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The Reasons: The Fall Of The British Empire

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Empires and great nations rise and fall. Occasionally the fall of one empire may give rise to another. That is the pattern that can be seen in the rise of the British Empire after the Napoleonic wars. The fall of the British Empire is not the fall that most of us would envision when we hear the term. It did not end in one great big bang of a war. It was a slow and peaceful erosion allowed by the Britons themselves, shaped by thousands upon thousands of small decisions and different elements. The British Empire; made up of the cluster of countries brought under the power of Great Britain in the span of three long centuries of conquest. It was the largest empire the world has ever known, so much so that it was said that “the sun never sets on the British empire”, giving us a picture of how large and expansive the territory that the British Empire covered was. At its peak, it controlled at least a quarter of the world’s landmass and had at least a fifth of the world’s population under their rule. …show more content…

This was temporarily suspended as Britain believed that they could only be a great power if they gained control of the Middle East and, more importantly, the Suez Canal — which was seen to be as a route that would stabilize their trade. The Suez Canal was a critical route to India, further intensifying the need of Britain to have it under its control. Egypt, however, gained a revolutionary government which made Britain sign an agreement to leave the country and the Suez Canal, which would then be independent by 1956. The then President Abdul Nasser forbade the entry of goods coming from Britain and France. A short time passed and Britain and France devised a plan to take the Suez Canal from Egypt. However, after a week they suffered a humiliating defeat and were forced to retreat. This marked the beginning of the end of British and French

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