BRITISH COLONIALISM 1884-1914 By 1884 the British empire was already amongst the most powerful and far reaching empires in Europe. Their power can mostly be attributed to their navy and advanced marine technology. In 1884, India was the largest British colony. The bulk of British colonialism and expansion in this period happened in Africa. In 1870, European empires had control of about 10 percent of Africa’s population. By 1914 they had reign over 90 percent— all but Liberia and Ethiopia. This massive expansion started in 1884 at the Berlin Conference. The conference discussed regulating trade and divvying up the continent into european colonies, as a way of avoiding war between the European imperial powers at the time. Also out of this conference came the Principle of Effective Occupation, stating that you could gain rulership over a region or country through treaties with local government and staking your flag. Another important event in the road to Britain’s conquering of African territory was the construction of the Suez Canal in 1869. Although hesitant at first, because of what Britain saw to be a leveling of the playing field in terms of trade routes to India, they warmed up to the idea and once in effective, was came to be known as the “jugular vein of the empire.” In 1875, lead by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, Britain became a 44% shareholder in the Canal, leading to their overpowering of France and acquisition of Egypt. By the 1890’s Britain had sway over a large portion of southern Africa as well as eastern. The geographical disconnect between their African colonies inspired a man named Cecil Rhodes to design the “Cape to Cairo” railway. Rhodes was an important figure in the initial colonization of southern Africa, and thus the inspiration behind the naming of the southern state Rhodesia. By 1914 Britain had under its empire’s umbrella 23% of the worlds population. It was known as “the empire on which the sun never sets.”