The Second British Empire in World History

3 units

Throughout most of the nineteenth century it appeared that the British Empire was winding down. Most of British North America was now the United States of America, and the remaining West Indian colonies were less valuable after the abolition of slavery. The Indian mutiny and the demise of the Imperial British East India Company raised similar doubts about the worth of Britain's Asia possessions. Yet by 1900, Britain ruled 400 million people and one quarter of the habitable globe, and most Britons were confident that this new second British Empire would rival the Roman Empire by lasting for centuries. This course surveys the sudden rise and equally unexpected collapse of the twentieth century British Empire from the perspective of its subjects.