How important was war as a factor in the emergence of Britain as an imperial power by 1763?

Still, it is crucial to remember that Britain’s success in war was often down to the ardent support of imperial expansion by the government. Indeed, the capture of Menorca and Gibraltar, mentioned above, was motivated by the Cruisers and Convoys Act of 1708, which obliged the Royal Navy to protect British merchants and trade routes. The acquisition of territory in the Mediterranean was seen as vital to the defence of British interests, and so the islands were captured – conflict may have provided the circumstances for such a takeover, but it was government policy which underpinned it. Furthermore, the establishment of the ‘two power standard’, which ensured that the Royal Navy’s fleet was at least twice the size of its closest competitor’s, was crucial to success in international conflicts which raged around the globe, often on the seas – particularly the Seven Years’ War of 1756 to 1763.

Finally, it becomes clear that the theme running throughout government policy of the time – from the mercantilist Navigation Act of 1696 to the Cruisers and Convoys Act in 1708 – was the importance of trade. Following the grant of a charter to the East India Company in late 1600, merchants quickly realised that the most effective way to conduct trade with foreign nations was to set up permanent bases there - the EIC sent factors to establish working relationships with natives in India, and the Royal African Company involved itself with local conflicts in the act of purchasing prisoners of war from native tribes to sell on as slaves. These relationships and lasting settlements provided the infrastructure that would later be formalised – in hindsight; it appears as though from the early 17th Century, the Indian subcontinent in particular was being prepared for centralised state control.

In conclusion, the roles played by trade, government and war were all greatly important – and greatly intertwining. The Bubble Act of 1720, which tightened trading regulations for the benefit of investors, for example, would not have come about were it not for the trade activities of the South Sea Company – which was in turn founded in anticipation of favourable trade relations with the Spanish in South America following the end of the Wars of Spanish Succession. Trade was the match which first ignited the British interest in exotic lands overseas – and it was in the government’s political interest to sate the public’s interest and fan the flames. But ultimately, war provided the lighter fluid which set British expansionism on an unstoppable path, and was therefore the most important factor in the emergence of Britain as an imperial power by 1763.