Empire Buchzusammenfassung - das Wichtigste aus Empire

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Zusammenfassung von Empire

Name: Empire
Rating: 4.6 (242 reviews)
Author: Niall Ferguson

Niall Ferguson

How Britain Made the Modern World

4.6 (242 Bewertungen)

29 Min.

Worum geht es in Empire?

Empire (2003) offers a compelling overview of the highs and lows of the British Empire, from its late-to-the-game beginnings in the seventeenth century to its ultimate collapse in the twentieth century. Through the many disgraces and unparalleled achievements, you’ll learn how Great Britain came to control close to a quarter of the world, and how we’re still coming to terms with this legacy.

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What’s in it for me? Journey through four centuries as the British Empire reaches unprecedented highs and lows.

In the twenty-first century, we’re still grappling with the impact colonialism had on the world. There’s no doubt that horrific atrocities occurred at the hands of British colonists, but according to historian Niall Ferguson, the creation of the British Empire also came with some beneficial advances. Intercontinental communications as well as the spread of democracy and life-saving medications are just a few of the good things.

The British Empire, and the international trade and wealth it generated, has left behind a legacy that is neither entirely bad nor entirely good. And before it collapsed, it may have saved the world from a fascist takeover. This is the story of how it came to be and why it had to go away.

In these blinks, you’ll learn

how a notorious pirate got the British Empire underway;
how prisoners became more loyal colonists than pilgrims; and
how wars helped grow and destroy the Empire.

The seeds of the British Empire were planted by buccaneers.

When it came to imperialism, England was late to the game. By the early sixteenth century, European powerhouses like Spain and Portugal were already staking claims in the Americas. At this time, England had no empire to speak of.

For a while, England played the role of disruptor. It was highly aware of the gains and riches that Spain was acquiring through overseas conquest, but the early strategy was less about colonizing areas for itself and more about stealing Spain’s booty.

The key message here is: The seeds of the British Empire were planted by buccaneers.

In the sixteenth century, there’s no doubt that England was concerned about Spain. There was of course the success Spain had in plundering the Americas for its untold riches in silver and gold, but there was also the fact that Spain was spreading Catholicism around the world. England would prefer things Protestant. To fight back against the Spanish and disrupt its growing word influence, England turned to pirates.

Officially, it was called privateering, or utilizing private naval warfare. The simple fact was that English vessels traveling to the New World in search of riches were coming up empty. To make the effort worthwhile, they had to steal from the Spanish. As the English crown was struggling to get any real foothold in the Americas, England’s Queen Elizabeth decided to make piracy official policy. The goal of England’s ships was now to clash with, and steal from, Spanish colonies and ships. With this policy, rogue raiders like Henry Morgan and Christopher Newport became official agents of the crown.

It was a lucrative policy. Improvements in artillery, navigation, and maneuverability meant that, by the seventeenth century, English vessels were finally catching up to Spain’s. This helped Christopher Newport make a fortune by raiding a Spanish colony in Tabasco, Mexico, in 1599. He lost an arm, but he got away with his riches.

Henry Morgan's raids did more than bring riches – they also laid the ground for what would become some of the first colonies in the Empire.

Morgan pulled off a series of masterfully executed raids on the Spanish Empire. In 1668 alone he hit colonies in modern-day Cuba, Panama, and Venezuela. Morgan didn’t have a lot of resources at his disposal, but he was effective and he came away with his own riches. But unlike other pirates, Morgan turned out to be a keen investor. He used his plunder to buy land in Jamaica.

When that land proved ideal for growing sugar cane, England began utilizing its resources to fortify and turn Jamaica into an official colony, with none other than Morgan as its official governor.

The British Empire grew through the demands of commerce and consumerism.

Turns out that the English had quite a sweet tooth. They loved sugar. They couldn’t get enough of the stuff. And thanks to Jamaican sugar cane, the price became low enough for aristocrats and commoners alike to enjoy.

Indeed, by the eighteenth century, people in England were going mad for imported goods like sugar, as well as coffee, tea, tobacco, cotton, ginger, chocolate, and rice. In just ten years, from around 1740 to 1750, the amounts of tea used for home consumption leaped from under 800,000 lbs. to over 2.5 million lbs. It was clear there was big money to be made in fulfilling the demand for imported goods, and doing so would have a far-reaching impact on the world.

With new wars and conflicts, European empire-building was underway.

Where the East India Company went, bureaucracy followed. Settlements were established, fortifications put up, and company men installed to ensure the smooth running of trade and money.

It was a business, albeit one that didn’t always run so smoothly. Stationed in India, far from the prying eyes of England, many company men, like Thomas Pitt, started to run their own side operations. After all, their salaries weren’t that great and tempting opportunities were everywhere. At first, the Company disapproved. But their attitude soon changed when it became clear that these side hustles were helping to create new contacts and strengthen overall business. Before long, the East India Company began to give industrious men like Pitt the green light to take the initiative.

Migration and the slave trade populated the British Empire.

India proved to be an enduringly popular destination for Britons with enterprising ambitions or wanderlust. Many were eager to set voyage to India, make a small fortune, and return home wealthy. There was even a popular term for such a person: a Nabob.

Huge numbers of people from the United Kingdom were eager to migrate and try their luck in new territories. This mass migration was unprecedented in history, and it was key to forming the foundation of the British Empire. In the seventeenth century alone, some 700,000 people from the British Isles left for new destinations. Many Europeans set their sights on the new colonies in North America. But others were also taken with little or no choice.

As the Empire grew, a distant government struggled to balance oversight and control.

Imagine being convicted of forgery or perjury and your sentence involving an eight-month boat trip to a desert island, where you’d serve out your time doing hard labor. This is basically what happened to around 150,000 people who were transported to Australia between the years 1787 and 1853.

At first, the boats to Australia were deemed hell ships. Indeed, for many years, the journey was life-threatening. But after some time conditions improved, and a thriving community was built by the convicted felons. Word soon reached London that Australia was becoming less of a barren wasteland and more of a boomtown. It actually reached a point where a few people raised objections because their sentence didn’t allow them to be shipped to Australia.

In the Victorian Era, the colonies saw an influx of Christian missionaries.

For a while, the unspoken modus operandi of Great Britain was to exploit its colonies for economic gain. Since the early days of the East India Company, England had been draining money out of India and into the pockets of wealthy white men. But in Victorian times, this wasn’t enough. Christianity had to be imposed as well. As you can imagine, it didn’t go well.

The key message here is: In the Victorian Era, the colonies saw an influx of Christian missionaries.

In Africa, the Empire expanded through more commercial desires.

The Sepoy Mutiny would also be known as the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Thousands of Europeans were killed, including women and children, but the retaliation against the Indian population was far greater. No one can be sure of the total casualties, but the words of British Lt. Kendal Coghill paint a gruesome picture. He wrote, “We burned every village and hanged all the villagers… until every tree was covered with scoundrels hanging from every branch.”

The rebellion resulted in the Government of India Act 1858. The East India Company finally became part of the British government. This meant that India, for the first time, officially became ruled by the British government. It was a significant change. Yet, while the government began playing an active role in India, in other areas, private enterprise still took the lead when it came to empire building.

Following a tragedy in Africa and a costly war, the Empire began to prove untenable.

The British weren’t alone in colonizing Africa. The nineteenth century ended with what is known as the Scramble for Africa. Germany, France, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, and Italy were all involved to one extent or another.

Britain’s claims in the continent stretched from Egypt in the north to South Africa, and only German East Africa prevented British rule forming a complete chain.

Following the cost of two major wars, the Empire collapsed.

While Great Britain gained more territories at the end of World War I, the financial drain caused by the war would prove to be the beginning of the end for the British Empire. For example, Britain was granted Iraq after the war, but in 1921 alone, this would cost £21 million – more than the UK spent on health care that year.

The Empire was hurting Britain. Britain needed to invest in rebuilding its defenses, and modernizing its military. It didn’t, and in World War II, it nearly cost Britain everything.

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Bestes Zitat aus Empire

It was a transition from piracy to political power that would change the world forever.

—Niall Ferguson

Über den Autor

Niall Ferguson is a writer and historian who currently serves as the Milbank Family Senior Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. Prior to that, he was a Professor of International History at Harvard University. He is the author of multiple best-selling books, including Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empire and Civilization: The West and the Rest.

Wer Empire lesen sollte

History buffs
Anyone interested in the legacy of colonialism
People curious about the world economy

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