In Europe, when we talk about an "empire where the sun never sets," it means that there is a territory in daylight at all times; in other words, it is a jaw-dropping depiction of the extent of a country's global territory. Such a scene can only be seen by the former colonial rule.
Historically, there were two countries known as the "Empire of the Sun Never Set", the Spanish Empire and the British Empire. Looking back at the trajectory of history, it is not difficult to find. At the end of the 15th century, after the completion of Spain's unification, it began to embark on the road of overseas colonial expansion. Among them, the most advanced foundation is naval power and shipbuilding technology, without powerful sea transportation, then for the remote European Spain, the prosperity of the "empire that never sets" will not be able to talk about.
The development of HNA greatly stimulated the circulation of global trade, and after the Europeans discovered the New World of the Americas, they accumulated a lot of wealth through gold mining and other means. It can also be seen from this that there was no strong accumulation of capital that undoubtedly supported a strong empire, and that almost most of Spain's military expenditures to cope with the protracted wars in Europe and North Africa at that time came from gold and silver from the mining of the Americas.
As the saying goes, thirty years of Hedong, thirty years of Hexi. In the context of colonial rule, it gradually emerged from a small role in Britain and began to rise.
It was precisely 1588 that it was a turning point.
Because at that time, the British Empire fleet defeated the Spanish Armada and became an emerging maritime power, and began to go on the same path of colonial expansion as Spain. Europe is like a huge gladiatorial arena, but where there is interest, any European country is bound to want to share a piece of the pie, in the continuous struggle, Britain gradually state, the tentacles all over the world. However, the first War of Independence of the United States undoubtedly heralded the gradual decline of Britain.
Between 1775 and 1783, a contest was staged on the American continent, which also affected the world pattern for the next 200 years, and there is no doubt that the United States eventually gained independence. At this point, between the old colonial empire and the emerging independent United States, it is a beam.
In 1812, with the influence of the Industrial Revolution, the power of the United States gradually emerged; on June 18 of that year, the United States officially declared war on Britain.
In the three-year war, both sides suffered mutual damage, and there was no way to talk about who won or lost, and in the end only an armistice agreement could be reached, and the border between the British territories (Canada) and the United States was restored to its original state.
If the above wars are all profitable conventional wars, then an unconventional war between the British army and the American army in 1859 is very funny. Because the cause of the war is for a pig.
In 1846, Britain and the United States signed the Treaty of Oregon to settle the Oregon boundary dispute, which caused the United States and Britain to quarrel, and the dispute over the waterway boundary caused both sides to claim sovereignty over the San Juan Islands. The two sides looked at each other and did not give in to each other. In Da Meow's view, this is a "time bomb" that will detonate at any time. Sure enough, it was fulfilled on June 15, 1859. When American farmer Leman Carterley landed on the San Juan Islands and claimed to own the land under U.S. law, a large black pig broke into his estate and nibbled on potatoes that day, and in his anger, he took a shotgun and beat the pig to death.
Who would have thought that the Great Black Pig was not a wild boar, it belonged to the Irishman Charles Griffin. At the time, Catale offered to pay $10 in damages, but Griffin demanded $100. The two sides did not negotiate, so the British authorities arrested Catale. As a result, the conflict escalated, and both the American and British armies participated in the conflict and fought a war.
But what is surprising is that the British and American sides did not shoot and there were no casualties, in the eyes of Da Meow, that is, the "bare hands to fight a group fight" posture.
I have to say that this "pig war" is really very ridiculous, and it can be called the most ridiculous war in the world. Perhaps the two sides want to eat pork, and then it is not impossible to fight.