British_Empire

context: The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas possessions and trading posts established by England between the late 16th and early 18th centuries. At its height, it was the largest empire in history and, for over a century, was the foremost global power. By 1922 the British Empire held sway over about 458 million people, one-fifth of the world's population at the time, and covered more than 13,000,000 sq mi (33,670,000 km2), almost a quarter of the Earth's total land area. As a result, its political, legal, linguistic and cultural legacy is widespread. At the peak of its power, the phrase "the empire on which the sun never sets" was often used to describe the British Empire, because its expanse around the globe meant that the sun was always shining on at least one of its territories.
qas: answers: British
question: The United Kingdom ruled what empire?

answers: British
question: Which empire was the largest in history, at its height?

answers: 1922
question: When did 458 million people live in the British Empire?

answers: one-fifth
question: How much of the world's population did the British Empire rule in 1922?

answers: 13,000,000
question: How many square miles did the British Empire rule in 1922?

context: During the Age of Discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal and Spain pioneered European exploration of the globe, and in the process established large overseas empires. Envious of the great wealth these empires generated, England, France, and the Netherlands began to establish colonies and trade networks of their own in the Americas and Asia. A series of wars in the 17th and 18th centuries with the Netherlands and France left England (and then, following union between England and Scotland in 1707, Great Britain) the dominant colonial power in North America and India.
qas: answers: 15th and 16th centuries
question: In which centuries was the Age of Discovery?

answers: Portugal and Spain
question: Which countries pioneered European exploration of the globe?

answers: 1707
question: When did England become Great Britain?

answers: England, France, and the Netherlands
question: Which countries began colonizing because they envied the empires of Portugal and Spain?

answers: Scotland
question: Which country combined with England to form Great Britain?

context: The independence of the Thirteen Colonies in North America in 1783 after the American War of Independence caused Britain to lose some of its oldest and most populous colonies. British attention soon turned towards Asia, Africa, and the Pacific. After the defeat of France in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1792–1815), Britain emerged as the principal naval and imperial power of the 19th century (with London the largest city in the world from about 1830). Unchallenged at sea, British dominance was later described as Pax Britannica ("British Peace"), a period of relative peace in Europe and the world (1815–1914) during which the British Empire became the global hegemon and adopted the role of global policeman. In the early 19th century, the Industrial Revolution began to transform Britain; by the time of the Great Exhibition in 1851 the country was described as the "workshop of the world". The British Empire expanded to include India, large parts of Africa and many other territories throughout the world. Alongside the formal control it exerted over its own colonies, British dominance of much of world trade meant that it effectively controlled the economies of many regions, such as Asia and Latin America. Domestically, political attitudes favoured free trade and laissez-faire policies and a gradual widening of the voting franchise. During this century, the population increased at a dramatic rate, accompanied by rapid urbanisation, causing significant social and economic stresses. To seek new markets and sources of raw materials, the Conservative Party under Disraeli launched a period of imperialist expansion in Egypt, South Africa, and elsewhere. Canada, Australia, and New Zealand became self-governing dominions.
qas: answers: 1783
question: When did the Thirteen Colonies become independent from Britain?

answers: American War of Independence
question: Which war caused Britain to lose some of its oldest and most populous colonies?

answers: the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
question: In which wars was France defeated?

answers: British Peace
question: What did Pax Britannica mean?

answers: 1851
question: When was Britain called the "workshop of the world"?

context: By the start of the 20th century, Germany and the United States challenged Britain's economic lead. Subsequent military and economic tensions between Britain and Germany were major causes of the First World War, during which Britain relied heavily upon its empire. The conflict placed enormous strain on the military, financial and manpower resources of Britain. Although the British Empire achieved its largest territorial extent immediately after World War I, Britain was no longer the world's pre-eminent industrial or military power. In the Second World War, Britain's colonies in South-East Asia were occupied by Imperial Japan. Despite the final victory of Britain and its allies, the damage to British prestige helped to accelerate the decline of the empire. India, Britain's most valuable and populous possession, achieved independence as part of a larger decolonisation movement in which Britain granted independence to most territories of the Empire. The transfer of Hong Kong to China in 1997 marked for many the end of the British Empire. Fourteen overseas territories remain under British sovereignty. After independence, many former British colonies joined the Commonwealth of Nations, a free association of independent states. The United Kingdom is now one of 16 Commonwealth nations, a grouping known informally as the Commonwealth realms, that share one monarch—Queen Elizabeth II.
qas: answers: Germany and the United States
question: Which countries challenged Britain's economic lead by the start of the 20th century?

answers: India
question: Which country was Britain's most valuable and populous possession?

answers: overseas territories remain under British sovereignty
question: When did Britain transfer Hong Kong to China?

answers: Fourteen
question: How many overseas territories remain under British sovereignty?

answers: Queen Elizabeth II
question: Who is the Commonwealth's monarch?

context: The foundations of the British Empire were laid when England and Scotland were separate kingdoms. In 1496 King Henry VII of England, following the successes of Spain and Portugal in overseas exploration, commissioned John Cabot to lead a voyage to discover a route to Asia via the North Atlantic. Cabot sailed in 1497, five years after the European discovery of America, and although he successfully made landfall on the coast of Newfoundland (mistakenly believing, like Christopher Columbus, that he had reached Asia), there was no attempt to found a colony. Cabot led another voyage to the Americas the following year but nothing was heard of his ships again.
qas: answers: 1496
question: When was John Cabot's voyage commissioned?

answers: King Henry VII of England
question: Who commissioned John Cabot's voyage?

answers: Asia
question: Where was Cabot trying to find a route to via the North Atlantic?

answers: Newfoundland
question: Where did Cabot make landfall?

answers: Christopher Columbus
question: Which explorer did Cabot make a mistake similar to?

context: No further attempts to establish English colonies in the Americas were made until well into the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, during the last decades of the 16th century. In the meantime the Protestant Reformation had turned England and Catholic Spain into implacable enemies . In 1562, the English Crown encouraged the privateers John Hawkins and Francis Drake to engage in slave-raiding attacks against Spanish and Portuguese ships off the coast of West Africa with the aim of breaking into the Atlantic trade system. This effort was rebuffed and later, as the Anglo-Spanish Wars intensified, Elizabeth I gave her blessing to further privateering raids against Spanish ports in the Americas and shipping that was returning across the Atlantic, laden with treasure from the New World. At the same time, influential writers such as Richard Hakluyt and John Dee (who was the first to use the term "British Empire") were beginning to press for the establishment of England's own empire. By this time, Spain had become the dominant power in the Americas and was exploring the Pacific ocean, Portugal had established trading posts and forts from the coasts of Africa and Brazil to China, and France had begun to settle the Saint Lawrence River area, later to become New France.
qas: answers: the Protestant Reformation
question: What had turned England and Catholic Spain into implacable enemies?

answers: 1562
question: When did John Hawkins and Francis Drake attack Spanish and Portuguese slave ships?

answers: off the coast of West Africa
question: Where did John Hawkins and Francis Drake attack Spanish and Portuguese slave ships?

answers: Elizabeth I
question: Who gave their blessing to further privateering raids against Spanish ports?

answers: John Dee
question: Which author was the first to use the term "British Empire"?

context: In 1578, Elizabeth I granted a patent to Humphrey Gilbert for discovery and overseas exploration. That year, Gilbert sailed for the West Indies with the intention of engaging in piracy and establishing a colony in North America, but the expedition was aborted before it had crossed the Atlantic. In 1583 he embarked on a second attempt, on this occasion to the island of Newfoundland whose harbour he formally claimed for England, although no settlers were left behind. Gilbert did not survive the return journey to England, and was succeeded by his half-brother, Walter Raleigh, who was granted his own patent by Elizabeth in 1584. Later that year, Raleigh founded the colony of Roanoke on the coast of present-day North Carolina, but lack of supplies caused the colony to fail.
qas: answers: 1578
question: When did Humphrey Gilbert first set sail for the West Indies?

answers: 1583
question: When was Humphrey Gilbert's second attempt to set sail?

answers: Newfoundland
question: What was Humphrey Gilbert's second destination?

answers: Walter Raleigh
question: Who was Humphrey Gilbert's half-brother?

answers: Roanoke
question: What colony did Walter Raleigh found?

context: In 1603, James VI, King of Scots, ascended (as James I) to the English throne and in 1604 negotiated the Treaty of London, ending hostilities with Spain. Now at peace with its main rival, English attention shifted from preying on other nations' colonial infrastructures to the business of establishing its own overseas colonies. The British Empire began to take shape during the early 17th century, with the English settlement of North America and the smaller islands of the Caribbean, and the establishment of private companies, most notably the English East India Company, to administer colonies and overseas trade. This period, until the loss of the Thirteen Colonies after the American War of Independence towards the end of the 18th century, has subsequently been referred to by some historians as the "First British Empire".
qas: answers: James VI, King of Scots
question: What was James I's name/title before taking the English throne?

answers: 1604
question: When did James I negotiate the Treaty of London?

answers: Spain
question: Which country did England negotiate the Treaty of London with?

answers: 17th
question: In what century did the English East India Company form?

answers: the "First British Empire"
question: What period ended towards the end of the 18th century?

context: The Caribbean initially provided England's most important and lucrative colonies, but not before several attempts at colonisation failed. An attempt to establish a colony in Guiana in 1604 lasted only two years, and failed in its main objective to find gold deposits. Colonies in St Lucia (1605) and Grenada (1609) also rapidly folded, but settlements were successfully established in St. Kitts (1624), Barbados (1627) and Nevis (1628). The colonies soon adopted the system of sugar plantations successfully used by the Portuguese in Brazil, which depended on slave labour, and—at first—Dutch ships, to sell the slaves and buy the sugar. To ensure that the increasingly healthy profits of this trade remained in English hands, Parliament decreed in 1651 that only English ships would be able to ply their trade in English colonies. This led to hostilities with the United Dutch Provinces—a series of Anglo-Dutch Wars—which would eventually strengthen England's position in the Americas at the expense of the Dutch. In 1655, England annexed the island of Jamaica from the Spanish, and in 1666 succeeded in colonising the Bahamas.
qas: answers: 1604
question: When did England first establish a colony in Guiana?

answers: 1605
question: When did England first establish a colony in St. Lucia?

answers: 1655
question: When did England annex the island of Jamaica from the Spanish?

answers: 1666
question: When did England colonize the Bahamas?

answers: to find gold deposits
question: What was the goal of England's colony in Guiana?

context: England's first permanent settlement in the Americas was founded in 1607 in Jamestown, led by Captain John Smith and managed by the Virginia Company. Bermuda was settled and claimed by England as a result of the 1609 shipwreck there of the Virginia Company's flagship, and in 1615 was turned over to the newly formed Somers Isles Company. The Virginia Company's charter was revoked in 1624 and direct control of Virginia was assumed by the crown, thereby founding the Colony of Virginia. The London and Bristol Company was created in 1610 with the aim of creating a permanent settlement on Newfoundland, but was largely unsuccessful. In 1620, Plymouth was founded as a haven for puritan religious separatists, later known as the Pilgrims. Fleeing from religious persecution would become the motive of many English would-be colonists to risk the arduous trans-Atlantic voyage: Maryland was founded as a haven for Roman Catholics (1634), Rhode Island (1636) as a colony tolerant of all religions and Connecticut (1639) for Congregationalists. The Province of Carolina was founded in 1663. With the surrender of Fort Amsterdam in 1664, England gained control of the Dutch colony of New Netherland, renaming it New York. This was formalised in negotiations following the Second Anglo-Dutch War, in exchange for Suriname. In 1681, the colony of Pennsylvania was founded by William Penn. The American colonies were less financially successful than those of the Caribbean, but had large areas of good agricultural land and attracted far larger numbers of English emigrants who preferred their temperate climates.
qas: answers: 1607
question: When was England's first permanent settlement in the Americas founded?

answers: Jamestown
question: Where was England's first permanent settlement in the Americas?

answers: Captain John Smith
question: Who led England's first permanent settlement in the Americas?

answers: 1615
question: When did the Somer Isles Company take over managing Bermuda?

answers: New York
question: What did England rename New Netherland to?

context: Two years later, the Royal African Company was inaugurated, receiving from King Charles a monopoly of the trade to supply slaves to the British colonies of the Caribbean. From the outset, slavery was the basis of the British Empire in the West Indies. Until the abolition of the slave trade in 1807, Britain was responsible for the transportation of 3.5 million African slaves to the Americas, a third of all slaves transported across the Atlantic. To facilitate this trade, forts were established on the coast of West Africa, such as James Island, Accra and Bunce Island. In the British Caribbean, the percentage of the population of African descent rose from 25 percent in 1650 to around 80 percent in 1780, and in the 13 Colonies from 10 percent to 40 percent over the same period (the majority in the southern colonies). For the slave traders, the trade was extremely profitable, and became a major economic mainstay for such western British cities as Bristol and Liverpool, which formed the third corner of the so-called triangular trade with Africa and the Americas. For the transported, harsh and unhygienic conditions on the slaving ships and poor diets meant that the average mortality rate during the Middle Passage was one in seven.
qas: answers: Royal African Company
question: Which company had monopoly of the trade to supply slaves to the British colonies of the Caribbean?

answers: 1807
question: When was the British slave trade abolished?

answers: 3.5 million
question: How many African slaves did Britain transport to the Americas?

answers: Bristol and Liverpool
question: The triangular slave trade was between Africa, the Americas, and which British cities?

answers: one in seven
question: What was the death rate during the Middle Passage?

context: In 1695, the Scottish Parliament granted a charter to the Company of Scotland, which established a settlement in 1698 on the isthmus of Panama. Besieged by neighbouring Spanish colonists of New Granada, and afflicted by malaria, the colony was abandoned two years later. The Darien scheme was a financial disaster for Scotland—a quarter of Scottish capital was lost in the enterprise—and ended Scottish hopes of establishing its own overseas empire. The episode also had major political consequences, persuading the governments of both England and Scotland of the merits of a union of countries, rather than just crowns. This occurred in 1707 with the Treaty of Union, establishing the Kingdom of Great Britain.
qas: answers: 1695
question: When was the Company of Scotland granted a charter?

answers: 1698
question: When was Panama colonized by Scotland?

answers: two years
question: How long did the Scottish Panama colony survive?

answers: a quarter
question: How much Scottish capital was lost in the Panama colony attempt?

answers: 1707
question: When was the Treaty of Union?

context: At the end of the 16th century, England and the Netherlands began to challenge Portugal's monopoly of trade with Asia, forming private joint-stock companies to finance the voyages—the English, later British, East India Company and the Dutch East India Company, chartered in 1600 and 1602 respectively. The primary aim of these companies was to tap into the lucrative spice trade, an effort focused mainly on two regions; the East Indies archipelago, and an important hub in the trade network, India. There, they competed for trade supremacy with Portugal and with each other. Although England ultimately eclipsed the Netherlands as a colonial power, in the short term the Netherlands' more advanced financial system and the three Anglo-Dutch Wars of the 17th century left it with a stronger position in Asia. Hostilities ceased after the Glorious Revolution of 1688 when the Dutch William of Orange ascended the English throne, bringing peace between the Netherlands and England. A deal between the two nations left the spice trade of the East Indies archipelago to the Netherlands and the textiles industry of India to England, but textiles soon overtook spices in terms of profitability, and by 1720, in terms of sales, the British company had overtaken the Dutch.
qas: answers: 1600
question: When was the British East India Company chartered?

answers: 1602
question: When was the Dutch East India Company chartered?

answers: 1720
question: When had the British East India Company overtaken the Dutch East India Company in sales?

answers: three
question: How many Anglo-Dutch Wars were there in the 17th century?

answers: spice
question: The Dutch East India Company focused on trade in which industry?

context: Peace between England and the Netherlands in 1688 meant that the two countries entered the Nine Years' War as allies, but the conflict—waged in Europe and overseas between France, Spain and the Anglo-Dutch alliance—left the English a stronger colonial power than the Dutch, who were forced to devote a larger proportion of their military budget on the costly land war in Europe. The 18th century saw England (after 1707, Britain) rise to be the world's dominant colonial power, and France becoming its main rival on the imperial stage.
qas: answers: France
question: Which country became Britain's main rival in the 18th century?

answers: 1688
question: When did England and the Netherlands make peace?

answers: Nine Years' War
question: In which war were England and the Netherlands allies?

answers: 18th
question: In which century did Britain become the world's dominant colonial power?

context: At the concluding Treaty of Utrecht, Philip renounced his and his descendants' right to the French throne and Spain lost its empire in Europe. The British Empire was territorially enlarged: from France, Britain gained Newfoundland and Acadia, and from Spain, Gibraltar and Minorca. Gibraltar became a critical naval base and allowed Britain to control the Atlantic entry and exit point to the Mediterranean. Spain also ceded the rights to the lucrative asiento (permission to sell slaves in Spanish America) to Britain.
qas: answers: Treaty of Utrecht
question: King Philip renounced his right to the throne after what treaty?

answers: France
question: Which country did Britain acquire Newfoundland and Acadia from?

answers: Spain
question: Which country did Britain acquire Gibraltar and Minorca from?

answers: permission to sell slaves in Spanish America
question: Which colony allowed Britain to control the Atlantic entry and exit point to the Mediterranean?

answers: asiento
question: What was the Spanish term for permission to sell slaves in Spanish America?

context: During the middle decades of the 18th century, there were several outbreaks of military conflict on the Indian subcontinent, the Carnatic Wars, as the English East India Company (the Company) and its French counterpart, the Compagnie française des Indes orientales, struggled alongside local rulers to fill the vacuum that had been left by the decline of the Mughal Empire. The Battle of Plassey in 1757, in which the British, led by Robert Clive, defeated the Nawab of Bengal and his French allies, left the Company in control of Bengal and as the major military and political power in India. France was left control of its enclaves but with military restrictions and an obligation to support British client states, ending French hopes of controlling India. In the following decades the Company gradually increased the size of the territories under its control, either ruling directly or via local rulers under the threat of force from the British Indian Army, the vast majority of which was composed of Indian sepoys.
qas: answers: Compagnie française des Indes orientales
question: What was the French equivalent of the English East India Company?

answers: 1757
question: When was the Battle of Plassey?

answers: Robert Clive
question: Who led the British in the Battle of Plassey?

answers: British Indian Army
question: Where were the Carnatic Wars?

answers: Indian sepoys
question: What was the British Indian Army mostly composed of?

context: The British and French struggles in India became but one theatre of the global Seven Years' War (1756–1763) involving France, Britain and the other major European powers. The signing of the Treaty of Paris (1763) had important consequences for the future of the British Empire. In North America, France's future as a colonial power there was effectively ended with the recognition of British claims to Rupert's Land, and the ceding of New France to Britain (leaving a sizeable French-speaking population under British control) and Louisiana to Spain. Spain ceded Florida to Britain. Along with its victory over France in India, the Seven Years' War therefore left Britain as the world's most powerful maritime power.
qas: answers: 1756–1763
question: When was the Seven Years' War?

answers: 1763
question: When was the Treaty of Paris?

answers: Britain
question: Which country acquired New France from France?

answers: Spain
question: Which country acquired Louisiana from France?

answers: Britain
question: Which country acquired Florida from Spain?

context: During the 1760s and early 1770s, relations between the Thirteen Colonies and Britain became increasingly strained, primarily because of resentment of the British Parliament's attempts to govern and tax American colonists without their consent. This was summarised at the time by the slogan "No taxation without representation", a perceived violation of the guaranteed Rights of Englishmen. The American Revolution began with rejection of Parliamentary authority and moves towards self-government. In response Britain sent troops to reimpose direct rule, leading to the outbreak of war in 1775. The following year, in 1776, the United States declared independence. The entry of France to the war in 1778 tipped the military balance in the Americans' favour and after a decisive defeat at Yorktown in 1781, Britain began negotiating peace terms. American independence was acknowledged at the Peace of Paris in 1783.
qas: answers: the Thirteen Colonies
question: British relations with which area became strained in the 1760s-1770s?

answers: "No taxation without representation"
question: What was the American colonists' anti-tax slogan?

answers: 1776
question: When did the US declare independence?

answers: 1778
question: When did France enter the American Revolution war?

answers: 1783
question: When did Britain recognize American independence?

context: The loss of such a large portion of British America, at the time Britain's most populous overseas possession, is seen by some historians as the event defining the transition between the "first" and "second" empires, in which Britain shifted its attention away from the Americas to Asia, the Pacific and later Africa. Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, published in 1776, had argued that colonies were redundant, and that free trade should replace the old mercantilist policies that had characterised the first period of colonial expansion, dating back to the protectionism of Spain and Portugal. The growth of trade between the newly independent United States and Britain after 1783 seemed to confirm Smith's view that political control was not necessary for economic success.
qas: answers: Wealth of Nations
question: What book by Adam Smith was published in 1776?

answers: Smith
question: The growth of trade between the US and Britain after 1783 seemed to confirm whose views?

answers: Asia, the Pacific and later Africa
question: In the 'second' British Empire period, Britain refocused on which areas?

answers: British America
question: What had been Britain's most populous overseas possession?

answers: Adam Smith
question: Who argued that colonies were redundant?

context: Events in America influenced British policy in Canada, where between 40,000 and 100,000 defeated Loyalists had migrated from America following independence. The 14,000 Loyalists who went to the Saint John and Saint Croix river valleys, then part of Nova Scotia, felt too far removed from the provincial government in Halifax, so London split off New Brunswick as a separate colony in 1784. The Constitutional Act of 1791 created the provinces of Upper Canada (mainly English-speaking) and Lower Canada (mainly French-speaking) to defuse tensions between the French and British communities, and implemented governmental systems similar to those employed in Britain, with the intention of asserting imperial authority and not allowing the sort of popular control of government that was perceived to have led to the American Revolution.
qas: answers: between 40,000 and 100,000
question: How many British loyalists moved from the US to Canada?

answers: Nova Scotia
question: New Brunswick was split off from which province?

answers: The Constitutional Act of 1791
question: Which act created the Upper Canada provinces?

answers: English
question: What language did most of Upper Canada speak?

answers: French
question: What language did most of Lower Canada speak?

context: Since 1718, transportation to the American colonies had been a penalty for various criminal offences in Britain, with approximately one thousand convicts transported per year across the Atlantic. Forced to find an alternative location after the loss of the 13 Colonies in 1783, the British government turned to the newly discovered lands of Australia. The western coast of Australia had been discovered for Europeans by the Dutch explorer Willem Jansz in 1606 and was later named New Holland by the Dutch East India Company, but there was no attempt to colonise it. In 1770 James Cook discovered the eastern coast of Australia while on a scientific voyage to the South Pacific Ocean, claimed the continent for Britain, and named it New South Wales. In 1778, Joseph Banks, Cook's botanist on the voyage, presented evidence to the government on the suitability of Botany Bay for the establishment of a penal settlement, and in 1787 the first shipment of convicts set sail, arriving in 1788. Britain continued to transport convicts to New South Wales until 1840. The Australian colonies became profitable exporters of wool and gold, mainly because of gold rushes in the colony of Victoria, making its capital Melbourne the richest city in the world and the largest city after London in the British Empire.
qas: answers: one thousand
question: How many convicts per year had Britain been sending to the American colonies?

answers: Australia
question: Where did Britain switch to sending their convicts after the loss of the American colonies?

answers: Willem Jansz
question: Who discovered Australia in 1606?

answers: New Holland
question: What had the Dutch East India Company initially named Australia?

answers: 1787
question: When did the first shipment of British convicts leave for Australia?

context: During his voyage, Cook also visited New Zealand, first discovered by Dutch explorer Abel Tasman in 1642, and claimed the North and South islands for the British crown in 1769 and 1770 respectively. Initially, interaction between the indigenous Māori population and Europeans was limited to the trading of goods. European settlement increased through the early decades of the 19th century, with numerous trading stations established, especially in the North. In 1839, the New Zealand Company announced plans to buy large tracts of land and establish colonies in New Zealand. On 6 February 1840, Captain William Hobson and around 40 Maori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi. This treaty is considered by many to be New Zealand's founding document, but differing interpretations of the Maori and English versions of the text have meant that it continues to be a source of dispute.
qas: answers: 1642
question: When was New Zealand discovered by the Dutch?

answers: Abel Tasman
question: Who discovered New Zealand for the Dutch?

answers: 1769
question: When did Cook visit New Zealand and claim the North Island?

answers: Māori
question: What is New Zealand's native population called?

answers: Captain William Hobson
question: Who signed a treaty with the Maori?

context: The Napoleonic Wars were therefore ones in which Britain invested large amounts of capital and resources to win. French ports were blockaded by the Royal Navy, which won a decisive victory over a Franco-Spanish fleet at Trafalgar in 1805. Overseas colonies were attacked and occupied, including those of the Netherlands, which was annexed by Napoleon in 1810. France was finally defeated by a coalition of European armies in 1815. Britain was again the beneficiary of peace treaties: France ceded the Ionian Islands, Malta (which it had occupied in 1797 and 1798 respectively), Mauritius, St Lucia, and Tobago; Spain ceded Trinidad; the Netherlands Guyana, and the Cape Colony. Britain returned Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, and Réunion to France, and Java and Suriname to the Netherlands, while gaining control of Ceylon (1795–1815).
qas: answers: French
question: The British Royal Navy blockaded which ports?

answers: Trafalgar
question: Where did the British Royal Navy defeat the French and Spanish in 1805?

answers: 1810
question: When were the Netherlands' colonies annexed by Napoleon?

answers: 1815
question: When was Napoleon finally defeated?

answers: Britain
question: The Napoleonic peace treaty had Ceylon given to which country?

context: With support from the British abolitionist movement, Parliament enacted the Slave Trade Act in 1807, which abolished the slave trade in the empire. In 1808, Sierra Leone was designated an official British colony for freed slaves. The Slavery Abolition Act passed in 1833 abolished slavery in the British Empire on 1 August 1834 (with the exception of St. Helena, Ceylon and the territories administered by the East India Company, though these exclusions were later repealed). Under the Act, slaves were granted full emancipation after a period of 4 to 6 years of "apprenticeship".
qas: answers: 1807
question: When was the Slave Trade Act enacted?

answers: the Slave Trade Act
question: What abolished the British slave trade?

answers: Sierra Leone
question: Which colony was the official British colony for freed slaves?

answers: The Slavery Abolition Act
question: What abolished slavery throughout the British Empire?

answers: 4 to 6 years
question: How long of an 'apprenticeship' did slaves need to have before being fully freed?

context: Between 1815 and 1914, a period referred to as Britain's "imperial century" by some historians, around 10,000,000 square miles (26,000,000 km2) of territory and roughly 400 million people were added to the British Empire. Victory over Napoleon left Britain without any serious international rival, other than Russia in central Asia. Unchallenged at sea, Britain adopted the role of global policeman, a state of affairs later known as the Pax Britannica, and a foreign policy of "splendid isolation". Alongside the formal control it exerted over its own colonies, Britain's dominant position in world trade meant that it effectively controlled the economies of many countries, such as China, Argentina and Siam, which has been characterised by some historians as "Informal Empire".
qas: answers: 10,000,000
question: How many square miles of territory were added to the British Empire between 1815 and 1914?

answers: 400 million
question: How many people were added to the British Empire between 1815 and 1914?

answers: Russia
question: Who was Britain's last serious rival after Napoleon?

answers: Britain's dominant position in world trade
question: What was the period of Britain acting as the world's police called?

answers: Informal Empire
question: Britain's dominant position in world trade over some countries' economies has been called what?

context: From its base in India, the Company had also been engaged in an increasingly profitable opium export trade to China since the 1730s. This trade, illegal since it was outlawed by the Qing dynasty in 1729, helped reverse the trade imbalances resulting from the British imports of tea, which saw large outflows of silver from Britain to China. In 1839, the confiscation by the Chinese authorities at Canton of 20,000 chests of opium led Britain to attack China in the First Opium War, and resulted in the seizure by Britain of Hong Kong Island, at that time a minor settlement.
qas: answers: opium
question: What illegal trade was the British East India Company involved in?

answers: 20,000
question: How many chests of opium did China confiscate in 1839?

answers: Hong Kong
question: The First Opium War led to Britain seizing what island?

answers: Qing
question: Which dynasty outlawed opium trade?

answers: 1729
question: When did China outlaw opium trade?

context: During the late 18th and early 19th centuries the British Crown began to assume an increasingly large role in the affairs of the Company. A series of Acts of Parliament were passed, including the Regulating Act of 1773, Pitt's India Act of 1784 and the Charter Act of 1813 which regulated the Company's affairs and established the sovereignty of the Crown over the territories that it had acquired. The Company's eventual end was precipitated by the Indian Rebellion, a conflict that had begun with the mutiny of sepoys, Indian troops under British officers and discipline. The rebellion took six months to suppress, with heavy loss of life on both sides. The following year the British government dissolved the Company and assumed direct control over India through the Government of India Act 1858, establishing the British Raj, where an appointed governor-general administered India and Queen Victoria was crowned the Empress of India. India became the empire's most valuable possession, "the Jewel in the Crown", and was the most important source of Britain's strength.
qas: answers: 1773
question: When did Britain pass the Regulating Act?

answers: 1784
question: When did Britain pass Pitt's India Act?

answers: 1813
question: When did Britain pass the Charter Act?

answers: Government of India Act
question: The British East India Company was dissolved by which act?

answers: Queen Victoria
question: Who was crowned the Empress of India?

context: During the 19th century, Britain and the Russian Empire vied to fill the power vacuums that had been left by the declining Ottoman Empire, Qajar dynasty and Qing Dynasty. This rivalry in Eurasia came to be known as the "Great Game". As far as Britain was concerned, defeats inflicted by Russia on Persia and Turkey demonstrated its imperial ambitions and capabilities and stoked fears in Britain of an overland invasion of India. In 1839, Britain moved to pre-empt this by invading Afghanistan, but the First Anglo-Afghan War was a disaster for Britain.
qas: answers: Russian
question: Britain competed with which country to fill the Asian power vacuum in the 19th century?

answers: 1839
question: When did Britain first invade Afghanistan?

answers: the "Great Game"
question: What was the British-Russian rivalry called?

answers: India
question: Britain feared Russia would invade what country/territory?

answers: Persia and Turkey
question: Russian victories against which countries increased British fears?

context: When Russia invaded the Turkish Balkans in 1853, fears of Russian dominance in the Mediterranean and Middle East led Britain and France to invade the Crimean Peninsula to destroy Russian naval capabilities. The ensuing Crimean War (1854–56), which involved new techniques of modern warfare, and was the only global war fought between Britain and another imperial power during the Pax Britannica, was a resounding defeat for Russia. The situation remained unresolved in Central Asia for two more decades, with Britain annexing Baluchistan in 1876 and Russia annexing Kirghizia, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan. For a while it appeared that another war would be inevitable, but the two countries reached an agreement on their respective spheres of influence in the region in 1878 and on all outstanding matters in 1907 with the signing of the Anglo-Russian Entente. The destruction of the Russian Navy by the Japanese at the Battle of Port Arthur during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05 also limited its threat to the British.
qas: answers: 1853
question: When did Russia invade the Turkish Balkans?

answers: Crimean War
question: What was took place in 1854-1856?

answers: Russia
question: Who lost the Crimean War?

answers: 1876
question: When did Britain take over Baluchistan?

answers: Russia
question: Which country took over Kazakhstan?

context: The Dutch East India Company had founded the Cape Colony on the southern tip of Africa in 1652 as a way station for its ships travelling to and from its colonies in the East Indies. Britain formally acquired the colony, and its large Afrikaner (or Boer) population in 1806, having occupied it in 1795 to prevent its falling into French hands, following the invasion of the Netherlands by France. British immigration began to rise after 1820, and pushed thousands of Boers, resentful of British rule, northwards to found their own—mostly short-lived—independent republics, during the Great Trek of the late 1830s and early 1840s. In the process the Voortrekkers clashed repeatedly with the British, who had their own agenda with regard to colonial expansion in South Africa and with several African polities, including those of the Sotho and the Zulu nations. Eventually the Boers established two republics which had a longer lifespan: the South African Republic or Transvaal Republic (1852–77; 1881–1902) and the Orange Free State (1854–1902). In 1902 Britain occupied both republics, concluding a treaty with the two Boer Republics following the Second Boer War (1899–1902).
qas: answers: 1652
question: When was the southern tip of Africa colonized?

answers: The Dutch East India Company
question: Which entity founded the Cape Colony?

answers: 1806
question: When did Britain formally acquire the Cape Colony?

answers: Boers
question: What African people moved northwards to escape British rule?

answers: 1902
question: When did the Second Boer War end?

context: In 1869 the Suez Canal opened under Napoleon III, linking the Mediterranean with the Indian Ocean. Initially the Canal was opposed by the British; but once opened, its strategic value was quickly recognised and became the "jugular vein of the Empire". In 1875, the Conservative government of Benjamin Disraeli bought the indebted Egyptian ruler Isma'il Pasha's 44 percent shareholding in the Suez Canal for £4 million (£340 million in 2013). Although this did not grant outright control of the strategic waterway, it did give Britain leverage. Joint Anglo-French financial control over Egypt ended in outright British occupation in 1882. The French were still majority shareholders and attempted to weaken the British position, but a compromise was reached with the 1888 Convention of Constantinople, which made the Canal officially neutral territory.
qas: answers: 1869
question: When did the Suez Canal open?

answers: Indian Ocean
question: Which ocean did the Suez Canal connect the Mediterranean to?

answers: Napoleon III
question: Which French leader ruled when the Suez Canal opened?

answers: £4 million
question: How much did Britain spend to buy Egypt's share of the Suez Canal?

answers: Convention of Constantinople
question: The Suez Canal became neutral territory by what treaty?

context: With French, Belgian and Portuguese activity in the lower Congo River region undermining orderly incursion of tropical Africa, the Berlin Conference of 1884–85 was held to regulate the competition between the European powers in what was called the "Scramble for Africa" by defining "effective occupation" as the criterion for international recognition of territorial claims. The scramble continued into the 1890s, and caused Britain to reconsider its decision in 1885 to withdraw from Sudan. A joint force of British and Egyptian troops defeated the Mahdist Army in 1896, and rebuffed a French attempted invasion at Fashoda in 1898. Sudan was nominally made an Anglo-Egyptian Condominium, but a British colony in reality.
qas: answers: Fashoda
question: Where did France try to invade in 1898?

answers: Mahdist
question: What army did Britain and Egypt defeat together?

answers: 1885
question: When did Britain withdraw from Sudan?

answers: the "Scramble for Africa"
question: What was the period of European empires competing to control Africa called?

answers: Berlin
question: Where was a conference held in 1884 to regulate European competition for Africa?

context: The path to independence for the white colonies of the British Empire began with the 1839 Durham Report, which proposed unification and self-government for Upper and Lower Canada, as a solution to political unrest there. This began with the passing of the Act of Union in 1840, which created the Province of Canada. Responsible government was first granted to Nova Scotia in 1848, and was soon extended to the other British North American colonies. With the passage of the British North America Act, 1867 by the British Parliament, Upper and Lower Canada, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia were formed into the Dominion of Canada, a confederation enjoying full self-government with the exception of international relations. Australia and New Zealand achieved similar levels of self-government after 1900, with the Australian colonies federating in 1901. The term "dominion status" was officially introduced at the Colonial Conference of 1907.
qas: answers: 1839
question: When was it proposed to unify Upper and Lower Canada?

answers: Province of Canada
question: The Act of Union unified Canada into a territory by what name?

answers: 1867
question: When was the British North America Act passed?

answers: after 1900
question: When did Australia achieve self-government?

answers: after 1900
question: When did New Zealand achieve self-government?

context: The last decades of the 19th century saw concerted political campaigns for Irish home rule. Ireland had been united with Britain into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland with the Act of Union 1800 after the Irish Rebellion of 1798, and had suffered a severe famine between 1845 and 1852. Home rule was supported by the British Prime minister, William Gladstone, who hoped that Ireland might follow in Canada's footsteps as a Dominion within the empire, but his 1886 Home Rule bill was defeated in Parliament. Although the bill, if passed, would have granted Ireland less autonomy within the UK than the Canadian provinces had within their own federation, many MPs feared that a partially independent Ireland might pose a security threat to Great Britain or mark the beginning of the break-up of the empire. A second Home Rule bill was also defeated for similar reasons. A third bill was passed by Parliament in 1914, but not implemented because of the outbreak of the First World War leading to the 1916 Easter Rising.
qas: answers: William Gladstone
question: Which British Prime Minister first supported home rule of Ireland?

answers: Canada
question: The first Home Rule bill would have given Ireland less self-control than what other territory?

answers: 1916
question: When was the Easter Rising?

answers: 1914
question: When was a Home Rule bill passed?

answers: the First World War
question: The passed Home Rule Bill wasn't implemented because of which war?

context: By the turn of the 20th century, fears had begun to grow in Britain that it would no longer be able to defend the metropole and the entirety of the empire while at the same time maintaining the policy of "splendid isolation". Germany was rapidly rising as a military and industrial power and was now seen as the most likely opponent in any future war. Recognising that it was overstretched in the Pacific and threatened at home by the Imperial German Navy, Britain formed an alliance with Japan in 1902 and with its old enemies France and Russia in 1904 and 1907, respectively.
qas: answers: Germany
question: Which country seemed like Britain's most likely threat in the early 20th century?

answers: Japan
question: Which country did Britain ally with in 1902?

answers: France
question: Which country did Britain ally with in 1904?

answers: Russia
question: Which country did Britain ally with in 1907?

context: Britain's fears of war with Germany were realised in 1914 with the outbreak of the First World War. Britain quickly invaded and occupied most of Germany's overseas colonies in Africa. In the Pacific, Australia and New Zealand occupied German New Guinea and Samoa respectively. Plans for a post-war division of the Ottoman Empire, which had joined the war on Germany's side, were secretly drawn up by Britain and France under the 1916 Sykes–Picot Agreement. This agreement was not divulged to the Sharif of Mecca, who the British had been encouraging to launch an Arab revolt against their Ottoman rulers, giving the impression that Britain was supporting the creation of an independent Arab state.
qas: answers: 1914
question: When did the First World War begin?

answers: Germany
question: When WW1 began, Britain took the opportunity to take over most of which country's colonies?

answers: Australia
question: Who took over German New Guinea?

answers: Sykes–Picot Agreement
question: Who took over Samoa?

answers: 1916
question: The Sykes–Picot Agreement was signed in what year?

context: The British declaration of war on Germany and its allies also committed the colonies and Dominions, which provided invaluable military, financial and material support. Over 2.5 million men served in the armies of the Dominions, as well as many thousands of volunteers from the Crown colonies. The contributions of Australian and New Zealand troops during the 1915 Gallipoli Campaign against the Ottoman Empire had a great impact on the national consciousness at home, and marked a watershed in the transition of Australia and New Zealand from colonies to nations in their own right. The countries continue to commemorate this occasion on Anzac Day. Canadians viewed the Battle of Vimy Ridge in a similar light. The important contribution of the Dominions to the war effort was recognised in 1917 by the British Prime Minister David Lloyd George when he invited each of the Dominion Prime Ministers to join an Imperial War Cabinet to co-ordinate imperial policy.
qas: answers: 1915
question: When was the Gallipoli Campaign?

answers: David Lloyd George
question: Which British Prime Minister recognized the Dominions' contributions in 1917?

answers: the Ottoman Empire
question: The Gallipoli Campaign fought against which country?

answers: Gallipoli Campaign
question: The Imperial War Cabinet was created by which British Prime Minister?

answers: Over 2.5 million
question: How many people were in the Dominions' armies?

context: Under the terms of the concluding Treaty of Versailles signed in 1919, the empire reached its greatest extent with the addition of 1,800,000 square miles (4,700,000 km2) and 13 million new subjects. The colonies of Germany and the Ottoman Empire were distributed to the Allied powers as League of Nations mandates. Britain gained control of Palestine, Transjordan, Iraq, parts of Cameroon and Togo, and Tanganyika. The Dominions themselves also acquired mandates of their own: the Union of South Africa gained South-West Africa (modern-day Namibia), Australia gained German New Guinea, and New Zealand Western Samoa. Nauru was made a combined mandate of Britain and the two Pacific Dominions.
qas: answers: 1919
question: When was the Treaty of Versailles signed?

answers: 1,800,000
question: How many square miles did the Treaty of Versailles add to the British Empire?

answers: Germany and the Ottoman Empire
question: Which countries' colonies were given to the Allied powers in 1919?

answers: Namibia
question: What modern-day country is South-West Africa?

answers: 13 million
question: How many people did the Treaty of Versailles add to the British Empire?

context: The changing world order that the war had brought about, in particular the growth of the United States and Japan as naval powers, and the rise of independence movements in India and Ireland, caused a major reassessment of British imperial policy. Forced to choose between alignment with the United States or Japan, Britain opted not to renew its Japanese alliance and instead signed the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty, where Britain accepted naval parity with the United States. This decision was the source of much debate in Britain during the 1930s as militaristic governments took hold in Japan and Germany helped in part by the Great Depression, for it was feared that the empire could not survive a simultaneous attack by both nations. Although the issue of the empire's security was a serious concern in Britain, at the same time the empire was vital to the British economy.
qas: answers: 1922
question: When did Britain sign the Washington Naval Treaty?

answers: Japan and Germany
question: The Great Depression helped which countries' governments become more militaristic?

answers: United States
question: When Britain had to choose between its Japanese alliance or the US, which did it choose?

answers: India and Ireland
question: British imperialism was being reconsidered in light of which territories' independence movements?

context: In 1919, the frustrations caused by delays to Irish home rule led members of Sinn Féin, a pro-independence party that had won a majority of the Irish seats at Westminster in the 1918 British general election, to establish an Irish assembly in Dublin, at which Irish independence was declared. The Irish Republican Army simultaneously began a guerrilla war against the British administration. The Anglo-Irish War ended in 1921 with a stalemate and the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, creating the Irish Free State, a Dominion within the British Empire, with effective internal independence but still constitutionally linked with the British Crown. Northern Ireland, consisting of six of the 32 Irish counties which had been established as a devolved region under the 1920 Government of Ireland Act, immediately exercised its option under the treaty to retain its existing status within the United Kingdom.
qas: answers: 1919
question: When did Ireland establish their own assembly?

answers: Sinn Féin
question: What political party established Ireland's assembly?

answers: 1921
question: When did the Anglo-Irish War end?

answers: Anglo-Irish Treaty
question: What treaty was signed after the Anglo-Irish War?

answers: six
question: How many counties of Ireland are in Northern Ireland?

context: A similar struggle began in India when the Government of India Act 1919 failed to satisfy demand for independence. Concerns over communist and foreign plots following the Ghadar Conspiracy ensured that war-time strictures were renewed by the Rowlatt Acts. This led to tension, particularly in the Punjab region, where repressive measures culminated in the Amritsar Massacre. In Britain public opinion was divided over the morality of the event, between those who saw it as having saved India from anarchy, and those who viewed it with revulsion. The subsequent Non-Co-Operation movement was called off in March 1922 following the Chauri Chaura incident, and discontent continued to simmer for the next 25 years.
qas: answers: 1919
question: When was the Government of India Act passed?

answers: the Ghadar Conspiracy
question: What event stoked fears of communist plots in India?

answers: Punjab
question: In what region was the Amritsar Massacre?

answers: Non-Co-Operation
question: The Chauri Chaura incident led to the end of what movement?

context: In 1922, Egypt, which had been declared a British protectorate at the outbreak of the First World War, was granted formal independence, though it continued to be a British client state until 1954. British troops remained stationed in Egypt until the signing of the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty in 1936, under which it was agreed that the troops would withdraw but continue to occupy and defend the Suez Canal zone. In return, Egypt was assisted to join the League of Nations. Iraq, a British mandate since 1920, also gained membership of the League in its own right after achieving independence from Britain in 1932. In Palestine, Britain was presented with the problem of mediating between the Arab and Jewish communities. The 1917 Balfour Declaration, which had been incorporated into the terms of the mandate, stated that a national home for the Jewish people would be established in Palestine, and Jewish immigration allowed up to a limit that would be determined by the mandatory power. This led to increasing conflict with the Arab population, who openly revolted in 1936. As the threat of war with Germany increased during the 1930s, Britain judged the support of the Arab population in the Middle East as more important than the establishment of a Jewish homeland, and shifted to a pro-Arab stance, limiting Jewish immigration and in turn triggering a Jewish insurgency.
qas: answers: 1922
question: When did Egypt regain formal independence from Britain?

answers: 1954
question: When did Egypt stop being a British client state?

answers: Anglo-Egyptian Treaty
question: What treaty was signed in 1936?

answers: 1932
question: When did Iraq gain independence from Britain?

answers: Jewish
question: Britain became more pro-Arab in the 1930s at the expense of which race?

context: The ability of the Dominions to set their own foreign policy, independent of Britain, was recognised at the 1923 Imperial Conference. Britain's request for military assistance from the Dominions at the outbreak of the Chanak Crisis the previous year had been turned down by Canada and South Africa, and Canada had refused to be bound by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne. After pressure from Ireland and South Africa, the 1926 Imperial Conference issued the Balfour Declaration, declaring the Dominions to be "autonomous Communities within the British Empire, equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another" within a "British Commonwealth of Nations". This declaration was given legal substance under the 1931 Statute of Westminster. The parliaments of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, the Irish Free State and Newfoundland were now independent of British legislative control, they could nullify British laws and Britain could no longer pass laws for them without their consent. Newfoundland reverted to colonial status in 1933, suffering from financial difficulties during the Great Depression. Ireland distanced itself further from Britain with the introduction of a new constitution in 1937, making it a republic in all but name.
qas: answers: 1923
question: When was the right of Dominions to determine their own foreign policy recognized?

answers: Treaty of Lausanne
question: Which treaty did Canada ignore?

answers: 1926
question: When was the Balfour Declaration issued?

answers: 1931
question: When was the status of Dominions as equal autonomous communities given legal force?

answers: 1937
question: When did Ireland issue a new constitution?

context: After the German occupation of France in 1940, Britain and the empire stood alone against Germany, until the entry of the Soviet Union to the war in 1941. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill successfully lobbied President Franklin D. Roosevelt for military aid from the United States, but Roosevelt was not yet ready to ask Congress to commit the country to war. In August 1941, Churchill and Roosevelt met and signed the Atlantic Charter, which included the statement that "the rights of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they live" should be respected. This wording was ambiguous as to whether it referred to European countries invaded by Germany, or the peoples colonised by European nations, and would later be interpreted differently by the British, Americans, and nationalist movements.
qas: answers: 1940
question: When was France occupied by Germany?

answers: August 1941
question: When was the Atlantic Charter signed?

answers: Churchill
question: Which British Prime Minister signed the Atlantic Charter?

answers: Roosevelt
question: Which US President signed the Atlantic Charter?

answers: Soviet Union
question: Which country first entered World War 2 after France's defeat?

context: In December 1941, Japan launched, in quick succession, attacks on British Malaya, the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, and Hong Kong. Churchill's reaction to the entry of the United States into the war was that Britain was now assured of victory and the future of the empire was safe, but the manner in which British forces were rapidly defeated in the Far East irreversibly harmed Britain's standing and prestige as an imperial power. Most damaging of all was the fall of Singapore, which had previously been hailed as an impregnable fortress and the eastern equivalent of Gibraltar. The realisation that Britain could not defend its entire empire pushed Australia and New Zealand, which now appeared threatened by Japanese forces, into closer ties with the United States. This resulted in the 1951 ANZUS Pact between Australia, New Zealand and the United States of America.
qas: answers: Japan
question: Which country attacked British Malaya in 1941?

answers: Japan
question: Which country attacked Hong Kong in 1941?

answers: 1951
question: When was the ANZUS Pact formed?

answers: Australia, New Zealand and the United States
question: Which countries were in the ANZUS Pact?

answers: Singapore
question: Which territory had been compared to Gibraltar?

context: Though Britain and the empire emerged victorious from the Second World War, the effects of the conflict were profound, both at home and abroad. Much of Europe, a continent that had dominated the world for several centuries, was in ruins, and host to the armies of the United States and the Soviet Union, who now held the balance of global power. Britain was left essentially bankrupt, with insolvency only averted in 1946 after the negotiation of a $US 4.33 billion loan (US$56 billion in 2012) from the United States, the last instalment of which was repaid in 2006. At the same time, anti-colonial movements were on the rise in the colonies of European nations. The situation was complicated further by the increasing Cold War rivalry of the United States and the Soviet Union. In principle, both nations were opposed to European colonialism. In practice, however, American anti-communism prevailed over anti-imperialism, and therefore the United States supported the continued existence of the British Empire to keep Communist expansion in check. The "wind of change" ultimately meant that the British Empire's days were numbered, and on the whole, Britain adopted a policy of peaceful disengagement from its colonies once stable, non-Communist governments were available to transfer power to. This was in contrast to other European powers such as France and Portugal, which waged costly and ultimately unsuccessful wars to keep their empires intact. Between 1945 and 1965, the number of people under British rule outside the UK itself fell from 700 million to five million, three million of whom were in Hong Kong.
qas: answers: $US 4.33 billion
question: How much money did the US loan to Britain after WW2?

answers: 2006
question: When did Britain finish paying back the US loan?

answers: 1946
question: When did the US make a large loan to Britain?

answers: communism
question: Though the US and the Soviet Union were both against colonialism, what was the US more afraid of?

answers: 700 million
question: How many people outside the UK were under British rule in 1945?

context: The pro-decolonisation Labour government, elected at the 1945 general election and led by Clement Attlee, moved quickly to tackle the most pressing issue facing the empire: that of Indian independence. India's two major political parties—the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League—had been campaigning for independence for decades, but disagreed as to how it should be implemented. Congress favoured a unified secular Indian state, whereas the League, fearing domination by the Hindu majority, desired a separate Islamic state for Muslim-majority regions. Increasing civil unrest and the mutiny of the Royal Indian Navy during 1946 led Attlee to promise independence no later than 1948. When the urgency of the situation and risk of civil war became apparent, the newly appointed (and last) Viceroy, Lord Mountbatten, hastily brought forward the date to 15 August 1947. The borders drawn by the British to broadly partition India into Hindu and Muslim areas left tens of millions as minorities in the newly independent states of India and Pakistan. Millions of Muslims subsequently crossed from India to Pakistan and Hindus vice versa, and violence between the two communities cost hundreds of thousands of lives. Burma, which had been administered as part of the British Raj, and Sri Lanka gained their independence the following year in 1948. India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka became members of the Commonwealth, while Burma chose not to join.
qas: answers: Clement Attlee
question: Who led the British government elected in 1945?

answers: the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League
question: What were India's two largest political parties in the 1940s?

answers: Hindu
question: What was India's majority religion in the 1940s?

answers: Pakistan
question: When India was split into Hindu and Muslim areas, what country did the Muslim area become?

answers: 1948
question: When did Burma get its independence?

context: The British Mandate of Palestine, where an Arab majority lived alongside a Jewish minority, presented the British with a similar problem to that of India. The matter was complicated by large numbers of Jewish refugees seeking to be admitted to Palestine following the Holocaust, while Arabs were opposed to the creation of a Jewish state. Frustrated by the intractability of the problem, attacks by Jewish paramilitary organisations and the increasing cost of maintaining its military presence, Britain announced in 1947 that it would withdraw in 1948 and leave the matter to the United Nations to solve. The UN General Assembly subsequently voted for a plan to partition Palestine into a Jewish and an Arab state.
qas: answers: Arab
question: What race was the majority in Palestine in the 1940s?

answers: 1947
question: When did Britain announce plans to withdraw from Palestine?

answers: The UN General Assembly
question: Which entity decided to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab states?

answers: Palestine
question: Where did many Jewish refugees want to move because of the Holocaust?

context: Following the defeat of Japan in the Second World War, anti-Japanese resistance movements in Malaya turned their attention towards the British, who had moved to quickly retake control of the colony, valuing it as a source of rubber and tin. The fact that the guerrillas were primarily Malayan-Chinese Communists meant that the British attempt to quell the uprising was supported by the Muslim Malay majority, on the understanding that once the insurgency had been quelled, independence would be granted. The Malayan Emergency, as it was called, began in 1948 and lasted until 1960, but by 1957, Britain felt confident enough to grant independence to the Federation of Malaya within the Commonwealth. In 1963, the 11 states of the federation together with Singapore, Sarawak and North Borneo joined to form Malaysia, but in 1965 Chinese-majority Singapore was expelled from the union following tensions between the Malay and Chinese populations. Brunei, which had been a British protectorate since 1888, declined to join the union and maintained its status until independence in 1984.
qas: answers: 1948
question: When did the Malayan Emergency begin?

answers: 1957
question: When did Britain give the Federation of Malaya its independence?

answers: 1965
question: When did Singapore leave the Federation of Malaya?

answers: Chinese
question: What race was the majority of Singapore's population?

answers: 1984
question: When did Brunei get its independence?

context: In 1951, the Conservative Party returned to power in Britain, under the leadership of Winston Churchill. Churchill and the Conservatives believed that Britain's position as a world power relied on the continued existence of the empire, with the base at the Suez Canal allowing Britain to maintain its pre-eminent position in the Middle East in spite of the loss of India. However, Churchill could not ignore Gamal Abdul Nasser's new revolutionary government of Egypt that had taken power in 1952, and the following year it was agreed that British troops would withdraw from the Suez Canal zone and that Sudan would be granted self-determination by 1955, with independence to follow. Sudan was granted independence on 1 January 1956.
qas: answers: Conservative Party
question: What party regained power in Britain in 1951?

answers: Conservative Party
question: Which party was Winston Churchill in?

answers: Gamal Abdul Nasser
question: Who ruled Egypt in 1952?

answers: 1 January 1956
question: When did Sudan receive independence?

answers: Middle East
question: Britain wanted to retain control of the Suez Canal to help its importance in what region?

context: In July 1956, Nasser unilaterally nationalised the Suez Canal. The response of Anthony Eden, who had succeeded Churchill as Prime Minister, was to collude with France to engineer an Israeli attack on Egypt that would give Britain and France an excuse to intervene militarily and retake the canal. Eden infuriated US President Dwight D. Eisenhower, by his lack of consultation, and Eisenhower refused to back the invasion. Another of Eisenhower's concerns was the possibility of a wider war with the Soviet Union after it threatened to intervene on the Egyptian side. Eisenhower applied financial leverage by threatening to sell US reserves of the British pound and thereby precipitate a collapse of the British currency. Though the invasion force was militarily successful in its objectives, UN intervention and US pressure forced Britain into a humiliating withdrawal of its forces, and Eden resigned.
qas: answers: July 1956
question: When was the Suez Canal nationalized?

answers: Anthony Eden
question: Who became British Prime Minister after Winston Churchill?

answers: France
question: Which country did Eden conspire with to cause an attack on Egypt?

answers: Eisenhower
question: Who decided to sell US reserves of the British pound to cause the pound to collapse?

answers: Israeli
question: What country did Britain convince to attack Egypt?

context: The Suez Crisis very publicly exposed Britain's limitations to the world and confirmed Britain's decline on the world stage, demonstrating that henceforth it could no longer act without at least the acquiescence, if not the full support, of the United States. The events at Suez wounded British national pride, leading one MP to describe it as "Britain's Waterloo" and another to suggest that the country had become an "American satellite". Margaret Thatcher later described the mindset she believed had befallen the British political establishment as "Suez syndrome", from which Britain did not recover until the successful recapture of the Falkland Islands from Argentina in 1982.
qas: answers: Suez
question: Where did 'Britain's Waterloo' occur?

answers: Margaret Thatcher
question: Who referred to 'Suez Syndrome'?

answers: 1982
question: When did Britain retake the Falkland Islands?

answers: Argentina
question: From whom did Britain retake the Falkland Islands?

answers: Britain
question: A British minister thought which country was becoming an 'American satellite'?

context: While the Suez Crisis caused British power in the Middle East to weaken, it did not collapse. Britain again deployed its armed forces to the region, intervening in Oman (1957), Jordan (1958) and Kuwait (1961), though on these occasions with American approval, as the new Prime Minister Harold Macmillan's foreign policy was to remain firmly aligned with the United States. Britain maintained a military presence in the Middle East for another decade. In January 1968, a few weeks after the devaluation of the pound, Prime Minister Harold Wilson and his Defence Secretary Denis Healey announced that British troops would be withdrawn from major military bases East of Suez, which included the ones in the Middle East, and primarily from Malaysia and Singapore. The British withdrew from Aden in 1967, Bahrain in 1971, and Maldives in 1976.
qas: answers: 1967
question: When did Britain withdraw from Aden?

answers: 1971
question: When did Britain withdraw from Bahrain?

answers: 1976
question: When did Britain withdraw from the Maldives?

answers: Denis Healey
question: Who was Harold Wilson's Defense Secretary?

answers: Kuwait
question: Where did Britain's army attack in 1961?

context: Britain's remaining colonies in Africa, except for self-governing Southern Rhodesia, were all granted independence by 1968. British withdrawal from the southern and eastern parts of Africa was not a peaceful process. Kenyan independence was preceded by the eight-year Mau Mau Uprising. In Rhodesia, the 1965 Unilateral Declaration of Independence by the white minority resulted in a civil war that lasted until the Lancaster House Agreement of 1979, which set the terms for recognised independence in 1980, as the new nation of Zimbabwe.
qas: answers: Southern Rhodesia
question: What was the last British colony remaining in Africa?

answers: 1968
question: When was the second-to-last British colony in Africa granted independence?

answers: 1965
question: When was the Unilateral Declaration of Independence of Rhodesia?

answers: Mau Mau Uprising
question: What new country did the Lancaster House Agreement recognize?

answers: Kenyan
question: Where was the Mau Mau Uprising?

context: Most of the UK's Caribbean territories achieved independence after the departure in 1961 and 1962 of Jamaica and Trinidad from the West Indies Federation, established in 1958 in an attempt to unite the British Caribbean colonies under one government, but which collapsed following the loss of its two largest members. Barbados achieved independence in 1966 and the remainder of the eastern Caribbean islands in the 1970s and 1980s, but Anguilla and the Turks and Caicos Islands opted to revert to British rule after they had already started on the path to independence. The British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands and Montserrat opted to retain ties with Britain, while Guyana achieved independence in 1966. Britain's last colony on the American mainland, British Honduras, became a self-governing colony in 1964 and was renamed Belize in 1973, achieving full independence in 1981. A dispute with Guatemala over claims to Belize was left unresolved.
qas: answers: Jamaica
question: Which British territory received independence in 1961?

answers: Trinidad
question: Which British territory received independence in 1962?

answers: 1966
question: When did Barbados get independence?

answers: Anguilla and the Turks and Caicos
question: Which islands decided to return to British rule after receiving independence?

answers: British Honduras
question: What was Britain's last American mainland colony?

context: In 1980, Rhodesia, Britain's last African colony, became the independent nation of Zimbabwe. The New Hebrides achieved independence (as Vanuatu) in 1980, with Belize following suit in 1981. The passage of the British Nationality Act 1981, which reclassified the remaining Crown colonies as "British Dependent Territories" (renamed British Overseas Territories in 2002) meant that, aside from a scattering of islands and outposts the process of decolonisation that had begun after the Second World War was largely complete. In 1982, Britain's resolve in defending its remaining overseas territories was tested when Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, acting on a long-standing claim that dated back to the Spanish Empire. Britain's ultimately successful military response to retake the islands during the ensuing Falklands War was viewed by many to have contributed to reversing the downward trend in Britain's status as a world power. The same year, the Canadian government severed its last legal link with Britain by patriating the Canadian constitution from Britain. The 1982 Canada Act passed by the British parliament ended the need for British involvement in changes to the Canadian constitution. Similarly, the Constitution Act 1986 reformed the constitution of New Zealand to sever its constitutional link with Britain, and the Australia Act 1986 severed the constitutional link between Britain and the Australian states. In 1984, Brunei, Britain's last remaining Asian protectorate, gained its independence.
qas: answers: 1982
question: When was Canada given full control of its constitution?

answers: 1980
question: When did Rhodesia become Zimbabwe?

answers: British Dependent Territories
question: What were the remaining British territories called in 1981?

answers: British Overseas Territories
question: What were the remaining British territories called in 2002?

answers: Falklands War
question: Which 1980s war victory helped Britain seem more like a world power again?

context: In September 1982, Prime minister Margaret Thatcher travelled to Beijing to negotiate with the Chinese government on the future of Britain's last major and most populous overseas territory, Hong Kong. Under the terms of the 1842 Treaty of Nanking, Hong Kong Island itself had been ceded to Britain in perpetuity, but the vast majority of the colony was constituted by the New Territories, which had been acquired under a 99-year lease in 1898, due to expire in 1997. Thatcher, seeing parallels with the Falkland Islands, initially wished to hold Hong Kong and proposed British administration with Chinese sovereignty, though this was rejected by China. A deal was reached in 1984—under the terms of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, Hong Kong would become a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China, maintaining its way of life for at least 50 years. The handover ceremony in 1997 marked for many, including Charles, Prince of Wales, who was in attendance, "the end of Empire".
qas: answers: Margaret Thatcher
question: Who was the British Prime Minister in 1982?

answers: Treaty of Nanking
question: Which treaty had given Hong Kong to Britain?

answers: 1997
question: When did Britain hand over Hong Kong to China?

answers: 1984
question: When was the Sino-British Joint Declaration?

answers: Falkland Islands
question: Which territory did Margaret Thatcher compare Hong Kong to?

context: Britain retains sovereignty over 14 territories outside the British Isles, which were renamed the British Overseas Territories in 2002. Some are uninhabited except for transient military or scientific personnel; the remainder are self-governing to varying degrees and are reliant on the UK for foreign relations and defence. The British government has stated its willingness to assist any Overseas Territory that wishes to proceed to independence, where that is an option. British sovereignty of several of the overseas territories is disputed by their geographical neighbours: Gibraltar is claimed by Spain, the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands are claimed by Argentina, and the British Indian Ocean Territory is claimed by Mauritius and Seychelles. The British Antarctic Territory is subject to overlapping claims by Argentina and Chile, while many countries do not recognise any territorial claims in Antarctica.
qas: answers: 14
question: How many overseas territories does Britain still have?

answers: 2002
question: When did Britain decide to call its territories the British Overseas Territories?

answers: Spain
question: Which country besides Britain claims Gibraltar?

answers: Argentina
question: Which country besides Britain claims the Falkland Islands?

answers: Argentina
question: Which country besides Britain claims the South Sandwich Islands?

context: Most former British colonies and protectorates are among the 53 member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, a non-political, voluntary association of equal members, comprising a population of around 2.2 billion people. Sixteen Commonwealth realms voluntarily continue to share the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, as their head of state. These sixteen nations are distinct and equal legal entities – the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu.
qas: answers: 53
question: How many Commonwealth nations are there?

answers: 2.2 billion
question: What is the population of the Commonwealth?

answers: Sixteen
question: How many Commonwealth nations still consider the British Queen their head of state?

answers: Elizabeth II
question: Who is the British Queen?

context: Political boundaries drawn by the British did not always reflect homogeneous ethnicities or religions, contributing to conflicts in formerly colonised areas. The British Empire was also responsible for large migrations of peoples. Millions left the British Isles, with the founding settler populations of the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand coming mainly from Britain and Ireland. Tensions remain between the white settler populations of these countries and their indigenous minorities, and between white settler minorities and indigenous majorities in South Africa and Zimbabwe. Settlers in Ireland from Great Britain have left their mark in the form of divided nationalist and unionist communities in Northern Ireland. Millions of people moved to and from British colonies, with large numbers of Indians emigrating to other parts of the empire, such as Malaysia and Fiji, and Chinese people to Malaysia, Singapore and the Caribbean. The demographics of Britain itself was changed after the Second World War owing to immigration to Britain from its former colonies.
qas: answers: the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand
question: In which countries did the British Isles provide most of the founding settlers?

answers: Malaysia and Fiji
question: Where did many Indians move to?

answers: Chinese
question: Many people of which ethnicity moved to Malaysia, Singapore and the Caribbean?

answers: after the Second World War
question: When did many former colonies' citizens begin immigrating into Britain?