Questions tagged [british-empire]
For questions regarding the overseas empire established by Britain, beginning with England's overseas colonies and trading posts in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, and reaching a quarter of the Earth's land surface by 1922. Domestic British questions should be directed as United-Kingdom, Britain, England, Scotland, Wales, or Ireland depending on the subject.
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When did the first riots between Hindus and Muslims happen in India? [closed]
I have studied in school that the British used the Divide and Rule strategy to rule in India. But, for them to think of applying Divide and Rule, I think some sort of communal tension between Hindus ...
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Britain's Vietnam - the US Revolt?
When Great Britain brought its land and naval forces to the American shores to enforce its rule there, before and after the American's declaration of independence, Great Britain's motives seem clear: ...
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Why the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–55) was "the last of the old sieges"?
During the Crimean War (1853–56), Charles George Gordon took part in the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–55), calling it "the last of the old sieges".
What made Sevastopol so "old fashioned" for a comment ...
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Is there anywhere that has not been at war with Britain? [closed]
Is there anywhere that has not been at war with Britain?
"Anywhere" would mean "a contemporary country that was part of an empire or state that was at war with the United Kingdom or one of the ...
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What Were the Primary Causes of 15th to 19th Century British Chartered Companies' Failures?
A Wikipedia list suggests that the earliest deemed English chartered trade monopoly organization was The Company of Merchant Adventurers of London in 1407 and presumably most, if not nearly all, ...
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What was the geopolitical status of Newfoundland prior to 1949? [closed]
Newfoundland "only" became part of Canada on March 31, 1949.
What was the geopolitical status of Newfoundland prior to its annexation to Canada (or however it fused with the rest of Canada, if "...
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Why did the British not introduce the sterling in India?
The question is about the adoption of currency during imperialist rule.
Why did the British persist with the local currency, the rupee?
What impediments did the British face in implementing the ...
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Why didn't the Great Awakening spread to the Spanish Colonies?
Since I have begun paying more attention to early South and Latin American history it made me wonder about the extent of the religious movement in the British Colonies that we call the Great Awakening;...
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What's paradoxical about British free trade in 20th century partitioning of Africa?
I'm having trouble understanding the following passage. What is the paradox/contradiction in Britain advocating for free trade, then emerging with greatest gains in the partitioning of Africa by ...
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How did British queens get power over kings despite a male-dominant society?
I am not a history guy. But, from what I have collected from movies, TV shows and people, I see that old British society was male-dominant and there were female rights issues too. But, I also see some ...
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How harmful was the Tea Act of 1773 to the American colonies?
The Tea Act of 1773 was passed by the Parliament to rescue the East India Company. However, I read somewhere that it would have actually made tea cheaper everywhere in the Empire1. By this argument, ...
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What is the basic structure of British Politics?
This is obviously an extremely broad (but answerable!) question, and I honestly don't know where to start and have no knowledge whatsoever about the topic. Basically I would like to know how the ...
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How did the British and French train their troops during the colonial eras?
From what I saw in movies, during many battles throughout the 1700s to early 1800s involving the French or British armies, rows of troops from both sides would fire volleys of bullets into each other ...
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World War 1 Indian propaganda posters
In World War 1, because war broke out between the triple entente and the central powers (and they happened to have a lot of foreign colonies), the allies made posters to recruit soldiers from all ...
MCW♦
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Why hire Hessian troops?
During the American Independence War the British army made use of mercenaries hired from various German state (About 30,000 German soldiers fought for the British during the American Revolutionary War,...
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What happened to the other European residents in Khartoum in 1885?
Some sources mention Gordon running into the Austrian consulate to save himself from the Mahdi, which implies that there were other Europeans in Khartoum during the siege. What happened to them?
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How would British counterfeiting efforts in the revolutionary war have inflated the American currency? [closed]
During the revolutionary war one of the British's espionage tactics was to flood the American market with counterfeit currency to cause mass runaway inflation.
But how would that have worked? I don't ...
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Where were the British Forces located during Napoleon's Egypt Campaign?
During Napoleon's Campaign in Egypt 1798-1803, the British destroyed the French fleet near the Abu-Qir bay and had a fleet blockade there. Where did the men on the British fleet get supply from in all ...
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What impact did the Seven Years War have on the American Revolution?
What impact did the Seven Years War have on the American Revolution?
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How many Britons lived in India during the British Raj (1858 - 1947)?
How many Britons lived (not just visited shortly) in India during the British Raj (1858 - 1947)?
There might be two answers, both of them interesting:
The amount of Britons in India over time - ...
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How did Britain rule Sri Lanka? [closed]
How did Britain rule Sri Lanka. Apart from the Great Rebellion, in which the British Empire brutally repressed the Kandy kingdom, there isn't a lot of info on how life was really like under foreign ...
MCW♦
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How does the amount of equipment carried by various historical infantries compare?
I've heard many statements amount the weight of supplies and munition carried by soldiers of various historical forces. In particular, I've heard many comments about the amount that the British ...
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Was there a social stigma for British born/living in India prior to WW2/Indian independence?
My father (1926 - 2007) always said he was born and raised in England until immigrating to Australia in 1947 after being discharged from the army. I have now found out through his army records that ...
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What was used instead of toilet paper in the US and the UK prior to 1900?
I read in this Wikipedia article that toilet paper came to be available only around 1920. On the other hand, this article says bidets were never popular in the UK and the US.
Moreover, colonies of ...
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To what extent is the independence of India a result of Indian Independence Movement?
India received independence from the British Empire in 1947. It had a long history of independence movement, stretching from 19th century, but it had gained a massive support only from 1910-1920.
The ...
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How did WWII change the GDPs of the great empires of the world?
According to wikipedia some of the greatest European empires seemed to peak in GDP in 1938. I assume that it was WWII that caused declines in the GDPs of these empires. If this indeed the case, then ...
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Was there a policy of preemptive attack on foreign fleets in the British Empire?
I heard many times that the British Empire had an official policy to attack anyone who was close to having a great flotilla able to challenge their sea dominance. I cannot find any sources about who ...
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Where can I find history of Pune or `Peshwa's`? [closed]
Where can I find the history of pune or Peshwa's?
Links on Wikipedia are not enough, Please explain or paste link in answers.
To be more descriptive :
1. Who were peshwas ?
2. When did they exist?
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Did the Ottoman Empire lose some control over Egypt during the Crimean War?
What were the effects of the Crimean War on the relationship between the British and Ottoman empires? Did they lose partial control over Egypt?
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British royal titles for regions not in Britain
Royal titles for the British aristocracy seem to be associated with regions within Britain, particularly England; such as the Duke of Cambridge or the Princess of York.
Were there ever royal titles ...
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Why were Sri Lanka and Myanmar separated from India under the British Empire? [closed]
Historically, the British integrated their holdings in India into the British Raj. Sri Lanka and Myanmar were also part of the British Empire in India. Sri Lanka is moreover culturally similar to ...
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Did Britain send convicts to Canada during the colonial era?
During the colonial era before the American War of Independence, Britain sent convicts to its North American colonies which eventually became the USA, but did Britain also send convicts to those ...
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In 19th century India, pre and post Raj, did any private British citizens actually own land in India?
I've never been able to clarify this question.
From what I can tell, the land that the British occupied in India was either "owned" (if this is the right term) by the Company during the time of its ...
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What were the major strategies/ideas Britain exerted against Indian Independence movement?
The first flames of freedom were lighted in the 1857 revolt in India. After that in 1900s, the movements became stronger and spread over the country. There was diverse political, economic, military, ...
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Why did the Government of India Act create separate electorates for the depressed classes?
The Communal Award, in 1932, conceded to the demands of B.R. Ambedkar and the ilk to have separate electorates for depressed classes. But Gandhji held fast unto death to undo this. So, Poona Pact ...
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In the British empire, what was the difference between a Governor General and a Viceroy?
In the many colonies of the British empire, it seems that the rulers of some were known as Governors General and others were officially titled as Viceroys. Was there a practical distinction between ...
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Scaffoldings on Taj Mahal?
I recently came across this picture (removed now, look at wiki article instead), saying that it is a scaffolding erected during WW2 over Taj Mahal to protect it from Japanese Air Force.
Even the ...
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Did WWII Delay Indian Independence?
During WWII, Gandhi said that Indians should adopt a compromising attitude towards the British due to the stresses of war. Did this prolong the (near) inactivity of the Indian National Movement? Or ...
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Did any of the 50 Destroyers swapped for bases with Great Britain in 1940 sink any Axis military vessels?
In 1940 the United States traded fifty mothballed WW1 Destroyers to England in exchange for land rights in areas of the British Empire. Were any of those fifty ships credited with sinking an Axis ...
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Did Britain briefly recognize Mahmud Barzanji as King of Kurdistan?
The wiki entry on Mahmud Barzanji is very poorly written and very far from neutral. I turned to the Russian entry which is at least well-written and contains many interesting facts - some of them ...
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When did navies stop giving out a drink ration to their sailors?
I seem to remember that the British Navy, and the US Navy maybe, used to give out a ration of alcohol to sailors each day. When did this practice stop, and why?
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Did the British government oppose racial segregation in South Africa from 1815-1931?
In South Africa, the Afrikaners' political movements, including the National Party, took the lead in extending segregation in the first half of the 20th-century.
Anglo-Africans were less enthusiastic ...
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What was the official policy of British administration about the integration of Indian Princely States in 1947?
What direction was given in Indian Independence Act, 1947 about the political integration of Princely States during the partition of India?
What policy was introduced by the British authority about ...
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Who was responsible for the partition of India?
Who was responsible for the partition of India? Did it happen due to Mohammed Ali Jinnah or Mahatma Gandhi? Or were the British of the view that the country needed to be divided?
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Were there a British 'Négritude' movement?
Did a movement similar to Négritude exist in the UK or amongst Anglo-Saxon Africans?
Were there British equivalents of French West Africa's Léopold Sédar Senghor, Alioune Diop, or Aimé Césaire - ...
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What was the impetus behind the British Empire's acquisition of what is now Canada?
What led the British to Canada as part of a plan to colonise North America?
There are no good natural resources in Canada and, from what I can see, there was no point in getting a military ...
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Why did the British control Hong Kong over 99 years? [closed]
There is different version why British Empire took control over Hong Kong.
Britain helped China to eliminate pirates in South China Sea. As a sign of appreciation China give control of Hong Kong to ...
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How different were Labour and Conservative party lines on race immigration and empire in around 1962?
Though obviously I want responses to focus on concrete answers and evidence for the title question, I am ultimately interested in how likely it would have been for the 1962 Commonwealth Immigration ...
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Could Great Britain have built the British Empire if it was not the pioneer of the Industrial Revolution?
Could Great Britain have built the British Empire if it was not the pioneer of the Industrial Revolution?
Put another way: Was the Industrial Revolution the single key over-riding factor to its ...
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Purpose of Guinea in British monetary history
I read about Guinea itself, how it was made, but I don't really understand why would anybody keep a money worth 5% more than an existing denomination like Pound.
I can accept the 1/20 and 1/12 ...
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