There was a time when the sun never set on the British Empire: The Union Jack proudly flew over every desolate rock and across every continent of the globe. By the time Queen Victoria was made empress of India under Benjamin Disraeli, the Royal Navy was the most powerful force in the world, the British Grenadiers were marching through seven continents, and the House of Lords and the Privy Council were deciding court cases for nearly forty percent of the world’s population.
Many factors contributed to the rise of the British Empire. Luck, acumen on the battlefield, naval dominance, relative respect for indigenous rights, and above all a respect for the rule and institutions of law combined to make England the most successful empire-builder since Rome. Respect for the rule of law in the United Kingdom has an ancient pedigree. Under Richard the Lion Heart, decisions of the courts became memorialized, that is they were put in writing in 1189. This may seem like a small footnote, however, this cemented the idea that legal decision making was to be consistent and evenly applied. When being held to account in front of a judge, the accused was now able to point to prior cases that argued in his favor. In the same vein, the literate and adjustments to their behavior could read this created a high level of predictability in the administration of justice because published decisions and dealings could be made accordingly. Following this, in 1215 at Runnymede, the nobility of England was able to impose the Magna Carta on King John. The Great Charter asserted certain liberties that would only appear in government documents again some 600 years later with the American Bill of Rights. Finally the first Statute of Westminster, signed in 1275, sealed the rule of law in the English realms and established guidelines for electing government functionaries. Much more than any other advantage the English possessed, the rule of law contributed to a smoothly functioning empire. In any settlement, Courts of Law existed and recourse to the central government in London was forthcoming – this stands in marked contrast to other empires of the era.
All empires must come to an end. The decline of Britannia was perhaps foreshadowed in Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Just like many factors lead to the supremacy of England, many reasons for the decline of the empire exist. The ‘shot heard round the world’ ushered in an era of self-determination. Britannia was able to hold on to her empire for almost 150 years after the Treaty of Paris deprived her of valuable North American possessions. The idea of self-determination was a powerful motivator of revolutions around the world. Furthermore, rapid technological advances equalized the battlefield allowing tribesman and nomads the ability to actually inflict damage on organized armies. However powerful self-determination and technological advances may have been, if not for world events England may well have held on to the empire.
The Second World War was the greatest factor in the dissolution of the British Empire. A great deal of treasure was expended defending the British mainland against devastating attacks by an evil foe. This necessarily made defending overseas possessions such as India financially impossible. Furthermore, war-weariness made the prospect of protracted overseas involvement unappealing to the common Englishman. After six years of worldwide involvement in bloody conflict with another European power, the idea of controlling large tracts of Asia, the middle east, and the Atlantic and Pacific oceans was unfathomable – especially considering the strict war time rationing that was continued for a considerable duration past the second world war. The final nail in the coffin for the Empire was the rise of the United States and its negative views of colonization and empire building. In order to maintain good relations with the upcoming preeminent power, Britain was forced to make concessions that its government viewed unfavorably.
The world had never before seen such a large and vast empire. That empire was governed by predictable laws, which made the empire possible. Its downfall came during a violent onslaught against humanity. By spending their treasure defending basic human decency they were unable to continue the process of civilizing savages around the world.
Reference:
Churchill, W. and Lee C. (Ed.) (2011). History of the English-Speaking Peoples. New York:
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