Reference no: EM133632508

The British established colonies in Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania, and the Americas as well as numerous islands. Historians have estimated that by the end of the 19th century, approximately 25% of the earth's landmass was under the control (both direct and indirect) of the British. By 1913, more than 412 million people belonged to the Empire.

This represented almost 25% of the world's population at the time. The total area covered is estimated to be 13.7 million square miles. Although the British had been engaged in Empire building in the 17th and 18th centuries, most of the growth of the British Empire occurred in the 19th century (between 1815 and 1915).

More than 10 million square miles of territory and about 400 million people were added. Of course, as you have read, Britain was not the only imperializing European nation in the 19th century. At the Council of Berlin (1884-85), European nations divided the continent of Africa between themselves.

All European nations agreed that they were not merely militarily superior but culturally superior to the indigenous peoples of Africa and Asia. It was necessary, Europeans believed, to replace the inferior cultures of indigenous peoples with their own and, thus, "civilize" the peoples of the rest of the world. They, however, differed widely in the methods they used to accomplish this goal.

Define the process by which Great Britain maintained control of their colonial possessions
Compare and contrast this method with that of another European power in order to better understand the process of imperialism in the 19th century and its global impact