The British Empire saw peaks and troughs of violence. The early Edwardian period, from 1901 to 1905, was one of the peaks. During the first five years of the reign of Edward VII about three dozen colonial conflicts were reported in The Times, while many more went unreported. From East Asia to the Middle East, Africa to the Caribbean, the British tightened their grip on their colonies and crushed the resistance of indigenous peoples. By the middle of the decade, the Empire was a splatter of blood across the map of the world.