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In order to get a good grasp on the history of the British empire, 19th century and earlier, what wars should I have a solid background on?I was thinking (in no chronological order): the War of Austrian Succession, the Glorious Revolution (is that the same as the English Civil War?), Seven Years War, and the War of 1812. Are there any others I should really know about? Were there any major wars involving Australia or India that included other European powers.
The Glorious Revolution of 1688 was not a war but rather a parliamentary battle that settled the issue of Royal Authority. I would add the Napoleonic Wars, the several wars and battles in India from them driving out the French and Portugese to the Indian Mutiny of 1857 as well as the Boer and Zulu Wars.
I forgot about the Boer and Zulu wars. I guess I was thinking more along the lines of wars with other European powers for imperial hegemony. Is this a good idea? The series I'm going to be reading is in chronological order. Maybe when I come to a key area I know little about, I'll educate myself some before reading further.
Learning about the British is instructive because in many ways the American Empire mirrors the British. I find the decline of the British Empire to be fascinating, especially the way they managed a mostly soft landing out of it.
I would begin either sometime with Cromwell in the first half of the 1600s or else at the Hanoverian Succession around 1715. Obviously, the more you know leading up to the nineteenth century the better, but I'm guessing you don't want to to a review of the entirety of British history.
