Pax Britannica
Pax Britannica (Latin for "British Peace", modelled after Pax Romana) was the period of relative peace between the great powers. During this time, the British Empire became the global hegemonic power, developed additional informal empire, and adopted the role of a "global policeman".[1][2]
Between 1815 and 1914, a period referred to as Britain's "imperial century",[3][4] around 26,000,000 square kilometres (10,000,000 sq mi) of territory and roughly 400 million people were added to the British Empire.[5] Victory over Napoleonic France left the British without any serious international rival, other than perhaps Russia in Central Asia.[6] When Russia tried expanding its influence in the Balkans, the British and French defeated them in the Crimean War (1853–1856), thereby protecting the weak Ottoman Empire.
Britain's Royal Navy controlled most of the key maritime trade routes and enjoyed unchallenged sea power. Alongside the formal control exerted over its own colonies, Britain's dominant position in world trade meant that it effectively controlled access to many regions, such as Asia, North America, Oceania, and Africa. British merchants, shippers and bankers had such an overwhelming advantage over those of other empires that in addition to its colonies Britain had an informal empire.[7][8][9]
History
After losing the
From the end of the
In this era, the Royal Navy provided services around the world that benefited other nations, such as
The most decisive event emerged from the Anglo-Egyptian War, which resulted in the British occupation of Egypt for seven decades, even though the Ottoman Empire retained nominal ownership until 1914.[17] Historian A. J. P. Taylor says that this "was a great event; indeed, the only real event in international relations between the Battle of Sedan and the defeat of Russia in the Russo-Japanese war".[18] Taylor emphasizes the long-term impact:
- The British occupation of Egypt altered the balance of power. It not only gave the British security for their route to India; it made them masters of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East; it made it unnecessary for them to stand in the front line against Russia at the Straits....And thus prepared the way for the Franco-Russian Alliance ten years later.[19]
Britain traded goods and capital extensively with countries around the world, adopting a free trade policy after 1840. The growth of British imperial strength was further underpinned by the steamship and the telegraph, new technologies invented in the second half of the 19th century, allowing it to control and defend the empire. By 1902, the British Empire was linked together by a network of telegraph cables, the so-called All Red Line.[20]
The Pax Britannica was weakened by the breakdown of the continental order which had been established by the Congress of Vienna.[21] Relations between the Great Powers of Europe were strained to breaking point by issues such as the decline of the Ottoman Empire, which led to the Crimean War, and later the emergence of new nation states in the form of Italy and Germany after the Franco-Prussian War. Both of these wars involved Europe's largest states and armies. The industrialisation of Germany, the Empire of Japan, and the United States contributed to the relative decline of British industrial supremacy in the late 19th century. The start of World War I in 1914 marked the end of the Pax Britannica. However, the British Empire remained the biggest colonial empire until the start of decolonization after World War II ended in 1945, and Britain remained one of the leading powers until the Suez Crisis in 1956, during which British and French troops were forced to withdraw from Egypt under pressure from the United States and (to a lesser extent) the Soviet Union.
See also
- Historiography of the British Empire
- Imperial Federation
- List of wars involving the United Kingdom
- Pax Americana
- Pax Sovietica
- Pax Sinica
- Pax Romana
- Pax Hispanica
- Political history of the world
References
Citations
- ^ Johnston, pp. 508–10.
- ^ Porter, p. 332.
- ^ Hyam, p. 1.
- ^ Smith, p. 71.
- ^ Parsons, p. 3.
- ^ Porter, p. 401.
- ^ Porter, p. 8.
- ^ Marshall, pp. 156–57.
- ^ Cameron, pp. 45–47.
- ^ Darwin, p. 391.
- ^ Crawfurd, pp. 191–192: "...for what purpose was it conquered and is it now retained?' We endeavoured to explain, that during the wars, in which we were lately engaged with our European enemies who occupied the coast of the island, they harassed our commerce from its ports, and therefore, in self-defence, there was a necessity for taking possession of it."
- ^ "The British in the Gulf: An Overview". Qatar Digital Library. British Library Qatar Foundation Partnership. 13 August 2014. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
The increased stability that this 'Pax Britannica' brought led to increased volumes of trade in the region. Ruling families began to actively seek British protection as a means of securing their rule and safeguarding their territories.
- ^ Pugh, p. 83.
- ^ Thackeray, p. 57.
- ^ Falola, pp. xxi, xxxiii-xxxiv.
- ^ "The legal and diplomatic background to the seizure of foreign vessels by the Royal Navy".
- ^ M.W. Daly, ed. The Cambridge History of Egypt Volume 2 Modern Egypt, from 1517 to the end of the twentieth century (1998) online
- ^ He adds, "All the rest were manoeuvres which left the combatants at the close of the day exactly where they had started." A.J.P. Taylor, "International Relations" in F.H. Hinsley, ed., The New Cambridge Modern History: XI: Material Progress and World-Wide Problems, 1870–98 (1962): 554.
- ^ Taylor, "International Relations" p. 554
- ^ Dalziel, pp. 88–91.
- ^ Pugh, p. 90.
Sources and further reading
- Albrecht-Carrié, René. A Diplomatic History of Europe Since the Congress of Vienna (1958), 736pp; a basic introduction, online free to borrow
- Bartlett, C. J. Peace, War and the European Powers, 1814–1914 (1996) brief overview 216pp
- Bury, J. P. T. ed. The New Cambridge Modern History: Vol. 10: the Zenith of European Power, 1830–70 (1964)
- Cameron, Rondo; Bovykin, V.I., eds. (1991). International Banking: 1870–1914. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-506271-7.
- Darby, H. C. and H. Fullard The New Cambridge Modern History, Vol. 14: Atlas (1972)
- Darwin, John (2012). Unfinished Empire: The Global Expansion of Britain. London, England: Allen Lane.
- Dalziel, Nigel (2006). The Penguin Historical Atlas of the British Empire. Penguin. ISBN 0-14-101844-5.
- Falola, Toyin; Warnock, Amanda (2007). Encyclopedia of the middle passage. Greenwood Press. ISBN 9780313334801.
- Ferguson, Niall. Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power (2002),
- Hinsley, F.H., ed. The New Cambridge Modern History, vol. 11, Material Progress and World-Wide Problems 1870–1898 (1979)
- Hyam, Ronald (2002). Britain's Imperial Century, 1815–1914: A Study of Empire and Expansion. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-7134-3089-9. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
- Johnston, Douglas M.; Reisman, W. Michael (2008). The Historical Foundations of World Order. Leiden, South Holland: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. ISBN 978-9047423935.
- Kennedy, Paul. The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers Economic Change and Military Conflict From 1500–2000 (1987), stress on economic and military factors
- Kissinger, Henry. Diplomacy (1995), 940pp; not a memoir but an interpretive history of international diplomacy since the late 18th century
- Marshall, P. J. (1996). The Cambridge Illustrated History of the British Empire. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-00254-0. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
- Parsons, Timothy H. (1999). The British Imperial Century, 1815–1914: A World History Perspective. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0-8476-8825-9. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
- Porter, Andrew (1998). The Nineteenth Century, The Oxford History of the British Empire Volume III. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-924678-5. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
- Pugh, Martin (1999). Britain since 1789: A Concise History. Macmillan. ISBN 0-312-22359-5. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
- Rich, Norman. Great Power Diplomacy: 1814–1914 (1991), comprehensive survey
- Seaman, L.C.B. From Vienna to Versailles (1955) 216pp; brief overview of diplomatic history online
- Seton-Watson, R. W. Britain in Europe, 1789–1914. (1938); comprehensive history online
- Smith, Simon (1998). British Imperialism 1750–1970. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-3-12-580640-5. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
- Thackeray, Frank (2002). Events That Changed Great Britain since 1689. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-313-31686-4.
- Ward, A.W. and G. P. Gooch, eds. The Cambridge History of British Foreign Policy, 1783–1919 (3 vol, 1921–23), old detailed classic; vol 1, 1783–1815 ; vol 2, 1815–1866; vol 3. 1866–1919
- OCLC 03452414. Retrieved 2 February 2012.