When Diplomacy Fails Presents

Britain goes to war

An in-depth examination of the British Empire from the closing stages of the Victorian era

to the opening phases of the First World War and beyond.

Section 2. Background. Part A. The Golden Age. Chapter 4 The British Empire had been, ever since its initial phases, characterized by its great ambition

and sense of destiny.

We have seen it display incredible confidence and arrogance when dealing with its rivals or with

the natives in the way of its white settlers.

We have seen it change and adapt to the point that, by 1897, with the

celebration of 60 years on the throne by the most splendid and successful queen in living memory,

it has established itself as the first world power, with a chasm between it and its rivals.

We are not yet ready to resume our narrative of the year 1897 or that era because it still

remains to explain the background apparatus that guided this empire through its initial rocky stages

and into uncertain wars, only to appear on the other side with more power, possessions and prosperity

than ever before.

It made Britain's believe that they were so special, so distinct from their rivals and so

untouchable on the world stage. In many ways, this question can be answered by posing another.

How had Britain managed to transform itself from an island

backwater racked with strife to a worldwide superpower without equal? Both questions can be answered

by delving a little bit deeper into Britain's past, because just as surely as the Victorian era

bore witness to a period of great expansion, innovation, and wealth,

it was from an earlier era similar to this that the British acquired the confidence to imagine,

...