Btitish Empire without India.

What would be the economic, social, psychological, military, cultural, political etc ramifications of Britain not coming to rule India?

Assume no 7 years war or some other POD.

How does this affect the European balance of power in 18th, 19th and 20th centuries?
 
Last edited:

Anaxagoras

Banned
India was basically the raison d'etre of the British Empire. If India never comes under British rule, then there's really no reason for them to try to control South Africa, or Egypt, or their bases in the Mediterranean, or much of anything else.
 
India was basically the raison d'etre of the British Empire. If India never comes under British rule, then there's really no reason for them to try to control South Africa, or Egypt, or their bases in the Mediterranean, or much of anything else.

Very true. Remember the whole reason Gladstone, a man who was never very fond of empire, ordered the Egyptian occupation in 1882 was for fear of losing access to the Suez Canal, the artery if you will that connected Britain to India. Same goes for the colonization of British East Africa. It was much too dangerous to pass by German or French naval bases on the way to India.
 
No 7 years war mean the French have India, which shifts the balance of things considerably.

It also means that French America is very much stronger. I'd love to see a timeline about this
 
India was basically the raison d'etre of the British Empire. If India never comes under British rule, then there's really no reason for them to try to control South Africa, or Egypt, or their bases in the Mediterranean, or much of anything else.

How... interesting. I never thought that the entire reason that the British Empire exists was due to India.. but it makes sense. But even w/o India, I would expect some kind of empire to emerge
 

Anaxagoras

Banned
How... interesting. I never thought that the entire reason that the British Empire exists was due to India.. but it makes sense. But even w/o India, I would expect some kind of empire to emerge

To be more clear, I was referring specifically to the so-called "Second British Empire" that emerged after the American Revolutionary War.
 
Well, we could have Britain openly support the CSA during the American Civil War, since, without India, Europe is much more dependent on American cotton.
 
Top