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British Empire Quick reference
Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Place Names (6 ed.)
...British Empire Beginning in the late 16th century, Great Britain began to establish settlements abroad. In due course these grew in number and evolved into colonies, protectorates, and other territories. Spread across the world, they were subject to British sovereignty. At the start of the 20th century the Empire comprised almost a quarter of the globe’s territory and more than a quarter, some 400 million, of the world’s population. In the 20th century, with the granting of various degrees of self-government, the concept of a British Empire faded and that of...
British Empire Quick reference
World Encyclopedia
... Empire Overseas territories ruled by Britain from the 16th to the 20th century. Historians distinguish two empires. The first, based mainly on commercial ventures (such as sugar and tobacco plantations), missionary activities and slave trading, resulted in the creation of British colonies in the Caribbean and North America in the 17th century. This ‘First Empire’ was curtailed by the loss of 13 US colonies, at the end of the American Revolution ( 1775–81 ). The ‘Second Empire’ was created in the 19th century, with Queen Victoria its empress. The East...
British Empire Quick reference
A Dictionary of Contemporary World History (6 ed.)
...British Empire The colonies, protectorates, and territories brought under British sovereignty from as early as the sixteenth century. In the late nineteenth century, some in Britain still harboured dreams of expanding the Empire, such as Rhodes and Milner , who wanted to create a unified Cape‐to‐Cairo dominion in Africa. However, the South African (Boer) War ( 1899–1902 ) damaged Britain's confidence in its Empire. In many areas, control had never advanced beyond indirect rule . Nevertheless, the twentieth century has been a story of the gradual end of...
British empire Quick reference
A Dictionary of World History (3 ed.)
... empire A network of colonies, protectorates, and other territories that for about 300 years were subject to the British crown and administration. It was superseded by the British Commonwealth, a free association of mainly self-governing nations. The first British overseas settlements were established in the 16th century and by 1670 there were colonies in America, in New England, Virginia and Maryland. Britain had conquered Jamaica and there were British communities throughout the Caribbean. British colonization was driven by trade, with the ...
British empire Quick reference
A Dictionary of British History (3 ed.)
...empire, run by chartered monopoly companies , and defended by the Royal Navy . Britain made sure its benefits accrued to her exclusively, by a series of Navigation Acts passed in the mid‐17th cent. to prevent the colonies dealing with anyone else. The Seven Years War saw Britain take control of much of India ( 1756–7 ). That marked the peak of what later came to be called the ‘first’ British empire, which came to an end with the rebellion of the thirteen American colonies in 1776 . The loss of America (except Canada) threatened the British empire as a...
British empire Reference library
Bernard Porter
The Oxford Companion to British History (2 ed.)
... empire . At its apogee, around 1920 , the British empire was the greatest—the biggest, at any rate—ever known. It was reputed to cover a quarter of the world’s land area, and a fifth of its population. Most of that, however, was of recent provenance. Like all mighty oaks, this one had a tiny origin. A medieval English proto-empire can be dimly made out, in 12th–13th-cent. Ireland and Gascony. Most historians date the beginnings of the empire proper, however, from Tudor times. It grew out of the great seafaring voyages of that age. Britain was a little...
British Empire Reference library
J. M. Bumsted
The Oxford Companion to Canadian History
...developments merged to lead the British to work towards disengagement in North America: the movement towards responsible government , the British abandonment of mercantilism in favour of free trade, and the settlement of most outstanding North American issues with the United States. By the early 1860s, the British were actively encouraging the union of British North America as an autonomous entity, although still in international terms a part of the British Empire. After Confederation a closer allegiance to the empire—opposed by French Canada—gradually...
British Empire Reference library
Oxford Companion to Australian Politics
... Empire In one sense, the British Empire is the very essence of Australian historical experience. A land progressively invaded and occupied by British settlers was transformed beyond recognition by the processes of British imperialism. Equally, Australian history can be understood as a facet of the much wider, global reach of the history of the British Empire . But it is also possible to view the British Empire in a more narrow sense, as a limited political and constitutional entity constructed out of the multifaceted processes of British imperialism‐a...
British Empire Reference library
The Oxford Companion to Scottish History
... Empire . The Scottish role in the British Empire was a source of great pride for many Scots in the period from the late 18th century to the mid‐20th century. Since the late 18th century when Henry Dundas controlled the activities of the EIC and used his position to promote the activities of his fellow countrymen in the Asian subcontinent, many Scots, including Lord Rosebery , believed that Scotaland was a ‘race of Empire Builders’. By the late 19th century the Union with England was called the Imperial Partnership and Glasgow as ‘second city of the...
British Empire Reference library
Edward BEASLEY
Berkshire Encyclopedia of World History (2 ed.)
...Britain or abroad. Great Britain’s ability to free much of its labor force from the land and shift it into trade and manufacturing allowed for the projection of British power to the ends of the Earth. By 1800 the British navy ruled the waves. The profits and raw materials that poured into the British Isles because of Great Britain’s unique place in international trade accelerated the modernization of the domestic marketplace; this modernization in turn further magnified British power. The First Three British Empires Great Britain’s first empire...
British Empire Exhibition Reference library
David Killingray
The Oxford Companion to Black British History
...Exhibition on public perceptions of Empire. It may have been considerable given that ‘nearly half‐a‐million post cards were sold in five months’, of the Gold Coast exhibits alone. Exposure to a range of Imperial products and activities helped to widen public knowledge of many aspects of Empire. David Killingray British Empire Exhibition, British Empire Exhibition, 1924, Official Guide (1924) Gold Coast Government, Gold Coast Participation in the British Empire Exhibition, 1924 (1925) Judd, Denis , Empire: The British Imperial Experience from 1765 to the...
British Empire Exhibition (1924) Quick reference
A Dictionary of Modern Design (2 ed.)
... Empire Exhibition ( 1924 ) The vast British Empire Exhibition ( BEE ) of 1924 covered 216 acres (87 hectares) in Wembley, London, attracting 27 million visitors over the two seasons that it was open. It revealed the extent to which many people in Britain looked to the empire (which covered about 20 per cent of the world’s land surface) as a powerful means of economic survival in the difficult climate of the interwar years. Their outlook was stimulated by propagandist initiatives and organizations such as the Empire Free Trade Crusade, the United...
British Empire Shakespeare Society Reference library
Susan Brock
The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare (2 ed.)
... Empire Shakespeare Society , founded in 1901 by Greta Morritt to promote Shakespeare’s works throughout the Empire by co-ordinating reading circles, dramatic readings, and costume recitals. It published an official gazette 1915–39 . Susan...
Order of the British Empire Reference library
The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military
...of the British Empire OBE (in the UK) an honorary order of knighthood instituted in 1917 and divided into five classes, each with military and civilian...
British Empire, Order of the Quick reference
World Encyclopedia
... Empire, Order of the ( OBE ) Military and civil order or knighthood, bestowed as a reward for public service to the Commonwealth of Nations. Created in 1917 , it has five different classes for men and women: Knights (or Dames) Grand Cross, Knights (or Dames) Commander, Commanders, Officers and...
British Empire, Order of the Reference library
J. A. Cannon
The Oxford Companion to British History (2 ed.)
... Empire, Order of the . This was the first democratic or meritocratic order and, significantly, was established in June 1917 in the darkest days of the First World War. Though far less aristocratic than previous orders, it was nevertheless divided into five sections—the Knights Grand Cross, the Knights Commander, Commanders, Officers, and Members. Associated with the order was the British Empire Medal. Of equal significance was that a large number of women were, for the first time, admitted to honours. The prelate of the Order is the bishop of London,...
British Empire, Order of the Quick reference
A Dictionary of British History (3 ed.)
... Empire, Order of the This was the first democratic or meritocratic order and was established in June 1917 in the darkest days of the First World War. Though far less aristocratic than previous orders, it was nevertheless divided into five sections—the Knights Grand Cross, the Knights Commander, Commanders, Officers, and Members. Of equal significance was that a large number of women were, for the first time, admitted to...
British Empire Air Training Scheme Reference library
J. L. Granatstein
The Oxford Companion to World War II
... Empire Air Training Scheme . This was Canada's major air contribution to the Allied war effort. On 26 September 1939 , after discussions had been ongoing for several years, the British government asked Canada to establish a British Empire Air Training Scheme (BEATS). Its formation appears to have been suggested by the Australian ( S. M. Bruce ) and Canadian ( Vincent Massey ) High Commissioners in London. It aimed to produce no fewer than 20,000 pilots and 30,000 personnel. To achieve this, it was estimated that about ninety elementary and advanced...
