Page 78 - All About History - Issue 33-15

A-Z of the British Empire
The
Argentineans laid
25,000minesonthe
Falklands. Many are still
Decolonisation activeandposeathreat

ThesunsetsontheBritishEmpire to the islanders and
also the penguins
Despite emerging victorious from World War
II,theconflicthadadverseeffectsonwhat wholivethere
wasnowafailingempire.Britainmaystill
havehadthelargestempireofall,butas
twonewworldpowerblocs,theUSSRand
theUSA,arose,thecountrybecameaweak
linkand,financiallycrippled,wasforcedto
abandon its treasured possessions. The road to oblivion began
with the 1947 partition of India, just five years after the
suppressionoftheQuitIndiamovementin1942.Ahugeloss,
the empire’s military muscle was quickly diminishing. Worse
wasstilltocomewiththeSuezCrisisof1956.Losingcontrol
oftheeconomicallyimportantSuezCanal,thiseventwrecked Falklands
Britain’s finances, military and international standing further.
As Britain began to rebuild its fractured cities and towns War
afterwar,ithadnoresourcestomaintainanempirethathad The nation’s
been experiencing a wave of nationalism for a long time.
Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika were all independent by 1963 determined cling
and the White Settler Revolt in Southern Rhodesia in 1965 to territory
wasanotherexampleofthedeclineofBritishmilitarypower.
Thefragmentationoftheempirewasdowntoalackoffunds
and British weakness, but also due to many of the colonies’
profoundeffortsontheAlliedsideinthewar.Britain’sentryto
theEECin1973effectivelyendeditsimperialambitions,and AfterWorldWarII,Britainowedmore
theideaofempirecouldnowonlybeseenintraditionsand in war debts than any other country and
theempiresufferedasaconsequence
culture, not frontiers and firearms.

East India Company ships unload
inLondondockswithanotherfull East India Company
cargooftheprecioustea
Thecompanythatevolvedfromminor By the 1980s, the empire
trader to outright ruler was no more but Britain
was still determined to
One of the empire’s major institutions, the protectwhatwasleftof
EastIndiaCompanywasabusiness itslegacy.TheFalkland
juggernaut at its peak. The organisation’s Islands, a remote colony
rootsoriginatein1601whenBritishshipsfirst in the South Atlantic, was
setsailtothe‘EastIndies’.Hearingofthe one of the few remaining
wealth of spices and materials available, more territories. Neighbouring
and more ships made the journey and the Argentina’s military
trade links began to grow. The British weren’t the first dictatorship, under
Europeanpowertomakethejourney,buttheypumped Leopoldo Galtieri, decided
resources into the business venture, and by 1690, had trading to invade on 2 April 1982,
centres all over the west and east coasts of India. As British citing its inheritance from
influenceincreasedandtheIndianMughalEmpireweakened, Spain and geographical
The fall of Tipu Sultan, ruler of the trade began to turn into occupation. The company could now location as reasons for
kingdom of Mysore and long time chargehightaxesanddefenditsinterestwithforce.Thishada its occupation. Going
enemy of the East India Company
disastrous effect on the local Indian communities who saw against advice from
their economy and society effectively taken over. other nations, Margaret
TheEastIndiaCompanywasatitsmostprofitableinthe Thatcher’s government
firsthalfofthe18thcenturyasIndiancottonwasbeingmass decided the UK had to
exported,providingtheBritishconsumerwithcheap,good- fight back. The conflict
quality clothing. The company soon began to take more than lasted for two months
it was giving as it started to meddle in Indian politics. This and649Argentineand
caught the attention of the British government, who took 255 British servicemen
thedecisiontoputthefirmundergovernmentcontrolin lost their lives along
1783.TheEastIndiaCompanyisanexampleofBritishtrade with three islanders. The
outstaying its welcome, and its harsh affect on India helped Argentinean surrender
develop a nationalist feeling within the country. By 1858, it came on 13 July.
wasabolishedcompletelyandtheBritishRajwascreated.
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