Course Details in 2025/26 Session


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Module Title LM Option: Britain’s Wars of Colonisation and Decolonisation
SchoolHistory and Cultures
Department History
Module Code 09 38763
Module Lead Dr Daniel Whittingham
Level Masters Level
Credits 20
Semester Semester 2
Pre-requisites
Co-requisites
Restrictions None
Contact Hours Lecture-10 hours
Seminar-20 hours
Guided independent study-170 hours
Total: 200 hours
Exclusions
Description This module will examine Britain's conduct of its wars of empire from 1815 onwards. Britain emerged from its 'second Hundred Years' War' with France (1688 – 1815) as a world power. Between 1815 and 1914, Britain fought only one war against a European enemy (Russia, in the Crimean War) but conducted a whole host of colonial campaigns across the globe. The twentieth century saw the British Empire reach its greatest territorial extent, in the aftermath of the First World War; but in the years that followed, challenges emerged which saw the British fight a series of bitter colonial counter-insurgency campaigns. This module will consider Britain's imperial wars from the expansion of the empire in India in the first half of the nineteenth century, to the campaigns in Malaya and Kenya in the 1940s and 1950s. It will consider these conflicts within the broader context of scholarly debates on the character of British imperialism, as well as within the wider framework of developments in the conduct of war. The module will consider a series of British imperial wars from within the date range, from the perspectives of both the British and their various opponents.
Learning Outcomes By the end of the module students should be able to:
  • analyse and critically appraise key events and historical processes relevant to the subject under scrutiny
  • analyse and critically evaluate a wide range of relevant primary source material
  • critically evaluate the historiographical context and trends of the subject under exploration
  • summarise, synthesise and evaluate the subject material in a sophisticated written form
Assessment
Assessment Methods & Exceptions Assessment:
1 x 3,000 word assignment (100%)

Reassessment:
Resubmission of failed component(s)
Other
Reading List