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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What impact does colonial legacy have on current US presence in the South China Sea dispute?
In recent years, the South China Sea has become somewhat important from a geo-political standpoint. China is building military bases, among many other things, and the US has been speaking about ...
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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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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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Why was Calcutta a node in the opium smuggling network prior to the Opium Wars in China?
As per Wikipedia's History of Kolkata page:
After the territorial conquest of Bengal in 1757, the British East India Company pursued a monopoly on production and export of opium from India. The ...
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Was the British Empire financially capable of maintaining India as a colony after WW2?
In India, it is generally accepted that Indian Independence from the British was the culmination of the 190 year long freedom struggle; from the armed conflicts of the mid-1800s to the more peaceful ...
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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 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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Why did the British leave Kohima and Imphal "lightly" defended in 1944?
In 1942, the answer would have been, "because Britain didn't have enough troops." They were then weak "everywhere" along the line.
But by early 1944, after two years of the Burma Campaign, Britain ...
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Was Baker Island ever claimed by the United Kingdom?
The Wikipedia article and Encyclopedia Britannica article for Baker Island agree that the United States claimed Baker Island in 1857, under the Guano Islands Act. The Wikipedia article also makes an ...
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Why weren't the Faroe Islands ever conquered by Britain?
Here are the Faroe Islands:
According to the history I read, they've always been under Denmark's control except in the middle of WWII.
Why weren't these ever conquered by Britain? They seem close ...
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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 ...
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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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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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Why did United Kingdom not keep the colonies after Napoleon's defeat?
During the Napoleonic Wars the British occupied some French, Dutch and Danish colonies mainly in the Caribbean like: Dutch Surinam, Danish West Indies, French Martinique.
I have 2 questions:
Why ...
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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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What would the Royal Sussex Regiment have been doing in South Africa between 1900-1902?
My 2x Great Grandfather, James Walter Juden, served in the Royal Sussex Regiment from 1889 to 1902. I have a copy of his service records. Which I have downloaded from FindMyPast, the images can be ...
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What did the Royal Sussex Regiment do in India between 1891-1897?
My 2x Great Grandfather, James Walter Juden, served in the Royal Sussex Regiment from 1889 to 1902. I have a copy of his service records, which I have downloaded from FindMyPast; the images can be ...
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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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How much tax revenue did the British Empire receive from its colonies in a given year?
I have heard that India at least was quite profitable for the United Kingdom. However, I do not know of any exact numbers for the annual tax revenue of the colonies in any given year. This book on the ...
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Why does the Star of David feature on these African coins from 20th century?
Why does the Star of David feature on these African coins from 1936 and 1959?
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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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When did the use of "Contact!" by soldiers emerge?
I was recently watching a World War One docudrama-esque show (Our World War (BBC)) and, while patrolling and fighting to control Trones Wood, some British troops unexpectedly encounter the German ...
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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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Why did the British "Indian" army come disproportionately from particular regions?
During World War II, the British field several armies that included Indians, but the most "Indian" of these, was the 14th Army, in which 8 of 13 divisions were predominantly "Indian." Of the ...
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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 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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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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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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What was Ghulam Ahmad's relationship with the British authorities in India?
An answer on Islam.SE claims,
Ghulam Ahmad came out at a time when the British were trying to take over India, and they needed someone to stop the Muslims from fighting, and so bribed this man to ...
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Why did Nepal and Bhutan not become a part of India like other princely states when colonial rule ended?
During the period around Independence, India, under Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel's program to unite the subcontinent, was getting Princely states to accede to Union of India. There were around 570 ...
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What class / type of ship was the "Dragon" from Rotterdam c. 1732?
I am attempting to determine the class, size, features, history of the British ship "Dragon" c. 1732 that was known to arrive in Philadelphia on September 30, 1732 with 173 men, women and children ...
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How large were the East India Company armed forces?
The British East India Company maintained an armed force large and competent enough to subdue and control Mughal India, but just how large was it? How comparable was it to contemporary national ...
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Why was Britain willing to return Hong Kong but not Gibraltar?
Why was Britain willing to return Hong Kong to China, but not Gibraltar to Spain?
Was it because Gibraltar has more strategic value than Hong Kong?
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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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Whig party identification in the House of Lords
After the Whigs became subsumed into the Liberal party, did the label survive in the House of Lords? As of today, the longest serving current peer began his tenure during the Second World War. It ...
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Where is the Nemesis?
Where is the Nemesis today? Is it simply 'lost at sea', at a museum somewhere, or more likely (as it was an EIC vessel), was it sold for scrap?
I did a brief search (of the web), but couldnt find it. ...
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Why does Latin America have a higher number of surviving Native Americans than North America?
Despite having the same disease susceptibility and technological inferiority against the Europeans, it seems that Native Americans have much more surviving descendants in Latin America compared to ...
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Why didn't the British test the effects of shells on trench warfare defenses?
At the battle of the Somme the British bombarded the Germans for seven days. They fired over 1.5 million shells. But most of these shells were shrapnel shells. These shells failed to cut and ...
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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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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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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 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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Did the British Army burn any capitals other than Washington?
It has been written that the British invasion of Washington, and the burning of the Capitol, White House, and other public buildings, was in retaliation for American raids in Canada which caused the ...
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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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How did the British Navy pass orders to its fleet before radio?
During the 18th and 19th century, the British Navy had ships all over the world, and communicating with them had to be difficult. After all, the Battle of New Orleans happened after the British had ...
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Why did the East India Company accept the Government of India Act 1858?
In 1858, the British Parliament passed the Government of India Act which contained provisions of liquidation of the Company and transfer of assets and governance to the British Crown.
The Act was ...
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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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