How-and-why-did-Britain-Become-the-Empire-on-which

HowandwhydidBritainBecometheEmpireonwhichtheSunNeverSetBritaingraduallyreplacedSpainandbecameworldwidenewoverlordseaafterdefeatingtheSpanishArmada.Atthesametime,itbeganfurtherexpansionofoverseascolonies.Afterthat,BritainwonintheAglo-DtchWarandtheSevenYears’warsothatBritainestablishedtheworldcolonialhegemony.Besides,theBritishvictoryintheNapoleonicWarsin1815furtherconsolidateditspositionininternationalpolitics,themilitary，andtheIndustrialRevolutionmadeBritainowneconomicpower.By1900,Britainhadbuiltupabigempireonwhichthesunneverset.Itconsistedofavastnumberofcoloniesandconcluded25%oftheworld’spopulationandarea.Duringtheprocessofthisperiod，wecanconcludethefollowingreasons:Britainhaduniquegeographicalconditions.Britainwasanislandcountrywhichhadalotofgoodports.Afterthegreatgeographicaldiscovery,Britainbecameanimportanttransporthubatsea.However,Britainasasmallislandhadtodevelopoverseasexpansionbecauseofitssmallmarket,soBritainconstantlyoccupiedcolonies.Politically,BritainfinishedtheBourgeoisRevolutionin17centuryandbecameacapitalistcountry.Undertheruleofbourgeoisie,thecapitalisteconomydevelopedquickly.ThegovernmentabolishedtheCornLawsin1846andadvocatedthefreecompetitionandfreetradedoctrinewhichacceleratedthedevelopmentofcapitalisteconomyin19thMilitarily,Britainwassurroundedbyseasothatitcanorganizeagreatnavy.Britainimprovednavalweapons,strengthenedarmedforcesandenhancedfightingcapability.BritaingottheupperhandofSpain,FranceandHollandinthecontesttoreignsupremeonthesea.Asaresult,theEnglishcapitalistscouldmovetheirgoodsabroadandplundertheworldasfreelyastheycouldathome.TheEnglishcolonizedbyforce,andBritain’sterritorycovered24timezones.ThisisareasonwhyBritainwascalled“theempireonwhichthesunneverset”in19thEconomically,EnglishbourgeoisieplunderedtheEnglishpeasantsthroughtheEnclosureinthe14thand15thcentury.TheyplunderedthechurchthroughReformationin16thcentury.TheyplunderedAfricaandAmericathroughthenotorioustriangulartrade.Finallytheyaccomplishedits“primitiveaccumulationofcapital“throughplunderandexploitationandaccumulatedalargesumofmoney.What’smore,aftertheBritishIndustrialRevolutionin18thand19thcentury,Britainbecamethe“workshopoftheworld”.Englishproductsfloodedtheworldmarket.Besides,Britain’sfinancialsectorwasahead,andtheBankofEnglandwasfoundedin1649whichwastheworld’sfirstcentralbank,sointerestsonloansbecameacceptable.Londonbecametheworldeconomicalcenter.TheEnglishbourgeoisieamassedlargeamountsofwealththroughtrade,plunderandcolonization.Inaword,nocountrywasstrongenoughtomatchEnglandinthe19thcentury.Culturally,Englishmentalitychanged,theRenaissanceandtheEnglishReformationbrokenreligiousdogmasandawakenedhumaninitiative.Itbecameacceptableforonetomakemoneyandseekhappiness.Developmentofproductivityenlargedmen’svisionandincreasedtheirinterestinscientificknowledge.In1859,DarwinpublishedhisOriginofSpeciesinwhichheprovedthatthephysicalspeciesarenotfixed,butchangingbynaturalselectioninwhichthefittestsurvive.Italsoprovidedmaterialevidencetojustifythetheoryoffreecompetitionandencouragedpeopletocolonizeandcompete.