International Social Science Journal (Chinese Edition)

No.2, 2022

The British Empire and the environment: introduction and review

(Abstract)

James Beattie

Ultimately, the British Empire was founded on the extraction and control of human and environmental resources. In the article, I examine the role of the environmental factors in creation and expansion of the empire, with focus on its expansion in the material and ecological dimensions. Then I discuss the interactions between European sciences and alien natural environments around the emergence of forest conservation, ecology and tropical medicine. Among others, I give an introduction to two hundred years history of utilisation of environment, and analyze the influences of the empire including its colonies on nature. In general, the industrialisation in such countries as UK depended on the resources from its colonies. What had driven the empire to grow was both colonial expansion, and the loot from and control of environment.