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Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves!”
This old song, which was first performed in 1740, is still sung every year on the last night of
the famous ‘Proms’ concerts in London. Every time the refrain starts, the whole audience joins
in. The words they sing are a reminder of Britain’s past asa sea power, and of the reason why
a small islandnation was able to build a great empire around theworld.
After John Cabot had crossed the Atlantic from England in 1497, other explorers continued
to look for new lands during the following century. This often meant trouble with Britain’s
neighboursin Europe who also wanted more territory and trade. Spain was very powerful and
already had an empire in the Americas, but the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 at the
time of Elizabeth I gave Britain the chance and the confidence to develop her own influence in
different continents.

The NewWorld played a big role in the early years of Britain’s empire. In 1607 English
settlers founded Virginia, the first of thirteen permanentcolonies along the east coast of North
America. Caribbean islands like Bermuda, the Bahamas and Barbados were also taken by
Britain during the 1600s, although Spain was still strong in this region and France held
territory, too, so that there was often conflict between the three countries. Fighting between
Britain and France also brokeout regularly in what is now Canada, and this continued until the
end of the Seven Years’War in Europe in 1763. In that war Britain and France were on
opposite sides, as usual, and when Britainand her allies won, France had to give Britain most
of her land in North America.
Meanwhile, the British had been building up their influence in Asia. In 1600 the East India
Company was formed to develop trade in Southeast Asia and India. After rivalry with the Dutch
had led to the massacre of British merchants in the Spice Islandsin 1623, the Company
concentrated on India, and by the endof that century had important trading stations around
the coast. As in North America, however, France was a big rival, and both countries tried to
win influence through military support for Indianleaders who were fighting their own wars
againsteach other. Once again, the Seven Years’ War in Europe helped to give an advantage to
the British.Bengal, in the northeast of India, came under the control of the East India Company
in 1757,and then other areas followed. It was actually this company that ruled India until theBritish government finally took over officially in 1858.
Even losing the American colonies when they decided to fight for their independence in
1776 could not stop Britain’s power growing around theworld. Exploration of the Pacific
region by sailorslike James Cook led to the huge new colony of Australia in 1788, New
Zealand in 1840, and many other smaller territories.
At the same time, Africa also offered possibilities.Like the Portuguese, the Dutch and the
French, the British had already been involved in trade in West Africa for centuries, but the
only permanent European settlement was the Dutch colony at theCape of Good Hope. In 1806
the Cape was takenfrom the Dutch by the British, and then later in the 19th century
missionaries, explorers and merchants like David Livingstone, Henry Morton Stanley and
Cecil Rhodes helped to open the way north into the centre of the continent. The British were
not alone in the hurry to grab land inAfrica. Other countries like Portugal, France and
Germany had the same idea. In the end, however, the big winner was Britain, and by the early
part of the 20th century Britain ruled over a quarter of the world and had the largest empire in
history. The British Empire became known as ‘the empire on which the sun never sets’.