History of the United Kingdom First British Empire. With the defeat by the United States, France and Spain in the War of American Independence, Britain lost its 13 American colonies and rebuilt a Second British Empire based in Asia and Africa. As a result, British culture, and its technological, political, constitutional, and linguistic influence, became worldwide. Politically, the central event was the French Revolution and its Napoleonic aftermath from 1793 to 1815, which British elites saw as a profound threat, and worked energetically to form multiple coalitions that finally defeated Napoleon in 1815. The Tories, who came to power in 1783, remained in power (with
Japanese declaration of war on the United States and the British Empire as a pretext for imperialism. In response, the U.S. imposed an oil embargo on Japan in August 1941 to stop aiding their aggression in Asia and to contain Japanese actions such as their war crimes in Nanking. Japan saw this as a hostile and provocative act, and retaliated with the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the declarations of war on the US and the British Empire. Japanese declaration of war on the United States and the British Empire The declaration of war by the Empire of Japan on the United States and the British Empire was published on December 8,