Page 79 - All About History - Issue 33-15

A-Z of the British Empire

British ships monitor their
possessions and patrol the
coast off Hong Kong in 1800

BritainevenexpandedasfarasTibetinthe
lastfewyearsoftheGreatGameunderthe
Younghusband expedition of 1903-04
Great Game

TheColdWarofthe19thcenturythatput
BritainandRussiaonthebrinkofwar

The signing of the Russo-Persian Treaty
in 1813 alarmed the British. Concerned at
therecentexpansionofRussianinterests
inAsia,theBritishCrownmovedto Hong Kong
protect India by expanding its own
empire northwards. The battleground Animportanttradingcentrethatwasalmostconstantly
between the two blocs ended up being ravagedbywarandconflict
Afghanistan,whichactedasabufferzonebetweenthetwo
powers. Britain wanted to use Afghanistan for its own The East India Company Afterthewarswereover,Britainsigned
imperial desires, resulting in three Anglo-Afghan wars. The arrived in Hong Kong in a lease in 1898 that gave it ownership over
mostprominentwastheSecondAnglo-Afghanwar,inwhich 1635 keen to trade with both theislandfor99years.DuringWorldWar
aBritishvictorygainedanewprotectoratefortheempire. theChineseandthe II, the island was completely taken over by
The Great Game also played out in Persia. Originally an Portuguese, who had major theJapanese.Theoccupationlasteduntil
allyoftheBritish,PersiaswitcheditssupporttoRussia cartelsinthearea.Silk, 1945,butafterwards,HongKongwasforced
in1825andwaspersuadedin1837toattack spices and tea were essential toadapttothenewcommunistChina.It
Herat,aBritishterritoryinAfghanistan. The commoditiesfortheBritish,buttrade adjustedwell,withaneconomicrevival
Theattackwasbeatenbackbythe was restricted by the Chinese in the 1950s that helped it develop into a
British but Persia stayed Russian until phrase government, who insisted that financialpowerhousebythe1970s.In1997,
theCrimeanWarin1853.TheGreat ‘Great Game’ was all trade went through the port theBritishleaseonHongKongexpired
Game officially ceased with the coined by British ofCantonandselectChinese andChinademandeditsreturn.TheBritish
Anglo-RussianConventionof1907, Intelligence officer merchants. By the 1800s, government initially tried to negotiate but
endingalmost100yearsoftension Arthur Conolly and opium had become the major soon realised the potential administrative
and conflict. Persia was divided product in the region and in and economic difficulties, and backed
between the two superpowers popularised by an effort to end the first Opium down.HongKong’slossrepresentedthe
and Afghanistan remained a Rudyard Kipling War, Hong Kong was ceded to last economically viable colony to leave the
British protectorate until it gained the British in 1841. empire. The imperial adventure was over.
independence after World War I.

Thefaminewasbelieved Irish famine
bysomeBritishtobea
divineactfromGod
More than 1 million people died in a disaster that the British
governmentfailedtoactuponandimprove
Theeffectsofthepotatofaminewere fromtheproblemsofthefamine.Irelanddid
devastating for the Emerald Isle. An have supplies of corn sent over, but it was
estimated 1 million (a staggering eighth either not distributed efficiently, there was no
of the country’s population) died and 1 machinerytoturnitintoflouroritwastoo
million more emigrated elsewhere to priceyfortheaverageIrishpersontoafford.
avoid the famine. Potatoes had been Also critical was the cancellation of the soup-
thestaplefoodofIreland,butbecame kitchenschemeafteronlysixmonths,which
inedible as a late blight disease spread around was an efficient system that fed 3 million
thecropsturningthemintoblackgooey peopleonadailybasis.Theideaoffeeding
messes.A50percentlossincropscrippled Ireland was simply not on the Whig or Tory
the country for three successive harvests agendaandwasnotconsideredanimperial
from 1845-47. responsibility. A few public works were
The British Whig and Tory governments attempted to relieve the situation but, overall,
decided to be as laissez-faire as possible over the British government’s ideology of free
the issue of Ireland. Preventing the export trade prevented any sort of structured aid. For
of Irish grain to elsewhere would have been many,emigrationwastheonlyoptionandthe
aneffectivepolicy,butitwasnotenactedas population of Ireland headed to the harbours
the government virtually disengaged itself as America and the New World beckoned.
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