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	{{Infobox Country
	\|name = British Empire
	\|image_flag = Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
	\|image_map = British Empire red.png
	\|map_caption = An anachronous map of the British Empire.
	<!--Do not add extra information to infobox - it deliberately only contains the flag and map.-->}}
	{{For\|a comprehensive list of the territories that formed the British Empire\|Evolution of the British Empire}}

			== THE BRITISH EMPIRE SUCKS BALLS. ==
	The '''British Empire''' was the set of ], ], ]s and ] ruled or administered by the ] (UK), that had originated with the overseas colonies and ]s established by ] in the 17th century. It was the largest ] in history and, for over a century, was the foremost ]. By 1922, the British Empire held sway over a population of about 458 million people, approximately one-quarter of the world's population<ref>], p.98,242</ref> and covered more than 14 million square miles, a quarter of Earth's total land area.<ref>], p.15</ref> As a result, its political, linguistic and cultural legacy is widespread. At the peak of its power, it was often said that "]" because its span across the globe ensured that the sun was always shining on at least one of its numerous territories.

	During the ] in the 15th and 16th centuries, ] and ] pioneered European exploration of the globe and in the process established overseas empires that stretched from the ] to the ]. Envious of the great wealth these empires bestowed on Spain and Portugal, in the late 16th century the Northern European nations of England, ] and the ] began to challenge Spanish and Portuguese hegemony. The English, French and Dutch established colonies and trade networks of their own in the Americas and Asia, causing these nations to come into conflict with one another and with Spain and Portugal, which had begun a slow decline as imperial powers during the 17th century. A series of wars with the Netherlands and France left England (following the ], ]) the dominant colonial power in North America and India. The loss of ] in 1783 after a ] was a temporary blow to Britain, depriving it of its most powerful and populous colony. British attention soon turned towards ] and Asia, where a new empire was established. Following the defeat of ] in 1815, Britain enjoyed a century of effectively unchallenged dominance, thanks to its rapidly expanding economy and the strength of the ]. During the 19th century, Britain consolidated and expanded its imperial holdings in Africa, Asia, India and the Pacific, and granted increasing degrees of autonomy to its ] settler colonies, which were reclassified as dominions.

	The growth of ] and the ] eroded Britain's economic lead by the end of the 19th century. Subsequent military and economic tensions between Britain and Germany were major causes of ], which ended the period of relative peace in 1914. The conflict, for which Britain leaned heavily upon its empire, placed enormous financial strain on Britain, and, although the empire achieved its largest territorial extent immediately after the war, it was no longer a peerless industrial or military power. Despite Britain and its empire emerging as victors, ] saw parts of the British Empire in Asia occupied by ], which damaged British prestige and accelerated the decline of the empire. Within two years of the end of the war, Britain granted independence to its most populous and valuable colony, India.

	During the remainder of the 20th century, most of the territories of the empire became independent as part of a larger global ] movement by the European powers, ending with the return of ] to ] in 1997. After independence, many British colonies joined the ], a free association of independent states. Some have retained the ], currently ], as their ] to become independent ]s. Fourteen territories remain under British sovereignty, the ].

	==Origins (1497–1583)==
	]'s ship used for his second voyage to the ]. Cabot and his ship were never seen again.]]
	The foundation for the British Empire was laid at a time before the creation of ], when ] and ] were separate kingdoms. In 1496 King ], following the successes of ] and ] in overseas exploration, commissioned ] to lead a voyage to discover a route to ] via the ].<ref name="ferguson3">], p.3</ref> Cabot sailed in 1497, and though he successfully made landfall on the coast of ] (mistakenly believing, like ] five years earlier, that he had reached Asia<ref>], p.45</ref>), there was no attempt to found a ]. Cabot led another voyage to the Americas the following year but nothing was heard from his ships again.<ref>], p.4</ref>

	No further attempts to establish English colonies overseas were made until well into the reign of ], during the last decades of the 16th century.<ref>], p.35</ref> The ] had made enemies of England and ] ].<ref name="ferguson3"/> In the ], the English Crown sanctioned ]s such as ] and ] to engage in piratical attacks on Spanish ports in the Americas and shipping that was returning across the ], laden with treasure from the ].<ref>], p.7</ref> At the same time, influential writers such as ] and ] (who was the first to use the term "British Empire"<ref>], p.62</ref>) were beginning to press for the establishment of England's own empire, to rival those of Spain and Portugal. By this time, Spain was firmly entrenched in the Americas, ] had established a string of trading posts and forts from the coasts of ] and ] to ], and ] had begun to settle the ], later to become ].

	===Plantations of Ireland===
	Though a relative late comer to overseas colonisation in comparison to Spain and Portugal, England had been engaged in a form of 'domestic colonisation'<ref>], p.7</ref> in ]. The 16th century ], run by English colonists, were a precursor to the overseas Empire,<ref>], p.123</ref> and several people involved in these projects also had a hand in the early colonisation of North America, particularly a group known as the "West Country men", which included Sir ], Sir ], Sir ], Sir ], Sir ] and Sir ].<ref>], p.119</ref>

	=="First British Empire" (1583–1783)==
	]

	In 1578 ] granted a patent to Sir ] for discovery and overseas exploration.<ref>], p.466</ref> That year, Gilbert sailed for the ] with the intention of engaging in piracy and establishing a colony in ], but the expedition was aborted before it had crossed the Atlantic.<ref>], p.466</ref><ref>], p.63</ref> In 1583 he embarked on a second attempt, on this occasion to the island of ] whose harbour he formally claimed for England, though no settlers were left behind. Gilbert did not survive the return journey to England, and was succeeded by his half-brother, ], who was granted his own patent by Elizabeth in 1584. Later that year, Raleigh founded the colony of ] on the coast of present-day ], but lack of supplies caused the colony to fail.<ref>], p.63-4</ref>

	In 1603, King ] ascended to the English throne and in 1604 negotiated the ], ending hostilities with ]. Now at peace with its main rival, English attention shifted from preying on other nations' colonial infrastructure to the business of establishing its own overseas colonies.<ref>], p.70</ref> Although its beginnings were hit-and-miss, the British Empire began to take shape during the early 17th century, with the English settlement of ] and the smaller islands of the ], and the establishment of a private company, the ], to trade with ]. This period, until the loss of the ] after the ] towards the end of the 18th century, has subsequently been referred to as the "First British Empire".<ref>], p.34</ref>

	]; 2: ]; 3: The ]; 4: ]; 5: ]; 6: ]; 7: ]; 8: ]]]
	===Americas, Africa and the Slave Trade===
	The ] initially provided England's most important and lucrative colonies,<ref>], p.17</ref> but not before several attempts at colonisation failed. An attempt to establish a colony in ] in 1604 lasted only two years, and failed in its main objective to find ] deposits.<ref>], p.71</ref> Colonies in ] (1605) and ] (1609) also rapidly folded, but settlements were successfully established in ] (1624), ] (1627) and ] (1628).<ref>], p.221</ref> The colonies soon adopted the system of ]s successfully used by the Portuguese in ], which depended on ], and—at first—Dutch ships, to sell the ] and buy the sugar. To ensure that the increasingly healthy profits of this trade remained in English hands, Parliament ] in 1651 that only English ships would be able to ply their trade in English colonies. This led to hostilities with the ]—a series of ]—which would eventually strengthen England's position in the Americas at the expense of the Dutch. In 1655 England annexed the island of ] from the Spanish, and in 1666 succeeded in colonising the ].

	England's first permanent overseas settlement was founded in 1607 in ], led by Captain ] and managed by the ], an offshoot of which established a colony on ], which had been discovered in 1609. The Company's charter was revoked in 1624 and direct control was assumed by the ], thereby founding the ].<ref>], p.600</ref> The ] was created in 1610 with the aim of creating a permanent settlement on Newfoundland, but was largely unsuccessful. In 1620, ] was founded as a haven for ] religious separatists, later known as the ].<ref>], p.897</ref> Fleeing from religious persecution would become the motive of many English would-be colonists to risk the arduous ] voyage: ] was founded as a haven for ] (1634), ] (1636) as a colony tolerant of all religions and Connecticut (1639) for ]s. The ] was founded in 1663. In 1664, England gained control of the Dutch colony of ] (renamed ]) via negotiations following the ], in exchange for ]. In 1681, the colony of ] was founded by ]. The American colonies, which provided ], ], and ] in the south and naval ]<!-- This is not a misspelling. Follow the link to find out the difference between material and materiel --> were less financially successful than those of the Caribbean, but had large areas of good agricultural land and attracted far larger numbers of English emigrants who preferred their temperate climates.<ref>], p.72-73</ref> <!-- Insert some discussion of interaction with Native Indians here -->

	In 1670, ] granted a charter to the ], granting it a monopoly on the ] in what was then known as ], a vast stretch of territory that would later make up a large proportion of ]. Forts and trading posts established by the Company were frequently the subject of attacks by the French, who had established their own fur trading colony in adjacent ].<ref name="buckner25">], p.25</ref>

	], ], ], ], and ]. The British commissioners refused to pose, so the painting was never finished.]]

	Two years later, the ] was inaugurated, receiving from King Charles a monopoly of the trade to supply slaves to the British colonies of the Caribbean.<ref>], p.37</ref>
	From the outset, ] was the basis of the British Empire in the West Indies. Until the abolition of the slave trade in 1807, Britain was responsible for the transportation of 3.5 million African slaves to the Americas, a third of all ].<ref>], p.62</ref> To facilitate this trade, forts were established on the coast of ], such as ], ] and ]. In the British ], the percentage of the population comprising blacks rose from 25% in 1650 to around 80% in 1780, and in the Thirteen Colonies from 10% to 40% over the same period (the majority in the south).<ref>], p.228</ref> For the slave traders, the trade was extremely profitable, and became a major economic mainstay for such western British cities as ] and ], which formed the third corner of the so-called ] with Africa and the Americas. For the transportees, harsh and unhygienic conditions on the slaving ships and poor diets meant that the average mortality rate during the ] was one in seven.<ref>], p.440-64</ref>

	In 1695 the Scottish parliament granted a charter to the ], which proceeded in 1698 to establish a settlement on the ], with a view to building a ] there. Besieged by neighbouring Spanish colonists of ], and afflicted by ], the colony was abandoned two years later. The ] was a financial disaster for Scotland - a quarter of Scottish capital was lost in the enterprise<ref>], p.531</ref> - and ended Scottish hopes of establishing its own overseas empire. The episode also had major political consequences, persuading both England and Scotland of the merits of a union of countries, rather than just crowns.<ref>], p.509</ref> This was achieved in 1707 with the ], establishing the ].

	===Asia===
	At the end of the 16th century, ] and ] began to challenge ]'s monopoly of trade with ], forming private ] companies to finance the voyages—the ] (later British) and ] East India Companies, chartered in 1600 and 1602 respectively. The primary aim of these companies was to tap into the lucrative ], and they focused their efforts on the source, the ] ], and an important hub in the trade network, ]. The close proximity of ] and ] across the ] and intense rivalry between ] and the ] inevitably led to conflict between the two companies, with the Dutch gaining the upper hand in the ] (previously a Portuguese stronghold) after the withdrawal of the English in 1622, and the English enjoying more success in India, at ], after the establishment of a factory in 1613. Though England would ultimately eclipse the Netherlands as a colonial power, in the short term the Netherlands's more advanced financial system<ref name="ferguson19">],p.19</ref> and the three ] of the 17th century left it with a stronger position in Asia. Hostilities ceased after the ] of 1688 when the Dutch ] ascended the English throne, bringing peace between the Netherlands and England. A deal between the two nations left the spice trade of the Indonesian archipelago to the Netherlands and the textiles industry of India to England, but textiles soon overtook spices in terms of profitability, and by 1720, in terms of sales, the English company had overtaken the Dutch.<ref name="ferguson19"/> The English East India Company shifted its focus from Surat—a hub of the spice trade network—to ] (later to become ]), ] (ceded by the Portuguese to ] in 1661 as dowry for ]) and ] (which would merge with two other villages to form ]).

	===Global struggles with France===
	Peace between England and the Netherlands in 1688 meant that the two countries entered the ] as allies, but the conflict—waged in ] and overseas between France, Spain and the Anglo-Dutch alliance—left the English a stronger colonial power than the Dutch, who were forced to devote a larger proportion of their military budget on the costly land war in Europe.<ref>], p.441</ref> The 18th century would see England (after 1707, Britain) rise to be the world's dominant colonial power, and France becoming its main rival on the imperial stage.<ref>], p.90</ref>

	The death of ] in 1700 and his bequeathal of Spain and its colonial empire to ], a grandson of the King of France, raised the prospect of the unification of France, Spain and their respective colonies, an unacceptable state of affairs for England and the other powers of Europe.<ref>], p.1045</ref> In 1701, Britain, Portugal and the Netherlands sided with the ] against ] and ] in the ], which lasted until 1714. At the concluding peace ], Philip renounced his and his descendants' right to the French throne and Spain lost its empire in Europe.<ref>], p.1122</ref> The British Empire was territorially enlarged: from France, Britain gained ] and ], and from Spain, ] and ]. ], which is still a ] to this day, became a critical naval base and allowed Britain to control the Atlantic entry and exit point to the ]. Minorca was returned to Spain at the ] in 1802, after changing hands twice. Spain also ceded the rights to the lucrative '']'' (permission to sell slaves in Spanish America) to Britain.<ref>], p.1121-1122</ref>

	The ], which began in 1756, was the first war waged on a global scale, fought in Europe, India, North America, the Caribbean, the Philippines and coastal Africa. The signing of the ] had important consequences for Britain and its empire. In North America, France's future as a colonial power there was effectively ended with the recognition of British claims to ],<ref name="buckner25"/> the ceding of ] to Britain (leaving a sizeable ] under British control) and ] to Spain. Spain ceded ] to Britain. In India, the ] had left France still in control of its ] but with military restrictions and an obligation to support British client states, effectively leaving the future of India to Britain. The British victory over France in the Seven Years' War therefore left Britain as the world's dominant colonial power.<ref>], p.91</ref>

	==Rise of the "Second British Empire" (1783–1815)==
	]'s victory at the ] established the Company as a military as well as a commercial power]]
	===Company rule in India===
	{{main\|Company rule in India}}
	During its first century of operation, the ] focused on trade, rather than empire building, with the Company no match for the powerful ],<ref>], p.93</ref> which had granted the Company trading rights in 1617. Company interests turned from trade to territory during the 18th century as the Mughal Empire declined in power and the British East India Company struggled with its French counterpart, the '']'', during the ] in south-eastern India in the 1740s and 1750s. The ], which saw the British, led by ], defeat the French and their Indian allies, left the Company in control of ] and as the major military and political power in India.<ref>], p.897</ref> In the following decades it gradually increased the size of the territories under its control, either ruling directly or ruling via local puppet rulers under the threat of force of the ], the vast majority of which was composed of native Indian ].<ref>], p.995</ref> The Company's conquest of ] was complete by 1857.

	], 1797). The loss of the American colonies marked the end of the "first British Empire"]]

	===Loss of the Thirteen Colonies in America===
	{{main\|American Revolution}}
	During the 1760s and 1770s, relations between the ] and Britain became increasingly strained, primarily because of resentment of the British Parliament's attempts to govern and tax American colonists without their consent,<ref>],p.73</ref> summarised at the time by the slogan "]". Disagreement over the American colonists' ] turned to violence and, in 1775, the ] began. The following year, the colonists ] and, with assistance from France, would go on to win the war in 1783.

	The loss of such a large portion of ], at the time Britain's most populous overseas possession, is seen by historians as the event defining the transition between the "first" and "second" empires,<ref>], p.92</ref> in which Britain shifted its attention away from the Americas to Asia, the Pacific and later Africa. ]'s '']'', published in 1776, had argued that colonies were redundant, and that ] should replace the old ] policies that had characterised the first period of colonial expansion, dating back to the protectionism of Spain and Portugal. The growth of trade between the newly independent United States and Britain after 1783,<ref>], p.119</ref> especially following the ],<ref>], p.115</ref> confirmed Smith's view that political control was not necessary for economic success. Tensions escalated during the ], as Britain tried to cut off American trade with France, and boarded American ships to ] into the Royal Navy men of British birth. The U.S. declared war, the ], in which both sides tried to make major gains at the other's expense. Both failed and the peace treaty ratified in 1815 kept the pre-war boundaries.<ref>], pp. 8, 30-34, 389-92</ref>

	Events in America influenced British policy in ], where between 40,000 and 100,000<ref>], p.685</ref> defeated ] had migrated from America following independence. The 14,000 Loyalists who went to the Saint John River in Nova Scotia felt too far removed from the provincial government in Halifax, so London split off ] as a separate colony in 1784.<ref>], p.796</ref> The ] created the provinces of ] (mainly English-speaking) and ] (mainly French-speaking) to defuse tensions between the French and British communities, and implemented governmental systems similar to those employed in Britain, with the intention of asserting imperial authority and not allowing the sort of popular control of government that was perceived to have led to the American Revolution.<ref>], p.28.</ref>

	===Pacific===
	] in the Pacific Ocean led to the founding of several British colonies, including Australia and New Zealand]]
	Since 1718, ] to the American colonies had been a penalty for various criminal offences in Britain, with approximately one thousand convicts transported per year across the Atlantic.<ref>], p.20</ref> Forced to find an alternative location after the loss of the Thirteen Colonies in 1783, the British government turned to the newly discovered lands of Australia.<ref name="refhdbe808">], p.808</ref> The western coast of Australia had been discovered for Europeans by a Dutch explorer in 1606 and was later named by the ] ],<ref name="refhdbe806">], p.806</ref> but there was no attempt to colonise it. In 1770 ] discovered the eastern coast of Australia while on a scientific ] to the ], claimed the continent for Britain, and named it ].<ref name="refhdbe808"/> In 1778 ], Cook's ] on the voyage, presented evidence to the government on the suitability of ] for the establishment of a penal settlement, and in 1787 the first shipment of ] set sail, arriving in 1788.<ref name="refhdbe808"/> Britain continued to transport convicts to Australia until 1840, at which time the colony's population numbered 56,000, the majority of whom were convicts, ex-convicts, or their descendants.<ref name="refhdbe87">], p.87</ref> The Australian colonies became profitable exporters of wool and gold.<ref name="refhdbe87"/>

	During his voyage, Cook also visited ], first discovered by Dutch sailors in 1642, and claimed the ] and ] islands for the British crown in 1769 and 1770 respectively. Initially, interaction between the native ] population and Europeans was limited to the trading of goods. European settlement increased through the early decades of the nineteenth century, with numerous trading stations established, especially in the North. In ], the ] announced plans to buy large tracts of land and establish colonies in New Zealand. On ] ], Captain ] and around forty Māori chiefs signed the ]. <ref>], p.1137</ref> This treaty is considered by many to be New Zealand's founding document,<ref>{{cite web \| url=http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/politics/treaty/waitangi-day \| title=Waitangi Day}}</ref> but differing interpretations of the Maori and English versions of the text<ref>], p.579</ref> have meant that it continues to be a source of dispute.<ref>], p.49</ref>

	] marked the end of the ] and the beginning of the '']'']]

	===War with Napoleonic France===
	Britain was challenged again by France under ], in a struggle that, unlike previous wars, represented a contest of ideologies between the two nations.<ref>], p.152</ref> It was not only Britain's position on the world stage that was threatened: Napoleon threatened to invade Britain itself, just as his armies had overrun many countries of continental Europe.
	The ] were therefore ones in which Britain invested large amounts of capital and resources to win. French ports were blockaded by the ], which won a decisive victory over the French fleet at ] in 1805. Overseas colonies were attacked and occupied, including those of the Netherlands, which was annexed by Napoleon in 1810. France was finally defeated by a coalition of European armies in 1815. Britain and its empire were again the beneficiaries of peace treaties: France ceded the ] and ] (which it had occupied in 1797 and 1798 respectively), ], ], ] and ]; Spain ceded ]; the Netherlands ] and the ]. Britain returned ], ], ], ], and ] to France, and ] and ] to the Netherlands.

	===Abolition of slavery===
	Under increasing pressure from the ] movement, Britain outlawed the ] (1807) and soon began enforcing this principle on other nations. In 1808, ] was designated an official British colony for freed slaves.<ref>], p.14</ref> The ] passed in 1833 made not just the slave trade but slavery itself illegal, emancipating all slaves in the British Empire on 1 August 1834.<ref>], p.204</ref>

	==Britain's imperial century (1815–1914)==
	]
	Between 1815 and 1914, a period referred to as Britain's "imperial century" by some historians,<ref>], p.1</ref><ref>], p.71</ref> around 10 million square miles of territory and roughly 400 million people were added to the British Empire.<ref>], p.3</ref> Victory over Napoleon left Britain without any serious international rival, other than Russia in central Asia.<ref>], p.401</ref> Unchallenged at sea, Britain adopted the role of global policeman, a state of affairs later known as the '']'',<ref>], p.332</ref> and a foreign policy of "]".<ref>], p.285</ref> Alongside the formal control it exerted over its own colonies, Britain's dominant position in world trade meant that it effectively controlled the economies of many nominally independent countries, such as ], ] and ], which has been characterised by some historians as an "informal empire"<ref>], p.8</ref><ref>], p.156-7</ref>

	British imperial strength was underpinned by the ] and the ], new technologies invented in the second half of the 19th century, allowing it to control and defend the sprawling empire. By 1902, the British Empire was linked together by a network of telegraph cables, the so-called ].<ref>], p.88-91</ref>

	===India, Southeast Asia, and China===
	{{See also\|British Raj}}
	British policy in Asia during the 19th century centred around protecting and expanding India, which was viewed as its most important colony and the key to the rest of Asia.<ref>],p.478</ref> The ] drove the expansion of the British Empire in Asia. The Company's Army had first joined forces with the Royal Navy during the Seven Years' War, and the two continued to cooperate in arenas outside of India: the eviction of Napoleon from ] (1799), the capture of ] from the Netherlands (1811), the acquisition of ] (1819) and ] (1824) and the defeat of ] (1826).<ref>], p.?</ref>

	From its base in India, the Company had also been engaged in an increasingly profitable ] export trade to China since the 1730s. This trade, illegal since it was outlawed by the ] in 1729, helped reverse the trade imbalances resulting from the British imports of ], which saw large outflows of silver from Britain to China. In 1839, the seizure by the Chinese authorities at ] of 20,000 chests of opium led Britain to attack China in the ], and the seizure by Britain of the island of ] (then a minor outpost) as a base.<ref>],p.293</ref>

	]
	The end of the Company was precipitated by a mutiny of ]s against their British commanders, due in part to the tensions caused by British attempts to westernise India.<ref>], p.567</ref> The ] took six months to suppress, with heavy loss of life on both sides. Afterwards the British government assumed direct control over India, ushering in the period known as the ], where an appointed ] administered India and ] crowned the Empress of India. The East India Company was dissolved the following year, in 1858.<ref>], p.568</ref>

	India suffered a series of serious crop failures during the latter stage of the 19th century, leading to widespread ] in which at least 10 million people died. The East India Company had failed to implement any coordinated policy to deal with the famines during its period of rule. This changed during the Raj, in which commissions were set up after each famine to investigate the causes and implement new policies, which took until the early 1900s to have an effect.<ref>], p.133-134</ref>

	===Rivalry with Russia===
	During the 19th century, Britain and ] vied to fill the power vacuums that had been left by the declining ], ] and Chinese ] empires.<ref name="refhdbe478">], p.478</ref> This rivalry in Eurasia came to be known as the "]".<ref name="refhdbe478"/> As far as Britain was concerned, the defeats inflicted by Russia on Persia and Turkey in the ] and ] demonstrated its imperial ambitions and capabilities, and stoked fears in Britain of an overland invasion of India.<ref>], p.181</ref> In 1839, Britain moved to pre-empt this by invading ], but the ] was a disaster for Britain.<ref name="refjames182">], p.182</ref> When Russia invaded the Turkish ] in 1853, fears of Russian dominance in the ] and ] led Britain and France to invade the ] in order to destroy Russian naval capabilities.<ref name="refjames182"/> The ensuing ], which involved new techniques of modern warfare,<ref>], preface</ref> and was the only global war fought between Britain and another imperial power during the ''Pax Britannica'', was a resounding defeat for Russia.<ref name="refjames182"/> The situation remained unresolved in Central Asia for two more decades, with Britain annexing ] in 1876 and Russia ], ] and ]. For a while it appeared that another war would be inevitable, but the two countries reached an agreement on their respective spheres of influence in the region in 1878, and on all outstanding matters in 1907 with the signing of the ].<ref name="refhdbe478"/>

	===Cape to Cairo===
	]''- ] spanning "Cape to Cairo"]]
	The Dutch East India Company had founded the ] on the southern tip of ] in 1652 as a way station for its ships travelling to and from its colonies in the East Indies. Britain formally acquired the colony, and its large ] (or ]) population in 1806, having occupied it in 1795 in order to prevent it falling into French hands, following the invasion of the Netherlands by France.<ref>], p.85</ref> British immigration began to rise after 1820, and pushed thousands of Boers, resentful of British rule, northwards to found their own – mostly short-lived and independent republics during the ] of the late 1830s and early 1840s. In the process the ] clashed repeatedly with the British, who had their own agenda with regard to colonial expansion in ] and with several African polities, including those of the ] and the ] nations. Eventually the Boers established two republics which had a longer lifespan: the ] or Transvaal Republic (1852-1877; 1881-1902) and the ] (1854-1902). In 1902 Britain completed its military occupation of the Transvaal and Free State by concluding a treaty with the two ] following the ] 1899-1902.

	In 1869 the Suez Canal was opened under ], linking the Mediterranean with the Indian Ocean. The Canal was at first viewed sceptically by the British,<ref>Uwe A. Oster at </ref> but once open its strategic value was recognised quickly. In 1875, the ] government of ] bought the indebted ]ian ruler ]'s 44% shareholding in the ] for £4 million. Although this did not grant outright control of the strategic waterway, it did give Britain leverage. Joint Anglo-French financial control over Egypt ended in outright British occupation in 1882.<ref>],p.230-233</ref> The French were still majority shareholders and attempted to weaken the British position,<ref>], p.274</ref> but a compromise was reached with the 1888 ]. This came into force in 1904 and made the Canal neutral territory, but de facto control was exercised by the British whose forces occupied the area until 1954.

	As French, ] and ] activity in the lower ] region threatened to undermine orderly penetration of tropical Africa, the ] of 1884–85 sought to regulate the competition between the European powers in what was called the "]" by defining "effective occupation" as the criterion for international recognition of territorial claims.<ref name="refhdbe989">], p.989</ref> The scramble continued into the 1890s, and caused Britain to reconsider its decision in 1885 to withdraw from ]. A joint force of British and Egyptian troops defeated the ] in 1896, and rebuffed a French attempted invasion at ] in 1898. Sudan was made an ], a joint protectorate in name, but a British colony in reality.<ref name="refhdbe989"/>

	British gains in southern and ] prompted ], pioneer of British expansion from South Africa northward, to urge a "]" British controlled empire linking by rail the strategically important ] to the mineral-rich South.<ref>], p.248</ref> In 1888 Rhodes with his privately owned ] occupied and annexed territories named after him, ].

	===Dominion status for white colonies===
	The path to independence for the white colonies of the British Empire began with the 1839 ], which proposed unification and self-government for the two Canadian provinces, as a solution to political unrest there. This was achieved with the passing of the ] in 1867, where Canada was labelled a "dominion". ] and ] achieved similar levels of self-government in 1900, New Zealand as a dominion, and Australia as a commonwealth.<ref name="refhdbe376">], p.376</ref> The term "dominion status" was officially introduced at the Imperial Conference of 1907, to refer to Canada, ], Australia and New Zealand. In 1910, the Cape Colony, Natal, Transvaal and Orange Free State were joined together to form the ], also with dominion status.<ref name="refhdbe376"/>

	==World Wars (1914-1945)==
	===World War I===
	Britain's declaration of war in 1914 on Germany and its allies, ] and the ], also committed the colonies and Dominions, which provided invaluable military, financial and material support during the war. Over 2.5 million men served in the armies of the Dominions, as well as many thousands of volunteers from the ].<ref>], p.78-9</ref> Most of Germany's overseas colonies in Africa were quickly invaded and occupied, and in the Pacific, Australia and New Zealand occupied ] and ] respectively. The contributions of Australian and New Zealand troops during the 1915 ] against the ] had a great impact on the national consciousness at home, and marked a watershed in the transition of Australia and New Zealand from colonies to nations in their own right. The countries continue to commemorate this occasion on ]. Canadians viewed the ] in a similar light.<ref>], p.227</ref>

	In 1917, the ] was set up, with representation from each of the Dominion Prime Ministers, to coordinate imperial policy. The First World War placed enormous financial strain on Britain and its empire with resources, cash and foreign assets being diverted for the war. In 1914 Britain had £750,000,000<ref>], p.258</ref> invested in the United States; by 1918 much of this had been sold in order to pay for the war effort.

	===Interwar period===
	]
	The conflict during World War I undermined the pre-1914 economic stability,<ref>],p.324</ref> created a generation of disillusioned veterans and opened up the threat of political revolt.<ref>],p.288</ref> ] noted that the “whole existing order in its political, social and economic aspects is questioned”<ref>David Lloyd George, Versailles, 1919],p.288</ref> and doubts about the empire began to grow in Britain itself.<ref>],p.318-323</ref>

	Nevertheless it reached its greatest extent during this period with 1.8 m square kilometres and 13 million new subjects added to the empire under the terms of the ].<ref>],p.315</ref> The colonies of ] and the ] were distributed to the Allied powers as ]s. Britain gained control of ], ], parts of ] and ], and ]. The Dominions themselves also acquired mandates of their own: ] (modern-day ]) was given to the ], Australia gained ], and ] ]. ] was made a combined mandate of the two Pacific Dominions and Britain.<ref>], p.658</ref> This was the last phase of empire-building, but some{{who}} had already begun to question their status within the empire.<ref>], p.370</ref>

	The outbreak of World War I had delayed implementation of ] leading to the 1916 ], ] won a majority of the Irish seats at Westminster in the ]. The subsequent declaration of independence and the ] ended in 1921 with a stalemate and the signing of the ]. The twenty six counties of the south were formed into the ], a Dominion within the British Empire, with effective internal independence but still constitutionally linked with the British Crown,<ref>], p.58</ref> whilst the six counties of the province of ] which had been ]<ref>], p.822</ref> remained a part of the United Kingdom.
	]]]
	A similar struggle began in India when the ] failed to satisfy demand for independence.<ref>],p.330</ref> Concerns over communist and foreign plots following the ] ensured that war-time strictures were renewed by the ], creating tension,<ref name="refjames416">], p.416</ref> particularly in the Punjab, where repressive measures culminated in the ]. In Britain this was widely viewed as saving India from anarchy, but there were many, including ], who viewed it as a "monstrous event".<ref name="refjames416"/> The subsequent ] was called off in March 1922 following the ] incident, but discontent continued to simmer for the next thrity-five years.

	The ability of the Dominions to set their own foreign policy, independent of Britain, was recognised following the ] of 1922, after Britain declared war on Turkey without having first consulted them. After pressure from Ireland and South Africa, the 1926 ] declared the Dominions to be "autonomous Communities within the British Empire, equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another" within a "British ]".<ref>], p.69</ref> This declaration was given legal substance under the 1931 ].<ref name="refhdbev1157">], p.1157</ref> The parliaments of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, the Irish Free State and Newfoundland were now independent of British legislative control, they could nullify British laws and Britain could no longer pass laws for them without their consent.<ref name="refhdbev1157"/>

	British hegemony was also weakened at sea. The Royal Navy ended the war with almost as many capital ships as all the other navies combined,<ref>],p.316</ref> but this soon changed with the ] of 1922. Despite the signing of the ], a new balance of power was created in the Far East<ref>], p.459</ref> as Britain accepted naval parity with the United States,<ref name="reflouis302">], p.302</ref> terminating the 1902 ] and allowing Japan to develop a substantial fleet of its own.

	The balance of power also changed in Europe. The war had generated huge debts and it proved impossible to reintroduce the gold standard.<ref name="refovery290">],p.290</ref> This and other factors led to the ] of 1929. Although the effects were comparatively mild in Britain, some parts of the empire were badly affected.<ref>],p.326</ref> The British came to rely more on the markets of the empire, tightening economic bonds even as political ties were weakened.<ref>],p.327</ref> In Europe, however, the economic downturn was generally severe and helped right-wing political parties to power.<ref name="refovery290"/> Militaristic expansionism in Germany and Italy threatened the status quo, but in Britain defence spending did not become a high priority until the ] was clearly visible on the horizon.<ref>],p.328</ref>

	===World War II===
	{{main\|Military history of the United Kingdom during World War II}}
	Britain's declaration of war against ] in September 1939 included the Crown Colonies and India but did not automatically commit the Dominions. Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand all soon declared war on Germany, but the ] chose to remain ] throughout ].<ref>], p.313-4</ref> After the ] in 1940, Britain and its empire were left standing alone against Germany and its situation looked precarious. The British Prime Minister, ] negotiated for money and arms from the United States, but the U.S. remained officially neutral. Churchill and President ] signed the ] in 1941, which included the statement that "the rights of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they live" should be respected. This wording was ambiguous as to whether it referred to European countries invaded by Germany, or the peoples colonised by European nations, and would later be interpreted differently by the British, Americans and nationalist movements.<ref name="reflloyd316">], p.316</ref>

	In December 1941, ], launched in quick succession attacks on British ], the United States naval base at ], and ]. Japan had steadily been growing as an imperial power in the Far East since its defeat of China in the ] in 1895,<ref>], p.295</ref> envisioning a ] under its leadership. In 1902, Japan and Britain signed the ] which allowed Britain to leave the policing of the Pacific to Japan<ref>], p.243</ref> but the alliance fell apart in 1922 after the ] when Britain opted to side with the United States.<ref name="reflouis302"/>

	The Japanese attacks on the British and American possessions in the Pacific had an immediate and long-lasting impact on Britain and its empire. Churchill's reaction to the entry of the United States into the war was that Britain was now assured of victory and the future of the empire was safe,<ref>], p.244</ref> but the manner in which the British rapidly surrendered irreversibly altered Britain's standing and prestige as an imperial power.<ref>], p.337</ref><ref>], p.319</ref> Most damaging of all was the ], which had previously been hailed as an impregnable fortress and the eastern equivalent of Gibraltar.<ref>], p.460</ref> The realisation that Britain could not defend its entire empire pushed Australia and New Zealand, which now appeared threatened by Japanese forces, into closer ties with the United States, eventually resulting in the 1951 ] between the three nations, but excluding Britain itself.<ref name="reflloyd316"/>

	==Decolonisation and decline (1945–1997)==
	Though Britain and its empire emerged victorious from ], the effects of the conflict were profound, both at home and abroad. Much of ], a continent that had dominated the world for several centuries, was now literally in ruins, and host to the armies of the United States and the Soviet Union, to whom the balance of global power had now shifted.<ref>], p.146</ref> Britain itself was left virtually ], with insolvency only averted in 1946 after the negotiation of a $3.5 billion loan from the United States,<ref>], p.331</ref> the last instalment of which was repaid in 2006.<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4757181.stm \|title=What's a little debt between friends? \|publisher=BBC\|date=May 10, 2006 \|accessdate=2008-11-20}}</ref>

	At the same time, anti-colonial movements were on the rise in the colonies of European nations. The situation was complicated further by the increasing ] rivalry of the United States and the Soviet Union, both nations opposed to the European colonialism of old, though American ] prevailed over anti-imperialism, which led the US to support the continued existence of the British Empire.<ref name="refohbev330">], p.330</ref>

	The "]" ultimately meant that the British Empire's days were numbered, and on the whole, Britain adopted a policy of peaceful disengagement from its colonies once stable, non-Communist governments were available to transfer power to, in contrast to other European powers like France or Portugal,<ref>], p.148</ref> which waged costly and ultimately unsuccessful wars to keep their empires intact. Between 1945 and 1965 the number of people outside the UK itself under British rule fell from 700 million to 5 million, 3 million of whom were in ].<ref name="refohbev330"/>

	===Initial disengagement===
	] and ], two of the leaders of the ]]]
	The pro-decolonisation ] government elected at the ] and led by ], moved quickly to tackle the most pressing issue facing the empire, that of Indian independence.<ref>], p.322</ref> India's two independence movements, the ], and the ], had been campaigning for independence for decades, but disagreed on how it should be implemented. Congress favoured a unified Indian state, whereas the League, fearing domination by the Hindu majority, desired a separate state for Muslim-majority regions. Increasing civil unrest and the mutiny of the ] during 1946 led Attlee to promise independence no later than 1948, but when the urgency of the situation and risk of civil war became apparent to Britain's newly appointed (and last) Viceroy, ], partitioned independence was hastily brought forward to 15 August 1947.<ref>], p.67</ref> The borders drawn by the British to broadly ] into Hindu and Muslim areas left tens of millions as minorities in the newly independent states of ] and ].<ref>], p.325</ref> Millions of Muslims subsequently crossed from India to Pakistan and Hindus in the reverse direction, and violence between the two communities cost hundreds of thousands of lives. Burma, which had been administered as part of the ], and ] gained their independence the following year in 1948. India, Pakistan and Ceylon became members of the ], though Burma chose not to join.<ref>], p.218</ref>

	The ], where an Arab majority lived alongside a Jewish minority, presented the British with a similar problem to that of India.<ref>], p.327</ref> The matter was complicated by large numbers of Jewish refugees seeking to be admitted to Palestine following ] oppression and genocide of the Second World War. Rather than deal with the issue, however, Britain announced in 1947 that it would withdraw in 1948 and leave the matter to the United Nations to solve,<ref>], p.328</ref> which it did by voting for the ] into a Jewish and Arab state.

	Following the defeat of Japan in World War II, anti-Japanese resistance movements in Malaya turned their attention towards the British, who had moved to quickly retake control of the colony, valuing it as a source of rubber and tin. The fact that the guerillas were primarily Malayan-Chinese Communists meant that the British attempt to quell the uprising was supported by the Muslim Malay majority, on the understanding that once the insurgency had been quelled, independence would be granted.<ref>], p.335</ref> The ], as it was known, began in 1948 and lasted until 1960, but by 1957, Britain felt confident enough to grant independence to the ] within the Commonwealth. In 1963, the Federation was joined with ], ] and ] to form ], but in 1965 Chinese-dominated ] left the union following tensions between the Malay and Chinese populations.<ref>], p.364</ref> ], which had been a British protectorate since 1888, declined to join the union<ref>], p.396</ref> and maintained its status until independence in 1984.

	===Suez and its aftermath===
	]'s decision to invade the ] ended his political career and revealed Britain's weakness as an imperial power.]]
	In 1951, the ] was returned to power in Britain, under the leadership of Winston Churchill. Churchill and the Conservatives believed that Britain's position as a world power relied on the continued existence of the empire, with the base at the ] allowing Britain to maintain its preeminent position in the Middle East in spite of the loss of India. However, Churchill could not ignore ]'s new revolutionary government of Egypt that had ], and the following year it was agreed that British troops would withdraw from the Suez Canal zone and that ] would become independent by 1955.<ref>], p.339-40</ref>

	In 1956 Nasser unilaterally nationalised the Suez Canal. The response of the new British Prime Minister, ], was to collude with France to engineer an ]i attack on ] that would give Britain and France an excuse to intervene militarily and retake the canal.<ref>], p.581</ref> Eden infuriated his US counterpart, President ], by his lack of consultation, and Eisenhower refused to back the invasion.<ref>],p.355</ref> Another of Eisenhower's concerns was the possibility of a wider war with the ] after ] threatened to intervene on the Egyptian side. Eisenhower applied financial leverage by threatening to sell US reserves of the ] and thereby precipitate a collapse of the British currency.<ref>],p.356</ref> Though the invasion force was militarily successful in its objective of recapturing the Suez Canal",<ref>], p.583</ref> UN intervention and US pressure forced Britain into a very humiliating withdrawal of its forces, and Eden resigned.<ref>], p.398</ref>

	The ] very publicly exposed Britain's limitations to the world and confirmed Britain's decline on the world stage, demonstrating that henceforth it could no longer act without at least the acquiescence, if not the full support, of the United States.<ref>], p.342</ref><ref>], p.105</ref><ref>], p.602</ref> The events at Suez wounded British national pride, leading one ] to describe it as "Britain's ]"<ref>], p.343</ref> and another to suggest that the country had become an "American ]".<ref>], p.585</ref> ] later described the mindset she believed had befallen the British political establishment as "Suez syndrome",<ref>]</ref> from which Britain did not recover until the successful recapture of the ] from ] in 1982.

	Whilst The Suez Crisis caused British power in the Middle East to weaken, it did not collapse.<ref>], p.106</ref> Britain again soon deployed its armed forces to the region, intervening in ] (1957), ] (1958) and ] (1961), though on these occasions with American approval,<ref>], p.586</ref> as the new Prime Minister ]'s foreign policy was to remain firmly aligned with the United States.<ref>], p.?</ref> Britain maintained a presence in the Middle East for another decade, withdrawing from ] in 1967, and ] in 1971.

	===Wind of change===
	] (the future ] and the South African mandate of ] (]) had achieved independence.]]
	Macmillan gave a ] in ], ] in February 1960 where he spoke of "the wind of change blowing through this continent."<ref name="refhdbe1165">], p.1165</ref> Macmillan wished to avoid the same kind of colonial war that France was fighting in ], and under his premiership decolonisation proceeded rapidly.<ref>], p.46</ref> To the three colonies that had been granted independence in the 1950s - Sudan, the Gold Coast and Malaya - were added nearly ten times that number in the 1960s.<ref name="refhdbe1165"/>

	Britain's remaining colonies in Africa were all granted independence by 1968 (''see map''). British withdrawal from the southern and eastern parts of Africa was complicated by the region's white settler populations, particularly in ] where racial tensions had led ], the Prime Minister, to a ] from the British Empire in 1965.<ref name="refhdbe945">], p.945</ref> Rhodesia remained in a state of civil war between its black and white population until the ] of 1979, under which Rhodesia was temporarily returned to British colonial rule until elections could be held, under British supervision. The elections were held the following year and won by ], who became the Prime Minister of the newly independent state of ].<ref>], p.715</ref>

	In the Mediterranean, a guerrilla war waged by ] ended (1960) in an independent ], with the UK retaining the military bases of ]. The Mediterranean islands of ] and ] were amicably granted independence from the UK in 1964, though the idea had been raised in 1955 of ].<ref name="refhdbe945"/>

	Most of the UK's ] territories achieved independence after the departure in 1961 and 1962 of ] and ] from the ], established in 1958 in an attempt to unite the British Caribbean colonies under one government, but which collapsed following the loss of its two by far largest members.<ref>], p.1155</ref> ] achieved independence in 1966 and the remainder of the eastern Caribbean islands in the 1970s and 1980s, but ] and the ] opted to revert to British rule after they had already started on the path to independence.<ref>], p.1111</ref> The ],<ref>], p.1133</ref> ]<ref>], p.276</ref> and ]<ref>], p.753</ref> opted to retain ties with Britain. ] achieved independence from the UK in 1966. Britain's last colony on the American mainland, ], became a self-governing colony in 1964 and was renamed ] in 1973, achieving full independence in 1981.

	British territories in the Pacific acquired independence between 1970 (]) and 1980 (]), the latter's independence having been delayed due political conflict between English and French-speaking communities, as the islands had been jointly administered as a ] with France.<ref name="refhdbe806"/> ], the ] and ] chose to remain ].

	]

	===End of empire===
	The granting of independence to Rhodesia and Vanuatu in 1980, and British Honduras in 1981 meant that, aside from a scattering of islands and outposts (and the acquisition in 1955 of an uninhabited rock in the Atlantic Ocean, ]<ref>{{cite web \| title = 1955: Britain claims Rockall \| publisher = BBC News \| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/21/newsid_4582000/4582327.stm}}</ref>), the process of decolonisation that had begun after the Second World War was largely complete.

	In 1982, Britain's resolve to defend its remaining overseas territories was tested when ] invaded the ], acting on a long-standing claim that dated back to the ].<ref>], p.419</ref> Britain's ultimately successful military response to retake the islands during the ensuing ] prompted headlines in the American press that "the Empire strikes back", secured British Prime Minister ]'s re-election the following year, and was viewed by many to have contributed to reversing the downward trend in the UK's status as a world power.<ref>], p.629</ref>

	The same year, the Canadian government severed its last legal link with Britain by patriating the Canadian constitution from Britain. The ] passed by the British parliament ended the need for British involvement in changes to the Canadian constitution.<ref name="refohbev594">], p.594</ref>

	In September 1982, Margaret Thatcher travelled to ] to negotiate with the Chinese government on the future of Britain's last major and by far most populous overseas territory, ].<ref>], p.654</ref> Under the terms of the 1842 ], ] itself had been ceded to Britain "in perpetuity", but the vast majority of the colony was constituted by the ], which had been acquired under a ], due to expire in 1997.<ref>], p.533</ref> Thatcher, seeing parallels with the Falkland Islands, initially wished to hold Hong Kong and proposed British administration with Chinese sovereignty, though this was rejected by China.<ref>], p.654-5</ref> A deal was reached in 1984 - under the terms of the ], Hong Kong would become a ] of the ], maintaining its way of life for at least 50 years.<ref>], p.656</ref> The ] in 1997 marked for many,<ref>], p.660</ref> including ]<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4740684.stm\|title=BBC NEWS \| UK \| Charles' diary lays thoughts bare}}</ref> who was in attendance, "the end of Empire".<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/endofempire_overview_07.shtml\|title=BBC - History - Britain, the Commonwealth and the End of Empire}}</ref><ref name="refohbev594"/>

	==Legacy==
	]]]
	The UK retains sovereignty over 14 territories outside of the British Isles,<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1013618138295\|title=UK Overseas Territories Foreign and Commonwealth Office\|accessdate=2007-09-05}}</ref> collectively named the ], which remain under British rule because of lack of support for independence among the local population or because the territory is uninhabited except for transient military or scientific personnel. British sovereignty of several of the overseas territories is disputed by their geographical neighbours: ] is claimed by ], the ] and ] are claimed by ], and the ] is claimed by ] and ].<ref>{{citeweb\|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/io.html#Issues\|title=British Indian Ocean Territory\|work=]\|publisher=CIA}}</ref> The ] is subject to overlapping claims by Argentina and ], whilst many nations do not recognise any territorial claims to Antarctica.<ref>{{citeweb\|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ay.html#Issues\|title=Antarctica\|work=The World Factbook\|publisher=CIA}}</ref>

	Most former British colonies (and one former Portuguese colony, Mozambique<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.thecommonwealth.org/FAQs/20706/faqs/#skipTo33535 \|title=Commonwealth Secretariat - FAQs \|publisher=Thecommonwealth.org \|date= \|accessdate=2008-11-20}}</ref>) are members of the ], a non-political, voluntary association of equal members, in which the UK has no privileged status. The head of the Commonwealth is currently ]. Fifteen members of the Commonwealth continue to share their head of state with the UK, as ].

	Decades, and in some cases, centuries, of British rule and emigration have left their mark on the independent nations that arose from the British Empire. The ] is the primary or secondary language of 750 million people,<ref>], p.338</ref> helped in part by the cultural influence of the United States, itself a product of the British Empire. The English ] served as the template for the governments for many former colonies, and ] for legal systems<ref>],p.307</ref> The British ], one of the UK's highest courts of appeal, still serves as the highest court of appeal for several former colonies in the Caribbean and Pacific. British ] ] that fanned out across the globe often in advance of soldiers and civil servants spread the ] to all continents. Ball games that were developed in Victorian Britain – ], ], ], ] and (from Scotland) ]<ref>], p.1051-1056</ref> – were exported, as were the British choice of system of measurement, the ], and the British convention of ].

	Several ongoing conflicts and disputes around the world can trace their origins to borders inherited by countries from the British Empire: the ], the ], the ], and within Africa where political boundaries did not reflect homogeneous ethnicities or religions. The British Empire was also responsible for large migrations of peoples. Millions left the British Isles, with the founding settler populations of the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand coming mainly from Britain and Ireland. Tensions remain between the white settler populations of these countries and their indigenous minorities, and between settler minorities and indigenous majorities in South Africa and Zimbabwe. British settlement of Ireland continues to leave its mark in the form of divided Catholic and Protestant communities. Millions of people also moved between British colonies, for example from India to the Caribbean and Africa, creating the conditions for the ]. The makeup of Britain itself was changed after the Second World War with ] from the colonies to which it was granting independence.<ref>], p.135</ref>

	==See also==
	{{portalpar\|British Empire\|British Empire 1897.jpg}}
	{{wikisourcecat}}
	{{commonscat}}
	* ]
	* ]
	* ]
	* ]
	* ]
	* ]
	* ]
	* ]
	* ]

	==Notes==
	{{reflist\|5}}

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	*{{cite book \| first = Margaret \| last = Thatcher \| title=The Downing Street Years \|publisher=Harper Collins\|year=1993\|isbn=0060170565\|ref=refThatcher}}
	*{{cite encyclopedia\|last=Wright\|first=Donald R.\|title=Berlin West Africa Conference\|url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761595821/berlin_west_africa_conference.html\|encyclopedia=Encarta Online Encyclopedia\|date=2007}}
	*{{cite news \| url = http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/British+Empire+(World+War+I)\|title= WW1 Dominion Armies\| publisher= Farlex encyclopedia\|accessdate=\|date}}
	{{refend}}
	{{Colonialism}}
	{{Territories of the British Empire}}
	{{Empires}}
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Revision as of 21:12, 8 December 2008

THE BRITISH EMPIRE SUCKS BALLS.