Which country benefited the most from the First World War?

After World War I, the British Empire completed its last large-scale overseas expansion. With the approval of the League of Nations, Britain entrusted Palestine and Iraq, which originally belonged to the Ottoman Empire, while the former German colony Tanganyika, southwest Africa (now Namibia) and New Guinea were also included in the territory of the British Empire (in fact, southwest Africa was under the jurisdiction of South Africa and New Guinea was under the jurisdiction of Australia). However, Reinland occupied by Britain after World War I and West Germany after World War II were not considered as part of the empire.

The British Empire refers to a global empire centered on Britain, which reached its peak in the early 20th century, with a population of 400-500 million, accounting for a quarter of the world population at that time and a territory of about 33 million square kilometers. By the middle of the 20th century, especially after the end of World War II, with the rise of the global nationalist movement, British colonial rule was in a serious crisis. In this case, Britain was forced to allow the vast colonies to be independent or semi-independent. In order to continue to play an important role in the former colonies, the British government initiated and supervised the establishment of a so-called peace organization-"Commonwealth", which was joined by most countries that were independent from the former British colonies. But there are also a few who have not joined.

The formation of the British Empire was the result of more than 300 years of trade, immigration and military conquest. During this period, there were also peaceful commercial diplomatic activities and the shrinking of the empire. The empire covers seven continents and four oceans, including Antarctica. It is described as an "empire where the sun never sets", reaching its peak between 1890 ~ 1900.

This empire helped spread British technology, business, language and management model to all parts of the world. Imperial hegemony helped Britain achieve amazing economic growth and gave it a greater say in international politics. Although most people in overseas colonies (except some dominions) have no right to decide the policies and future of their governments, democracy in Britain continues to deepen.

From the colonial point of view, the British empire can be said to be a mixture of good and evil people. Colonies obtained advanced science, technology and investment from Britain, which promoted economic development and improved living standards, and also obtained the legal framework of Britain and English, the international common language. Before the colony became independent from the empire, Britain tried to leave its parliamentary democracy to the colonial people, although it was not always successful. After independence, most British colonies chose to stay in the Commonwealth.

But at the same time, the British colonial policy was not altruistic. In fact, British colonization was entirely based on its own interests. Britain left a better infrastructure for the colonies, but that was mainly to facilitate the export of goods from these colonies to Britain to meet their local needs, or to facilitate the delivery of British industrial products to the colonial market. Most white dominions can further develop infrastructure to achieve a balance of economic production, but the imperial colonies in Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia are often only suppliers of raw materials (or single agricultural products) needed by industry, which is not helpful to the economic development of these countries after independence. In addition, in order to ensure the stability of its rule, Britain adopted a colonial policy of "divide and rule" and encouraged people of different nationalities, languages or religions in the colonies to fight against each other, which made Ireland, India, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Sudan, Uganda, Iraq, Guyana, Fiji and other countries face different degrees of racial conflicts after independence.

The earliest user of the word "British Empire" is considered to be john dee, the astrologer and mathematician of Queen Elizabeth I.