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Treaty of Paris of 1763
The Seven Years’ War ended in February 1763, the Treaty of Paris was signed officially ending the war. France surrendered all of it’s stakes in North America, a major portion was the acquisition of the parts of Canada governed by the French as well as a large portion of the modern day United States. This ended the military threat to the British colonies in North America. Britain also acquired many other colonies including large portions of the Caribbean and areas of the Philippines. -
Regulating Act of 1773
The Regulating Act was passed by Parliament in 1773. The act gave the Governors control over the East India Trading Company. The act allowed the company to continue operating but was supervised by the parliament. It also established the office of Governor-General of India that reported directly to the British government. This cemented the British administration in India. -
American Revolution – 1765-1783
The revolution officially ended in 1783 with the Treaty of Paris, the United States gained all of the land east of the Mississippi as well as fishing rights in the Atlantic. -
Treaty of Nanjing of 1842
The treaty of Nanjing marked the end of the Opium Wars, and was the first of the “Unequal Treaties” between Great Britain and China. This treaty marked the acquisition of Hong Kong the name of the British Empire, and opened up exclusive trade between Britain and China while not allowing other European countries to participate. It also removed Korea, Vietnam, and Burma from Chinese control, and diminished China’s power. -
The Sepoy Rebellion of 1857
The Sepoy Rebellion was a lashing out of Indian “sepoy” troops – which were a branch of British military units made up entirely of native Indians meant to be in service to the British Empire, and outnumbered British troops ten to one in India. The rebellion lasted until 1859, and the overall response of the British empire was to remove the British East India Trading Company from power and declare India a British colony, thus further cementing India into a subjugated role. -
Berlin Conference of 1884 - 1885
The Berlin Conference was a meeting of fourteen different countries in order to partition the European ‘colonization’ of Africa. In this conference, Britain maintained control of South Africa, Basutoland, Swaziland, Bechuanaland, Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia, Nyasaland, Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, Nigeria, the Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, Gambia, and British Somaliland. -
World War II
The participation of the British Empire and it's crown colonies in the two global wars severely depleted their wealth and power, but World War II would be the costliest and the impact will begin the collapse of the British Empire during 1900's. -
Partition of India
India was considered the Crown Jewel of the British Empire and provided great resources for the British Empire, most notably, it was highly populated. The British was active in all the WWII theaters and in exchange for thousands of Indian soldiers, they offered a Clause of Dominion to India. Although reluctant to relinquish control, increasing political pressure, especially from the United States, partition was granted by Lord Mountbatten. -
Suez Crisis - 1956
In an effort to gain the freedom of Egypt, the King was overthrown and the control of the government was taken by the military leader, Gamal Abdel Nasser. Although he negotiated a withdrawal of the British forces within 20 months, under the guise of protecting the Suez Canal, British and French forces conducted an air assault, but not before the emerging Israeli forces was able to take possession of the entire Sinai peninsula. -
Hong Kong - Transfer of sovereignty
On July 1, 1997, the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China was completed and ended 156 years of British Rule and more importantly, signified the end of the British Empire.
