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Pax Britannica (Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 for "the British Peace", modelled after Pax Romana
Pax Romana

Pax Romana was the long period of relative peace and minimal expansion by military force experienced by the Roman Empire in the first century and second century Anno Domini....
) was the period of relative peace
List of wars 1800–1899

1800?1809*1800 War of the Castes in Haiti*1801 War of the Oranges*1801?1805 First Barbary War*1801?1807 Temme War*1802?1805 Second War of Haitian Independence...
 in Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
 when the British Empire
British Empire

The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, and other Dependent territory ruled or administered by the United Kingdom , that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries....
 controlled most of the key naval trade routes and enjoyed unchallenged sea power
Royal Navy

The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British Armed Forces . From the mid-18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early 1940s....
. It refers to a period of British imperialism
Imperialism

Imperialism has two meanings; one describing an action and the other describing an attitude.#Action: Imperialism is the practice of extending the power, control or rule by one country over areas outside its borders....
 after the 1815 Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo

In the Battle of Waterloo forces of the First French Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte and Michel Ney were defeated by those of the Seventh Coalition, including a Prussian army under the command of Gebhard Leberecht von Bl?cher and an Anglo-Allied army under the command of the Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington....
, which led to a period of overseas British expansionism. Britain dominated overseas markets and managed to influence and almost dominate Chinese markets after the Opium Wars
Opium Wars

The Opium Wars , also known as the Anglo-Chinese Wars, lasted from 1839 to 1842 and 1856 to 1860, the climax of a trade dispute between China under the Qing Dynasty and the British Empire....
.

The Empire's strength was guaranteed by dominance of a Europe lacking in strong nation states, and the presence of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy

The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British Armed Forces . From the mid-18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early 1940s....
 on all of the world's oceans and seas.






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Pax Britannica (Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 for "the British Peace", modelled after Pax Romana
Pax Romana

Pax Romana was the long period of relative peace and minimal expansion by military force experienced by the Roman Empire in the first century and second century Anno Domini....
) was the period of relative peace
List of wars 1800–1899

1800?1809*1800 War of the Castes in Haiti*1801 War of the Oranges*1801?1805 First Barbary War*1801?1807 Temme War*1802?1805 Second War of Haitian Independence...
 in Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
 when the British Empire
British Empire

The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, and other Dependent territory ruled or administered by the United Kingdom , that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries....
 controlled most of the key naval trade routes and enjoyed unchallenged sea power
Royal Navy

The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British Armed Forces . From the mid-18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early 1940s....
. It refers to a period of British imperialism
Imperialism

Imperialism has two meanings; one describing an action and the other describing an attitude.#Action: Imperialism is the practice of extending the power, control or rule by one country over areas outside its borders....
 after the 1815 Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo

In the Battle of Waterloo forces of the First French Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte and Michel Ney were defeated by those of the Seventh Coalition, including a Prussian army under the command of Gebhard Leberecht von Bl?cher and an Anglo-Allied army under the command of the Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington....
, which led to a period of overseas British expansionism. Britain dominated overseas markets and managed to influence and almost dominate Chinese markets after the Opium Wars
Opium Wars

The Opium Wars , also known as the Anglo-Chinese Wars, lasted from 1839 to 1842 and 1856 to 1860, the climax of a trade dispute between China under the Qing Dynasty and the British Empire....
.

The Empire's strength was guaranteed by dominance of a Europe lacking in strong nation states, and the presence of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy

The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British Armed Forces . From the mid-18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early 1940s....
 on all of the world's oceans and seas. In 1905, the Royal Navy was superior in strength to the next two largest navies combined (known as the 'two power rule').

This led to the spread of the English language
English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
, the British Imperial system of measures
Imperial unit

Imperial units or the imperial system is a system of units, first defined in the British Weights and Measures Act of 1824, later refined and reduced....
, and rules for commodity markets
Commodity markets

Commodity markets are markets where raw or primary products are exchanged. These raw commodities are traded on regulated commodities exchanges, in which they are bought and sold in standardized contracts....
 based on English common law
English law

English law is the Legal systems of the world of England and Wales, and is the basis of common law legal systems used in most Commonwealth of Nations countriesand the United States ....
.

The Pax Britannica was weakened by the breakdown of the continental order established by the Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna

The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by the Austrian statesman Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815....
. Relations between the Great Powers of Europe were strained to breaking point by issues such as the decline of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299?1923. It was Treaty of Lausanne by the Republic of Turkey, which was officially proclaimed on October 29, 1923....
, which lead to the Crimean War
Crimean War

The Crimean War, also known in Russia as the Oriental War was fought between the Russian Empire on one side and an alliance of France, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Kingdom of Sardinia, and the Ottoman Empire on the other....
, and later the emergence of new nation states in the form of Italy
Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
 and Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
 after the Franco-Prussian War
Franco-Prussian War

The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between Second French Empire and Kingdom of Prussia, while Prussia was backed by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Grand Duchy of Baden, History of W?rttemberg#The Kingdom...
. Both of these two wars involved Europes largest States and armies. The industrialization of Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
, the Empire of Japan
Empire of Japan

The Empire of Japan was a Japanese political entity that existed during the period from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until its defeat in World War II in 1945....
, and the United States of America further contributed to the decline of British industrial supremacy following the 1870s.

Other uses

  • The phrase was used by the British author Jan Morris
    Jan Morris

    Jan Morris Order of the British Empire is a British historian, author and travel writer. Morris was educated at Lancing College, West Sussex, and Christ Church, Oxford, but is Wales by heritage and adoption....
     as the title of the middle volume of a trilogy about the rise and fall of the British Empire
    British Empire

    The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, and other Dependent territory ruled or administered by the United Kingdom , that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries....
    . The book surveyed the Empire at the time of Queen Victoria
    Victoria of the United Kingdom

    Victoria was from 20 June 1837 the Queen regnant of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and from 1 May 1876 the first Empress of India of the British Raj until her death....
    's Diamond Jubilee
    Diamond Jubilee

    A Diamond Jubilee is a celebration held to mark a 60th anniversary in the case of a person or a 75th anniversary in the case of an event , such as in the case of the University of Nottingham's Jubilee Campus....
     on 22th June, 1897. The first volume of the trilogy was Heaven's Command, the last Farewell the Trumpets.


  • "Pax Britannica" is the title of a 1949 book by the British writer and commentator F. A. Voigt
    F. A. Voigt

    File:FAVoight.jpgFrederick Augustus Voigt , United Kingdom journalist and author of Germany ancestry, most famous for his work with the Manchester Guardian and his opposition to dictatorship and totalitarianism on the European Continent....
    , arguing that continuation of the British Empire
    British Empire

    The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, and other Dependent territory ruled or administered by the United Kingdom , that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries....
     - in a fast process of dissolution at the time of writing - was essential for the stability of the world.


  • The phrase was used as the title of a 1985 Charles Roberts/Origins Award
    Origins Award

    The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so the 1979 awards were given at the 1980 Origins Game Fair....
    -winning board
    Board game

    File:Game_of_life_board.jpgA board game is a game in which counters or pieces that are placed on, removed from, or moved across a "board" . As do other form of entertainment, board games can represent nearly any subject....
     wargame by Greg Costikyan
    Greg Costikyan

    Greg Costikyan, also known as Designer X, is an United States game designer and science fiction writer.Costikyan's career spans nearly all extant genres of gaming, including hex-based wargaming, role-playing games, board games, card games, computer games, online games and mobile games....
     which, while out of print
    Out of print

    Out of print refers to an item, typically a book , but can include any print or visual media or sound recording, that is no longer being published....
    , is still popular as a play-by-mail game
    Play-by-mail game

    Play-by-mail games are games, of any type, played through postal mail or email. One example, chess, has been played by mail for centuries . Another example, Diplomacy , has been played by mail since the 1960s, starting with a printed newsletter written by John Boardman....
    . Play by email is also popular. The game has rules governing the acquisition of colonial territories, and declaration of war on other countries, but all wars only take place in the Third World
    Third World

    Third World is a categorical label used to describe states that are considered to be developed in terms of their economy or level of industrialization, globalization, standard of living, health, education or other criteria for 'advancements'....
    .


  • The 1990 Album of the London industrial music group Test Dept
    Test Dept

    Test Dept were an industrial music band formed in New Cross, London, by unemployed musicians from Glasgow, Scotland, where the band later re-located....
     was called Pax Britannica.


  • One of the series of novels from Abaddon Books
    Abaddon Books

    Abaddon Books are an imprint of Rebellion Developments, who also own 2000 AD , aimed at publishing novels in the horror, sci-fi and fantasy genres....
     is called "Pax Britannia."


The Pax Britannica lasted for approximately a century. It ultimately ended with the outbreak of the First World War in 1914.

See also

  • Imperial Federation
    Imperial Federation

    Imperial Federation was a late-19th early-20th century proposal to create a Federation in place of the existing British Empire.Motivators...
  • Pax Americana
    Pax Americana

    Pax Americana describes a period of relative peace in the Western world since the end of World War II in 1945, coinciding with the dominant military and economic position of the United States....
  • Pax Sovietica