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Why was Britain able to establish an Empire?

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  Quote bluesmaster Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Why was Britain able to establish an Empire?
    Posted: 08-Mar-2007 at 10:07
Hello everybody!

I am doing a paper on the topic stated in the title; "Why was Britain able to establish an Empire?". I've just got back from the library with a whole pile of books on the british empire and i am wondering; what should I be reading into. I have to find 3 theories on this subject. So far i've got; Naval Supremecy (could penetrate foreign markets), The Slave Trade gave them the financial means, and thirdly the growth of Britains manufacturing industry. Now am i going in going in the right direction or is there something i have totally forgotten about?
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  Quote pekau Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08-Mar-2007 at 10:40
Um... I don't know about slavery. That would be some irony in the  essay, which is not good. Britain abolished slavery, remember?
 
You could talk about introduction of railways and canals in Britain.
     
   
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  Quote New User Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08-Mar-2007 at 17:44
Industrial and scientific advances helped.
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  Quote Maharbbal Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08-Mar-2007 at 18:17
It depends what you mean by "empire", is it the one started during the 16th century by Elizabeth and that knew its climax right before the American Revolution or is it the empire started by the English East India Company and a few others companies?
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  Quote New User Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08-Mar-2007 at 18:30
Originally posted by Maharbbal

It depends what you mean by "empire", is it the one started during the 16th century by Elizabeth and that knew its climax right before the American Revolution or is it the empire started by the English East India Company and a few others companies?
 
I would imagine that a decent working defintion of British Empire would have to be reached before attempting the question.
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  Quote Decebal Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08-Mar-2007 at 18:38
Originally posted by pekau

Um... I don't know about slavery. That would be some irony in the  essay, which is not good. Britain abolished slavery, remember?
 
You could talk about introduction of railways and canals in Britain.
 
Uhh, no... Britain made a lot of money out of the slave trade. It only abolished the slave trade in the early 1800's.
 
A complete analysis of Britain's economic success is found in Braudel's Civilization and Capitalism (3rd volume).
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  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08-Mar-2007 at 21:43
Britain started in Piracy, followed with the Slave Trade.
Thanks to the utilities, they could push the scientific and industrial revolutions, which gave them the advantage. And the industrial revolution demanded new markets, which in time pushed once again the drive into colonialism.
 
Causes then are all economics: Piracy, slavery and industrial revolution.
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  Quote New User Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09-Mar-2007 at 15:18
 what were the causes of the Piracy, slavery and industrial revolution?
 
 
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  Quote malizai_ Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09-Mar-2007 at 17:54
I think at the root of the success would be 'public' + 'private' borrowing. Thus providing the ability to fund all the other enterprises. It must be remembered that they were one of the last to join the race of empire building.
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  Quote Kashmiri Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09-Mar-2007 at 19:16
britian became rich because of india.
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  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09-Mar-2007 at 22:16
because of India and Africa and the Americas.
 
Also by saling opium to the Chineses. England was the largest slave trader and it was also the first drug cartel on the planet.
 
Well, it also had industrial revolution...
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  Quote Cryptic Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09-Mar-2007 at 23:22
 
Another important asset was a very efficient civil / military administration that knew how to use Britain's growing economic and military power (created by industrialization).  This administration was also skilled at long range planning.
 
Another factor in both the British and French colonial empires were the lethal skills of "100,000 men in mustard yellow" (British uniform color).  Though few in numbers, these troops were very experienced in both combat and the geo political aspects of empire building.  Many served overseas their entire careers in the same regiment and were intimately familiar with local conditions.   Of course, they did lose a few battles, but they won far more than they lost.  
 
The use of small numbers of skilled troops also offered another benefit is that it functioned as a "safety valve" for unemployed young men.  The imapact of casualties on the public was reduced because the men were volunteers.      
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  Quote Maharbbal Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10-Mar-2007 at 10:06
Just for the sake of it recent research tend to show that the African Empires of both France and England were not beneficial for the state as a whole.
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  Quote Kapikulu Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10-Mar-2007 at 23:42
Definitely its position is effective as well. It was far away from all the wars and complexities of the Continental Europe, living safely in her huge island with special thanks to her naval supremacy.
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  Quote Penelope Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11-Mar-2007 at 00:54
Well, since Britain was an "island", trade was definately needed, and "sea faring" nations did tend to benefit more than non-"sea farers".
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  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11-Mar-2007 at 08:13
Originally posted by New User

what were the causes of the Piracy, slavery and industrial revolution?


that would be GREED
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  Quote kasper Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11-Mar-2007 at 14:36
Why would you not include slavery? The empire pre-1807 was fueled by the slave trade.

Here's a picture of the triangle slave trade in the Atlantic.

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  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11-Mar-2007 at 14:38
Yes. The foundations of Britain glory are not in the industrial revolution, like same pretend, but in the triangular slave trade.
 
 
 
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  Quote Maharbbal Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11-Mar-2007 at 15:56
Problem: other nations got into slave slave trade but it is England that started the Industrial Revolution not the others (Netherland, France, Portugal). Why? So triangular trade may have been a necessary condition but certainly not a sufficient one. Then there is another problem: chronology. Quite logically the English American empire happened before not after the appearance of the trade so it cannot explain it. The relationship between slave trade and the Indian side of empire is also very dubious (see Brenner's book on the London Merchants). Hence slave trade is just an element of Britain's power and by no mean THE reason.

I wouldn't say either that greed is a sufficient explaination: were the English the only greedy in the world? Were they the greediest? How do you measure a people greediness?

Other factors may have played:
England was the oldest nation-state in Europe (and island indeed which decresed the importance of the government as a provider of violence).
A rather free society helped as well.
And lets not forget luck, many countries having  known their days of glory but somehow Britain managed to lock in its advantage
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  Quote xi_tujue Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11-Mar-2007 at 16:15
The british never had an empire in a classical sence.

They did alot of "sneaky" stuff tobecome so powerfull as they were.

I have said this and will say it agian The Brittish empire was a trade empire nothing more.

Also they kept there neigbours sadisfied due to the whole "Balance of power" stuff

they only fought battles abroad long way from home and mostly other people did the fighting.

Not conquering but econmicly exploiting people was the goal

thats all
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