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The British Hegemony in the 19th Century
Today’s article, I will be discussing the British Hegemony in the 19th century, why it happened and why there are three underpinning factors which enabled the rise of British power and its experience of a long peace from the end of the Napoleonic wars in 1815 to the outbreak of World War one in 1914.
For the British, they have three main reasons for their success.
This is the establishment of a balance of power in the political order in Europe, which became fixed after 1815; Britain was the first industrialised nation from 1769 onwards, which gave it profound economic advantages over its continental rivals, particularly the French.
The final reason for British Hegemony was that the British finally defeated their rivals, the French, from 1688 to 1815.
The French and the British fought seven wars against each other, with the French only winning one during the American Revolution or the American War of Independence from 1775 to 1783.
Some historians often refer to the conflict between France and the British from 1688 until 1815 as the Second Hundred Years War.
The French were trying to establish themselves as the masters of Europe, and the British wished to maintain a balance of great powers on the European continent to prevent one nation from uniting…
