British Imperialism Essay

The British Empire was the most diverse and expansive empire that the world has ever seen. During the height of British Imperialism it was often remarked that ‘the sun never sets on the British Empire’. This quip was, in fact, true. At the zenith of its power, the British Empire ruled more than twenty-five percent of the Earth’s land area and held more than 450,000,000 people in subjection. However, the rise of nationalism and the economic woes wrought by the second World War began the dissolution of the great empire. In the words of Dr. John Darwin, “The collapse of British imperial power—all but complete by the mid 1960’s—can be traced directly to the impact of World War Two” (Darwin). The apex of British decolonization began with

“They accepted the need to grant increasing self-government and then independence to some of their most valuable colonies — including Ghana and Malaya in 1957 — on the understanding that they remained in Britain’s sphere of financial and strategic influence” (Darwin 2). However, this only increased the nationalistic movements in British held colonies and dominions. This rise in nationalism among British foreign subjects came to the attention of the imperial government when it was forced to suppress insurrections in Malaya, Kenya, and Cyprus. (Darwin 2) In 1956, nationalistic public thought had led to the Egyptian takeover and nationalization of the Suez Canal. This led to the state of affairs that would come to be known as the Suez Canal Crisis. “The 1956 Suez Canal Crisis was a savage revelation of Britain’s financial and military weakness and destroyed much of what remained of Britain’s influence in the Middle East” (Darwin 2). The Suez Canal Crisis effectively ended British imperial influence in the middle east. British imperial influence was never regained in the Middle East region as a result of the disastrous Suez Canal