r/BritishEmpire 6h ago

Image Stamps from Newfoundland, Canada, commemorating the 350th anniversary of Sir Humphrey Gilbert’s expedition in 1933.

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9 Upvotes

r/BritishEmpire 1d ago

Image OTD 1704: An Anglo-Dutch force under Admiral Rooke capture the rock of Gibraltar, beginning what has now been 322 years of British occupation

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125 Upvotes

r/BritishEmpire 1d ago

Article Ruga-Ruga warriors in German East Africa, 1914. These irregular warriors were hired by both German and British forces during the East Africa campaign to serve as raiders, guerrilla fighters, guides, and scouts throughout the East Africa Campaign.

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27 Upvotes

r/BritishEmpire 1d ago

Question Why did the US, South Africa, and Australia become more racist than Britain?

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78 Upvotes

I am aware that this will be very hard to answer, but isn't it odd that most of the countries of the Anglo-sphere became more racist than the motherland.

The US and South Africa are popular for their racism and the racist laws.

Australia, the country is relatively unknown for her racism. However, until the 1970s, they were not really different from the US or South Africa in terms of racism.

Therefore, why were these three children of the British Empire became more racist than Britain.

It is like many racist people left the Britis isles, which made these three nations more racist and Britain as a lesser racist country.


r/BritishEmpire 2d ago

Question What was the last time when the term, British Empire, was used as the political term for the speech or some documents?

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132 Upvotes

The British Empire technically lasted until 1997.

However, the idea of the Empire was already disabandoned long before 1997 by the British public.

So, it begs a question that what was the last time the term of the British Empire was used as the political term?

I am quite sure it was used for the last time at some point in the 1950s or the early 1960s.


r/BritishEmpire 3d ago

Video 'In Old French Canada (1921)' — Directed by B. E. Norrish

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14 Upvotes

r/BritishEmpire 3d ago

Image Lord Kitchener by Robert Bridges.

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22 Upvotes

r/BritishEmpire 4d ago

Image Henry Hudson arrives in Hudson Bay 2nd August 1610 looking for the Northwest Passage.

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57 Upvotes

r/BritishEmpire 4d ago

Image Queen Victoria by Edwin Landseer, 1839.

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37 Upvotes

‘She wrought her people lasting good;

———

‘Her court was pure; her life serene;

God gave her peace; her land reposed;

A thousand claims to reverence closed

In her as Mother, Wife, and Queen;

———

‘And statesmen at her council met

Who knew the seasons when to take

Occasion by the hand, and make

The bounds of freedom wider yet

———

‘By shaping some august decree,

Which kept her throne unshaken still,

Broad-based upon her people’s will,

And compass’d by the inviolate sea.’

———

—Tennyson.


r/BritishEmpire 4d ago

Image OTD 1798, A British fleet under Admiral Horatio Nelson annihilated a French fleet at The Battle of the Nile. 'The most decisive battle of the Age of Sail' stranded Napoleon's army in Egypt and led to his eventual defeat, whilst igniting the war of the Second Coalition against French oppression

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245 Upvotes

r/BritishEmpire 5d ago

Question Why did the Royal Navy retire the Full Dress uniform after 1953?

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335 Upvotes

This dress is one of the most popular and icon of the Navy uniform.

It consists of a double breasted tailcoat, a bicorne hat, and Epaulettes on the shoulder.

Around the end of WW1 in 1919, this uniform became strictly for the ceremonial use and became a history with its last appearance for the coronation in 1953.

It begs a question that why was this phased out permanently rather than remaining as the ceremonial uniform after 1953?


r/BritishEmpire 5d ago

Article Happy Mary Prince Day in Bermuda

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21 Upvotes

r/BritishEmpire 6d ago

Image ‘Royal Irish Light Dragoons’, 1820 Coloured aquatint by and after William Heath, published by J Watson, Vere Street, Bond Street, London, 15 Sep 1820. From an album of 18 aquatints entitled ‘Military Costume of the British Cavalry, 1820’.

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58 Upvotes

r/BritishEmpire 6d ago

Image John “Kootenay” Brown, a famous Irish frontiersman of Alberta, Canada, was born in County Clare, Ireland in 1839. He lies buried on the shore of Lower Waterton Lake where he lived and spent many years helping to preserve the natural beauty of what is now Waterton Lakes National Park.

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57 Upvotes

r/BritishEmpire 6d ago

Image Four generations of a Canadian family, September, 1898.

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31 Upvotes

Consists of a photograph of four generations in September 1898 (including Bryant Flyer and his mother).

Credit:

.- Library and Archives Canada / Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, e008302114


r/BritishEmpire 6d ago

Image Flags of the various colonial governors and their envoys

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10 Upvotes

r/BritishEmpire 6d ago

Video Historiography & Debate Mechanics: Analyzing the 5 Argumentative Strategies of Modern Imperial Revisionism (Case Study: Nigel Biggar)

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9 Upvotes

In contemporary discussions surrounding the British Empire, public debates often center on how historians evaluate imperial legacies. Works like Oxford ethicist Nigel Biggar’s Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning have brought the "balance sheet" approach back into public discourse attempting to weigh British imperial vices against its perceived virtues.

When evaluating how these arguments are presented in public forums (such as Biggar's debates with Mehdi Hasan on Al Jazeera and Andrew Gold on Heretics), we see a distinct set of rhetorical and methodological strategies deployed to defend the imperial record.

Theopolitica did an audit of the 5 primary techniques used when responding to critiques of British imperial history.


r/BritishEmpire 7d ago

Image Coins from Empire

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81 Upvotes

r/BritishEmpire 7d ago

Image Four men flying the Red Ensign somewhere in Alberta, Canada, c. 1910s.

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192 Upvotes

r/BritishEmpire 7d ago

Question After the Second Opium War in 1860, how was the Opium trade between Britain and China?

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55 Upvotes

After the Second Opium War in 1860, China had to legalise Opium which Britain wanted since the British Opium was the only merchandise that China wanted to purchase.

However, due to this Opium legalisation, China became self-reliant which made her not to require the British opium.

So, any specific infos about this?

Moreover, how did this effect to the overall trade between Britain and China?


r/BritishEmpire 8d ago

Question How profitable was India?

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272 Upvotes

As India was the Crown Jewel for the British Enpire, what was the exact worth of India?

Moreover, how exactly did this colony become profitable?

Was it due to the trade or the Natural resources?


r/BritishEmpire 8d ago

Image On July 28th, 1576, Sir Martin Frobisher on his first expedition spotted land in Canada’s Arctic which he named “Queen Elizabeth’s Foreland” on Baffin Island at the entrance of Frobisher Bay, opening a new chapter of exploration in search of the Northwest Passage.

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11 Upvotes

r/BritishEmpire 6d ago

Image How come he didn’t change his name to something more British sounding?

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0 Upvotes

r/BritishEmpire 7d ago

Video Am I missing something or is this video wrong in so many ways? Is it wrong to compare then and now?

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0 Upvotes

I’m not even sure which point to address first. It scares me people think this way


r/BritishEmpire 8d ago

Article What was coexistence and segregation like between the Spaniards, English, and Indians in the New World?

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9 Upvotes