canada and present day U. S.
and set up various settlements. The first permanent British settlement in the new world was Jamestown, Virginia, established in 1607. More British colonies began rapidly popping up in North America as people immigrated there to seek financial opportunity and escape religious persecution. Britain began to compete with several other European powers, mainly Spain and France, in conquering and colonizing land around the world.
This competition led to several violent conflicts between the powers including the sinking of the Spanish armada by the British navy, and the French and Indian war, which resulted in complete British control of Canada. The British established colonies in the Carribbean such as Jamaica and the Virgin Islands as well, and set up sugar, cocoa, molasses, and African slave trade. To help pay for expensive wars in the Americas, British government levied taxes on the American colonists, causing great amounts of civil unrest. Fighting eventually broke out between British soldiers and American colonists and in 1776, the colonies declared their independance from Great Britain.
The British government was fearful that if the Americans succeeded in usurping British control, other colonies might be compelled to rebel; so a sizeable British force was sent to quash the uprising. The British government was unable to stop the rebellion and was forced to surrender. The British government remained bitter towards the United States and refused to fully recognize the country. The British navy begins the practice of impression of American sailors, and that, along with a few other factors led to the war of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain, in which Britain unsuccessfully attempted to reclaim America. The Second British Empire France gained huge power in Europe under the leadership of Napoleon Bonaparte, and begins conquering neighboring countries early in the 1800 's. Great Britain declares war on France and forms an alliance with Russia and Germany and eventually defeats Napoleon.
After losing the a large portion of their empire during the American revolution, Britain began to shift its attention elsewhere in the world. Slavery is abolished in Britain in 1807, as well as the old colonial system of direct political rule. The British East India Company established trade with the Indies, and came to dominate Burma, Malaya, Hong Kong, Pakistan, and India. The Company enjoyed not only economic, but political control over the entire area. In 1858, The British East India Company handed control of its holdings over to the British government after a series of revolts. The addition of India to te British empire brought vast amounts of wealth to the empire, through exporting goods such as tea, silk, and spices.
Along with the Japanese, Dutch, and Russians, Britain gained control over China as well. During this period, Australia is also colonized and used as a giant prison camp in order to relieve stress on other jails throughout the empire. Neo-Imperialism After a long economic depression in the late 1800 's, British global dominance became Jeopardized by a few rapidly developing nations such as Germany, Italy, France, the United States, and Russia. As a result, the age of "informal" imperialism under the second empire, established as more of economic than political dominance ends. The Berlin conference of 1884 - 85, between Britain, France and Germany stated that official imperial control of a colony required military occupation. Also around this time, Africa had become extensively mapped by European explorers, and the British government became aware of the potential wealth that could be reaped from the continent.
This led to an African "scramble" in the early 1900 's, which resulted in huge areas of land in Africa b...
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Research essay sample on British East India East India Company
