British Empire

IN THE 15th and 16th centuries, English trading ships were already sailing to JAPAN via Africa, INDIA, and CHINA, but there was no English sovereignty in these places. The term empire then designated the association between England, Scotland, IRELAND, and Wales.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, a network of territories stretching from America to Southeast Asia came under British control. The British Empire had been founded. In spite of the loss of the American colonies in 1783, the 19th century saw the rise of empire as British rule was extended to other regions. Over the next century, weakened by two world wars and changing global economics, Britain forfeited most of its possessions and granted independence to lands that had formed the cornerstone of British prosperity and identity for more than three hundred years.