COUNTRYBALLS: Rise and Fall of the British Empire (Full)

How did one small island end up ruling a quarter of the world - and how did it lose almost all of it in a single lifetime? The rise and fall of the British Empire, told with countryballs on the map. 00:00 A quarter of the world 00:21 A small kingdom (1500-1707) 01:17 Britain vs France - and losing America (1707-1783) 02:13 The second empire: Australia, India, Singapore, Hong Kong (1788-1876) 03:13 The race for Africa and the peak (1880-1920) 04:06 The fall (1922-1997) 05:30 What is left today Sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica ("British Empire" and the articles on each colony); UK Parliament history pages; the Commonwealth Secretariat. The map is approximate: it colours today's borders by the year each place came under, or left, British rule (historical shapes from historical-basemaps by aourednik, GPL-3.0, for the 13 colonies, Rupert's Land, Bengal, New South Wales and the Cape). Which empire should we do next? Tell us in the comments. #countryballs #countryball #britishempire #history #map