本文分三大部分叙述大英帝国由盛至衰。第一、大英帝国的盛世。19世纪中叶大英帝国走上鼎盛,当时也是世界第一强国,英国的独尊地位,客观上维持着势力的均衡。第二是衰落期,由于后起的美、法、德、日出来争雄,尤其是第一次世界大战和十月革命等重大事件,英国失去霸主地位,因而开始了有限度的允许大英帝国范围内的一些早熟的殖民地自治,最后导致英联邦的成立。第三,二战后英国已经降到二等国地位,其殖民体系已开始崩溃。当英国要求参加欧共体时,说明英国已经降到一个欧洲地区的国家了。 This article is divided into three parts to describe the British Empire from Sheng to decline. First, the prosperity of the British Empire. The mid-19th-century British Empire embarked on its heyday, was also the world’s number one power, Britain’s dominance, objectively maintain the balance of power. The second is the decline. Due to the rise of the United States, France, Germany and Japan, especially the major events such as the First World War and the October Revolution, Britain lost its dominance and thus began to have a limited allowance for the British Empire Some of the precocious colonial self-rule in the area eventually led to the establishment of the Commonwealth. Thirdly, after World War II, Britain has dropped to second-class status and its colonial system has begun to collapse. When Britain asked to join the EC, it shows that Britain has dropped to a European country.