The American Revolution to the End of the Pax Britannica

2 min readSep 5, 2023

The beginning of the end of the British Empire was not from any great rival or catastrophe or long decline being painful or wrecked with war bloodshed; the end of the British Empire came about by the hand of his children with the American Revolutionary War is from 1775 to 1883.

The end of the British Empire was almost prophesied by the Economist, philosopher, and author of The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith, in 1776, the publication of his book and his view on the end of the empire.

Adam Smith argued that colonies would betray and leave the influence of the home islands due to the pursuit of their national self-interests and that the pursuit of the empire would only weaken the home nation.

Great new technologies were also being created with the Industrial Revolution starting in 1769, the creation of the steam engine created by James Watt, though it should be highlighted that the development of technology originated from France in 1680 and eventually, through different iterations, led to the advancements made by James Watt.

The invention of machinery and technology to generate wealth from manufacturing was the first time people were freed from the burden of an agricultural economy.

In 1800 CE, 80% of people survived by farming; now, less than 2% of the UK’s population works in farming. As industrial technology spread from Britain to the rest of Europe and the world, British industry started to decline and become less competitive due to machinery becoming old.

Nations like Germany United for the first time in 1871 CE, outcompeting their British rival.

The reason for this is simple: it took the English seven generations to industrialise, which meant the British took upon the financial burden and development of the technology, while other nations that industrialised after the British followed their technology development path within England.

This is why it took the Germans five generations to surpass the British Empire.

This process repeated nation after nation until contemporary times when China reindustrialised within 40 years. That’s less than seven generations of development within less than one generation.

This is why, by the outbreak of World War One in 1914 CE, Britain’s dominance was over, with Germany and the United States of America taking over the economy and the return to total war continental wars, which had not happened for nearly 100 years.