The Six Island Fortresses That Held The British Empire Together
These colonies were designed and maintained to project global power
As an island nation, England has always understood the importance of naval dominance. Their survival has long been tied to their ability to patrol the waters around Great Britain and project sea power far from home. As English maritime prowess grew, they expanded into a global trading power and then into one of the greatest empires in history. As English power expanded and evolved they knew that in order to maintain their grip on the major sea lanes they had to be able to have a flexible response and deterrence to threats from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean.
The result was a series of so-called fortress colonies that served as major military outposts that guarded the world’s major waterways and ensured that British power remained unshakable around the globe. These fortresses linked major British colonies and were the glue that held the mighty empire together. All of them were islands and all of them sat in the middle of vital waterways.
British fortresses spent centuries guarding large majorities of the world’s trade with a wary and watchful eye.
