How Did Great Britain Lose its Power?

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At the height of its empire, Great Britain held dominion and colonial settlements on every continent in the world. By 1763, Great Britain dominated the eastern half of North America, and established colonies off the west coast of Africa, India, and the Philippine islands. The British Empire achieved dominance through industry, economic trading, and its navy, which gave Great Britain a superior advantage over competing sovereignties for three hundred years. Even though the largest British colonies revolted in 1775 and launched a successful revolution, Great Britain continued to grow through the industrial revolution of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century. Nevertheless, in the mid twentieth century the British Empire destabilized and quickly lost its superiority to the United States and the Soviet Union.

In spite of World War II, was the British Empire already on a decline as a global hegemony? Compelling evidence suggests that British superiority was lost based on four causalities. First I will illustrate the relationship between the British decline and the American Revolution (1775 – 1783) and how it demonstrated weakness within the British sphere of influence. Secondly, the rise of German hegemony (1871 – 1914) threatened British superiority and upset the balance of power in Europe. Thirdly, because German hegemony was on the rise, it threatened the British foreign policy of isolationism. Lastly, the Second Boer War (1899) contributed to a reevaluation of Great Britain’s foreign policy and its ability to fend off external enemies. Based on this evidence, Great Britain relinquished its stand alone policy and entangled itself in an alliance with France and Russia that resulted in World War One. In other words, the ...

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...re. In fact this was evident with the 22,000 casualties inflicted by unprofessional guerrilla soldiers during the Second Boer War. More importantly, Great Britain choose to ally with France (known as Entente Cordiale) in 1904, and allied with Russia in 1907. These alliances are crucial because they determined the position Great Britain would take in World War One. Because of Great Britain’s involvement in World War One, Ireland took advantage of the British and revolted.

Therefore its imperative to conclude that the one causality that contributed the most to the British Empire’s decline is the policy of isolation. One reason is because Great Britain established itself as a stand alone empire, without the need of entangling alliances. In other words, Great Britain achieved dominance through its isolation policy, and lost dominance through its isolation policies.

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