The British Empire

The British Empire is in my opinion the most powerful empire in the world. It has shaped the US, a country we consider to be the most influential country in the world. Many would probably contradict me and imply that the US would have been greater had it not been a British colony. However, one must face the facts and the fact here is that the British Empire birthed the powerful country that the US is today.

At its peak, the British Empire was the largest formal empire the world had ever known. As such, its power and influence stretched all over the globe; shaping the world we know today. For better or for worse the British Empire has had a massive impact on the history of the world.

The British Empire was never a static institution, for it constantly mutated, evolved and changed in reactions to certain events, opportunities and threats. The Empire of the 1950’s looked very different from that a century earlier. It could often operate differently in a colony on one side of the world from a colony on the other.

Furthermore, the Empire was comprised of a diverse set of actors through its years of existence. For many people, their experience with the British Empire was purely transactional. It provided framework and institutions that offered people new opportunities, rights and abilities, whilst others felt constrained within it.

The British Empire was at one time referred to as “the empire on which the sun never sets”, because the Empire’s span across the globe ensured that the sun was always shining on a least one of its numerous colonies. By 1921, the British Empire ruled a population of between 470 and 570 million people, approximately one quarter of the world’s population. Though it has now mostly evolved into the Commonwealth of Nations, British influence remains strong throughout the world – in economic practise, legal and government systems, sports and the English language itself.

The Commonwealth of Nations, as mentioned earlier, is an intergovernmental organisation of 52 member states that are mostly former territories of the British Empire. The Commonwealth dates back to the mid-20^th century with the decolonisation of the Empire. The sovereign nations support each other and work together towards international goals. With their common heritage in language, culture, law, education and democratic traditions, among other thing, Commonwealth countries are able to work together in an atmosphere of trust and understanding the Commonwealth has no formal constitutional structure. It works from understood procedures, traditions and periodic statements of belief or commitment to action. Intergovernmental consultation is its main source of direction and the most widely-used definition of the Commonwealth is taken from the Declaration of Commonwealth Principles, 1971:

“The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of independent sovereign states… consulting and cooperating in the common interests of their peoples and in the promotion of international understanding and world peace.”

As adduced in the introduction, the British Empire seems to be one of the most powerful empires in history. One must not forget the Roman Empire or the many discoveries, discovered by Spanish and Portuguese explorers, which made the two countries empires as well. However, the British Empire has shaped the world, we know today in an entirely different way than the other empires; something I think we should be grateful for.