Did the British Army burn any capitals other than Washington?

Upvote:2

In the 38 minute Zanzibar war, the British destroyed the Sultan's palace. Does that count?

Upvote:3

In 1897, Benin city, capital of the kingdom of Benin, was burned and looted. Noticeably, the palace was among the torched and looted buildings, with the removal of the Benin Bronzes. The global amount of destruction was way larger than that of the burning of Washington.

Upvote:11

In 1860, during the Second Opium War with Qing China, combined British and French forces, under British direction, looted and burnt the Old Summer Palace. This was done in retaliation for the killing and torturing of envoys sent for negotiations.

The Old Summer Palace (a.k.a. Yuan Ming Yuan) is a large palace complex situated 8km from the Forbidden Palace (the "center" of Beijing) and was used by emperors to conduct affairs. Being a "public" building complex very close to the capital city, its intentional burning fits the question's criteria, although it takes place almost 50 years later.

Upvote:11

Yes. Only five years previous, in 1807, the British fleet burned down Copenhagen.

This was a huge loss to civilization because previously to that the King of Denmark had ordered that all the old viking manuscripts in the country be collected together and brought to the capital. So, this huge wealth of history and genealogy was destroyed.

Upvote:12

The English army, arguably the predecessor of the British, burned Edinburgh in 1544 during the War of Rough Wooing. They failed to capture the castle, though, which was defended.

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