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King Arthur

2009-12-06T17:39:05Z

JamesTr:

'''King Arthur''' was a mythical king of [[England]]. The myth has a number of formulations, some more dominant in the popular mind.

== T.H. White's formulation, ''The Once & Future King'' ==
According to T.H. White, who formulates the modern version of Arthurian Myth, Arthur was taken from his father, King [[Uther Pendragon]], when he was a baby by [[Merlin]], a wizard who lives life in reverse.

Merlin brings Arthur to the estate of a noble to be raised thinking that the noble is his father. When Arthur grows older, he becomes a page for the noble's son, Sir Kay. During this time Uther Pendragon becomes ill and soon dies. So Merlin says that they should have a grand tournament, and afterwards he will announce the next king. At the tournament Kay breaks his sword, so he sends Arthur to find him another. In his haste Arthur grabs a sword that is sticking out of a stone in the town square. As it turns out, Merlin had laid a spell on the stone that said that whoever could pull the sword - [[Excalibur]] - out of the stone would be the next king, so Arthur was made king. During his mythical reign, Arthur united all of England, and formed a league of knights called the Knights of the Round Table. When they gathered together, they all sat at a round table so no seat was better than another.

Arthur later sent his knights on a quest to find the [[Holy Grail]], which they finally found on the Isle of [[Avalon]] guarded by an order of virgin priestesses led by [[Morgan la Fay]]. After this successful quest, Arthur's illegitimate nephew [[Mordred]] planned to overthrow him, and the two met in battle at [[Camlann]]. Mordred is killed, and Arthur, mortally wounded, is taken to the Isle of Avalon for healing by Morgan la Fay. According to legend he will only return when his country truly needs him.

== King Arthur in History ==
The death of Arthur occurred in the year 539 AD, according to Welsh chronicles.<ref>''Annales Cambriae'', which cryptically states only that Arthur and Mordred both fell at the Battle of Camlaan, with no reference to either in the rest of the text.</ref> After Arthur's departure, England broke up into warring factions and was not again a united kingdom until the time of [[Alfred the Great]] in the 9th century.
It is likely that the tale of Arthur was inspired either by a Roman Noble who remained in Britain after the Romans withdrew or by a Britannic Chieftain who fought successfully against the saxons.

== Relation to Mono-Myth ==
Joseph Campbell, in his book ''The Hero with a Thousand Faces'', describes elements of popular mythology evident in many cultures, and many different stories. One such characteristic is the obscure nature of the hero, which most iterations of the Arthur myth do satisfy.

== References==
<references/>

[[Category:Arthurian Mythology]]

Alfred the Great

2009-12-06T17:34:05Z

JamesTr:

[[Image:Alfred.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Alfred the Great]]
'''Alfred the Great''' lived from 849 to 899 AD and was King of [[Wessex]] who defended [[England]] against the [[Vikings]].

There is a well known story of a king who, after being defeated in battle, was forced to take refuge in the marshes and act as a serving man for a poor woman living there. One day the woman asked him to watch some cakes she was baking, and the hapless king assented. The king was quickly lost in his thoughts, and after some time awoke with a start to see the woman gesticulating towards the charred cakes and rating him for his carelessness and lack of thrift.

The King was Alfred the Great, who ruled Wessex A.D. 871-899. It is among the greatest ironies of history that, as the historian and author G.A. Henty once remarked, ''“The incident of the burned cakes is, of all the actions of a great and glorious reign, the most prominent.”'' In fact, the story of King Alfred and his followers and their desperate struggle to defend their homeland is among the greatest stories of perseverance, valor and wisdom in all of recorded history.

It was in the year 870, when Alfred ruled as co-regent with his brother Ethelred that the [[Danes]] (Vikings) began to invade his kingdom in force. In 871, the [[Saxons]] fought the Danes in eight pitched battles, with varying fortunes. However, the Viking armies were made up of professional soldiers, while only a portion of the Saxon armies were soldiers, the rest being conscripted farmers. Although King Ethelred fell in the last of these battles and his kingdom was worn out by fighting, King Alfred was able to make a treaty with the Danes by which they withdrew in 872. For several years the peace was kept, and Alfred dedicated himself to restoring his kingdom to a state of defense.

But in 876 the Danes renewed the war, launching an invasion in overwhelming force. Alfred defeated the Danes in momentous battles against great odds by land and sea, and effectually trapped the main body of the invaders at the port of Exeter so that they promised to retreat and never return if their lives were spared. But Alfred’s forces were weakened in the struggle, and when the Danes received reinforcements and treacherously renewed the invasion, he was unable to resist the onslaught. Thus it was that the king, after many brilliant victories, found himself a fugitive on the isle of Athelney in the marshes of England.

The Danes now roamed freely through King Alfred’s kingdom, plundering and oppressing the people. But Alfred, undaunted, secretly prepared to renew the struggle. In May of 878 Alfred, having rearmed and reorganized his forces without alerting the Danes, marched suddenly to attack their central encampment at Chippenham. The Danes met him in pitched battle, and Alfred’s determined, well disciplined army won a decisive victory.
Besieged in their camp and suffering from starvation, the Danes finally surrendered to the Saxons, and many of their leaders turned from paganism to Christianity. It was not long before the Danish incursions were renewed, but in the intervening time King Alfred was able to develop a strong, professional army and navy to check the invaders. After years of struggle, the steadfast courage and wisdom of King Alfred and the loyalty of his people had brought peace and freedom to his kingdom.

Alfred is regarded as the greatest of English kings, and he was the only one that the English have ever called 'the great'. In 886, when he freed London from the Danish invaders, he proclaimed himself 'King of the Anglo-Saxons' and 'King of the English'. At the time of his death in A.D. 899 he ruled Wessex and Western Mercia, and was acknowledged king of all the English who were not living under Danish occupation. For these reasons, and many others, he is regarded as the first monarch of all the English as a united people. He was an intellectual, and translated by his own hand many Latin texts into English so his people could read them. According to his biographer the Welsh monk named Asser, he was a deeply complex man who suffered a number of emotional and mental disorders, probably what we today would call [[obsessive compulsive disorder]]. But of all the English [[king]]s he is the only one who is not regarded as flawed in any way, and his own personal character has molded the English national character to the present day. He was succeeded as king by his eldest son Edward, known to history as [[Edward the Elder]].

[[Category:Medieval History]]
[[Category:English History]]

{{Nb english monarchs}}

Wales

2009-12-06T17:31:07Z

JamesTr: /* History */

[[Image:Flag of Wales.png|thumb|The Welsh flag]]'''Wales''' is a principality which is a part of the [[United Kingdom]]. It occupies the peninsula of land between the [[Bristol Channel]] and the [[River Dee]], on the west side of southern [[Great Britain]]. [[Anglesey]], [[Holy Island]], and the bardic island of Bardsey are also part of Wales.

Much of Wales is mountainous; the [[Cambrian Mountains]] run the length of the country, from [[Snowdon]]ia in the north. Several [[geological period]]s are named after the ancient Welsh tribes that lived in regions where strata characteristic of the period are to be found; the [[Ordovician]] (Ordovices), the [[Silurian]] (Silures), and the [[Cambrian]] period is named for Cambria, the [[Latin]] for Wales.

The largest city in Wales is [[Cardiff]], which was declared to be the capital city in 1955, against competition from [[Swansea]]. Other important locales include the ports of [[Holyhead]] and [[Milford Haven]]; the mining and industrial centres of Llanelli, Neath, Pontypridd, [[Rhondda]], Merthyr Tydfil and [[Wrexham]]; the ecclesiastical cities of [[St. Asaph]] and [[St. Davids]]; the resorts of Pwllheli, [[Llandudno]], Colwyn Bay, Rhyl and Prestatyn; the university towns of Bangor and [[Aberystwyth]]; and the villages of [[Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch]] (the longest place name in Britain) and [[Llanddewi Brefi]].

[[English]] is universally spoken in Wales - however, the ancestral Celtic language of [[Welsh]] is still spoken as a first or second language by approximately a quarter of the population (In 2001, Apporximately 600,000 people claimed some knowledge of welsh). The long-term decline in Welsh-speakers has stabilised since the early 1990s owing to the introduction of compulsory Welsh language classes in schools.

The national emblems are the [[leek]] and the [[daffodil]]. The Welsh national day is March 1, [[Saint David]]'s day.

==History==

Wales emerged as a nation from the collapse of Romano-British Britannia following the invasions of the Angles, Saxons and Jutes from the fifth century AD onwards. What is now known as Wales was for a time known as 'North Wales', while [[Devon]] and [[Cornwall]] (in SW England) were 'West Wales' until their conquest. The Mercian king [[Offa]] (Mercia equates roughly to the English Midlands) created an substantial earthwork, [[Offa's Dyke]] running between the [[Irish Sea]] and the [[River Severn|Severn]] estuary in the later eighth century to separate his kingdom from Welsh lands. The dyke broadly marks the Anglo-Welsh boundary to this day.

The [[Norman Conquest]] of England following 1066 gave rise to Norman attempts to occupy Wales; by the thirteenth century much of eastern and southern Wales were under Norman control in autonomous 'Marcher Lordships' owing loyalty to the English crown. What was left of independent Wales was not a unitary nation, but comprised a number of separate, often warring, principalities, and only late on, under English pressure, did these unite to acknowledge one 'Prince of Wales'. These princes were provided by the most powerful of the Welsh states, Gwynedd, in the mountainous NW of the country. Most notable was [[Llewelyn the Great]], who was successfully married to King John's illegitimate daughter (1173-1240; who unified the country, and gave it a code of laws). His grandson, [[Llewelyn ap Gruffydd]], was unable to resist a powerful invasion mounted by the English king [[Edward I]], and his death in battle in 1282 and the later execution of his brother Daffyd (executed for treason due to his betrayal of the English king, with whom he had previously been allied) marked the extinction of independent Wales.

A number of huge fortifications were built by Edward to pacify the country, notably that of [[Caernafon Castle]], and maintained by his successors. These castles wer known as the ''Iron Ring''.

A major revolt against English rule was mounted in the early fifteenth century led by [[Owain Glyndwr]], a member of the prosperous Welsh gentry who became embittered against the local English magnates for reasons which are uncertain, but probably owe as much to personal disputes as national sentiment. Glyndwr's rebellion achieved astonishing success, for a while. Beginning on Good Friday 1401, the rebels came to control much of the countryside and many Welsh towns, even advancing to [[Worcester]] in England. Glyndwr, who had been proclaimed Prince of Wales, held two parliaments at Machynlleth in mid Wales, and allied himself with the Duke of Northumberland and the Earl of Mortimer in a plan to dismember the English kingdom once Henry IV had been conclusively defeated. He made an alliance with [[France]], and created two (short-lived) universities, one each in north and South Wales. However, by 1408 the tide had turned. His Northumbrian allies had been defeated and English forces retook many Welsh towns. The rebels resorted to guerilla warfare but by 1410 Glyndwr was a fugitive and he disappears from history, his fate a mystery.

Much as Owain Glyndwr emerged from the ranks of the Welsh gentry, so too did Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, who in 1485, as a somewhat tendentious claimant to the throne of England through the Lancastrian line, led an army of disaffected English magnates to victory over the Yorkist king [[Richard III]] at the [[Battle of Bosworth Field]]. Henry became King [[Henry VII]] and the progenitor of the [[Tudor dynasty]], the first Welsh king of England. Henry's son, [[Henry VIII]], completed the absorption of Wales into England in 1536, when the remaining parts of Wales were formally annexed to England and 'shired' - that is, divided into counties (shires) with sheriffs and lords lieutenant, rather than being ruled as marcher lordships.

[[Charles]], eldest son of [[Queen Elizabeth II]], is the current Prince of Wales, a title normally bestowed on the first-born son of the sovereign but implying no particular monarchical role in the Principality. The Welsh flag has a picture of a [[dragon]], usually called Idris. The Welsh flag forms no part of the Union Flag as at the time the flag was first devised Wales was considered as part of the Kingdom of England.

Even today in modern Wales, vestiges of anti-English sentiment remain strong in some parts; the Welsh Nationalist Party, [[Plaid Cymru]] typically returns several members to the British [[Parliament]], and with the unaffiliated Welsh terrorist group the [[Meibion Glyndwr]], ("the Sons of Glendower") conducting a sporadic campaign of arson against English-owned holiday homes in recent years.<ref>http://www.welshdragon.net/resources/Articles/arson.shtml</ref>

[[Druidry]] survived as a major force in Wales until the 18th century, and may never have completely died out. The first modern Welsh druids date from 1717, but they took many of their rites from existing practices. The winner of the chair at the national [[Eisteddfod]] becomes a druid.

== Government ==

{| class="wikitable" style="float:right"
|- bgcolor=cccccc
! Position || Current Holder
|-
| [[British_monarchy|Monarch]] || Queen [[Elizabeth II]]
|-
| [[UK_Prime_Ministers|Prime Minster]] || [[Gordon Brown]] MP
|-
| [[Secretary of State for Wales|Secretary of State]] || [[Peter Hain]] MP
|-
| [[First Minister of Wales|First Minister]] || [[Rhodri Morgan]] AM
|}

Although constitutionally the United Kingdom is a unitary state with one sovereign, parliament and government - there has been moves to give power to national legislature in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, this has taken the form of devolution. Power for certain areas of government like education, health and the environment are fully the responsibility of their national governments. However, central government maintains the right to overturn any decision by a national assembly, as as such the [[Parliament of the United Kingom]] remains sovereign in the United Kingdom as a whole.

=== Devolution ===

A [[National Assembly for Wales]] as established under the ''Government of Wales Act of 1998''. The assembly consists of 60 ''Assembly Members'' or ''AM''s. The [[Welsh Assembly Governemnt]] is the executive arm who have been delegated much of the powers of the Assembly.

== Industry ==

South Wales was formerly heavily industrialised, with [[coal]] mining and [[steel]]working, whereas North Wales is a pastoral area used mainly for [[sheep]]farming.

[[Coal]] mining in South Wales has undergone a recent resurgence due to the discovery of new energy resources, particularly in the Crumlin area.

== Sport ==

[[Soccer]] enjoys major popularity, with [[rugby union]] being particularly popular in South Wales. In addition, as is common with many universities, both Cardiff and Aberystwyth Universities have their own American Football teams (the Cardiff Cobras and the Tarannau Aberystwyth), and there are other American Football teams in Wales<ref>http://www.southwaleswarriors.co.uk/cgi-bin/swwarriors/baseweb2.exe?vid=82057&src=794</ref> (indeed there are many other American Football teams in the whole of the UK<ref>http://www.bafa.org.uk/</ref>).

== World significance ==

Welsh-derived surnames are common in the United States. The Welsh name ''Jones'' is in fact the fourth commonest surname in the U. S.<ref>Smith, Johnson and Williams ranking first, second and third</ref>; within the hundred commonest surnames, the Welsh names Evans, Edward, Morgan, and Jenkins rank 48th, 49th, 57th, and 83rd respectively.<ref>[http://names.mongabay.com/most_common_surnames.htm Most Common Surnames in the U. S.], website which claims its source is the U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division, Population Analysis & Evaluation Staff</ref> Names beginning with a double L, such as ''Lloyd'' and ''Llewellyn'' are almost certain to be Welsh, as is ''Floyd'' (the "Fl" being an attempt to imitate the sound of the Welsh double-L.

== Alphabet ==

Although it should be noted that the Welsh Alphabet uses the same characters as English (indeed both are examples of the Latin Alphabet) direct comparisons cannot always be made between the two. Welsh developed as an oral language with no corresponding written language and so, when it did develop a written language, it was developed in the written alphabet of the time, the Latin Alphabet. Of principle differences it should be noted that unlike English, Welsh has seven vowels, comprising of A, E, I, O, U, W and Y (occasionally h) . In addition, certain sounds in Welsh are represented in the Latin Alphabet by two characters but are considered to be only one letter. In truth this makes little practical difference in everday use but is of use in such things as crosswords (where, for instance, the letter ''ff'' would occupy one space). In addition the Welsh alphabet has sounds (phones {speech sounds}) that do not occur in either English or American English. Listed below is the Welsh alphabet, along with the name of the letter as prounced in Welsh (which varies compared to how it is pronounced in English) and a (rough) guide to pronounciation.

A, a : {Name = â) '''Short''' = a, as in Mam (Welsh version of Mum or Mom) or Slam. '''Long''' = a as in Mad, aaa! (an exclaimation), but never ah as in Lard or bard

B, b : (Name = bî) b, as in Boy, Butter, etc.

C, c : (Name = èc) k, as in Cat, Coin, '''but never''' s, as in ceiling.

CH, ch : (Name = èch) a sound that has no corresponding sound in English, similar to the 'ch' in loch or Bach when these words are pronounced correctly in their original phones.

D, d : (Name = dî) d, as in Dog, Drag, Dip, etc.

DD, dd : (Name = èdd) a soft 'th' sound, as in The or Them

E, e : (Name = ê) '''Short''' = eh, as in Hen, Pen, etc. '''Long''' = air, as in the 'ea' sound in Pear.

F,f : (Name = èf) v, as in Van, Vote, Value.

FF, ff : (Name = èff) f, as in Fair, Fast, Feisty.

G, g : (Name = èg) g, as in Gasp, Grip, '''but never''' j, as in Judge.

NG, ng : (Name = èng) ng, as in Sing, Ding, Fling, Flung, Long, etc. ''but'' is only considered a single letter in Welsh.

H, h : (Name = âets,hâ) h, as in Hat, Hope, Hero.

I, i : (Name = î (North Wales), î dot (South Wales)) '''Short''' = i, as in fit, kit, pit<ref>http://www.cs.cf.ac.uk/fun/welsh/Lesson01.html</ref>, however, due to pronunciation differences between dialects and regions the short form of 'i' can also be pronounced in the same way as the long form. '''Long''' = ee, as in Seen, Dean, Mean.

Strictly speaking there is no 'J' in the Welsh Alphabet, where a 'J' would appear in English the Latin form of replacing it with an 'I' occurs, so James becomes Iago in Welsh (as it does in Spanish) and Santiago or (Sant Iago) means Saint James in both Spanish and English.

There is no 'K' in Welsh. That sound is formed using the letter 'C'.

L, l : (Name = èl) l, as in Long, Last, Lambeth, Lament.

LL, Ll, ll : (Name = ell) No corresponding sound in English. Prounced as an aspirated 'l' which is in practice formed by prouncing l, a hard th and a hissing sound from one side of the mouth, all at the same time. Used in the words Llewellyn, Llanberis, Llanelli, etc.

M, m : (Name = èm) m, as in Mam, Merry, Mercury.

N, n : (Name = en) n, as in Name, Number, Never.

O, o : (Name = ô) '''Short''' = o, as in Hockey, Gone, Bomb. '''Long''' = oa as in oar, boar

P, p : (Name = pî) p, as in Pet, Pogo, Ping.

Ph, ph : (Name = ffî) an aspirated 'p' as it is in English, and the same prounciation as the Welsh letter 'ff'. However, in Welsh the 'ph' letter is considered to be a mutated form, and the letter 'ff' is more likely to be used.

R, r : (Name = èr) r, as in Rat, Ran, Rubbish. However, the pronounciation of the letter 'r' in Welsh is slightly more trilled and rolled in pronounciation than it is in English.

Rh, rh : (Name = rhî, rhô) Again, no corresponding sound in English. 'Rh' is pronounced as 'hr'.

S, s : (Name = ès) s, as in Sat, Sorry, Song and, if you insist (even if you don't), Sox.

T, t : (Name = tî) t, as in Tea, Test, Time.

Th, th : (Name = èth) a hard th sound, as in Thought, Thespian, Theocracy.

U, u : (Name = û (North Wales), û bedol (South Wales)) '''Short''' = i, as in me, he, she. '''Long''' = ee, as in Seen, Dean, Mean. (exactly the same as i)

W, w : (Name = ŵ) '''Short''' = never 'w' as in english. Thus, gweld (to see) is goo-eld (although it does sound similar to gw-eld). A short oo as in look, book. '''Long''' = long oo as in goo, moo.

Y, y : (Name = ŷ) '''Short (1)''' = i, as in Sit, Bit, Flit. This occurs in one syllable words like mynd (to go), llyn (lake) '''Short (2''') = uh, as in Gun, Fun. This occurs in multi syllable words like cymru (wales), or non stressed one syllable words like fy (my), yn (in). '''Long''' = ee, Seen, Been, Lean.

As can be seen, there appears to be three letters (i, u, y) in Welsh that all have the same sound (ee when pronounced). In North Wales, u and û are often pronounced as what s known as a 'close central unrounded vowel', which doesn not occur in English.

It should be noted that in addition to single letters (as listed above) the Welsh language also combines letters to form other sounds (as English does). Some examples include Si (the 'sh' sound, as in Siân (SH-ahn)), Oe (oy, as in boy), Wy (oo-y, no comparable sound in English), Tch (which can produce the 'tch' sound in match as opposed to the sound of t followed by the gutteral 'ch' in Welsh), di{vowel} (which produces a j sound, i.e. diyg is the Welsh phonetic for jug).

A common occurance in the language is the direct use of English words (commonly known as "Wenglish"), or a phonetic welsh version of it (known as cymreigeiddio - welshification). This generally occurs for technical words, like 'niwclear' (nuclear) and 'biwrèt' (burette).

Some fun words in Welsh and a (even rougher) guide to their pronounciation:
Ynysybwl = A place name, that in English contains no vowels, but in Welsh is pronounced Uh-Nis-Uh-Bull

Eglwys = A church. Pronounced Egg-l-ooy-s. The official church of Wales (by virtue of the fact that Wales is a Principality of England and the Established Church of England is the Anglican Church of England) is Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru, or The Church in Wales.

Cymru = Wales. Pronounced K-um-ri, although when Cymru is used in a sentence the beginning of the word is altered to fit the syntax of the sentence (i.e. The Church in Wales is Yr(The) Eglwys(Church) yng(in) Nghymru(Wales) as opposed to Yr Eglwys yng Cymru).

Capel = Chapel. Pronounced K-ap-el.

Ysgol = School. Pronounced Us-gol (not Us-goal).

Siarad = To speak or talk. Pronounced Sh-ah-rad.

Dim siarad = No Talking. Pronounced Dim Sh-ah-rad.

Cwtch = Closest meaning is 'safe place', often used to indicate an affectionate hug or cuddle (a safe place emotionally and physically) or a place of storage. Pronounced as Butch but with a hard 'C' at the beginning instead of a 'B'.

Hiraeth = No comparable English word. It's a deep seated longing, almost a depressing and obsessive (but not actually either of those things) need for something, often a return to Wales. It can also be used to indicate a deep longing for something unobtainable. Pronounced Hi-r-eye-th (as in thought).

Most English dictionaries contain some Welsh-derived English words such as ''cwm'' (a circular valley or ''cirque'') and ''crwth'' (an traditional Celtic fiddle-like musical instrument). These can be very effective stumpers when playing word games, provided of course that they are actually included in whatever dictionary is the authority agreed on by the players.

==References==
<references/>
[[Category:United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Wales| ]]
[[Category:Principalities]]

Spanish Armada

2009-12-06T17:27:13Z

JamesTr: /* Conclusion */

The '''Spanish Armada''' ("La Armada Invencible" in Spanish) was the battle fleet sent by [[Philip II]] of Spain in the summer of 1588 to the [[English Channel]]; its aim was to enable a Spanish army in [[Flanders]] to cross the channel and conquer England.

The Spanish Armada more generally was the failed seaborn invasion of England by Spain in 1588. The Armada included 130 large ships of 57,900 tons mounting 2,500 cannons and manned by 30,700 crewmen. The English fleet consisted of 197 vessels of 29,800 tons manned by 15,800 men.

It was a total failure, as English warships attacked and the Armada scattered and was driven north into the [[North Sea]]. Returning to Spain via the north coast of [[Scotland]] led to disaster, with many ships and lives lost.

The Spanish Armada is celebrated in British history as a great triumph for the nation, and for protestantism over the forces of Catholicism.

==Origins==
The operation was planned by [[Philip II]], king of [[Spain, history|Spain]], to help realize his dynastic ambitions<ref> As widower of Elizabeth's immediate predecessor, Mary I, Philip contended that his claim to the English throne was superior to that of Elizabeth, who he claimed was illegitimate. </ref> to expand the Spanish empire and to reconvert Protestant Europe. He was repeatedly exhorted by popes [[Gregory XIII]] (d. 1585) and [[Sixtus V]] as well as by English Catholics in exile to extend the [[Counter Reformation]] to England. The stringent policies of English Queen [[Elizabeth I]] toward her Catholic subjects, her moral leadership of Protestants abroad, and particularly the encouragement she gave to Philip's rebelling subjects in the United Provinces of the [[Netherlands]] infuriated the Spanish king.

In 1587 Philip roused to action. In February 1587 [[Mary Queen of Scots]], a Catholic who also claimed the English crown was executed for treason against England. In April the English naval officer, [[Francis Drake]], who had previously raided Spanish settlements in Central and South America, destroyed over 20 ships at Cádiz, one of Spain's main ports.

==Preparations==
Philip tried to neutralize France by involvement in its internal power struggle He raised money from loans from his German and Italian bankers, pledging his ordinary revenues, and especially the annual flow of treasure from his possessions in the New World. Aware of English naval prowess, he decided to overwhelm it with sheer mass. Philip marshaled 130 sail of all classes, totaling over 59,000 tons--from his Mediterranean and Atlantic fleets, from the Portuguese navy (which he controlled), and from his allies. More than 19,000 soldiers and 8,000 sailors recruited to man these ships were to join 30,000 troops who had been fighting in the Spanish Netherlands under Philip's commander, the Duke of Parma. He first chose a competent admiral, Don Álvaro de Bazán, but he died and Philip turned to Alonso Pérez de Guzmán, Duke of Medina Sidonia (1550-1615). He was an incompetent seaman, albeit intelligent and courageous.

If the Armada had landed its army in England, it may well have succeeded. The Spanish army was large, experienced, well-equipped, confident, and richly financed. English defenses were poor and outdated; troops were few and only partially trained. Spain had chosen England's weakest defensive link. London might have fallen within a week. A Catholic uprising in the north and in Ireland could have brought total defeat. England essentially depended on the will and loyalty of the common people.

===English plans===
Since November 1587 the English and the Dutch had been aware of Philip's intentions. To prevent a juncture of Parma's army with the Armada, Charles, Lord Howard of Effingham, the Lord Admiral, had sent small squadrons to patrol the Dutch coast. After much debate, Howard accepted Drake's advice to use 54 of the Queen's best ships then anchored at Plymouth on the English Channel, to blockade and destroy the Armada before it left the Spanish coast. But on July 29, 1588, after the winds had changed and made this venture impossible, the Armada was sighted off the Scilly Isles, near the coast of Cornwall in southwestern England.

==Operations==
The Armada set sail from Lisbon on May 9, 1588, but gales forced it back to La Coruña for refitting, and the voyage was not resumed until July 22. The first encounter occurred off Plymouth, near the Eddystone Rocks, on July 31, when three Spanish ships were lost at little cost to the English. Fighting resumed farther east on August 2, near Portland Bill; neither fleet lost a ship in this encounter, ammunition was seriously depleted on both sides. The English could replenish their supplies of powder and shot; the Spaniards, far from home, could not.
[[Image:Armada1.jpg|thumb|290px|Map of Armada, showing battles and location of major losses]]
The Armada continued northeast with its strongest ships on either tip of its tight, crescent-shaped formation, while the slower merchantmen and hulks, which comprised a third to a half of the whole, sailed protected at its center. Late on the night of August 7, while the Armada lay at anchor before Calais, on the French side of the Strait of Dover, the English sent eight burning merchant ships (called fire ships) into the midst of the Spanish fleet. With only time to slip their cables, the Spanish ships tried to escape from being caught in the flames and fled in panic and disorder. One great galleass (a ship propelled by sails and oars) ran aground, and the damage suffered by other Spanish vessels was extensive.

Before Medina Sidonia could regroup his fleet, the English attacked on August 8. During the next eight hours of battle the Spaniards drifted perilously near the shoals off Gravelines, northeast of Calais; but at the moment when it seemed they would be driven on to the banks and give the English easy victory, the wind veered from northwest to southwest and drove the Armada back into the safety of the North Sea. The Duke of Medina-Sidonia considered surrendering his entire Armada to the English, but instead plunged on. On August 12 a squall separated the two navies near the Firth of Forth, on the east shore of Scotland; the English gave up pursuit.

Recognizing the superior seamanship of the English fleet and the impossibility of combining with the forces of the Duke of Parma, the Spaniards headed home. They charted a course around the Shetland Islands, north of Scotland, then southwest to Ireland, where they hoped to find supplies, and finally to Spain.

26 of these ships and their crews were lost on the coast of Ireland and Scotland. Heavy storms and poor seamanship was at fault--the Spanish pilots were unable to to calculate longitude, gauge the effects of the unfamiliar tides; together with bad maps the Armada ships sailed much closer to the coast than intended.

The insufficient supply of provisions was due to mismanagement, corruption, the English capture of supply ships, and spoilage. Reduced rations weakened the crews, resupply in Calais and Flanders was impossible, and disease exacerbated by hunger increased the number of deaths. Ravaged by storm and shipwreck, the Armada returned to the safety of the Spanish port of Santander, on the Bay of Biscay, with only 86 ships and less than half the men who had left five months before.

==Conclusion==
The Armada was the victim of the poor mix of its ships and armament, of its ill-trained and undermanned crews, and of the dissension and division in its incompetent command. Spanish guns were inferior to the long-range cannon of the English, whose galleons proved faster, more maneuverable, and more weatherly than the bulky Spanish vessels. Parker (1988) say Philip II caused the failure because his strategy required a synchronization between the invasion fleet and Parma's army barges that his tactics could not guarantee because the design of his cannons' carriages prevented rapid reloading in a close-range cannonade, thereby allowing England to control the Channel.<ref> Geoffrey Parker, "Why the Armada Failed." ''History Today'' 1988 38(may): 26-33. Issn: 0018-2753 Fulltext: [[Ebsco]]</ref>

Added to the problems of logistics, and the prevailing winds and currents in the English Channel, the liabilities proved proved devastating for the Spanish, whose basic strategy was inherently flawed. A Spanish victory was highly improbable. There were six naval encounters, but none were decisive. What destroyed the Armada was stormy weather and disease. The defeat of the Armada was not decisive militarily but it did encourage English morale for Protestantism had survived its worst threat. Protestants felt divinely favored and believed that the fortunes of Spain and Catholicism had turned. Spanish morale was undermined; it fatally weakened the Catholic League, and in reduced the respect of neutrals for Spain. The Spanish spent heavily to rebuild the fleet and lost no territory to England immediately; and the revenue from the silver mines in the Spanish Indies continued to increase and staved off bankruptcy. However, the armadas failure effectively ceded supremacy over the seas to the English, who continued to harrass Spanish shipping and develop their overseas empire.

==Historiography==
For 150 years writers depended heavily on Petruccio Ubaldini's ''A Discourse Concernye the Spanish Fleete Invadinye Englande'' (1590), which explained that God favored England and English victory confirmed English Protestantism. In the 17th century William Camden (1551-1623) added nationalism and private enterprise to the English side and depicted the Duke of Medina Sidonia as an incompetent seaman. In the [[Enlightenment]] [[David Hume]] (1711-76) dropped divine favor and stressed the leadership of Elizabeth I. Hume was challenged by 19th-century Whig historians led by James A. Froude (1818-94), who criticized Elizabeth for vacillating and being unwilling to spend the money necessary to defend England. The publication of primary documents by John K. Laughton in 1894 led modern scholars, led by Julian Corbet (1854-1922), to reject the Whig views and emphasize the role of England's professional navy in the victory. Historians have since debated the relative power of English and Spanish guns and the degree of credit due Francis Drake and Charles Howard.<ref> Douglas Knerr, "Through the "Golden Mist": a Brief Overview of Armada Historiography." ''American Neptune'' 1989 49(1): 5-13. </ref>
[[Image:Armada2.jpg|thumb|550px]]

==Bibliography==
* Corbett, Julian S. ''Drake and the Tudor Navy: With a History of the Rise of England as a Maritime Power'' (1898) [http://www.questia.com/read/8906402 online edition vol 1]; also [http://www.questia.com/read/96227572 online edition vol 2]
* Fernández-Armesto, Felipe. ''The Spanish Armada: The Experience of War in 1588.'' (1988). 336 pp.
* Froude, James Anthony. ''The Spanish Story of the Armada, and Other Essays'' (1899), by a leading historian of the 1890s [http://books.google.com/books?id=BuMBAAAAMAAJ&dq=intitle:spanish+intitle:armada+inauthor:froude&lr=&num=30&as_brr=1&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0 full text online]
* Knerr, Douglas. "Through the "Golden Mist": a Brief Overview of Armada Historiography." ''American Neptune'' 1989 49(1): 5-13. Issn: 0003-0155
* McDermott, James. ''England and the Spanish Armada: The Necessary Quarrel'' (2005) [http://www.amazon.com/England-Spanish-Armada-Necessary-Quarrel/dp/030010698X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205649559&sr=1-3 excerpt and text search]
* Martin, Colin, and Geoffrey Parker. ''The Spanish Armada'' (2nd ed. 2002), 320pp by leading scholars; uses archaeological studies of some of its wrecked ships [http://books.google.com/books?id=_ysl3KVnYDUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=intitle:%22spanish+armada%22&lr=&num=30&as_brr=0&sig=JEeISNw9fiwvnyjfLau0HWBuyTE excerpt and text search]
* Mattingly, Garrett. ''The Armada'' (1959). the classic narrative [http://www.amazon.com/Armada-Garrett-Mattingly/dp/0618565914/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205649559&sr=1-2 excerpt and text search]
* Parker, Geoffrey. "Why the Armada Failed." ''History Today'' 1988 38(may): 26-33. Issn: 0018-2753. Sumary by leadfing historian.
* Pierson, Peter. ''Commander of the Armada: The Seventh Duke of Medina Sidonia.'' (1989). 304 pp.
* Rasor, Eugene L. ''The Spanish Armada of 1588: Historiography and Annotated Bibliography.'' (1992). 277 pp.
* Rodger, N. A. M. ''The Safeguard of the Sea: A Naval History of Britain 660-1649'' vol 1 (1999) 691pp; [http://www.amazon.com/Safeguard-Sea-History-Britain-660-1649/dp/0393319601/ref=pd_sim_b_title_8 excerpt and text search]
* Rodriguez-Salgado, M. J. and Adams, Simon, eds. ''England, Spain, and the Gran Armada, 1585-1604'' (1991) 308 pp.
* Thompson, I. A. A. "The Appointment of the Duke of Medina Sidonia to the Command of the Spanish Armada," ''The Historical Journal'', Vol. 12, No. 2. (1969), pp. 197-216. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0018-246X%281969%2912%3A2%3C197%3ATAOTDO%3E2.0.CO%3B2-T in JSTOR]
* Tincey, John, and Richard Hook. ''The Spanish Armada'' (2000) heavily illustrated short survey
====notes====
<references/>

[[category:Spanish History]]
[[category:English History]]
[[Category:Naval Battles]]
[[category:Military History]]
[[Category:Dutch History]]

British Empire

2009-12-05T19:22:53Z

JamesTr:

[[Image:BritishEmpire1921.png|thumb|right|350px|The world in 1921, with British Empire shown in pink]]

The '''British Empire''' was a global empire acquired and ruled by the [[Kingdom of Great Britain]] (or, from 1801 the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, called "Great Britain" or "Britain" in historical studies). After 1945 the Empire collapsed and most former colonies joined the loosely organized "British Commonwealth," and many--including Canada and Australia--kept the monarch as their nominal head of state.

At its peak in 1921, the Empire contained a quarter of the world's land area (with emphasis on Australia and Canada) and more than a fourth of the world's population (with emphasis on India). Imperialists often boasted, "The sun never set on the British Empire," for it included parts of every continent. The Empire was held together by a highly professional bureaucracy based in London, and by the world's most powerful navy, the Royal Navy, which enlarged its power by creating naval bases and coaling stations in many of the colonies. It was the largest seaborne empire in history, and the second largest in terms of land area (the Mongol Empire being the largest).
==History==
Its origins can be dated to the English discovery of [[Newfoundland]] in 1493, and its voluntary end began in 1947 (when [[India]] was granted independence), and peaked in the 1960s (when Britain withdrew from most of its remaining colonies). The last stages came as recently as 1997 (when [[Hong Kong]], the last major colony, was returned to [[China|Chinese]] rule).

The European powers after 1500 had national governments with centralized military and navy power, financial resources, religious impulses and military technology. Some of them--Portugal, Spain, England, France, and the Netherlands especially, wanted overseas colonies to bolster their economic, religious and political ambitions, and provide an outlet for the energies of ambitious young men. England (Britain after 1703) was the most successful because it resisted the ambitions of Spain and, in a series of wars in the 18th century, defeated France in North America and India.

In the long-run, the success of the British Empire depended on an economic system that had stable money and encouraged trade and entrepreneurship, a strong navy that guaranteed protection for all the colonies (none was ever captured by an enemy), and a legal system that was stable, fair and lacking in petty corruption or bribery.

==Settlement==
Millions of Britons migrated and settled some of the Empire--especially the [[Colonial America|13 American colonies]], Canada (and Newfoundland), Australia, New Zealand and (in part), South Africa. Some settlers came as prisoners, especially to Australia. Others came as slaves, especially to the West Indies and the 13 American colonies.
[[Image:B-Emp-1763.jpg|thumb|375px]]

In the rest of the Empire Britain sent in soldiers, administrators, businessmen and missionaries on temporary duty, as in India and Africa, along with a relatively small number of permanent settlers.
===First efforts, 1497-1640===
Portugal and Spain built the first empires, based on the wealth of Brazil and Mexico and Peru. England was allied with Portugal, but was a foe of Spain, a much larger country with a stronger navy in the century after Columbus. The English responded as predators, raiding and seizing Spanish ships, under the cover of "privateering" authorized by the government. Spain in 1588 sent a major fleet (the Armada) to conquer England, but it was destroyed by storms, and Spain lost her superiority at sea. England set out small expeditions to claim land (such as [[Newfoundland]], settled in 1610) and set up bases to raid the Spanish main. Most of the early efforts were of small scale, and failed, such as the "Lost Colony of Roanoke" (1585-87), where a hundred settlers in North Carolina simply vanished. The Scots (independently of England), attempted a vast colony in Darien, the Panama region of Central America; it was a total failure.
===13 American colonies===
The small settlement at [[Jamestown]] miraculously survived and once the value of native tobacco was appreciated it became the nucleus for the highly successful colony of [[Virginia]]. In 1619 the Virginians set up an elected legislative assembly, the house of burgesses, which is now the state legislature. It was the first distinctively American local government and became the model for other colonies. Religion motivated some 30,000 [[Puritans]], a community-oriented, modernizing group that settled Massachusetts and Connecticut in the 1630s, and created the [[Yankee]] model of being American.

The main colonies were created by the English, but one was captured. The English captured the Dutch colony of [[New Amsterdam]] in 1664 and renamed it New York; the Dutch settlers remained and the rich poltroons had huge estates along the Hudson River.

Each of the 13 American colonies was different, but typically a colony was ruled by a governor appointed from London who controlled the executive administration and relied upon a locally elected legislature to vote taxes and make laws. By the 18th century, the American colonies were growing very rapidly because of ample supplies of land and food, and low death rates. They were richer than most parts of Britain, and attracted a steady flow of immigrants, especially teenagers who came as indentured servants. The tobacco and rice plantations imported black slaves from the British colonies in the West Indies, and by the 1770s they comprised a fifth of the American population. The question of independence from Britain did not arise as long as the colonies needed British military support against French and Spanish power, for a series of major wars made welcome the protection afforded by the Royal Navy. London regarded the American colonies as existing merely for the benefit of the mother country. The Americans developed their own legal and political traditions, focused on self government with elected legislatures and in new England, elected town officials). They developed a political philosophy of [[Republicanism]] to justify their system, which had no aristocrats. The British threat to American self-government was the cause of the [[American Revolution]], where fighting lasted 1775-1781.

==Second British Empire==
[[File:Empire1815.jpg|thumb|350px|Start of the Second british Empire, 1815]]
After the loss of the American colonies in 1776, the British painstakingly rebuilt a new "Second British Empire." They kept their small but valuable slave-islands in the Caribbean (which produced sugar), grew Canada, and conquered the major part of India and nearby areas. [[Egypt]] was taken over in the 1880s, although nominally it was still part of the [[Ottoman Empire]]. Australia and New Zealand were settled, and the new cities of [[Hong Kong]] and [[Sinagpore]] were created. By the late 19th century they added much of Africa. After World War I, former German colonies were added, as well as parts of the defunct Ottoman Empire, such as Palestine and Iraq.
==Economics==
After 1689 England created the world's first modern financial and banking system. The City of London, where finance was and is still based, became the financier to the world, providing short-term credit for trade and long-term credit for investment. By 1810 Britain also had its [[Industrial Revolution]], which produced a flow of high-quality low-cost, textiles, machines and other products that could be sold worldwide. As the leading force in finance and manufacturing, and as the world's dominant naval power, Britain could easily expand across the globe, and did so. In general, in Latin America and China the expansion did not involve colonies.<ref> The British set up a new colony in Hong Kong that became its base for expansion into the China market. Otherwise China remained independent. There were two small colonies on the mainland of Latin America, but they were not very important.</ref> In Africa and Asia new or enlarged colonies were the method used.

Britain's greatest exports were modernization of the economy, and fostering a cosmopolitan attitude toward government, business, law and civic duty, as opposed to local support for traditional rulers and customs. The Empire brought each colony a modern infrastructure, with new roads, railways, ports, banks, post offices and telegraph systems that any modern person could use. Cain and Hopkins (2001) argue that British imperialism was not a form of plunder that hurt the economies they took over; rather, it primarily modernized the territories it controlled.<ref> See Cain and Hopkins, ''British Imperialism'' (2001)</ref>

Imperial policy was set by London-based financial and mercantile interests. Gentlemanly capitalism was the nexus of landed, financial, and service elites that dominated politics and the economy in Britain and were the driving force behind imperial expansion. That is, "gentlemanly capitalists" in Britain set policy, while the dominions were run by a dependent and collaborating elite.<ref>Cain and Hopkins (2001); Dumett, 1999</ref>

==Culture of the Empire==
The Victorians saw themselves as the vanguard of western civilization, as pioneers of industry and progress. They were confident in their ability to improve the human condition everywhere, and of their capacity to turn potential wealth into reality. Their formula was liberalism, that is the release private enterprise from the dead hand of the state. They believed that unending social energy would flow from the interplay of free minds, free markets and Christian morality. The Victorian outlook, furthermore, was suffused with a vivid sense of moral superiority, religious mission and self-righteousness. Across the globe the Canningites and Palmerstonians worked endlessly to bring about conditions favouring commercial advance and liberal awakening. Since the 1970s, historians more attuned to the sensitivities of the colonized people have challenged the effectiveness of the imperialists.<ref> Ronald Robinson and John Gallagher with Alice Denny, ''Africa and the Victorians: The Climax of Imperialism'' (1968), pp 1-4</ref>

==1914==
In its heyday, the British Empire was the largest empire in history: by 1914, the eve of the [[First World War]], it spanned a quarter of the world's total land mass (though much of this consisted of vast, uninhabited areas of northern Canada and Australia). Its constituent parts included [[India]], [[Canada]], [[Australia]], [[New Zealand]], Malaya (now [[Malaysia]] and [[Singapore]]), [[South Africa]], [[Egypt]], [[Nigeria]], [[Kenya]], [[Uganda]] and [[Hong Kong]]. The saying used to be that the sun never sets on the British Empire.
==Dissolution==
The various parts of the Empire were granted independence by London (peacefully usually, sometimes otherwise) at different times. The thirteen American colonies that formed the original [[United States of America]] declared their freedom in 1776 and, with France, defeated the British in a major war. Most of [[Ireland]] went its separate way in 1922. The remaining "settler colonies" that were inhabited mainly by white people of British descent were formally granted self-government in 1931, though they had been self-governing for some years prior to that date. The remaining colonies were granted independence in the decades following the [[Second World War]], and the last remaining colony of importance, Hong Kong, left British rule in 1997 after a long lease with China expired.

Most former colonies are members of the [[Commonwealth of Nations]] and many of them, such as Canada and Australia, still have the the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II as their monarch.

Fourteen small territories that formed part of the Empire, such as the [[Cayman Islands]], [[Bermuda]], [[Anguilla]], the [[Falkland Islands]] and [[St. Helena]], remain under British rule today. They are legally known as the "British Overseas Territories".
==Historic regions==
===United States===
Although American historians have always paid attention to the negative causes of the revolt by which the 13 colonies broke away from the Empire, in the early 20th century the "Imperial School," including [[Herbert L. Osgood]], [[George Louis Beer]], [[Charles M. Andrews]] and [[Lawrence Gipson]] took a highly favorable view of the benefits achieved by the economic integration of the Empire.<ref>Ian Tyrrell, "Making Nations/Making States: American Historians in the Context of Empire," ''Journal of American History,'' Vol. 86, No. 3, (Dec., 1999), pp. 1015-1044 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2568604 in JSTOR]</ref> For a good sample of the school see George Louis Beer, ''The Old Colonial System, 1660-1754'' (1913) [http://books.google.com/books?id=2KkJAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:george+inauthor:beer&lr=&num=30&as_brr=0 full text online].
===India===
A raging debate continues regarding the good-or-bad economic impact of British imperialism on India. The issue was raised by conservative leader [[Edmund Burke]] who in the 1780s vehemently attacked the East India Company, claiming that Warren Hastings and other top officials had ruined the Indian economy and society. Indian historian Rajat Kanta Ray (1998) continues this attack, saying the new economy brought by the British in the 18th century was a form of "plunder" and a catastrophe for the traditional economy of Mughal India. Ray accuses the British of depleting the food and money stocks and imposing high taxes that helped cause the terrible famine of 1770, which killed a third of the people of Bengal.<ref>Rajat Kanta Ray, "Indian Society and the Establishment of British Supremacy, 1765-1818," in ''The Oxford History of the British Empire: vol. 2, The Eighteenth Century" ed. by P. J. Marshall, (1998), pp 508-29</ref>

On the other hand, P. J. Marshall shows that recent scholarship has reinterpreted the received view that the prosperity of the formerly benign Mughal rule gave way to poverty, and anarchy. Marshall argues the British takeover did not make any sharp break with the past. British control was delegated largely through regional Mughal rulers and was sustained by a generally prosperous economy for the rest of the 18th century. Marshall notes the British went into partnership with Indian bankers and raised revenue through local tax administrators, and kept the old Mughal rates of taxation.<ref>Professor Ray agrees that the East India Company inherited an onerous taxation system that took one-third of the produce of Indian cultivators.</ref> Instead of the Indian nationalist account of the British as alien aggressors, seizing power by brute force and impoverishing all of India, Marshall presents the interpretation, supported by many scholars in both India and the West, in which the British were not in full control but instead were players in what was primarily an Indian play and in which their rise to power depended upon excellent cooperation with Indian elites. Marshall admits that much of his interpretation is still rejected by many historians working in India today, who prefer to bash the British.<ref>P.J. Marshall, "The British in Asia: Trade to Dominion, 1700-1765," in ''The Oxford History of the British Empire: vol. 2, The Eighteenth Century" ed. by P. J. Marshall, (1998), pp 487-507</ref>
==Slavery==
One of the most controversial aspects of the Empire is its role in first promoting and then ending slavery. In the 18th century British merchant ships were the largest element in the "Middle Passage" which transported millions of slaves to the Western Hemisphere. Most wound up in the Caribbean, where the Empire had highly profitable sugar colonies, and the living conditions were bad. (The plantation owners lived in Britain.) Parliament ended the the international transportation of slaves in 1807, and used the Royal Navy to enforce that ban. In 1833 it bought out the plantation owners for cash and officially banned slavery. Historians before the 1940s argued that moralistic reformers such as [[William Wilberforce]] and the Evangelical Protestants (especially Methodists) were primarily responsible.

Historical revisionism arrived when West Indian historian [[Eric Williams]] in ''Capitalism and Slavery'' (1944), rejected this moral explanation and substituted a [[Marxist]] interpretation. He argued that abolition was now more profitable, for a century of sugar cane raising had exhausted the soil of the islands, and the plantations had become unprofitable. It was more profitable to sell the slaves to the government than to keep up operations. The 1807 prohibition of the international trade, Williams argued, prevented French expansion on other islands. Meanwhile British investors turned to Asia, where labor was so plentiful that slavery was unnecessary. Williams went on to argue that slavery played a major role in making Britain prosperous. The high profits from the slave trade, he said, helped finance the [[Industrial Revolution]]. By implication, Britain enjoyed prosperity because of the capital extracted from the unpaid work of slaves.

More recently historians have challenged Williams. They have shown that slavery remained profitable in the 1830s because of innovations in agriculture, so the profit motive was not central to abolition.<ref> J.R. Ward, "The British West Indies in the Age of Abolition," in P.J. Marshall, ed. ''The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume II: The Eighteenth Century'' (1998) pp 415-39.</ref> Richardson (1998) finds Williams's claims regarding the Industrial Revolution are greatly exaggerated, for profits from the slave trade amounted to less than 1% of total domestic investment in Britain. Richardson further challenges claims (by African scholars) that the slave trade caused widespread depopulation and economic distress in Africa--indeed that it caused the "underdevelopment" of Africa. Admitting the horrible suffering of the slaves themselves, he notes that many Africans benefited directly, because the first stage of the trade was always firmly in the hands of Africans. European slave ships waited at ports to purchase cargoes of people who were captured in the hinterland by African dealers and tribal leaders. Richardson finds that the "terms of trade" (how much the ship owners paid for the slave cargo) moved heavily in favor of the Africans after about 1750. That is, indigenous elites inside West and Central Africa made large and growing profits from slavery, thus increasing their wealth and power.<ref> David Richardson, "The British Empire and the Atlantic Slave Trade, 1660-1807," in P.J. Marshall, ed. ''The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume II: The Eighteenth Century'' (1998) pp 440-64.</ref>
==Name==
The term "British Empire" was used by historians as early as 1708.<ref> John Oldmixon, ''The British Empire in America, Containing the History of the Discovery, Settlement, Progress and Present State of All the British Colonies, on the Continent and Islands of America'' (London, 1708))</ref> before that the usual term was "English Empire."<ref>As in Nathaniel Crouch, ''The English Empire in America: Or a Prospect of His Majesties Dominions in the West-Indies'' (London, 1685).'' Armitage pp 174-5</ref>

==Further reading==
[[File:James-brit-empire.jpg|thumb|280px]]
* Bayly, C. A. ed. ''Atlas of the British Empire'' (1989). survey by scholars; heavily illustrated
* Beinart, William, and Lotte Hughes. ''Environment and Empire'' (Oxford History of the British Empire Companion) (2007) [http://www.amazon.com/Environment-Empire-History-British-Companion/dp/0199260311/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1224385647&sr=8-7 excerpt and text search]
* Black, Jeremy. ''The British Seaborne Empire'' (2004)
* Brendon, Piers. "A Moral Audit of the British Empire." ''History Today'', (Oct 2007), Vol. 57 Issue 10, pp 44-47, online at [[EBSCO]]
* Brendon, Piers. ''The Decline and Fall of the British Empire, 1781-1997'' (2008), very well written popular survey [http://www.amazon.com/Decline-Fall-British-Empire-1781-1997/dp/0307268292/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253004822&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
* Bryant, Arthur. ''The History of Britain and the British Peoples'', 3 vols. (1984–90), popular.
* Cain, P. J. and A.G. Hopkins. ''British Imperialism, 1688-2000'' (2nd ed. 2001), 739pp, detailed economic history that presents the new "gentlemanly capitalists" thesis [http://www.amazon.com/British-Imperialism-Crisis-Deconstruction-1914-1990/dp/058220965X/ref=sr_1_2/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1191842268&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]; [http://www.questia.com/read/24219275?title=British%20Imperialism%3a%20Innovation%20and%20Expansion%2c%201688-1914 full text online]
* Colley, Linda. ''Captives: Britain, Empire, and the World, 1600-1850'' (2004), 464pp [http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0385721463/ref=sib_dp_pt/103-4827826-5463040#reader-link excerpts and online search from Amazon.com]
* Dalziel, Nigel. ''The Penguin Historical Atlas of the British Empire'' (2006), 144 pp [http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0141018445/ref=sib_dp_pt/103-4827826-5463040#reader-link excerpts and online search from amazon.com]
* Etherington, Norman. ''Missions and Empire'' (Oxford History of the British Empire Companion Series) (2008) [http://www.amazon.com/Missions-Empire-History-British-Companion/dp/019925348X/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1224385647&sr=8-4 excerpt and text search], on Protestant missions
* Ferguson, Niall. ''Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power'' (2002), [http://www.amazon.com/Empire-Demise-British-Lessons-Global/dp/0465023290/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196061626&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search], by a conservative scholar
* Hyam, Ronald. ''Britain's Imperial Century, 1815-1914: A Study of Empire and Expansion'' (1993). [http://www.amazon.com/Britains-Imperial-Century-1815-1914-Expansion/dp/033399311X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196061553&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]
* James, Lawrence. ''The Rise and Fall of the British Empire'' (1997), the best scholarly overview [http://www.amazon.com/Rise-Fall-British-Empire/dp/031216985X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252982523&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
** James, Lawrence. ''The Illustrated Rise and Fall of the British Empire'' (1997), abridged edition with many superb illustrations
* Johnson, Robert. ''British Imperialism.'' (2003) 284pp; good, short introduction to the major issues
* Judd, Denis. ''Empire: The British Imperial Experience, From 1765 to the Present'' (1996). [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=6969240 online edition]
* Lloyd; T. O. ''The British Empire, 1558-1995'' (1996) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=27709944 online edition]
* Louis, William Roger (general editor), ''The Oxford History of the British Empire'', 5 vols. (1998–99).
** vol 1 "The Origins of Empire" ed. by Nicholas Canny
** vol 2 "The Eighteenth Century" ed. by P. J. Marshall [http://www.amazon.com/Oxford-History-British-Empire-Eighteenth/dp/0199246777/ref=sr_1_3/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1191842268&sr=8-3 excerpt and text search]
** vol 3 ''The Nineteenth Century'' edited by William Roger Louis, Alaine M. Low, Andrew Porter; (1998). 780 pp.. [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=98650583 online edition], also [http://www.amazon.com/Oxford-History-British-Empire-Nineteenth/dp/0199246785/ref=sr_1_8/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1191842268&sr=8-8 excerpt and text search]
** vol 4 ''The Twentieth Century'' edited by Judith M. Brown, (1998). 773 pp. [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=104728347 online edition] also [http://www.amazon.com/Oxford-History-British-Empire-Twentieth/dp/0199246793/ref=sr_1_13/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1191842268&sr=8-13 excerpt and text search]
** vol 5 "Historiography" ed, by Robin W. Winks (1999) [http://www.amazon.com/Oxford-History-British-Empire-Historiography/dp/0199246807/ref=sr_1_25/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1191842573&sr=8-25 excerpt and text search]
* Marshall, P. J. (ed.), ''The Cambridge Illustrated History of the British Empire'' (1996). [http://www.amazon.com/Cambridge-Illustrated-History-British-Empire/dp/0521002540/ref=sr_1_12/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1191842268&sr=8-12 excerpt and text search]
* Olson, James S. and Robert S. Shadle; ''Historical Dictionary of the British Empire'' (1996) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=58315322 online edition]
* Porter, A. N. ''Atlas of British Overseas Expansion'' (1994)
* Robinson, Howard . ''The Development of the British Empire'' (1922), 465pp [http://books.google.com/books?id=woRdQlGbL_oC&dq=intitle:british+intitle:empire+date:1900-1924&num=30 online edition]
* Rose, J. Holland, ed. ''Cambridge History of the British Empire: vol 1: The Old Empire from the Beginnings to 1783'' (1929) [http://www.questia.com/read/99039834?title=The%20Cambridge%20History%20of%20the%20British%20Empire online edition]
* Smith, Simon C. ''British Imperialism 1750-1970'' (1998). brief

====Notes====
<references/>

=== See also ===

*''[[The Evil Empire: 101 Ways That England Ruined the World]]''

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[[Category:British History]]
[[Category:Slavery]]
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