Overview of the History of the British Isles
and Empire

The influence of the British empire on the modern world can hardly be overstated. It was the birthplace of modern parliamentary democracy. The industrial revolution and scientific revolution occurred predominantly within its bounds. The ideas of free-trade, globalism, and modern capitalism were all conceived of and brought forth from the British dominions.

From the 18th century on Britain dominated the fields of exploration and geography, particularly in North America, the South Seas, and Africa. Britain produced many of the greatest mathematicians, scientists, and inventors that the world has ever known. It revolutionized ideas of international economics, trade, and banking. It produced enough of the greatest political philosophers, statesmen and military leaders to lead the entire world into the modern era. British jurisprudence is the basis for most western legal systems and British accounting, corporation and banking systems are the basis for the entire international monetary system. Even the United States, unquestionably the most influential country in the world today, is essentially a "spin-off" from the British Empire.

King John signing the Magna Carta

While America grew and thrived in relative isolation, however, Britain sought to spread its influence the world over and to "civilize" and "modernize" the native populations in many of its domains. These efforts were not always successful, but much could be learned both from Britain's failures and its achievements in its dealings with indigenous peoples.

In short, whether one approves or disapproves of various aspects of modernism; whether one exalts or laments the effects of British imperialism; the overall influence of British culture on the modern world is gigantic. The British Empire was a virtual juggernaut of modernization, for good or ill, and it is nearly impossible to understand the genesis of almost any modern idea, from capitalism to socialism, from free-trade, globalism, and industry, to scientific inquiry and religious pluralism, without understanding the contributions of Great Britain.

At the time of its earliest recorded history, the British Isles were Celtic, but in the fifth and sixth centuries AD. Teutonic tribes from Denmark and Germany invaded and conquered southeast Britain, and founded the nation we know as England. The native Celts were pushed West and North and eventually formed the nations we know as Ireland, Wales and Scotland. These Celtic nations, for hundreds of years were in conflict with the dominant Anglo-Saxons, but were to varying degrees subdued by their richer and more powerful neighbor.

Saxon England was invaded in 1066 by the Normans, who brought with them from France the model of a powerful centralized government, inherited from the formerly Roman dominions over which they ruled. Although the Normans had a tremendous influence on English government, the culture and language of the country remained predominantly Saxon. The Norman line reigned for 90 years, but was superseded by the Plantagenets dynasty founded by Henry II, a great-grandson of William the Conqueror. The Plantagenets reigned for over 300 years, through most of the middle ages, and included very many well known kings such as Richard Couer de Leon, Edwards I, II and III, and Henry V, hero of Agincourt. The best known wars of the Plantagenet reign were the Hundred Years War with France, and the War of the Roses, a civil war within England that brought the Plantagenet dynasty to an end.

London Bridge

The Tudor dynasty was founded by Henry Tudor, and is forever associated with the reformation in England. Henry VIII of England and his daughters Mary and Elizabeth were the most important Tudor monarchs, and all three were prominent figures in the English reformation. The Tudor reign ended near the turn of the 17th century when Queen Elizabeth died without an heir and throne was passed to her nephew James Stuart, King of Scotland. For the next 100 years, England and Scotland were ruled as separate countries under the Stuart Kings. Just as the Tudors are known as the reformation monarchs, the Stuarts are forever associated with the English Civil Wars, and the struggles of Parliament to gain predominance over the monarch. In this effort, extending over the entire 17th century, Parliament did succeed, and when James II of England, the fourth Stuart monarch was deposed at the behest of Parliament, their predominance over the English Monarchy was assured.

In the closing years of the Stuart dynasty, Scotland and England were finally united into a single nation under the flag of Great Britain. The Stuarts were succeeded by the Hanoverians, and it is from their reign that the era of the British Empire is usually dated. The Foundation of the empire was laid in the mid 1700's under the brilliant statesman William Pitt the Elder. He master-minded the final victory of the British over the French in North America, the conquest of Bengal and the Carnatic region in India, and the build up of British naval power. Shortly after these great victories Britain's colonies in the Americas declared their independence, ironically, with the support of Pitt, who counseled strongly against the high-handed methods of George III of England, and thereby lost his influence in the government he had done so much to build up.

The turn of the 19th century brought a protracted struggle with France known as the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. After a twenty year conflict, Britain and her allies prevailed against France. All of Europe suffered great losses during the wars, including Britain, but she recovered quickly and for the next one hundred years was the worlds' greatest sea power, dominated international trade, and steadily increased her dominions. During the Napoleonic Wars Britain had gained control of many French and Dutch colonies and increased her territories in North America and Asia. The 19th century saw enormous economic and industrial growth in Britain, her population surged, and British citizens settled in colonies all over the globe. By the turn of the 20th century she was still uncontested as a global power, but Germany was quickly becoming the dominant military and industrial power on the continent.

The 19th century had been one of great optimism and promise in Britain, but by the turn of the century signs of internal decay and dissent were beginning to show. When the Great War broke out in 1914, it proved to be utterly calamitous, not only in tangible material loss and human life, but in terms of human aspiration as well. The great promise of modernism, including the illusion of control that science and industry had placed in Britain's hands, was beginning to break down as the dark side of technological progress showed its terrifying face. The British people, with their great faith in education and progress had all but forgotten how wretched even civilized men could become. They won the Great War, but to a great extent lost their reckless faith in progress, and within a generation, the British Empire was dissolved.

British Empire (in pink), 1907

The Scope of British History covered in these sections, extends from the Roman invasion of Britain, in 54 B.C. to the aftermath of the Great War. British history is to a great extent, synonymous with "English History", but its geographic, and ethnic complexities, particularly in the colonial era, require a division into sub-eras that are organized geographically as well as chronologically. For much of England's history, territories beyond the British Isles were governed by English Kings, but it was not until the point at which Scotland and England joined to become Great Britain, that the foundations of the British Empire were laid. A division therefore exists between the "History of England", which encompasses all British history up to 1707, and the "History of the British Empire" which encompasses the 18th and 19th centuries, up until the Great War. The history of Scotland is included with the first division, and the history of Great Britain’s most important colonies, including British dominions in America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania, are included with the second division.

Historical Eras of England

Historical Eras of the British Empire