What was the state of the British Empire in the late 19th century?

Britain – Empire, 1880-1914

In this course, Professor Jeremy Black (University of Exeter) explores the British Empire from 1880-1914. In the first lecture, we think about the background to this high point in British imperial expansion and celebration. In the second lecture, we think about some key motivations at home and in the colonies for British imperial expansions. In the third lecture, we think about the sources of British imperial success in this period. Next, we think about British imperial expansion along the Nile valley. In the fifth lecture, we think about the key British conflicts in Sudan and South Africa. In the sixth and final lecture, we think about the state of the British Empire prior to the First World War.

What was the state of the British Empire in the late 19th century?

In this lecture, we think about the background to the high point of British imperialism in this period, focusing in particular on: (i) Britain’s conflicts with Afghanistan, the Zulus and Egypt, pursuing imperialism; (ii) the Anglo-Egyptian conquest of Sudan, which came to a head in the battle of Omdurman in 1899; (iii) the Second Boer War, fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics over influence in South Africa; (iv) various other conflicts which the British Empire spearheaded at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries; (v) outcomes considered as alternatives to absorbing a territory into the British Empire; (vi) the presence and distribution methods of pro-Empire news and media; (vii) Arthur Conan Doyle and Winston Churchill’s writings on imperialist ventures; (viii) the recognition by soldiers involved in imperialist campaigns that their activities would be presented in British media.