L`impero britannico

L’impero britannico
Evoluzione storica dell’Impero britannico
Giovanni Caboto
Sebastiano Caboto
Richard Chancellor
Sir Hugh Willoughby
Richard Chancellor and Sir Hugh Willoughby tried to discover a north-eastern route by sea to Asia, but without success.
Willoughby died of exposure in Lapland, but Chancellor reached the White Sea and traveled by land to Muscovy, where
he established links with Ivan IV.
In 1555, a Charter was issued to the Muscovy Company giving it exclusive trading rights in the region. Further
expeditions were made in 1556, 1568 and 1580.
Ivan IV of Russia Shows His Treasury to Jerome Horsey (Alexander Litovchenko, 1875)
Seal of the Russia Company
Old English Court in Moscow (4,
Varvarka Street). 16th-17th
centuries.
William Baffin explored the Arctic circle, the earliest mention
of his name occurs in 1612, in connection with Denmark's
King Christian IV's Expeditions to Greenland under the
command of Captain James Hall, whom he accompanied as
chief pilot. Captain Hall was killed in a fight with the local
inhabitants on the west coast of Greenland, and during the
following two years Baffin served in the Spitsbergen whalefishery, at that time controlled by England's Muscovy
Company. In the first year he served as pilot aboard the
flagship of the whaling fleet, the Tiger, while in the second
year he served as pilot aboard one of the fleet's two
discovery ships, the Thomasine.
In 1615, he entered the service of the Company for the
discovery of the Northwest Passage, and accompanied
Captain Robert Bylot as pilot of the little ship Discovery, and
now carefully explored the Hudson Strait. The accuracy of
Baffin's tidal and astronomical observations on this voyage
was confirmed in a remarkable manner by Sir Edward Parry,
when passing over the same ground, two centuries later
(1821).
The following year, Baffin again sailed as pilot of the
Discovery, sailing to the west of Greenland and north up
through the Davis Strait, where he discovered the large bay
to the north which now bears his name, together with the
series of straits which radiate from its head and were named
by him Lancaster, Smith and Jones Sounds, in honour of the
patrons of his voyages. On this voyage he sailed over 300
statute miles (480 km) farther north than his predecessor
John Davis, and for 236 years his farthest north (at about lat.
77° 45') remained unsurpassed in that sea.
All hopes of discovering a passage to India by this route
seemed to be at an end, and eventually Baffin's discoveries
came to be doubted until they were re-discovered by Captain
Ross in 1818. "Baffin had long been one of Ross's heroes,
and later he would write of the satisfaction he derived of
proving wrong those who, for so long, had doubted Baffin's
accomplishment."
Baffin next took service with the British East India Company,
and in 1617-1619 sailed to Surat in British India, and on his
return received the special recognition of the Company for
valuable surveys of the Red Sea and Persian Gulf which he
had made in the course of the voyage.
Early in 1620, he again sailed to the East. In the AngloPersian attack on the Portuguese fort on Kishm island in the
Persian Gulf, a preliminary to the Capture of Ormuz, he died
of wounds on 23 January 1622.
Sir Martin Frobisher by Cornelis Ketel, c. 1577
Sir Martin Frobisher (c. 1535 or 1539 – 15
November 1594) was an English seaman who
made three voyages to the New World to look for
the Northwest Passage. All landed in
northeastern Canada, around today's Resolution
Island and Frobisher Bay. On his second voyage,
Frobisher found what he thought was gold ore
and carried 200 tons of it home on three ships,
where initial assaying determined it to be worth a
profit of £5.1 per ton. Encouraged, Frobisher
returned to Canada with an even larger fleet and
dug several mines around Frobisher Bay. He
carted 1,350 tons of the ore back where, after
years of smelting, it was realized that both that
batch of ore and the earlier one he had taken
were worthless iron pyrite. As an English
privateer/pirate, he collected riches from French
ships. He was later knighted for his service in
repelling the Spanish Armada in 1588.
John Davis accompanied Thomas Cavendish on
his last voyage (1591-2) with the purpose of
searching for a north west passage. After the
rest of the Cavendish expedition returned
unsuccessful he continued to attempt on his
own account the passage of the Strait of
Magellan. Although defeated by foul weather he
discovered the Falkland Island in August 1592
aboard the vessel Desire. While on the
Falklands they killed and stored 125,000
penguins for food but the meat spoiled once
they reached the tropics. In 1601-1603 he
accompanied Sir James Lancaster as chief pilot
in the first voyage of the British east India
Company and again as pilot to Sir Edward
Michelborne to the same destination in 1604. He
was killed by Japanese pilots on 27 December
1605 at Bintang Island off the Malay peninsula.
In 1606 the account of this voyage was written
by Michelborne.
Sir Thomas Cavendish (September 19, 1560 –
May 1592) was an English explorer and a
privateer known as "The Navigator" because
he was the first who deliberately tried to
emulate Sir Francis Drake and raid the
Spanish towns and ships in the Pacific and
return by circumnavigating the globe. While
members of Magellan's, Loaisa's, Drake's, and
Loyola's expeditions had preceded Cavendish
in circumnavigating the globe, it had not been
their intent at the outset. His first trip and
successful circumnavigation, made him rich
from captured Spanish gold, silk and treasure
from the Pacific and the Philippines. His
richest prize was the captured 600 ton sailing
ship the Manila Galleon Santa Ana (also called
Santa Anna). He was knighted by Queen
Elizabeth I of England after his return. He later
set out for a second raiding and
circumnavigation trip, but was not as
fortunate and died at sea at the age of 32.
Admiral Sir John Hawkins (also spelled as
Hawkyns) (Plymouth 1532 – 12 November
1595) was an English shipbuilder, naval
administrator and commander, merchant,
navigator, and slave trader. As treasurer
(1577) and controller (1589) of the Royal
Navy, he rebuilt older ships and helped
design the faster ships that withstood the
Spanish Armada in 1588. He later devised
the naval blockade to intercept Spanish
treasure ships. One of the foremost seamen
of 16th-century England, he was the chief
architect of the Elizabethan navy. In the
battle in which the Spanish Armada was
defeated in 1588, Hawkins served as a vice
admiral and was knighted for his role.
William, John's father, was a confidant of
Henry VIII of England and one of England's
principal sea captains. Sir Francis Drake,
John's second cousin, helped him in his
second voyage.
The first Englishman recorded to have
taken slaves from Africa was John Lok, a
London trader who, in 1555, brought five
slaves from Guinea. A second London
trader taking slaves at that time was
William Towerson whose fleet sailed into
Plymouth following his 1556 voyage to
Africa and from Plymouth on his 1557
voyage. Despite the exploits of Lok and
Towerson, John Hawkins of Plymouth is
often considered to be the pioneer of the
British slave trade, because he was the first
to run the Triangular trade, making a profit
at every stop.
First voyage (1555–1563)
John Hawkins formed a syndicate of wealthy merchants to invest in the slave trade. In 1555, he set sail with three ships for the Caribbean via
Sierra Leone. They hijacked a Portuguese slave ship and traded the 301 slaves in the Caribbean. Despite having two ships seized by the
Spanish authorities, he sold the slaves in Santo Domingo and thus made a profit for his London investors. His voyage caused the Spanish to
ban all English ships from trading in their West Indies colonies.[citation needed] In 1563, John Hawkins brought the first slaves from Africa to
both the Caribbean Isles and Lower Americas.
Second voyage (1564–1565)
Hawkins' second voyage was even more successful. In 1564, Queen Elizabeth I partnered with him by renting him the huge old 700-ton ship
Jesus of Lubeck, on which he set forth on a more extensive voyage, along with three small ships. Hawkins sailed to Borburata, privateering
along the way. By the time he reached Borburata, he had captured around 400 Africans. After Borburata, Hawkins sailed to Rio de la Hacha.
The Spanish officials tried to prevent Hawkins from selling the slaves by imposing taxes. Captain Hawkins refused to pay the taxes and
threatened to burn the towns. After selling his slaves, Captain Hawkins sailed to a French colony in Florida for a respite. Captain Hawkins
returned to England in September 1566, his expedition a total success as his financiers made a 60% profit.
Third voyage (1567–1569)
His third voyage began in 1567. Hawkins obtained many more slaves, and also augmented his cargo by capturing the Portuguese slave ship
Madre de Deus (Mother of God) and its human cargo. He took about 400 slaves across the Atlantic on the third trip. At San Juan de Ulúa (in
modern Vera Cruz) he was chanced upon by a strong Spanish force that was bringing, by a royal edict issued on 16 June 1567 by king Philip
II of Spain, an investigative commission consisting of Licenciado Gaspar de Jarava, Licenciado Alonso Muñoz, and Doctor Luis Carrillo to
find out about the insistent rumours alleging some sort of move towards Mexican independence from the Spanish Crown by the Spanish
Viceroy of Mexico Gaston de Peralta, 3rd Marquis of Falces, and his half-brothers Martin Cortes I "El Mestizo", Martin Cortés y Zúñiga (also
known as Martin Cortés II and Martín Cortés, 2nd Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca) and Luis Cortés y Hermosillo. De Jarava and Muñoz were
from the Council of the Indies, while Carrillo was an official at the Court. The General Commander of the Fleet was the newly appointed
governor of Cuba Pedro Menéndez de Avilés (founder of the City of San Agustin, Florida), assisted by the capable seafarer Sancho Pardo
Donlebún, who was later to be a powerful adversary of both Hawkins and Drake.
In the ensuing Battle of San Juan de Ulúa only two of the English ships escaped destruction, and Hawkins' voyage home was a miserable
one. That of Hawkins' gunner, Job Hartop was equally so and took many years.
Although his first three voyages were semi-piratical enterprises, Queen Elizabeth I was in need of money and saw pirates as fighting her
battles at their own cost and risk.
Hawkins would write about the details of his third voyage in An Alliance to Raid for Slaves. Specifically he comments on how trading and
raiding were closely related in the English slave trade, and how European success in the slave trade directly depended on African allies who
were willing to cooperate. He also comments on the level of violence he and his men used and encouraged in order to secure his captives.
The title makes clear the basis of his methodology.
Potatoes were first imported to the British Isles (probably to Ireland) in either 1563 or 1565 (sources differ) by Hawkins.
Some scholars suggest that it was John Hawkins who introduced tobacco into Britain. Some accounts say this was in 1569, others in 1564.
The latter is more likely, since he mentions "Ltobaccoj" (meaning tobacco) in his journals of the second voyage.
A 16th century oil on canvas portrait of Sir Francis
Drake in Buckland Abbey, painting by Marcus
Gheeraerts the Younger.
RITRATTO DI SIR FRANCIS DRAKE
Marcus, the Younger Gheeraerts
La cattura del galeone spagnolo Cacafuego
Sir Humphrey Gilbert, ca. 1584
A 16th century oil on canvas portrait of Sir Richard
Grenville in the National Portrait Gallery.
In 1574 Grenville submitted a proposal to the Privy Council to take a
single ship to plunder Spanish treasure ships in South America and
from there to sail across the 'South Sea' (The Pacific Ocean) in the
hope of finding a short cut to the Spice Islands. He was denied on the
grounds that England was still using diplomacy with Spain. It was this
plan that was eventually executed by Sir Francis Drake when he
circumnavigated the world in 1577.
In 1585, Grenville was admiral of the seven-strong fleet that brought
English settlers to establish a military colony on Roanoke Island, off
the coast of modern North Carolina in North America. He was heavily
criticised by Ralph Lane, General of the expedition, who referred to
Grenville's "intolerable pride and unsatiable ambition". This
description has remained of Grenville to this day but must be
considered with the knowledge that Lane was involved in a bitter legal
feud with Grenville at the time. On his return, Grenville took a Spanish
Ship, the 'Santa Maria de Vincenze', which he later brought to Bideford
to be converted into the 'Galleon Dudley'. The cannons from that
Spanish ship are thought to be those erroneously labelled 'Armada
cannons' in Bideford's Victoria Park.
In 1586 Grenville returned to Roanoke to find that the surviving
colonists had shipped out with Drake. Grenville left 15 of his own men
to defend Raleigh's New World territory. During his return to England,
Grenville raided various towns in the Azores Islands. At about this
time, a description was given of his behaviour while dining with
Spanish captains:
"He would carouse three or four glasses of wine, and in a bravery take
the glasses between his teeth and crash them in pieces and swallow
them down, so that often the blood ran out of his mouth without any
harm at all unto him."
In 1587 he was asked by the Privy Council to organize the defences of
Devon and Cornwall in preparation for the expected attack by the
Spanish Armada the following year. In 1588, Grenville equipped seven
ships at Bideford with supplies and more Colonists for Raleigh's
'Planters' Colony settled at Roanoke the previous year. However, a
stay of shipping due to the impending arrival of the Spanish Armada
meant that the fleet did not sail. Grenville led five of these ships to
Plymouth to join the English defence and returned to Bideford where
he provisioned the remaining two ships for Roanoke. A voyage that
later turned back after being raided by the French. Later that year,
Grenville was commissioned to keep watch at sea on the Western
approaches to the Bristol Channel in case the Spanish Armada
returned.
Elisabetta I all’epoca della sua incoronazione
Elizabeth I of England, the Armada Portrait, Woburn Abbey (George Gower, ca 1588).
James VI (of Scotland) and I (of England). Portrait
by Daniel Mytens, 1621
Portrait of James, c. 1606, by John de Critz
English writer Richard Hakluyt (c. 1552 or 1553 –
23 November 1616) pictured in a stained glass
window in the West Window of the South
Transept of Bristol Cathedral.
Samuel Purchas (1575? – 1626), was an
English travel writer, a nearcontemporary of Richard Hakluyt.
Tribal territories of Southern New England tribes about 1600
The grants by James I of England to the London Company and
Plymouth Company in 1606. The overlapping area (yellow) was
granted to both companies on the stipulation that neither found
a settlement within 100 miles of each other.
Settlement index:
* Q - Quebec (France)
* R - Port Royal (France)
* Po - Popham Colony (England)
* J - Jamestown (England)
* SA - Saint Augustine (Spain)
The 1608 grant to the Virginia Company of
London "from sea to sea" is shown demarcated in
red. The later grant to the Plymouth Council of
New England is shown in green.
The seal of the London Company, also known as the Charter of the Virginia Company of London. The Company was
an English joint stock company established by royal charter by James I on 10 April 1606 with the purpose of
establishing colonial settlements in North America. It was not founded as a joint stock company, but became one
under its 1609 charter. It was responsible for establishing the Jamestown Settlement, the first permanent English
settlement in the present United States in 1607, and in the process of sending additional supplies, inadvertently
settled the Somers Isles (present day Bermuda), the oldest-remaining English colony, in 1609. In 1624, the company
lost its charter, and Virginia became a royal colony. The Latin phrase on the left oval "SIGILVM REGIS MAGNÆ
BRITANIÆ FRANCIÆ ET HIBERNIÆ" means "Sign of the great king of Britain, Francia and Hibernia".
Sir Walter Raleigh (c. 1554 – 29 October 1618) was
an English aristocrat, writer, poet, soldier, courtier,
spy, and explorer. He is also well known for
popularising tobacco in England.
Raleigh was born to a Protestant family in Devon,
the son of Walter Raleigh and Catherine
Champernowne. Little is known for certain of his
early life, though he spent some time in Ireland, in
Killua Castle, Clonmellon, County Westmeath, taking
part in the suppression of rebellions and
participating in the Siege of Smerwick. Later he
became a landlord of properties confiscated from
the Irish rebels. He rose rapidly in the favour of
Queen Elizabeth I, and was knighted in 1585. He was
involved in the early English colonisation of Virginia
under a royal patent. In 1591 he secretly married
Elizabeth Throckmorton, one of the Queen's ladiesin-waiting, without the Queen's permission, for
which he and his wife were sent to the Tower of
London. After his release, they retired to his estate
at Sherborne, Dorset.
In 1594 Raleigh heard of a "City of Gold" in South
America and sailed to find it, publishing an
exaggerated account of his experiences in a book
that contributed to the legend of "El Dorado". After
Queen Elizabeth died in 1603 Raleigh was again
imprisoned in the Tower, this time for allegedly
being involved in the Main Plot against King James I,
who was not favourably disposed toward him. In
1616 he was released to lead a second expedition in
search of El Dorado. This was unsuccessful and
men under his command ransacked a Spanish
outpost. He returned to England and, to appease the
Spanish, was arrested and executed in 1618.
Portrait of Sir Walter Raleigh,
1585 c.
On March 25, 1584, Queen Elizabeth I
granted Sir Walter Raleigh a charter
for the colonization of the area of
North America known as Virginia. This
charter specified that Raleigh had
seven years in which to establish a
settlement in North America, or lose
his right to colonization.
Raleigh and Elizabeth intended that
the venture should provide riches
from the New World and a base from
which to send privateers on raids
against the treasure fleets of Spain.
Raleigh himself never visited North
America, although he led expeditions
in 1595 and 1617 to South America's
Orinoco River basin in search of the
legendary golden city of El Dorado.
"John Smith," line engraving from the 18th century,
after Simon De Passe
Sbarco inglese
in America
(Theodor de
Bry)
Gravure réalisée d’après les dessins exécutés par John White. Il prit part en 1585 à un voyage en Virginie, conduit
par Sir Richard Grenville en vue de préparer une relation écrite et picturale du paysage, des ressources naturelles
et des indigènes. Les dessins de White et les descriptions qui les accompagnent sont considérés comme les
tableaux les plus précis de la physionomie et des mœurs des populations de la côte sud-est de l’Amérique.
Gravure extraite, de l'œuvre de Théodore De Bry, 1590 à 1596.
John White was sent by Sir Walter Raleigh to be Sir
Richard Grenville's artist-illustrator, on Grenville's first
voyage to the New World (1585-6). White was
responsible for producing sketches of the landscape
and any inhabitants they encountered. The images
produced seem to be as much propaganda as fact—
but that's nothing new. There's a lot to be learned by
examining the imagery here.
Dancing Secotan Indians in North Carolina. Watercolour painted by John White in 1585.
Ceremony of Secotan warriors in North Carolina. Watercolour painted by John White in 1585.
Engraving by Theodor de Bry, 1590 after a John White watercolor, 1585. Virginia Indian chief with tattoos.
Caption: "A weroan or great Lorde of Virginia." Indian not from the modern state of Virginia, but rather area of
former Virginia colony
Algonkini del North Carolina mentre preparano il cibo
(Theodor de Bry da un acquarello di John White,1585)
Methods of fishing of the North Carolina Algonquins. Engraving by Thedor de Bry after a
watercolour by John White. 1585
Portrait of Massachusetts Bay Colony
Governor John Winthrop.
John Winthrop (12 January 1587/8[1] – 26 March 1649) was a
wealthy English Puritan lawyer, and one of the leading
figures in the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the
first major settlement in New England after Plymouth Colony.
Winthrop led the first large wave of migrants from England in
1630, and served as governor for 12 of the colony's first 20
years of existence. His writings and vision of the colony as a
Puritan "city upon a hill" dominated New England colonial
development, influencing the government and religion of
neighboring colonies.
Born into a wealthy landowning and merchant family,
Winthrop was trained in the law, and became Lord of the
Manor at Groton in Suffolk. Although he was not involved in
the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Company in 1628, he
became involved in 1629 when the anti-Puritan King Charles I
began a crackdown on Nonconformist religious thought. In
October 1629 he was elected governor of the Massachusetts
Bay Colony, and in April 1630 he led a group of colonists to
the New World, founding a number of communities on the
shores of Massachusetts Bay and the Charles River.
Between 1629 and his death in 1649, he served 12 annual
terms as governor, and was a force of comparative
moderation in the religiously conservative colony, clashing
with the more conservative Thomas Dudley and the more
liberal Roger Williams and Henry Vane. Although Winthrop
was a respected political figure, his attitude toward
governance was somewhat authoritarian: he resisted
attempts to widen voting and other civil rights beyond a
narrow class of religiously approved individuals, opposed
attempts to codify a body of laws that the colonial
magistrates would be bound by, and also opposed
unconstrained democracy, calling it "the meanest and worst
of all forms of government".[2] The authoritarian and
religiously conservative nature of Massachusetts rule was
influential in the formation of neighboring colonies, which
were in some instances formed by individuals and groups
opposed to the rule of the Massachusetts elders.
Winthrop's son, John, was one of the founders of the
Connecticut Colony, and Winthrop himself wrote one of the
leading historical accounts of the early colonial period. His
long list of descendants includes famous Americans, and his
writings continue to be an influence on politicians today.
The colony's first seal, depicting a
dejected Native American with
arrows turned downwards, saying
"Come over and help us", an
allusion to Acts 16:9
Painting of Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore
Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, 1st Proprietor
and 1st Proprietary Governor of Maryland, 9th
Proprietary Governor of Newfoundland (August 8,
1605 – November 30, 1675), was an English peer who
was the first proprietor of the Province of Maryland.
He received the proprietorship after the death of his
father, George Calvert, the 1st Lord Baltimore, for
whom it was intended. Cecil Calvert (as he was
known) established and managed Maryland from his
home in England; as a Catholic, he continued the
legacy of his father by promoting religious tolerance
in the colony.
Maryland became known as a haven for Catholics in
the New World, particularly important at a time of
religious persecution in England. Calvert governed
Maryland for forty-two years.[2] He also served as
Governor of Newfoundland. He died in England on
November 30, 1675, aged 70 years.
Leonard Calvert, Lord Baltimore's younger brother
and the first governor of the Maryland colony.
Cecilius's son and heir, Charles Calvert, 3rd
Baron Baltimore.
In 1649 Maryland passed the Maryland Toleration Act, also known as the Act Concerning Religion, a law
mandating religious tolerance for Trinitarian Christians only (excluding Nontrinitarian faiths). Passed on
September 21, 1649 by the assembly of the Maryland colony, it was the first law establishing religious
tolerance in the British North American colonies. The Calvert family sought enactment of the law to protect
Catholic settlers and Nonconformist Protestants who did not conform to the established state Church of
England of Britain and her colonies.
One half of an indenture document dated 24 June 1723, the ninth year of the reign of King George I of Great
Britain. Characteristic of an indenture is the randomly curved cut (or torn) edge (visible at the top on this
half), capable of proving a match to the counterpart document.
Charles I, Portrait by Anthony van Dyck, 1636
Sir Anthony Van Dyck: Charles I painted in April 1634. Despite
his reputation as a patron of the arts, Charles paid Van Dyck
only half the amount he requested
Anthony van Dyck, Charles I's court painter,
created the famous "Charles I, King of England,
from Three Angles," commonly known as the
"Triple Portrait."
Henrietta Maria consorte di Carlo I (c. 1633)
by Sir Anthony van Dyck
A
contemporaneous
print showing the
1649 execution of
Charles I outside
the Banqueting
House, Whitehall,
London.
The five eldest children of Charles I. From left, they are Mary, James, Charles, Elizabeth, and Anne.
Painting of Charles I's children. The future Charles II is depicted at centre, stroking the dog
Il Golfo del Messico e il Mar dei Caraibi con le Grandi e le Piccole Antille
Charles II of England in the robes of the Order of the
Garter 1675, as painted by Sir Peter Lely.
Caterina di Braganza (Vila Viçosa, Évora, 1638 Lisbona 1705)
Ritratto di Sir Peter Lely
Figlia del duca Giovanni II di Braganza, in seguito
re Giovanni IV del Portogallo, (1604-1656) e della
sua consorte Luisa di Guzmán (1613-1666),
Caterina andò in sposa a Carlo II d'Inghilterra
(1662) per sostenere l'alleanza fra Portogallo e
Inghilterra in quanto, in seguito al Trattato dei
Pirenei del 1659 tra Spagna e Francia,
quest'ultima aveva rotto la sua alleanza con il
Portogallo.
Essi si sposarono nella città di Portsmouth il 21
maggio del 1662. La sposa portò in dote due
milioni di crusados e le colonie portoghesi di
Tangeri e di Bombay, che passarono quindi sotto
il dominio britannico.
Essendo di religione cattolica Caterina, come la
suocera Enrichetta Maria di Francia, non poté
mai assistere alle funzioni religiose anglicane e
non poté essere incoronata regina.
A lei si deve l’introduzione presso la Corte
inglese dell’uso di bere tè.
A painting by Hendrik Danckerts from 1675 showing Charles II of England being given the first pineapple grown
in England by his royal gardener, John Rose.
James II & VII (14 October 1633 – 16
September 1701)[2] was King of
England and King of Ireland as James II
and King of Scotland as James VII,[1]
from 6 February 1685. He was the last
Catholic monarch to reign over the
Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and
Ireland.
The Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, James's home during his final exile
William III (1659-1702), Prince of Orange.
Stadtholder, since 1689 also king of
England.
James's nephew and son-in-law, William,
was invited to "save the Protestant religion“
Portrait of William, aged 27, by Peter Lely
William III by Sir Godfrey Kneller
Battle of the Boyne between James II and William III, 12 July 1690, Jan van Huchtenburg
William married his first cousin, the future
Queen Mary II, in 1677.
Mary in 1676, the year before her
marriage
William and Mary depicted on the ceiling of
the Painted Hall.
Queen Anne. Portrait by Michael Dahl, 1705
Anne (6 February 1665 – 1 August 1714[1]) ascended the
thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702.
On 1 May 1707, under the Act of Union, two of her realms,
England and Scotland, were united as a single sovereign
state, the Kingdom of Great Britain.
Anne's Catholic father, James II and VII, was deposed
during the "Glorious Revolution" of 1688. Her Protestant
sister Mary and Mary's husband, Anne's brother-in-law and
cousin William III, became joint monarchs. After Mary's
death in 1694, William continued as sole monarch until his
own death and Anne's accession in 1702.
Anne favoured moderate Tory politicians, who were more
likely than their opponents, the Whigs, to share her
Anglican religious views. The Whigs grew more powerful
during the course of the War of the Spanish Succession,
until in 1710 Anne dismissed many of them from office. Her
close friendship with Sarah Churchill, Duchess of
Marlborough, turned sour as the result of political
differences.
Despite seventeen pregnancies, Anne died without
surviving children and was the last monarch of the House of
Stuart. She was succeeded by her second cousin George I
of the House of Hanover, who was a descendant of the
Stuarts through his maternal grandmother, Elizabeth,
daughter of James VI and I.
Anne with her husband, Prince George of
Denmark, 1706
George I, c. 1714. Studio of Sir Godfrey Kneller.
George I (George Louis; German: Georg Ludwig;
28 May 1660 – 11 June 1727) was King of Great
Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 until his
death, and ruler of the Duchy and Electorate of
Brunswick-Lüneburg (Hanover) in the Holy Roman
Empire from 1698.
George was born in Hanover, in what is now
Germany, and inherited the titles and lands of the
Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg from his father and
uncles. A succession of European wars expanded
his German domains during his lifetime, and in
1708 he was ratified as prince-elector of Hanover.
At the age of 54, after the death of Queen Anne of
Great Britain, George ascended the British throne
as the first monarch of the House of Hanover.
Although over fifty Roman Catholics bore closer
blood relationships to Anne, the Act of Settlement
1701 prohibited Catholics from inheriting the
British throne. George, however, was Anne's
closest living Protestant relative. In reaction,
Jacobites attempted to depose George and
replace him with Anne's Catholic half-brother,
James Francis Edward Stuart, but their attempts
failed.
During George's reign the powers of the monarchy
diminished and Britain began a transition to the
modern system of cabinet government led by a
prime minister. Towards the end of his reign,
actual power was held by Sir Robert Walpole,
Britain's first de facto prime minister. George died
on a trip to his native Hanover, where he was
buried.
Sketch map of the state of Hanover, c.1720 showing territorial acquisitions and some neighboring states and
imperial cities
George II, Portrait by Thomas Hudson, 1744
George II (George Augustus; German: Georg II. August; 30
October / 9 November 1683O.S./N.S. – 25 October 1760) was
King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
(Hanover) and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy
Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 (O.S.) until his death.
As king from 1727, George exercised little control over
British domestic policy, which was largely controlled by
Great Britain's parliament. As elector, he spent 12 summers
in Hanover, where he had more direct control over
government policy. He had a difficult relationship with his
eldest son, Frederick, who supported the parliamentary
opposition. During the War of the Austrian Succession,
George participated at the Battle of Dettingen in 1743, and
thus became the last British monarch to lead an army in
battle. In 1745, supporters of the Catholic claimant to the
British throne, James Francis Edward Stuart, attempted
and failed to depose George in the last of the Jacobite
rebellions. Frederick died unexpectedly in 1751, leaving
George's grandson, George III, as heir apparent and
ultimately king.
Portrait by Allan Ramsay, 1762
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 1738–
29 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King
of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of
these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which
he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland until his death. He was concurrently
Duke and prince-elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg
("Hanover") in the Holy Roman Empire until his
promotion to King of Hanover on 12 October 1814.
He was the third British monarch of the House of
Hanover, but unlike his two Hanoverian
predecessors he was born in Britain, spoke English
as his first language, and never visited Hanover.
George was born in London at Norfolk House. He
was the grandson of King George II, and the son of
Frederick, Prince of Wales, and Augusta of SaxeGotha.
His life and reign, which were longer than those of
any previous British monarch, were marked by a
series of military conflicts involving his kingdoms,
much of the rest of Europe, and places farther afield
in Africa, the Americas and Asia. Early in his reign,
Great Britain defeated France in the Seven Years'
War, becoming the dominant European power in
North America and India. However, many of its
American colonies were soon lost in the American
War of Independence. He played a minor role in the
wars against revolutionary and Napoleonic France
from 1793, which concluded in the defeat of
Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.
In the later part of his life, George III suffered from
recurrent, and eventually permanent, mental illness.
Portrait by Sir Thomas Lawrence, 1822.
George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26
June 1830) was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father,
George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years
later. From 1811 until his accession, he served as Prince Regent
during his father's relapse into mental illness.
George IV led an extravagant lifestyle that contributed to the
fashions of the British Regency. He was a patron of new forms
of leisure, style and taste. He commissioned John Nash to build
the Royal Pavilion in Brighton and remodel Buckingham Palace,
and Sir Jeffry Wyatville to rebuild Windsor Castle. He was
instrumental in the foundation of the National Gallery, London
and King's College London.
He had a poor relationship with both his father and his wife,
Caroline of Brunswick, whom he even forbade to attend his
coronation. He introduced the unpopular Pains and Penalties
Bill in a desperate, unsuccessful, attempt to divorce his wife.
For most of George's regency and reign, Lord Liverpool
controlled the government as Prime Minister. George's
governments, with little help from the King, presided over
victory in the Napoleonic Wars, negotiated the peace settlement,
and attempted to deal with the social and economic malaise that
followed. He had to accept George Canning as foreign minister
and later prime minister, and drop his opposition to Catholic
Emancipation.
His charm and culture earned him the title "the first gentleman
of England", but his bad relations with his father and wife, and
his dissolute way of life earned him the contempt of the people
and dimmed the prestige of the monarchy. Taxpayers were
angry at his wasteful spending in time of war. He did not provide
national leadership in time of crisis, nor a role model for his
people. His ministers found his behaviour selfish, unreliable,
and irresponsible. At all times he was much under the influence
of favourites.
Il Nord America verso il 1750
Eastern North America in 1775: The British
Province of Quebec, the British thirteen
colonies on the Atlantic coast and the Indian
Reserve (as of the Royal Proclamation of
1763).
Nel 1775, l'Inghilterra aveva il dominio sulle
zone indicate in rosso e rosa sulla mappa e la
Spagna su quelle arancione. La zona rossa è
quella relativa alle 13 colonie aperte agli
insediamenti dopo la proclamazione del 1763.
A map of James Island and Fort Gambia (Africa), 1755
The expanded East India House, Leadenhall Street, London, as rebuilt 1799-1800, Richard Jupp,
architect (as seen c. 1817; demolished in 1861-62)
A Front View of East India House, in Leadenhall Street
East India House, on the west side of St James's Square
The Company opened a factory (trading post) in Bantam
Sir James Lancaster commanded the first East
India Company voyage in 1601
Robert Clive and his family with an Indian
maid", (Joshua Reynolds, 1765)
Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive
Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, became the first British Governor of Bengal.
Warren Hastings, the first GovernorGeneral of British India from 1773 to 1785.
The trial of Warren Hastings in Westminster Hall (1789)
The last effort and fall of Tipu Sultan of Mysore in the year 1799 (illustrated by Henry Singleton, in the year
1800).
Lord Dalhousie, the Governor-General of India
from 1848 to 1856, who devised the Doctrine of
Lapse.
Charles Canning, the Governor-General of
India during the rebellion (1857-1858).
Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi, one of the principal
leaders of the Great Uprising of 1857, who earlier had
lost her kingdom as a result of Lord Dalhousie's
Doctrine of Lapse.
Lakshmi Bai, the Rani of Jhansi (c.19 November 1835
– 17 June 1858),a well known as Jhansi Ki Rani, or
the queen of Jhansi, was one of the leading figures
of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, and a symbol of
resistance to British rule in India. She was the queen
of the Maratha-ruled princely state of Jhansi, situated
in the northern part of India.
Statue of Rani Laxmi Bai in Agra
An 1858 photograph by Felice Beato of a mosque in Meerut where some of the rebel soldiers may have
prayed.
Rebellious States:
1. Jhajjar, Dadri, Farukhnagar and
Bahadurgarh
2. Amjhera
3. Shagarh
4. Biaj Raghogarh
5. Singhbum
6. Nargund
7. Shorapur
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
k.
l.
m.
n.
o.
p.
q.
r.
s.
t.
States aiding the British:
Kashmir (Independent
Kingdom)
Kapurthala
Patiala
Sirmur
Bikaner
Jaipur
Alwar
Bharathpur
Rampur
Nepal (Independent Kingdom)
Sirohi
Mewar
Bundi
Jaora
Bijawar
Ajaigar
Rewa
Udaipur
Keonjhar
Hyderabad
The Flagstaff Tower, Delhi, where the European survivors of the rebellion gathered
on 11 May 1857; photographed by Felice Beato
Mortar damage to Kashmiri Gate, Delhi, 1858
"The Bank of Delhi," taken in 1858 by Major Robert Christopher Tytler and his wife, Harriet.
The bank had been damaged by mortar and gunfire during the rebellion of 1857.
Capture of Bahadur Shah Zafar and his
sons by William Hodson at Humayun's
tomb on 20 September 1857
Mughal emperor Abu Zafar Sirajuddin Muhammad
Bahadur Shah Zafar, aka Bahadur Shah Zafar II. (17751862), in May 1858, "in captivity in Delhi awaiting trial by
the British for his support of the Uprising of 1857-58" and
before his departure for exile in Rangoon. This is
possibly the only photograph ever taken of a Mughal
emperor.
Sir Henry Montgomery Lawrence, British Commissioner of
Oudh who died during the siege of Lucknow.
Secundra Bagh
after the slaughter
of 2,000 Rebels
by the 93rd
Highlanders and
4th Punjab
Regiment.
Albumen silver
print by Felice
Beato, 1858.
Photograph of Jhansi Fort taken in 1882 by Lala Deen Dayal. The East India Company assumed control of the fort after the
death of Raja Gangadhar Rao in 1853. In 1857, the fort was taken over by rebel forces. Although the Rani of Jhansi, Lakshmi
Bai, who had been disposed, was not successful in controlliing of the fort, she nonetheless defended it against British recapture,
which eventually took place in 1858
"The Relief of Lucknow" by Thomas Jones Barker
British soldiers looting Qaisar Bagh, Lucknow, after its recapture (steel engraving, late 1850s)
A memorial erected (circa 1860) by the British after the Mutiny at the Bibi Ghar Well. After India's Independence the statue
was moved to the Memorial Church, Cawnpore. Albumen silver print by Samuel Bourne, 1860.
Blowing from Guns in British India (1884) by Vasily Vereshchagin. Note this painting depicts events of 1857 with
soldiers wearing (then current) uniforms of the 1880s.
The hanging of two participants in the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Albumen silver print by Felice Beato, 1858
Lord Cornwallis, the Governor-General
who established the Permanent
Settlement in Bengal.
Richard Wellesley
Feldmaresciallo Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of
Wellington
(c. 29 April/1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852)
The Marquess Wellesley (ritratto
di John Philip Davis)
Vittoria, Imperatrice d’India
1878
George Nathaniel Curzon, primo marchese
Curzon di Kedleston (George Nathaniel
Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston;
Kedleston Hall (Kedleston), 11 gennaio 1859
– Londra, 20 marzo 1925), è stato un politico
britannico.
Viceré dell'India (dal 1899 al 1905), Ministro
degli Esteri (dal 1919 al 1924) della Gran
Bretagna. Fu esponente del Partito
Conservatore, contrastò la politica della
Russia in Asia centrale e contribuì alla fine
dell'Impero ottomano dopo la Prima guerra
mondiale. In politica interna si batté contro
l'autodeterminazione dell'Irlanda e contro il
suffragio femminile.
Lord Curzon in un dipinto di John
Cooke
Lord Curzon, Vicerè
d’India dal 1899 al
1905
Lord Curzon and the Maharaja of Gwalior pose with
hunted tigers, 1901
George Curzon con la prima moglie, Mary
Victoria Leiter (1870-1906), e un trofeo di caccia
nel 1903 in India.
Lord Curzon and Lady Curzon arriving at the Delhi
Durbar, 1903.
Admiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas George Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, né Prince
Louis of Battenberg (25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979) was a British admiral and statesman of German descent, and an
uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. He was the last Viceroy of the British Indian Empire (1947) and the first
Governor-General of the independent Union of India (1947–48), from which the modern Republic of India would
emerge in 1950. From 1954 until 1959 he was the First Sea Lord, a position that had been held by his father, Prince
Louis of Battenberg, some forty years earlier. In 1979 Mountbatten was assassinated by the Provisional Irish
Republican Army (IRA), who planted a bomb in his boat at Mullaghmore, County Sligo in the Republic of Ireland.
The western or park end of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's
building in 1866. It was then occupied by the Foreign and India
Offices, while the Home and Colonial Offices occupied the Whitehall
end.
Victoria Terminums Railway Station.From photo caption: The pretentious building is architecturally
considered to be one of the finest Railway Terminus in the world.(ca 1905)
Bombay, University Hall and Rajabai Tower, ca 1905
View of Bombay from Rajabi Tower (ca1905)
East India Company Sepoys (Indian infantrymen) in red coats outside Tipu Sultan's
former summer palace in Bangalore, 1804.
Opium Godown (Storehouse) in Patna, Bihar (c. 1814). Patna was the centre of the
Company opium industry.
Cecil John Rhodes PC, DCL (5 July 1853 – 26 March 1902) was an Englishborn South African businessman, mining magnate, and politician. He was
the founder of the diamond company De Beers, which today markets 40% of
the world's rough diamonds and at one time marketed 90%. An ardent
believer in British colonial imperialism, he was the founder of the state of
Rhodesia, which was named after him. In 1964, Northern Rhodesia became
the independent state of Zambia and Southern Rhodesia was thereafter
known as simply as Rhodesia. In 1980, Rhodesia, which had been de-facto
independent since 1965, was granted independence by Britain and was
renamed Zimbabwe.
Rhodes used his wealth and that of his business partner Alfred Beit and
other investors to pursue his dream of creating a British Empire in new
territories to the north by obtaining mineral concessions from the most
powerful indigenous chiefs. Rhodes' competitive advantage over other
mineral prospecting companies was his combination of wealth and astute
political instincts, also called the 'imperial factor', as he used the British
Government. He befriended its local representatives, the British
Commissioners, and through them organised British protectorates over the
mineral concession areas via separate but related treaties. In this way he
obtained both legality and security for mining operations. He could then win
over more investors. Imperial expansion and capital investment went hand in
hand.[19]
The imperial factor was a double-edged sword: Rhodes did not want the
bureaucrats of the Colonial Office in London to interfere in the Empire in
Africa. He wanted British settlers and local politicians and governors to run
it. This put him on a collision course with many in Britain, as well as with
British missionaries, who favoured what they saw as the more ethical direct
rule from London. Rhodes won because he would pay to administer the
territories north of South Africa against future mining profits. The Colonial
Office did not have the funds to do it. Rhodes promoted his business
interests as in the strategic interest of Britain: preventing the Portuguese,
the Germans or the Boers from moving in to south-central Africa. Rhodes'
companies and agents cemented these advantages by obtaining many
mining concessions, as exemplified by the Rudd and Lochner Concessions.
Rhodes memorial at Devil's Peak (Cape Town).
Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner KG, GCB,
GCMG, PC (23 March 1854 – 13 May 1925) was
a British statesman and colonial administrator
who played an influential leadership role in
the formulation of foreign and domestic
policy between the mid-1890s and early
1920s. He was also the key British Empire
figure in the events leading up to and
following the Anglo-Boer War of 1899–1902
and, while serving as High Commissioner, is
additionally noted for mentoring a gathering
of young members of the South African Civil
Service, informally known as Milner's
Kindergarten who, in some cases, themselves
became important figures in administering the
British Empire. In the later part of his life,
from December 1916 to November 1918, he
was one of the most important members of
David Lloyd George's War Cabinet.
Joseph Chamberlain (8 July 1836 – 2 July 1914) was an
influential British politician and statesman. Unlike most major
politicians of the time, he was a self-made businessman and
had not attended Oxford or Cambridge University.
Born in London, Chamberlain made his career in Birmingham,
first as a manufacturer of screws and then as a notable Mayor
of the city. During his early adulthood he was a radical Liberal
Party member and a campaigner for educational reform. He
entered the House of Commons aged almost forty, relatively
late in life for a front-rank politician. Rising to power through
his influence with the Liberal grassroots organisation, he
served as President of the Board of Trade in Gladstone's
Second Government (1880–85). At the time, Chamberlain was
notable for his attacks on the Conservative leader Lord
Salisbury, and in the 1885 general election he proposed the
"Unauthorised Programme" of benefits for newly
enfranchised agricultural labourers. Chamberlain resigned
from Gladstone's Third Government in 1886 in opposition to
Irish Home Rule, and after the Liberal Party split he became a
Liberal Unionist, a party which included a bloc of MPs based
in and around Birmingham.
From the 1895 general election the Liberal Unionists were in
coalition with the Conservative Party, under Chamberlain's
former opponent Lord Salisbury. Chamberlain accepted the
post of Secretary of State for the Colonies, declining other
positions. In this job, he presided over the Second Boer War
and was the dominant figure in the Unionist Government's reelection at the "Khaki Election" in 1900. In 1903, he resigned
from the Cabinet to campaign for tariff reform. He obtained
the support of most Unionist MPs for this stance, but the split
contributed to the landslide Unionist defeat at the 1906
general election. Some months later, shortly after turning
seventy, he was disabled by a stroke.
Despite never becoming Prime Minister, he is regarded as
one of the most important British politicians of the late 19th
and early 20th centuries, as well as a renowned orator and an
interesting character who split both main parties. Winston
Churchill later wrote of him that he was the man "who made
the weather". Chamberlain was the father – by different
marriages – of Sir Austen Chamberlain and Prime Minister
Neville Chamberlain.
Amidst European competition for territory and popular sentiment about
imperialism, Chamberlain realized the potential of using the Colonial Office to gain
international recognition. Opportunities were present for the expansion of the
British Empire and the reordering of imperial trade and resources. Furthermore,
the Colonial Office would provide Chamberlain with the chance of fostering closer
relations between Britain and the settler colonies, with the objective of reforming
the empire as a federation of Anglo-Saxon nations. Chamberlain had always been a
keen imperialist and an advocate of a stronger empire – in 1887 while in Toronto,
he declared that "I should think our patriotism was warped and stunted indeed if it
did not embrace the Greater Britain beyond the seas". Much had been proposed
with regards to an imperial federation, a more coherent system of imperial defence
and preferential tariffs, yet by 1895 when Chamberlain arrived at the Colonial
Office, little had been achieved. Chamberlain believed that there was "work to be
done" as Colonial Secretary, and could be assured of support from Conservative
backbenchers, traditionally keen proponents of Empire.
Joseph Chamberlain, Colonial Secretary
Chamberlain took formal charge of the Colonial Office on 1 July 1895, shortly
before his fifty-ninth birthday. With victory assured in the 1895 general election,
Chamberlain began his work in earnest. His first act was to alter the character of
the Colonial Office building itself, ordering the removal of old carpets, furniture
and wallpaper, the purchasing of new maps and the installation of electric lighting
to end the department's reliance on gaslight. Having transformed the building from
a dingy backwater to a worthy office of the colonial empire, Chamberlain left for the
Pyrenees to holiday for seven weeks, before returning in October. With the empire
at its zenith, Chamberlain's responsibilities at the department were vast, governing
over ten million square miles of territory and 450 million people of exceptional
diversity. Believing that positive government action could bind the empire's
peoples closer to the crown, Chamberlain stated confidently that "I believe that the
British race is the greatest of the governing races that the world has ever seen... It
is not enough to occupy great spaces of the world's surface unless you can make
the best of them. It is the duty of a landlord to develop his estate." Accordingly,
Chamberlain advocated investment in the tropics of Africa, the West Indies and
other underdeveloped possessions, a policy which earned him the nickname
'Joseph Africanus' among the press.
The Right Honourable Joseph Chamberlain, oil on canvas, 1896, John
Singer Sargent. National Portrait Gallery
The Joseph Chamberlain Memorial Clock Tower at the University of
Birmingham
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of
Dwyfor (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945)
He gained national fame by his vehement opposition to
the Second Boer War. He based his attack firstly on what
were supposed to be the war aims – remedying the
grievances of the Uitlanders and in particular the claim
that they were wrongly denied the right to vote, saying "I
do not believe the war has any connection with the
franchise. It is a question of 45% dividends" and that
England (which did not then have universal male
suffrage) was more in need of franchise reform than the
Boer republics. His second attack was on the cost of the
war, which, he argued, prevented overdue social reform
in England, such as old age pensions and workmen's
cottages. As the war progressed, he moved his attack to
its conduct by the generals, who, he said (basing his
words on reports by William Burdett-Coutts in The
Times), were not providing for the sick or wounded
soldiers and were starving Boer women and children in
concentration camps. He reserved his major thrusts for
Chamberlain, accusing him of war profiteering through
the Chamberlain family company Kynoch Ltd, of which
Chamberlain's brother was Chairman and which had won
tenders to the War Office though its prices were higher
than some of its competitors. After speaking at a
meeting in Chamberlain's political base at Birmingham.
Lloyd George had to be smuggled out disguised as a
policeman, as his life was in danger from the mob. At
this time the Liberal Party was badly split as Herbert
Henry Asquith, Richard Burdon Haldane and others were
supporters of the war and formed the Liberal Imperial
League.
Major-General Charles George Gordon, CB (28 January
1833 – 26 January 1885), known as "Chinese" Gordon,
Gordon Pasha, and Gordon of Khartoum, was a British
army officer and administrator.
He saw action in the Crimean War as an officer in the
British army, but he made his military reputation in
China, where he was placed in command of the "Ever
Victorious Army", a force of Chinese soldiers led by
European officers. In the early 1860s, Gordon and his
men were instrumental in putting down the Taiping
Rebellion, regularly defeating much larger forces. For
these accomplishments, he was given the nickname
"Chinese" Gordon and honours from both the Emperor
of China and the British.
He entered the service of the Khedive in 1873 (with
British government approval) and later became the
Governor-General of the Sudan, where he did much to
suppress revolts and the slave trade. Exhausted, he
resigned and returned to Europe in 1880.
Then a serious revolt broke out in the Sudan, led by a
self-proclaimed Mahdi, Mohammed Ahmed. At the
request of the British government, Gordon went to
Khartoum to see to the evacuation of Egyptian soldiers
and civilians. Besieged by the Mahdi's forces, Gordon
organised a defence that gained him the admiration of
the British public, though not the government, which
had not wished to become involved. Only when public
pressure to act had become too great was a relief force
reluctantly sent. It arrived two days after the city had
fallen and Gordon had been killed.
La sua permanenza in Inghilterra fu breve. Nel 1860 fu dichiarata guerra alla Cina (la
seconda guerra dell'oppio) e Gordon inviato a Tientsin in settembre.
Mancò all'attacco del forte di Dagu ma fu presente all'occupazione di Pechino ed
alla distruzione del palazzo d'estate. Rimase con le forze britanniche che
occupavano la Cina del Nord fino ad aprile del 1862 quando le truppe, al comando
del generale William Staveley, si ritirarono a Shanghai per proteggere lo
stanziamento europeo dall'esercito di Taiping che stava minacciando la città. I
successi negli anni 1850 nelle province di Guangxi, Hunan e Hubei ed il blocco di
Nanchino in 1853 avevano ritardato l'avanzata dei ribelli. Per molti anni i Taipings
erano avanzati gradualmente verso est, ed erano infine venuti abbastanza vicini a
Shanghai, da allarmare gli abitanti europei. La città reclutò una milizia di Europei ed
asiatici per la sua difesa. Questa forza, comandata dall'americano Frederick
Townsend Ward, aveva occupato il paese ad ovest di Shanghai. La lotta intorno a
Shang-Hai continuò lentamente per circa due anni. I britannici arrivarono in un
momento cruciale, Staveley decise di ripulire dai ribelli un'area di 50 chilometri da
Shang-Hai in collaborazione con gli statunitensi e una piccola forza francese.
Gordon era stato nominato ufficiale ingegnere. Jiading (Kahding), Qingpu (Singpo)
ed altre città furono occupate e la zona fu ripulita dei ribelli alla fine di 1862. Ward
era stato ucciso nella battaglia di Tzeki ed il suo successore era malvisto dalle
autorità imperiali cinesi. Li Hongzhang, il governatore della provincia di Jiangsu,
chiese a Staveley di nominare un ufficiale britannico per comandare il contingente.
Staveley selezionò Gordon, che era diventato maggiore nel dicembre 1862.
Nel mese di marzo del 1863 Gordon prese il comando di un piccolo esercito cinese
a Songjiang con il quale, nel giro di due anni di guerra ininterrotta, riuscì a domare
la ribellione: a seguito di una disputa con Li Hongzhang sull'esecuzione dei capi
ribelli, Gordon ritirò la sua forza da Suzhou e rimase inattivo a Kunshan fino al
febbraio del 1864; riprese l'attività e bloccò Chanchufu, la base militare principale
dei Taipings nella regione, in maggio. Gordon ritornò a Kunshan e disperse il suo
esercito.
Gordon fu promosso dall'Imperatore al grado di Titu Celestiale (Generalissimo), il
più alto grado raggiungibile nell'esercito cinese, e decorato con la Yellow Jacket.
Egli fu poi promosso dall'esercito britannico a tenente-colonnello ed al titolo di
Companion of the Bath. Inoltre si guadagnò il soprannome popolare di "il Gordon
cinese".
Charles George Gordon (au centre) aux Indes avec la Garde du Vice Roi
George W. Joy's portrayal of Gordon's death
Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener
KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, ADC, PC (24 June 1850
– 5 June 1916), was an Irish-born British Field Marshal and
proconsul who won fame for his imperial campaigns and later
played a central role in the early part of the First World War,
although he died halfway through it.
Kitchener won fame in 1898 for winning the Battle of
Omdurman and securing control of the Sudan, after which he
was given the title "Lord Kitchener of Khartoum"; as Chief of
Staff (1900–02) in the Second Boer War he played a key role in
Lord Roberts' conquest of the Boer Republics, then
succeeded Roberts as commander-in-chief – by which time
Boer forces had taken to guerrilla fighting and British forces
imprisoned Boer civilians in concentration camps. His term as
Commander-in-Chief (1902–09) of the Army in India saw him
quarrel with another eminent proconsul, the Viceroy Lord
Curzon, who eventually resigned. Kitchener then returned to
Egypt as British Agent and Consul-General (de facto
administrator).
In 1914, at the start of the First World War, Lord Kitchener
became Secretary of State for War, a Cabinet Minister. One of
the few men to foresee a long war, one in which Britain's
victory was far from secure, he organised the largest volunteer
army that Britain, and indeed the Empire, had seen and a
significant expansion of materials production to fight
Germany on the Western Front. His commanding image,
appearing on recruiting posters demanding "Your country
needs you!", remains recognised and parodied in popular
culture to this day. He was blamed for the shortage of shells in
the spring of 1915 – one of the events leading to the formation
of a coalition government – and stripped of his control over
munitions and strategy.
He died in 1916 near the Orkney Islands when the warship
taking him to negotiations in Russia was sunk by a German
mine.
Lord Kitchener of Khartoum
En grand uniforme du Royal Engineer
Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer, GCB, OM, GCMG,
KCSI, CIE, PC, FRS (26 February 1841 – 29 January
1917), was a British statesman, diplomat and colonial
administrator.
He was British controller-general in Egypt during 1879,
part of the international Control which oversaw Egyptian
finances after the khedives' mismanagement, and during
the British occupation prompted by the Urabi revolt,
agent and consul-general in Egypt from 1883 to 1907. Far
from the centre of the Empire, Cromer ran the territory
with great drive and his effective governance balked
British wishes to withdraw from Egypt.
The Urabi Revolt, led by Ahmed Urabi, a rising Egyptian
colonel, endangered the Khedivate. After the subsequent
intervention by the British in Alexandria (the 1882 AngloEgyptian War), Baring returned from India in Egypt as the
British agent and consul-general, "with a mandate for
minor reforms and a prompt withdrawal of British troops".
Baring's requests to withdraw were thwarted by British
public outcry when the 1881 uprising of the Madhi
Muhammad Ahmad and the ensuing Mahdist War caused
the successive defeats & deaths of the popular Colonel
William Hicks and General Chinese Gordon.
Baring’s first act as Consul-General was to approve of the
Dufferin Report, which essentially called for a puppet
parliament with no power. In addition, the report asserted
the need for British supervision of reforms deemed
necessary for the country. Furthermore, it stated the
interests of the Suez Canal zone should always be
maintained. Baring believed that because of Egyptian
administrative incompetence, a long occupation was
essential to any sort of reform. Moreover, he established a
new guiding principle for Egypt known as the Granville
Doctrine (named for the Foreign Secretary, Lord
Granville). The doctrine enabled Baring and other British
officials to dismiss Egyptian ministers who refused to
accept British directives. Under Baring, British officials
were positioned in key ministries and a new system,
known as the Veiled Protectorate, was introduced.
Essentially, the government was a façade. Egyptians
ministers were the outward form, yet British officials held
the actual power. Despite these measures, the Khedive
sanctioned the system. The Egyptian army, which Baring
considered utterly untrustworthy due to its previous
mutinies against the Khedive, was disbanded and a new
army organized along with British lines (much like in
India).
The Earl of Cromer by John Singer Sargent.
Impero Britannico - 1922
An anachronous map of British and, prior to the Acts of Union 1707, English
imperial possessions
La decolonizzazione
inglese in Africa
Location of the British Overseas Territories (red), Crown dependencies (blue), and Great Britain and Northern
Ireland (green)