ABSTRACT
During the eighteenth century Britain had been involved in a series of conflicts which had had both a European and a colonial dimension. The result had been the conquest of India and Canada. Other significant gains, such as the Cape of Good Hope, had been made during the Napoleonic War. Although there were further acquisitions over the next fifty years or so, these were much more limited in size; examples were Singapore, annexed in 1824, Aden (1839), New Zealand (1840), Hong Kong (1842), Natal (1843), Rangoon (1854), Oudh (1856) and Lagos (1861).
