British colonial history

/kloc-From the 6th century to the early 20th century, British colonialists invaded and expanded abroad. Britain is the largest colonial country in modern times, and colonies once spread all over the world.

First, colonial expansion during the primitive accumulation period.

The British colonial expansion in this period began in the16th century and ended with the rise of the industrial revolution in the late18th century.

In the 1920s and 1930s, Britain occupied Saint Kitts and other places in the West Indies. By 1733, Britain had established 13 colonies on the east coast of North America.

/kloc-in the 0 th and 8 th centuries, Britain began to compete with France for colonial hegemony. From 1689 to 1763, there were four wars between the two countries, each of which ended in British victory. British colonies have greatly increased. 17 13, French Nova Scotia Peninsula, Newfoundland and Hudson River, West Gibraltar and Menorca Island all belong to Britain. Especially because of the victory of the Seven-Year War, Britain not only won all the territories east of Canada and the Mississippi River, but also won Grenada, Saint Vincent, Dominica, Tobago and Senegal in Africa. Florida in Spain was also given to Britain.

The British East India Company, founded in 1600, is a British colonial institution in the East. From 65438 to 0757, Britain established its dominant position in Hindustan. 1767 ~ 1799 attacked four times and finally occupied Mysore. From 1803 to 1804, the resistance forces that defeated the Malates included Ketak and the fertile land between the Ganges and the Zhu Mu Na River (now known as yamuna river). Britain also captured Sumatra (1784) and Malacca from the Netherlands. Cut Penang Island from Kedar Sultan (1786). 1668 ~1710/year, Englishman J. Cook visited the east coast of Australia and New Zealand, and Britain immediately immigrated there.

Second, the colonial expansion during the industrial capital period.

From 1843 to 1849, Britain successively annexed Sindh, Kashmir and Punjab provinces, thus completing the conquest of India and then expanding to the periphery of India. 1814 ~1815 cut off the land in southern Nepal; 1824 and 1852 invaded Myanmar twice, merging Assam, Rakhine State and Danasalin into British India. 1864 ~ 1865, Darjeeling and Garenburg in Bhutan were merged into British India. 1824, the Netherlands was forced to assign Singapore to Britain and Malaya to the British sphere of influence. 184 1 and 1842, Brunei ceded Sarawak and Borneo to Britain. 1847 Brunei was "protected" by Britain. 1839, Britain occupied the port of Aden under the jurisdiction of Turkey. 1857 reoccupied Pirin Island.

In Africa, Britain annexed Natal in 1843. 1808, 186 1, 1874, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and the Gold Coast successively became British colonies.

Since 1764, the Malvinas Islands near the east coast of South America have changed hands in France, Britain, Spain, Argentina and other countries. 1833 ends up as British income (formerly known as Falkland Islands).

Britain was not satisfied with its economic aggression against China. After the two Opium Wars, China was not only required to pay compensation and open trading ports, but also cut off the land south of the border between Hongkong (1842) and Kowloon Peninsula (1860). 1857 After the Indian national uprising, in order to strengthen the rule, Britain revoked the administrative power of the East India Company in 1858 and changed India into a directly administered territory.

For Canada, Australia and New Zealand, Britain adopted immigration and colonial policies, making them vassals of its own industry.

Colonial expansion in the period of financial capital after 65438+1970s, due to the unbalanced political and economic development of capitalist countries, Britain gradually lost its monopoly position in the industrial world, but its capital export and colonial expansion remained ahead.

1876, Britain named India the Indian Empire and continued to expand around it. 1876 occupied Balochistan province, 1878 ~ 1879 Afghanistan became a British dependency. 1886 occupied Mandalay and completed the plan of integrating Myanmar into India. 1887 declared that Zhemengxiong (Sikkim) was protected by it. In the same year, the Netherlands Maldives was changed to British protection. Britain is based in India, spying on Xinjiang, Yunnan and Tibet in China. The plot to plunder Xinjiang was finally crushed by the Qing army. 1876 Yunnan was forced to open ports, open more commercial ports and expand consular jurisdiction. After 1888 and 1904 were invaded twice, Tibet was also forced to open up and recognize British consular jurisdiction. Britain also took advantage of China's defeat in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894- 1898 to lease ahava. In the same year, the North Kowloon Peninsula and its adjacent islands were forcibly leased for 99 years. In the Malay Peninsula, after continuous occupation, the southern part of the Malay Peninsula fell into British hands. From 65438 to 0907, Britain and Russia divided their spheres of influence in Iran.

In Oceania, Britain occupied Fiji in 1874, and Papua was declared a protected area in 1884. 1893 ~ 1904 successively occupied Solomon, Tonga, Gilbert, Cook, Ellis and Phoenix Islands. 1906, he was in charge of new hebrides with the French. In the Mediterranean, the island of Cyprus was seized from Turkey in 1878.

Africa is the last continent carved up by imperialism. Britain obtained the most valuable part, 1868 and 1885, and Basutoland and Bettina were successively classified as protected territories. 1887 occupied Zululan, 1889 After the establishment of the South African company of C.J. Rhodes, it stepped up its plunder of Zimbabwe and the vast area north of the Zambian River. 1895 named this area Rhodesia. After fierce competition with Germany, France and Italy, at the end of 19, Cautrat, Somali, Ugandan, Kenyan and Zanzibar in East Africa successively became British protectorates.

1882, Egypt actually became a British colony. In the 65438+1980s, the Mahdi Uprising broke out in Sudan under the rule of Egypt, which drove away the British and Egyptian invaders and established its own country. 1899, this country was strangled by the British army and actually became a British colony. After Ying Bu War, Britain occupied two Boer republics-Transvaal and Orange. 19 10, Transvaal, Orange, Cape and Natal formed a new dominion-South Africa Federation.

By the beginning of the 20th century, the world territory was divided up, with Britain accounting for the largest share. 1876, with a territory of 22.5 million square kilometers and a population of 25 1.9 million. By1965,438+04, the territory has increased to 33.5 million square kilometers, with a population of 393.5 million, which is equivalent to 137 times that of the British mainland and more than 8 times that of the population. Lenin called Britain "colonial imperialism". In World War I, Britain captured most of Germany's overseas colonies, and after the war, it was incorporated into the imperial territory in the name of mandate. Among them, southwest Africa was given to the South African Federation, Tanganyika was directly ruled by Britain, Togo and Cameroon were under French control, and Germany, New Guinea and Nauru were given to Australia. Western Samoa was handed over to New Zealand. In addition, Palestine (including Outer Jordan) and Mesopotamia, which belong to the Ottoman Empire, also belong to Britain.