On June 20, 1837, Queen Victoria
took over the crown of England. 
Over the span of 64 years she 
would direct England's colonial 
expansion.  There would be only 
a few times in those years when 
England's soldiers would not be 
on campaign bringing 
civilization to the 
"unenlightened."

Being better armed and trained, 
losses were usually light for 
the British.  There would be 
times, however, that the English
soldiers would be faced with an 
enemy not afraid to die.

The wars fought were generally 
small in comparison to the wars 
of Europe and many times were 
nothing more than skirmishes.  
Many times, these small wars 
would develop into campaigns 
that in the end would add more 
territory to the British Empire,
such as the Zulu War of 1879.  
At times, the wars would be to 
put down rebellion in 
established colonies or, as 
the case of the Abyssinian 
Campaign of 1868, merely to 
avenge a real or perceived 
wrong.  Still were fought for 
nothing more than political 
reasons such as the two Afghan 
Wars and the Egyptian War of 
1882.

During most of this period, 
England's campaigns would be 
outside of Europe.  The 
exception to this was the 
Crimean War in 1854 - 55.  
These years would see England's 
soldiers in such diverse places 
as India, China, the North-West 
Frontier of India, Abyssinia, 
South Africa, and Egypt.  The 
English soldier was used to a 
European style of fighting - 
they would quickly learn the 
rules of war in Europe were 
quite different from the way 
that his new enemies would 
fight.  

He would learn that terrain 
could take a technologically 
inferior army, such as the 
Kaffirs in South Africa, and 
transform them into a difficult 
opponent.  The North-West 
frontier of India would also 
bring to light the difficulty 
of fighting a guerilla war with 
troops conditioned to fight 
rigidly when faced against an 
opponent that took full 
advantage of the terrain.

The way of winning also changed.
In Europe you won by bringing 
the most force to bear on the 
enemy, causing the greatest 
number of losses so as to 
reduce or eliminate the enemy's 
future ability to fight.  
Against an opponent for whom 
the loss of life meant little, 
the measure of how to win had 
to change.  

"In planning a war against an 
uncivilized nation who has 
perhaps no capital city, your 
first object should be the 
capture of whatever he prizes 
most," said English Lord 
Welsley, a key figure of the 
period.  "The destruction or 
deprivation (this) will 
probably bring the war most 
rapidly to a conclusion.  When 
the enemy could not be touched 
in his patriotism or his honor, 
he was touched through his 
pocket by carrying off his 
flocks and destroying his 
crops."

If there were to be a winner of 
the Age of Rifles, the United 
Kingdom would be it.  Through 
the use of technology, 
especially the rifle and its 
counterparts, the British army 
became one of the most efficient
forces the world has ever seen.
As the emergence of the machine 
gun and the emergence of new 
political and military powers 
began at the start of the 20th 
century, the twilight of the 
Age of Rifles heralded the end 
of the Empire on which the "Sun 
Never Sets."