r/BritishEmpire 1d ago

Image My Imperial globe

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103 Upvotes

Hi all, just sharing these images of a globe I inherited.
I believe it to be from somewhere mid 1922 (from borders) so just about at the peak of the empire's span so thought it might be of interest to you gentlemen/ladies.

I used to play with this globe as a young child at my grandma's house and it must have made an impression on me because I love old maps to this day. I spent hours and hours comparing this globe to a modern one, it was fascinating to me!

The globe was actually found damaged in a skip outside the local primary school approximating late 1960s/early 1970s. My Great uncle attached a new base to the stand and it was given to his nephew(my uncle) where it remained at my grandma's house.

If anyone has any additional info on it that would be very cool. To me it's a very interesting piece of history.


r/BritishEmpire 23h ago

Image Mohammad Ayub Khan Barakzai was defeated 1st of September 1880 in the battle of Kandahar effectively ending the 2nd Anglo-Afgan War. Interestingly my Great Great Grandfather fought for the British in this war. He won medals and became a policeman in Manchester.

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37 Upvotes

r/BritishEmpire 1d ago

Question Why was the number of the British emigration to India relatively lower than other big colonies?

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150 Upvotes

In 1947, there were approximately 300, 000 or 150,000 British people lived in India.

The question is that why was this low?

In comparison with other big colonies, it was significantly lower.

Was this due to the high native population?

The British did not have to bring the people from the mainland for various works because there were already many people who could work.


r/BritishEmpire 18h ago

Image Excerpts from the forewords of “War of the Worlds” (1898) and “Heart of Darkness” (1899).

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4 Upvotes

r/BritishEmpire 1d ago

Article Patriotic illustration entitled "The Strong Arms of Canada", created in 1917 by the renowned British artist and illustrator John Liston Byam Shaw

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132 Upvotes

What does it represent?

The illustration is an allegorical personification of Canada during the Great War (First World War). It depicts a warrior-like woman wearing armor and furs, holding a large, straight sword. At her feet and around her are symbols of Canada's natural resources, wildlife, and agriculture.

Where was it published?

It was originally published in London, England, in the wartime tribute volume entitled Canada in Khaki, edited by the Pictorial Newspaper Co. in 1917. This publication was an illustrated tribute magazine or book, designed to honor and record the contributions of the Canadian Corps officers and soldiers who served on the Western Front during the war.


r/BritishEmpire 2d ago

Image Canadians at the Battle of Paardeberg, Second Boer War (1900)

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92 Upvotes

r/BritishEmpire 2d ago

Image 1 Shilling from Malta issued during World War 2.

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76 Upvotes

r/BritishEmpire 2d ago

Image The Battle of Ridgeway, Fenian Raids, 1866.

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22 Upvotes

r/BritishEmpire 2d ago

Question Zulu War History Discord Server

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6 Upvotes

r/BritishEmpire 3d ago

Question Why was the square formation so effective during the Anglo-Zulu War?

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293 Upvotes

One example would be the Battle of Ulundi during the Anglo-Zulu War, where the British used the square formation, although line formation was still used as well.


r/BritishEmpire 3d ago

Article Excerpt from the work "A Monroe Doctrine for the Indo-Pacific: Alfred Deakin, the Great White Fleet, and the Emergence of an Independent Australian Imperialism" by Majtor Viktor Stoll (2022):

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41 Upvotes

"The massive expansion in trade following the handover of Papua in 1905 demonstrates that Australia immediately began its extraterritorial imperialism in earnest—and pursued its imperial aggrandizing policy in the Western Pacific with far more vigor than the British ever mustered. Between 1906 and 1912, the total volume of trade grew by 221 percent. Leased acreage grew a staggering 757 percent between 1906 and 1910, with the number of white settlers nearly doubling by 1914. Such sizable activity demonstrates that the Commonwealth was serious about expanding its own imperial holdings both economically and defensively. The acquisition would set apart Australia from the other settlers’ dominions of the period (i.e., Canada, New Zealand, Newfoundland, and South Africa). Indeed, this extraterritorial expansion put Australian imperial ambitions in the Western Pacific in a league alongside Germany, Japan, and the United States. This annexation was an independent necessity for securing the Commonwealth in the rapidly shifting geopolitical landscape of the Western Pacific."


r/BritishEmpire 3d ago

Video How a Bhumihar Maharaja gave water to an English village to help it with its water shortage in 1864

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38 Upvotes

r/BritishEmpire 3d ago

Image Kandy, Sri Lanka (Ceylon 🇱🇰)

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41 Upvotes

Former First Lady Prof. Maithree Wickremesinghe meets Sri Lankan 800m champion Tharushi Karunarathna beneath the portraits of Their Imperial Majesties King-Emperor Edward VII and Queen-Empress Alexandra at the King’s Pavilion, the official residence of the president in Kandy, Sri Lanka.


r/BritishEmpire 4d ago

Image These objects, known as 'firepots', were a kind of primitive grenade used on Francis Drake's ship the Golden Hinde. The ceramic containers were filled with gunpowder and flammable materials, lit on fire and then thrown at enemy ships.

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19 Upvotes

r/BritishEmpire 5d ago

Question Was the Duke of Wellington and Britain victorious over France in the war of the seventh coalition because they could use their naval power advantage once Napoleon flooded that bathroom in Belgium?

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25 Upvotes

r/BritishEmpire 5d ago

Image Liverpool, 1680 - earliest known visual depictions of Liverpool's waterfront.

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36 Upvotes

r/BritishEmpire 5d ago

Image Anglo-Zanzibar War, 27th August 1896. Khalid Bin Banghash took the throne without permission, the British gave until 9am to give it up, he didn't. The war was over in 35 minutes and probably British Hamoud Bin Mohammed was put in power

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91 Upvotes

Bin Banghash fled to the German embassy


r/BritishEmpire 6d ago

Image Kandy, Ceylon (Sri Lanka 🇱🇰)

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44 Upvotes

r/BritishEmpire 6d ago

Question If the Qing dynasty refused to lease new territories to the British in 1898, then would the British have taken by force?

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50 Upvotes

r/BritishEmpire 7d ago

Image The ceiling of the Blue Velvet Room in Chiswick House in London, England, 1729 CE

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86 Upvotes

r/BritishEmpire 6d ago

Article The Origin of Afternoon Tea: Between Historical Fact and Legend

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13 Upvotes

Beyond the Three-Tier Stand: How Afternoon Tea Really Evolved.


r/BritishEmpire 8d ago

Image My Great-great-grand-uncle's Boer War Soldier's Map of South Africa

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184 Upvotes

Hello all,

I mentioned this map of mine in a comment on another post about the Boer War, and somebody asked to see it. I apologise for the poor quality pictures, but it has proven exceptionally difficult to photograph, owing in part to the glass case!

I believe this map was owned either by my great-great-grand-uncle William Arnold, or his brother Walter Arnold. It was given to me by my grandmother when she was clearing out some old bits shortly before she died, and I believe it came from her grandmother, whose maiden name was "Arnold", and who I also have a chair of. It was folded up, and had likely been that way for more than a century. I did my best to flatten it carefully (though the fold marks are still quite prominent, as you can see), and to mend little tears where I could. However, it is incredibly worn and torn. I had a frame built for it to preserve it, which it has sat in ever since. It does look far better in person.

On the reverse side, in pencil, are the handwritten words, "P.W. Arnold", which I am assuming mean "Private William / Walter Arnold", as none of her brothers had names beginning with 'P', or who were old enough. William Arnold was born in 1879, and would have been 20 at the beginning of the Second Boer War in 1899. Walter was two years older, and so it could have been his map as well. I know a map this beaten up would have no financial value, but I find it a fascinating piece of family history!


r/BritishEmpire 8d ago

Question Why did Britain let France and Russia expand their influence in the surrounding regions of China from the 1850s to the 1880s?

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76 Upvotes

why did Britain let these rivals to expand their influence in the surrounding regions of China?

In terms of Russia, they acquired Outer-Manchuria in 1858. This territory became one of the few ports that it could not be frozen for a whole year, which Russia could use it to expand their influence towards south.

Therefore, this was one of the crucial ports of Russia,which Britain needed to do something to strengthen her security against Russia.

In terms of France, they established French Indochina, next to the British Raj. I am aware that since the 1850s, the relationship between France and Britain was becoming better. However, they were still rival.

Were the British simply not think it would be bad for her Empire?


r/BritishEmpire 8d ago

Image King George V hunting session in Nepal, taken in late December 1911, with 5 adult Bengal tigers and a rhino slaughtered in a single day. During his 10 days stay in India, as part of the Delhi-Durbar of 1911 it is recorded that the royal party killed 39 Tigers, 18 rhinos and 4 bears.

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42 Upvotes

r/BritishEmpire 10d ago

Article 23rd August 1839, the British seize Hong Kong. Only ended in 1997. Part of the First Opium War

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196 Upvotes