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Great Britain Foreign Policy Essay

402 Words2 Pages

Britain had some success and some failures with their Imperial policies

in the 19 th century. Imperialism is the policy of extending the rule or

authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries. Some would say

they didn’t have any successes at all. This is not true.

The failures of Britain’s policies were numerous. The first failure is the

fact that they had an imperialistic foreign policy in the first place. When

you have a mixture of an absolute monarch and an imperialistic foreign

policy, that monarch will most likely put all the weight on the colonies.

Some were 2,000 miles away. For example, what did George III do when

he gained the Americas? He taxed them heavily. Another example, how

did Britain treat Ireland when they …show more content…

They taxed colony after colony, until the only land that Britain had left,

was their homeland. The king at the time should have just taxed the

people of the homeland rather than tax the colonies. And the final

mistake, when it comes to Imperialism, the land you already have, is not

enough. The monarch wanted more and more until it had the whole

world. For example, in the 19 th century Britain had 1/5 of the entire

world’s land mass under her control. And they still wanted more.

The benefits of Imperialism are as numerous as the failures. One of the

benefits was the spread of Christianity. Since the British Empire was so

large, Christianity spread like a wildfire. Another benefit is the economic

boom. The industrial revolution helped Britain get really wealthy, which

was why some countries wanted to maybe join Britain in the wealth. And

the final benefit is the rise of nationalism. Nationalism is a shared group

feeling in the significance of a geographical and sometimes demographic

region seeking independence. We wouldn’t be America if it wasn’t for

Britain taxing our fore fathers to the point of revolution.

In conclusion, Imperialism is still not as good as other options for

foreign policy. Though the failures are numerous, Imperialism has just as

many benefits. Learn from Britain’s mistakes and maybe your

Imperialistic foreign policy might actually work out. The United States

would not be here today if it wasn’t for Britain’s Imperialistic foreign

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