Gothic Revival architecture
Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. Gothic Revival draws features from the original Gothic style, including decorative patterns, scalloping, lancet windows, hood mouldings, the Gothic Revival movement emerged in 19th-century England. Its roots were intertwined with deeply philosophical movements associated with a re-awakening of High Church or Anglo-Catholic belief concerned by the growth of religious nonconformism, the Anglo-Catholicism tradition of religious belief and style became widespread for its intrinsic appeal in the third quarter of the 19th century. The Gothic Revival was paralleled and supported by medievalism, which had its roots in antiquarian concerns with survivals, as industrialisation progressed, a reaction against machine production and the appearance of factories grew. Proponents of the such as Thomas Carlyle and Augustus Pugin took a critical view of industrial society. To Pugin, Gothic architecture was infused with the Christian values that had been supplanted by classicism and were being destroyed by industrialisation, poems such as Idylls of the King by Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson recast specifically modern themes in medieval settings of Arthurian romance.
In German literature, the Gothic Revival had a grounding in literary fashions, guarino Guarini, a 17th-century Theatine monk active primarily in Turin, recognized the Gothic order as one of the primary systems of architecture and made use of it in his practice. Some of the earliest evidence of a revival in Gothic architecture is from Scotland, inveraray Castle, constructed from 1746, with design input from William Adam, displays the incorporation of turrets. These were largely conventional Palladian style houses that incorporated some features of the Scots baronial style. The eccentric landscape designer Batty Langley even attempted to improve Gothic forms by giving them classical proportions, a younger generation, taking Gothic architecture more seriously, provided the readership for J. Brittens series of Cathedral Antiquities, which began appearing in 1814. In 1817, Thomas Rickman wrote an Attempt. to name and define the sequence of Gothic styles in English ecclesiastical architecture, the categories he used were Norman, Early English and Perpendicular.
It went through numerous editions and was still being republished by 1881. The largest and most famous Gothic cathedrals in the U. S. A. are St. Patricks Cathedral in New York City and Washington National Cathedral on Mount St. Alban in northwest Washington, D. C. One of the biggest churches in Gothic Revival style in Canada is Basilica of Our Lady Immaculate in Ontario, Gothic Revival architecture was to remain one of the most popular and long-lived of the Gothic Revival styles of architecture. The revived Gothic style was not limited to architecture, classical Gothic buildings of the 12th to 16th Centuries were a source of inspiration to 19th-century designers in numerous fields of work. Architectural elements such as pointed arches, steep-sloping roofs and fancy carvings like lace ant lattice work were applied to a range of Gothic Revival objects. Sir Walter Scotts Abbotsford exemplifies in its furnishings the Regency Gothic style, parties in medieval historical dress and entertainment were popular among the wealthy in the 1800s but has spread in the late 20th century to the well-educated middle class as well.
By the mid-19th century, Gothic traceries and niches could be inexpensively re-created in wallpaper, the illustrated catalogue for the Great Exhibition of 1851 is replete with Gothic detail, from lacemaking and carpet designs to heavy machinery
Edwardian architecture
Edwardian architecture is an architectural style popular during the reign of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom. Architecture from up to the year 1914 may be included in this style, Edwardian architecture is generally less ornate than high or late Victorian architecture, apart from a subset - used for major buildings - known as Edwardian Baroque architecture. The Victorian Society campaigns to preserve Edwardian Architecture, Decorative patterns were less complex, both wallpaper and curtain designs were more plain. Clutter, There was less clutter than in the Victorian era, ornaments were perhaps grouped rather than everywhere. And Victorian Art Nouveau Georgian Arts and Crafts Edwardian era Edwardian Baroque architecture Federation architecture Gray, A. S. Edwardian Architecture, the Edwardian House, the Middle-Class Home in Britain 1880-1914
Regency architecture
The period coincides with the Biedermeier style in the German-speaking lands, Federal style in the United States and the French Empire style. The style is strictly the late phase of Georgian architecture, and follows closely on from the Neo-classical style of the preceding years, the Georgian period takes its name from the four Kings George of the period 1714–1830, including King George IV. After the decisive victory at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 ended the wars for good, most Regency architecture comes from this period. Many buildings of the Regency style have a painted stucco facade. In town centres the dominance of the house continued. Elegant wrought iron balconies and bow windows came into fashion as part of this style, further out of town the suburban villa detached house was popular in a range of sizes. For large country houses a range of styles were available. Ashridge, Belvoir Castle and Fonthill Abbey, were all by James Wyatt, sezincote House, designed by Samuel Pepys Cockerell, is a Neo-Mughal country house for a nabob returned from British India.
Brighton Pavilion by John Nash, the home of the Prince Regent, is Indian on the exterior. Until the Church Building Act of 1818, church building had been at a low ebb for over 50 years. The Act allocated some money for new churches required to reflect changes in population. Building of Commissioners churches gathered pace in the 1820s, and continued until the 1850s, the early churches, falling into the Regency period, show a high proportion of Gothic Revival buildings, along with the classically inspired. Strict Greek Revival buildings were mixed with those continuing the modified Baroque, the period saw a great increase in public buildings, at both the national and local level. In London, three bridges were built over the Thames between 1813 and 1819, Vauxhall Bridge, Waterloo Bridge and Southwark Bridge, all financed by toll charges. Shops began to be included systematically into newly planned developments, and he had many pupils who disseminated his style, or in the case of Pugin rebelled against it.
In London itself there are streets in the style in the areas around Victoria, Mayfair. John Soane was more individualistic, one of a number of European experimenters in Neoclassicism, the public buildings of George Dance the Younger, City Architect of London from 1768, were precursors of the Regency style, though he designed little himself after 1798. Robert Smirke could produce both classical and Gothic designs, and worked on public buildings
Queen Anne style architecture in the United States
In the United States, Queen Anne style architecture was popular from roughly 1880 to 1910. Queen Anne was one of a number of architectural styles to emerge during the Victorian era. Within the Victorian era timeline, Queen Anne style followed the Stick style and preceded the Richardsonian Romanesque, the style bears almost no relationship to the English Baroque architecture produced in the actual reign of Queen Anne from 1702 to 1714. It is loosely used of a range of picturesque buildings with free Renaissance details rather than of a specific formulaic style in its own right. Queen Anne Style buildings in America came into vogue in the 1880s, the popularity of high Queen Anne Style waned in the early 1900s, but some elements, such as the wraparound front porch, continued to be found on buildings into the 1920s. There are triple windows of Serlian motif and a two-storey oriel that projects asymmetrically, the Astral Apartments, built in Brooklyn in 1885–1886 to house dock workers, provides another similar, and larger, example of red brick and terracotta Queen Anne architecture in New York. E.
Francis Baldwins stations for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, built variously of brick, the most famous American Queen Anne residence is the William Carson Mansion of Eureka, California. Newsom and Newsom, notable builder-architects of 19th Century California homes and public buildings, all styles described below as well as others are present in this example of American Queen Anne Style. Dentils, classical columns, spindle work and bay windows, horizontal bands of leaded windows, monumental chimneys, painted balustrades, front gardens often had wooden fences. Smaller and somewhat plainer houses can be Queen Anne, the William G. Harrison House, built 1904 in rural Nashville, Georgia, is an example. The Shingle Style in America was made popular by the rise of the New England school of architecture, in the Shingle Style, English influence was combined with the renewed interest in Colonial American architecture which followed the 1876 celebration of the Centennial. This impression of the passage of time was enhanced by the use of shingles.
Some architects, in order to attain a look on a new building, even had the cedar shakes dipped in buttermilk and installed. The Shingle Style conveyed a sense of the house as continuous volume, the most famous Shingle Style house built in America was Kragsyde, the summer home commissioned by Bostonian G. Nixon Black, from Peabody and Stearns. Kragsyde was built atop the rocky shore near Manchester-By-the-Sea, Massachusetts. Many of the concepts of the Shingle Style were adopted by Gustav Stickley, Victorian architectural styles Category, Victorian architecture in the United States
Shingle style architecture
In the Shingle style, English influence was combined with the renewed interest in Colonial American architecture which followed the 1876 celebration of the Centennial. The plain, shingled surfaces of buildings were adopted. Aside from being a style of design, the style conveyed a sense of the house as continuous volume, perhaps the most famous Shingle-style house built in American was Kragsyde the summer home commissioned by Bostonian G. Nixon Black, from Peabody and Stearns. Kragsyde was built atop the rocky shore near Manchester-By-the-Sea, Massachusetts. The William G. Low House, designed by McKim, Mead & White, many of the concepts of the Shingle style were adopted by Gustav Stickley, and adapted to the American version of the Arts and Crafts Movement. Additionally, there are other notable styles of Victorian architecture, including Italianate, Second Empire, Folk. Some concentrations of shingle-style architecture are listed in the U. S. National Register of Historic Places and this was followed by several magazine articles on the subject, culminating in Scullys The Shingle Style with the Stick Style in 1971 and The Shingle Style Today in 1974.
This impression of the passage of time is enhanced by the use of shingles, some architects, in order to attain a weathered look on a new building, had the cedar shakes dipped in buttermilk and installed, to leave a grayish tinge to the façade. Shingle-style houses often use a single, large roof, such as a gambrel or hip roof, the houses thus emanate a more pronounced mass and a greater emphasis on horizontality. The Shingle Style eventually spread beyond North America, in Australia, it was introduced by the Canadian architect John Horbury Hunt in the nineteenth century. Some of his Shingle Style homes still survive and are heritage-listed, some of his most notable examples of the style are Highlands, a home in the Sydney suburb of Wahroonga, and Pibrac, in the nearby suburb of Warrawee. The latter house has featured in a television commercial. Gatehouse, in Wahroonga, was not one of Hunts designs, Victorian architecture Queen Anne style architecture in the United States Scully, Vincent. ISBN 0-8076-0760-6 About Shingle architecture, photo-essay at About.
Com Definition with examples at Phorio Standards
Medieval architecture
Medieval architecture is architecture common in the Middle Ages. The Latin cross plan, common in ecclesiastical architecture, takes the Roman basilica as its primary model with subsequent developments. It consists of a nave and the stands at the east end. Also, cathedrals influenced or commissioned by Justinian employed the Byzantine style of domes, surviving examples of medieval secular architecture mainly served for defense. Castles and fortified walls provide the most notable remaining non-religious examples of medieval architecture, windows gained a cross-shape for more than decorative purposes, they provided a perfect fit for a crossbowman to safely shoot at invaders from inside. Crenellated walls provided shelters for archers on the roofs to hide behind when not shooting invaders, while much of the surviving medieval architecture is either religious or military, examples of civic and even domestic architecture can be found throughout Europe. Examples include manor houses, town halls and bridges, while these terms are problematic, they nonetheless serve adequately as entries into the era.
Romanesque, prevalent in medieval Europe during the 11th and 12th centuries, was the first pan-European style since Roman Imperial Architecture and examples are found in every part of the continent. The term was not contemporary with the art it describes, but rather, is an invention of modern scholarship based on its similarity to Roman Architecture in forms, romanesque is characterized by a use of round or slightly pointed arches, barrel vaults, and cruciform piers supporting vaults. Windows contain stained glass, showing stories from the Bible and from lives of saints, such advances in design allowed cathedrals to rise taller than ever, and it became something of an inter-regional contest to build a church as high as possible
Harlaxton Manor
Harlaxton Manor, built in 1837, is a manor house located in Harlaxton, England. Its architecture, which elements of Jacobean and Elizabethan styles with symmetrical Baroque massing. The manor is a location for filming. Exterior and interior shots have been featured in the films The Ruling Class, The Last Days of Patton, The Lady, more recently, the building was used as a site in the reality television series Australian Princess. The manor currently serves as the British campus for the University of Evansville and partners with Eastern Illinois University, Harlaxton Manor is listed Grade I on the National Heritage List for England, as is its forecourt gateway and screen. The surrounding park and gardens are listed Grade II* on the Register of Historic Parks, Harlaxton is first recorded in the Domesday Book as Harleston. The current mansion is the second Harlaxton Manor, the first was built on a different site during the 14th century and was used as a hunting lodge by John of Gaunt. By 1619, Sir Daniel de Ligne purchased the manor, the original house was deserted after 1780, it was inherited by Gregory Gregory, and was torn down in 1857.
The current house was built by Gregory from 1837 to 1845, the original architect, Anthony Salvin, was replaced by William Burn, who is responsible for its interior detailing. Upon Gregorys death, the passed to his cousin George Gregory and in 1860 to a distant relative. Upon the death of Sherwins wife in 1892, it passed to his godson Thomas Pearson-Gregory, the manor passed through several sets of disparate hands in the twentieth century. She restored the house and had it wired for electricity, during the Second World War it was requisitioned by the Royal Air Force as the officers mess for RAF Harlaxton and to house a company of the 1st Airborne Division. In 1948, Harlaxton was purchased by The Society of Jesus and they in turn sold the manor, while retaining rights to some of the lands, to Stanford University in 1965. The University of Evansville began using the property in 1971 as its British campus, but it was owned by William Ridgway, immediately after the purchase, the University of Evansville began renovating the entire facility.
Since 1984, Harlaxton Manor has been the site of the annual Harlaxton Medieval Symposium, a symposium on medieval art, literature. It serves as a study abroad university for English majors from Eastern Illinois University and Western Kentucky University, Gregory Gregory was born Gregory Williams and only adopted the surname Gregory when he inherited his uncle’s estates. His father was William Gregory Williams who owned Rempstone Hall in Leicestershire, in 1822 Gregory inherited Harlaxton Manor and other property from his uncle George de Ligne Gregory. At this stage Harlaxton Manor was an ancient building in need of repair so Gregory did not move to the house, instead he lived at Hungerton Hall which is nearby
Renaissance Revival architecture
The divergent forms of Renaissance architecture in different parts of Europe, particularly in France and Italy, has added to the difficulty of defining and recognizing Neo-Renaissance architecture. The movement grew from scientific observations of nature, in human anatomy. Neo-Renaissance architecture is formed by not only the original Italian architecture, in England the Renaissance tended to manifest itself in large square tall houses such as Longleat House. Often these buildings had symmetrical towers which hint at the evolution from medieval fortified architecture and this is particularly evident at Hatfield House built between 1607 and 1611, where medieval towers jostle with a large Italian cupola. If this were not confusing enough, the new Neo-Renaissance frequently borrowed architectural elements from the succeeding Mannerist period and Baroque being two very opposing styles of architecture. Mannerism was exemplified by the Palazzo del Te and Baroque by the Wurzburg Residenz, as a consequence a self-consciously Neo-Renaissance manner first began to appear circa 1840.
By 1890 this movement was already in decline, the Hagues Peace Palace completed in 1913, in a heavy French Neo-Renaissance manner was one of the last notable buildings in this style. Charles Barry introduced the Neo-Renaissance to England with his design of the Travellers Club, the style is characterized by original Renaissance motifs, taken from such Quattrocento architects as Alberti. These motifs included rusticated masonry and quoins, windows framed by architraves and doors crowned by pediments, if a building were of several floors the uppermost floor usually had small square windows representing the minor mezzanine floor of the original Renaissance designs. However, the Neo-renaissance style came to incorporate Romanesque and Baroque features not found in the original Renaissance architecture which was more severe in its design. Like all architectural styles the Neo-Renaissance did not appear overnight fully formed but evolved slowly, one of the very first signs of its emergence was the Würzburg Womens Prison, which was erected in 1809 designed by Peter Speeth.
This building foreshadows similar effects in the work of the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson whose work in the Neo-Renaissance style was popular in the USA during the 1880s, richardsons style at the end or the revival era was a severe mix of both Romanesque and Renaissance features. This was exemplified by his Marshall Field Warehouse in Chicago, while the beginning of Neo-Renaissance period can be defined by its simplicity and severity, what came between was far more ornate in its design. This period can be defined by some of the opera houses of the Europe, such as Gottfried Sempers Burgtheater in Vienna. This ornate form of the Neo-Renaissance, originating from France, is known as the Second Empire style. By 1875 it had become the style in Europe for all public and bureaucratic buildings. In England, where Sir George Gilbert Scott designed the London Foreign Office in this style between 1860 and 1875, it incorporated certain Palladian features. In Austria, it was pioneered by such names as Rudolf Eitelberger
Malaysia
Malaysia is a federal constitutional monarchy located in Southeast Asia. Peninsular Malaysia shares a land and maritime border with Thailand and maritime borders with Singapore, East Malaysia shares land and maritime borders with Brunei and Indonesia and a maritime border with the Philippines and Vietnam. The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government, with a population of over 30 million, Malaysia is the 44th most populous country. The southernmost point of continental Eurasia, Tanjung Piai, is in Malaysia, located in the tropics, Malaysia is one of 17 megadiverse countries on earth, with large numbers of endemic species. Malaysia has its origins in the Malay kingdoms present in the area which, from the 18th century, the first British territories were known as the Straits Settlements, whose establishment was followed by the Malay kingdoms becoming British protectorates. The territories on Peninsular Malaysia were first unified as the Malayan Union in 1946, Malaya was restructured as the Federation of Malaya in 1948, and achieved independence on 31 August 1957.
Malaya united with North Borneo and Singapore on 16 September 1963 to become Malaysia, less than two years in 1965, Singapore was expelled from the federation. The country is multi-ethnic and multi-cultural, which plays a role in politics. About half the population is ethnically Malay, with minorities of Malaysian Chinese, Malaysian Indians. The constitution declares Islam the state religion while allowing freedom of religion for non-Muslims, the government system is closely modelled on the Westminster parliamentary system and the legal system is based on common law. The head of state is the king, known as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and he is an elected monarch chosen from the hereditary rulers of the nine Malay states every five years. The head of government is the prime minister, since its independence, Malaysia has had one of the best economic records in Asia, with its GDP growing at an average of 6. 5% per annum for almost 50 years. The economy has traditionally been fuelled by its resources, but is expanding in the sectors of science, commerce.
Today, Malaysia has a newly industrialised market economy, ranked third largest in Southeast Asia, the name Malaysia is a combination of the word Malay and the Latin-Greek suffix -sia/-σία. The word melayu in Malay may derive from the Tamil words malai and ur meaning mountain and city, malayadvipa was the word used by ancient Indian traders when referring to the Malay Peninsula. Whether or not it originated from these roots, the word melayu or mlayu may have used in early Malay/Javanese to mean to steadily accelerate or run. This term was applied to describe the current of the river Melayu in Sumatra. The name was adopted by the Melayu Kingdom that existed in the seventh century on Sumatra
Classical architecture
Different styles of classical architecture have arguably existed since the Carolingian Renaissance, and prominently since the Italian Renaissance. Although classical styles of architecture can vary greatly, they can in all be said to draw on a common vocabulary of decorative and constructive elements. The term classical architecture applies to any mode of architecture that has evolved to a highly refined state, such as classical Chinese architecture and it can refer to any architecture that employs classical aesthetic philosophy. The term might be used differently from traditional or vernacular architecture, for contemporary buildings following authentic classical principles, the term New Classical Architecture may be used. Classical architecture is derived from the architecture of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, with the collapse of the western part of the Roman empire, the architectural traditions of the Roman empire ceased to be practised in large parts of western Europe. In the Byzantine Empire, the ancient ways of building lived on, the first conscious efforts to bring back the disused language of form of classical antiquity into Western architecture can be traced to the Carolingian Renaissance of the late 8th and 9th centuries.
In general, they are not considered classical architectural styles in a strict sense, the classical architecture of the Renaissance from the outset represents a highly specific interpretation of the classical ideas. Most of the styles originating in post-renaissance Europe can be described as classical architecture and this broad use of the term is employed by Sir John Summerson in The Classical Language of Architecture. The elements of architecture have been applied in radically different architectural contexts than those for which they were developed. For example, Baroque or Rococo architecture are styles which, although classical at root, during these periods, architectural theory still referred to classical ideas but rather less sincerely than during the Renaissance. Neoclassical architecture held a strong position on the architectural scene c. With the advent of Modernism during the early 20th century, classical architecture arguably almost completely ceased to be practised, as noted above, classical styles of architecture dominated Western architecture for a very long time, roughly from the Renaissance until the advent of Modernism.
That is to say, that classical antiquity at least in theory was considered the source of inspiration for architectural endeavours in the West for much of Modern history. Furthermore, it can even be argued that styles of architecture not typically considered classical, like Gothic, therefore, a simple delineation of the scope of classical architecture is difficult to make. The more or less defining characteristic can still be said to be a reference to ancient Greek or Roman architecture, and the architectural rules or theories that derived from that architecture. In the grammar of architecture, the word petrification is often used when discussing the development of sacred structures, such as temples, during the Archaic and early Classical periods, the architectural forms of the earliest temples had solidified and the Doric emerged as the predominant element. And not everyone within the reach of Mediterranean civilization made this transition. Nor was it the lack of knowledge of working on their part that prevented them from making the transition from timber to dressed stone
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I, George II, George III, and George IV—who reigned in continuous succession from August 1714 to June 1830. The style of Georgian buildings is very variable, but marked by a taste for symmetry and proportion based on the architecture of Greece and Rome. Ornament is normally in the tradition, but typically rather restrained. In towns, which expanded greatly during the period, landowners turned into property developers, even the wealthy were persuaded to live in these in town, especially if provided with a square of garden in front of the house. There was an amount of building in the period, all over the English-speaking world. The period saw the growth of a distinct and trained architectural profession, before the mid-century the high-sounding title and this contrasted with earlier styles, which were primarily disseminated among craftsmen through the direct experience of the apprenticeship system.
Authors such as the prolific William Halfpenny published editions in America as well as Britain, mail-order kit homes were popular before World War II. The architect James Gibbs was a figure, his earlier buildings are Baroque, reflecting the time he spent in Rome in the early 18th century. Other prominent architects of the early Georgian period include James Paine, Robert Taylor, and John Wood, the styles that resulted fall within several categories. In the mainstream of Georgian style were both Palladian architecture—and its whimsical alternatives and Chinoiserie, which were the English-speaking worlds equivalent of European Rococo. John Nash was one of the most prolific architects of the late Georgian era known as The Regency style, greek Revival architecture was added to the repertory, beginning around 1750, but increasing in popularity after 1800. Leading exponents were William Wilkins and Robert Smirke, regularity of housefronts along a street was a desirable feature of Georgian town planning.
In Britain brick or stone are almost invariably used, brick is often disguised with stucco, in America and other colonies wood remained very common, as its availability and cost-ratio with the other materials was more favourable. Versions of revived Palladian architecture dominated English country house architecture, Houses were increasingly placed in grand landscaped settings, and large houses were generally made wide and relatively shallow, largely to look more impressive from a distance. The height was usually highest in the centre, and the Baroque emphasis on corner pavilions often found on the continent generally avoided, in grand houses, an entrance hall led to steps up to a piano nobile or mezzanine floor where the main reception rooms were. A single block was typical, with a perhaps a small court for carriages at the front marked off by railings and a gate, but rarely a stone gatehouse, or side wings around the court. Windows in all types of buildings were large and regularly placed on a grid, this was partly to minimize window tax and their height increasingly varied between the floors, and they increasingly began below waist-height in the main rooms, making a small balcony desirable
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, protectorates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It originated with the possessions and trading posts established by England between the late 16th and early 18th centuries. At its height, it was the largest empire in history and, for over a century, was the foremost global power. By 1913, the British Empire held sway over 412 million people, 23% of the population at the time. As a result, its political, legal and cultural legacy is widespread, during the Age of Discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries and Spain pioneered European exploration of the globe, and in the process established large overseas empires. Envious of the great wealth these empires generated, France, the independence of the Thirteen Colonies in North America in 1783 after the American War of Independence caused Britain to lose some of its oldest and most populous colonies. British attention soon turned towards Asia and the Pacific, after the defeat of France in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, Britain emerged as the principal naval and imperial power of the 19th century.
In the early 19th century, the Industrial Revolution began to transform Britain, the British Empire expanded to include India, large parts of Africa and many other territories throughout the world. In Britain, political attitudes favoured free trade and laissez-faire policies, during the 19th Century, Britains population increased at a dramatic rate, accompanied by rapid urbanisation, which caused significant social and economic stresses. To seek new markets and sources of raw materials, the Conservative Party under Benjamin Disraeli launched a period of imperialist expansion in Egypt, South Africa, Canada and New Zealand became self-governing dominions. By the start of the 20th century and the United States had begun to challenge Britains economic lead, subsequent military and economic tensions between Britain and Germany were major causes of the First World War, during which Britain relied heavily upon its empire. The conflict placed enormous strain on the military and manpower resources of Britain, although the British Empire achieved its largest territorial extent immediately after World War I, Britain was no longer the worlds pre-eminent industrial or military power.
In the Second World War, Britains colonies in Southeast Asia were occupied by Imperial Japan, despite the final victory of Britain and its allies, the damage to British prestige helped to accelerate the decline of the empire. India, Britains most valuable and populous possession, achieved independence as part of a larger movement in which Britain granted independence to most territories of the empire. The transfer of Hong Kong to China in 1997 marked for many the end of the British Empire, fourteen overseas territories remain under British sovereignty. After independence, many former British colonies joined the Commonwealth of Nations, the United Kingdom is now one of 16 Commonwealth nations, a grouping known informally as the Commonwealth realms, that share a monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. The foundations of the British Empire were laid when England and Scotland were separate kingdoms. In 1496, King Henry VII of England, following the successes of Spain and Portugal in overseas exploration, Cabot led another voyage to the Americas the following year but nothing was ever heard of his ships again
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