THE BRITISH EMPIRE
Epilogue
Plymstock History Department
EPILOGUE
Britain has always been a tiny group of
islands . . . tiny in size, that is, though
their effect on the rest of the world
has been enormous.
Remember these points?
Ever wonder why so many other countries around the
world speak English, drive on the left hand side on
the road, have the Union Jack in their own flags?
Ever wonder why our Queen is Queen of 27 other
countries?
Ever wonder why Britain gets involved in events all
over the world, sends her army & navy everywhere,
still owns little bits of land all over the planet?
Ever wonder why some countries in the world play
our sports like cricket and rugby whilst other do
not?
Ever wonder why so many of us have family living in
places such as Canada, Australia, South Africa?
Britain created an empire which
changed the world – and made herself
very rich in the process.
The trouble is, ‘great’ deeds like that
cost a lot – they cost a lot of pain and
suffering. The native peoples that the
Brits met were conquered, broken and
sometimes even wiped out. Whilst not
everyone in the conquering country
benefits.
If you had stopped a British conqueror
and asked, ‘Why are you doing this?’ he
(or she) might have said . . .
If you’d asked them ‘How are you doing
this?’ then honest empire-builders
would have had to answer . . .
Most
British
people
believed their country was
the . . .
We call this patriotism
The truth is that the only ‘free’ ones
were the white natives of the British
Isles (and even then life was usually
miserable unless you were wealthy as
you will have already studied).
The British Empire did help to get rid
of a lot of evils, like cannibalism and
human sacrifice – but it taught the
conquered
natives
other
things
instead, like how to love money and
how to massacre with machines.
Throughout
the
Twentieth
Century, especially after the
Second World War, the native
peoples were slowly given back
the lands that belonged to them.
Some fought and died for that
freedom – some were handed it
by the Brits, who started to see
how the world had changed.
Empires were no longer a grand
and glorious thing to have. This
was called DECOLONISATION
Since the Second World War, and
Hitler’s attempts to build an evil
empire, no one puts up with bullies any
more.
The British Empire is now dead but no
one can quite agree on just how good –
or bad – it was. Some Brits say . . .
But you could remind them . . .
Maybe you should ask the people
who had to put up with it how
much good the British Empire did
them!
On 15 August 1947 the Brits gave
back
India,
Pakistan
and
Bangladesh to the native people.
The British politician Winston
Churchill said . . .
100,000 whites ruling 300,000,000 Indians
What did the Indians think?
They
celebrated 15 August 1947 and freedom by
tearing down the statues of the British
Generals and the British rulers that the
Brits had erected over the past 200 years.
So was the British rule of India a good
thing for India and for the world?
Depends on who you ask! On your opinion.
So now at the end of the course,
how do you feel about the British
Empire?
Have you changed your mind? Do
you feel guilty? Still proud? A
little bit of both?
Final thoughts…..
Source A
Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) was unified under British
rule in 1815. Over the next 80 years the British
built, 2,300 miles of road and 2,900 miles of
railway. They raised the area used for farming
from 400,000acres to 3.2 million area, the farm
animals from 230,000 to 1.5 million, the post
offices from 4 to 250, the telegraph lines from 0
to 1600 miles, the schools from 170 to 2,900,
the hospitals from 0 to 65, the annual amount of
goods shipped abroad from 75,000 tons to 7
million
James Morris, ‘Pax Britannica’ 1970
Source B
In the colonies our science and technology had
improved standards of living and we were more
civilised in our values. The history of the British
Empire will be seen as a very good thing –
A retired schoolmaster from Yorkshire 1953
Source C
I hate the British for the wrong they have done India.
Their Parliament makes laws for us and their government
appoints a Viceroy to rule over us. The British are arrogant,
despising our brown skins. Worst of all, the British have
kept us poor. Our people work for slave wages in Britishowned cotton mills and on British-owned tea plantations Pandit Nehru, India's first Prime Minister 1947
The last word should lie with Nelson Mandela
recalling his schooldays in Natal, South Africa
during the 1920’s:
‘You must remember I was brought up in a British school,
and at the time Britain was the home of everything that
was best in the world. I have not discarded the influence
which Britain and British history and culture exercise on
us. We regarded it as the capital of the world and
visiting the place therefore had this excitement because
I was visiting the country that was my pride….You must
also remember that Britain is the home of
parliamentary democracy and, as people fighting against
tyranny we look upon Britain to take an active interest
and support in the fight against tyranny.
‘Few empires have equipped their subjects
with the intellectual wherewithal to overthrow
their rulers. None has been survived by so
much affection and moral respect’
Lawrence James – The rise & Fall of the British Empire
What do you think?