The British Empire: The Good, Bad, and Ugly Details of The World's Largest Empire
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Rule Britannia…
Yo
🙄 British Empire 👉 was a world 🌍 biggest looters and thief 💥 💯 🙄 British Empire was a world 🌍 killer evil Empire 💥
🙄 British Empire 👉 was looting the Hindustan 😡😡😡😡😡😡 👉 Trillion's of dollars 💥💥💥💯
Not watching this! Shame on you. Brextits.
Unfortunately, I think Simon wasn't being clear when he stated that the "British Empire created the slave trade." I'm sure he meant that the British Empire started the Atlantic Slave Trade that led to slavery in the USA. No one who knows history could ever legitimately claim that slavery didn't exist before the British Empire as every major civilization (and some minor ones) engaged in slavery since antiquity.
Portugal and Spain were in on the Atlantic slave trade for there south American colonies before the northern parts of Europe got in on the business. Byt we just stepped ot up in scale and put are managerial know how into the trade to make more profit.
@@krtcampbell9007 Yeah, I read that after I posted, but I didn't have time to come back and edit my post.
They also don't like talking about how we started the "slave trade". It involved purchasing the slaves from Africans. The reason why no-one really gives a fuck about most of the negatives described in this video, like human suffering, is because it is part and parcel of history and the concept of a human civilisation. Yet people act like it's this demonic evil force that came out of nowhere and subjugated a fair a free society. It's hard to not roll my eyes at it.
Slavery is as old as written history. Unfortunately, it still exists today.
to be honest this video's was just simon shitting on the british empire in my opinion, half of what said in the video isn't even true he's a bloody lying revisionist.
Modern British: "Terribly sorry about the whole Empire business, awful stuff, terribly sorry"
Mongolians: *30 metre statue of Genghis Khan*
@@lu544 With God complex and probably biggest rapist and killer in history.
@@Anonymous-cm8jy im sure he was spinning in his grave when when you wrote that.
Never met a British person thats been sorry about anything the British have done. Quite the opposite actually
Apologies are cheap
@@mccombe25 people like you forget that the ruling British exploited and abused their own people long before and during the empire. our ancestors pain and suffering was the motivation for the empire
"The bad and the ugly, oh and something about infrastructure".
All the points are basically true, but this is such an amazing oversimplification. Empires are always complex. They generally combine extreme brutality with huge advances in technology and society. The British Empire effectively kick-started the modern world, for better and worse, and its cultural influence alone is a huge part of modern "western" thought.
Also some key points I would have included: the effect of the Napoleonic wars on basically clearing out the seas for Britain to ramp up colonialism, the immense shift that the end of slavery created in Europe and America, and the overwhelming importance of the industrial revolution.
What gets to me about the British Empire (Im British by the way) is that every major city from Glasgow to London were riddled with poverty. The biggest Empire huge and wealthy while it's people suffered
Ever been to the US? The wealthiest country ever and the levels of poverty across the US is shocking. You might not see it in Times Square, but you wouldn't have to go far.
All empires were like that. Look at the two remaining true empires , russias failing brutal one and the chinese ( tibet enslaved) one that is right now exterminating yughers.
That's because you're focusing only on urban centres, and in urban centres there's ALWAYS more people than jobs. It has nothing to do with how big the empire was. If you look instead at the people who had jobs, or better yet had businesses, or even those who worked the fields in the countryside, life in Britain was infinitely superior to life outside it, even though conditions and pay to us in the 21st century would still seem horrific. People around the world wanted British goods so factories which produced them had endless demand, therefore endless shifts for workers, workers who needed feeding by farmers who could provide food, who needed it transporting by people who ran transport businesses and so on and so on. The poor sods competing for work in the cities were the only ones out of luck, everybody else lived in far superior conditions compared to other countries
First of all poverty is everywhere. The level of poverty is different. Poverty in USA is wealthy compare to poverty I india
@@lewisbae1326 So is the cost of living in USA compared to India
An empire so big, a country celebrates its independence from Great Britain on average every seven days.
And now look at the state of the UK. Lmao, a fate well deserved.
@@moseyburns1614 It's better than 99% of countries today? Nothings happened. The UK today is much better than in the 19th and 18th centuries
@@moseyburns1614
yes the pariah of europe
@@ursodermatt8809 thats literally how the UK has rolled for about 700 years, hardly a change to the status quo
@@moseyburns1614 Jealous, eh?
Slavery is wrong and no one could defend its practice, but the British did not start it. Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Ottomans, etc all used slaves. Slavery has been practised by humans since the dawn of civilisation and perhaps before that. I will say that no nation can claim to be paragons of justice when it comes to history. We must research, debate, and learn from history so we do not repeat the mistakes of the past.
Not forgetting the Inca, Aztec & Mayans until the 16th century.
Also, the Japanese in the 19th & 20th Century.
And it's not as if we started the American slave trade either, that was the Dutch, iirc.
We were just more efficient at it, when we joined in.
There are countries in Africa who in recent years have formally apologized for the substantial role they played in the slave trade. Somehow, this is always forgotten when people talk about slavery.
Chattle Slavery, as practiced by the European empires in the age of exploration was substantially different than most historical forms of slavery, vastly wide spread, and still has measurable and direct impacts on people and communities still living today in multiple countries.
"the cool kids are doing it too" doesn't excuse the act of slavery. Just fucking own it. Let it marinade into acceptance, and do better for the future.
"And yes, everyone in the past was the worst" that was hilarious😂🤣
Simon's point about the French not supporting the second Iraq war is well met. I was one of the people who went along with the propaganda and fervor that lead us into that war, and derided the French for their opposition. Now I realize they were right, and I was wrong. Another reason to reject the idea of America as the World Police.
There wasn't WMDs the Iraq war was propaganda!
Better the USA than China. I won't even mention Russia,pretenders to top spot as they are, a nation with the 5th largest economy in Europe and even a smaller economy than Texas.
However someone has to maintain the peace...
@@angloirishcad well if anything it shouldn't be the nation who is the biggest exporter of weapons and has the most nuclear powered arms than any other nation in the world
good on you for admitting that. However I was deeply skeptical at the time though. Despite repeated claims of WMD nothing was actually shown on TV or anywhere else for that matter. I still believe that the US had to be seen to do something after 9/11 and we were obliged to go along with them, it's as simple as that. Saddam Hussein was no real threat to us and weapons inspector Dr David Kelly was silenced before he could talk.
Slight correction: we did not abolish slavery in 1807, we abolished the Atlantic Slave Trade - you were still allowed to keep slaves, just not ship them over the Atlantic. Slavery itself was abolished in 1833 in the British Empire as a whole.
EDIT: also, slavery within England and Wales was banned since the C12th.
Actually slavery was abolished in the 12th Century in England and Wales, which led to rullings regarding a need for postive law freeing slaves that had been brought to britain.
Another correction. Slavery was abolished in England and Wales by William the Conqueror.
😮
They ended all slave trading across oceans, not just the Atlantic, because that was all that was possible. Slavery was ended by the British, French and Americans around 1919. The only slave trades that continued after the British and French navies were the slave trade in China and north Africa/the middle East. With the fall of the Ottoman empire, and the collapse of Imperial China, slavery could be ended in the places the British and French could not previously get to as they were not capable of invading deep into the heartlands of continents (although they started to be able to do so in the 1890s with the scramble for Africa). The credit for ending the Chinese slave trade could go the Chinese Communist Party although in effect they just nationalised slave labour by giving themselves the monopoly on slave labour, such as with the slavery of the Uighers in Xinjiang concentration camps today.
Later they enslave indians
Sorry to be that guy, but the lost colony of Roanoke was in North Carolina, not South Carolina. Trust me, North Carolinians are way too proud of that fact (it is taught in 4th and 8th grade).
Youre correct Ive had the pleasure of visiting that exact island and site definitely North Carolina
Maybe it was really in South Carolina and that's why they've had so much trouble finding it? /s
@@INMATEofARKHAM nope, definitely in NC. The Croatoan tree was in Dare County, and the actual tribe lived near modern-day Cape Hatteras.
South Carolinian here. Yes, Roanoke was in NC, not SC.
Set foot in Downtown Charleston and you'd realize there's no need to live anywhere else.
Don't worry.
No one cares.
An extremely important point left out is the British method of "Divide and Conquer"
That's hardly uniquely British. It's the oldest play in the Empire Playbook.
Still prevalent to this day. Used by politicians and others with power.
Divide and Rule by the British is a myth.
Thank you for this excellent swift survey of the British Empire. I noticed you did not mention New Zealand (Aotearoa) which was last to be colonized by the British. It was conceived as the Britain of the South Pacific. Here, there was a treaty between the local Maori tribes (iwi) and no wholesale slaughter or famine, but there were the Land Wars of the 1860s. Reparations are still being made by the government to iwi to this day.
Well NZ was first colonised by New South Wales, as a sub-colony of it, then later NZ was transferred to Britain as a colony after NSW had sorted out the treaty, or most of it to be fair.
There was no wholesale slaughter and famine in any places of the empire. They would only go to war if provoked or to destroy evil like the enslaving ashanti etc.
@@dominicomucci3014people just like to blame us brits because it's easier than accountability.
The reasons we did things are never brought up, neither is the fact the entire world as it stands now was shaped by us.
@@seanlander9321 legally transferred to those who ran the who shebang. Sounds like an Australian mad they got bit on the ass by a spider today while taking a shit.
Magaprojects: Britain started the slave trade.
Portugal: Am I a joke to you?
A quick Wikipedia search says that Portugal started buying African slaves in 1444, and started sending them to Brazil in 1526. This doesn't excuse the British, just stating facts.
Let's not forget the Romans, Barbary Pirates or pretty much any large empire that needed cheap labour from it conquered enemies. Not an excuse for it yet not 100% the only slavers ever.
Careful hate facts will get you sent to the naughty bin.
Egyptians built their own tombs dont ya know.
Who did they buy those slaves from?
@@DarkZodiacZZ Mostly from the Mali empire, which Portugal already had trade relations with. Mali was the hub of west African slavery, and had been for centuries.
But the Transatlantic slave trade was particularly brutal, even by the standards of ancient times. The conditions for the crossing, combined with the treatment of the slaves (especially in sugar plantations) is on a level never seen before.
I think his point was that the empire was the largest single contributor to the slave trade, I think
19:23 "... it (British Empire) essentially started the slave trade." Within the British Empire, yes. However, to the shame of humanity across the globe, capture and trade in slaves LONG preceded the British Empire: eg δοῦλοι
, δοῦλαι in Ancient Greece, servī in Roman Empire, þrælar of the Vikings ... and let's not forget the Bible: Exodus 21:20-21 Leviticus 25:44-46 Ephesians 6:5-8 Colossians 3:22-24, 1 Timothy 6:1-2, Titus 2:9-10
@@TG-tl4uj Or a prisoner of the Barbary Pirates.
@@nedkelly4825 Islamic slave trade continues to this day but we aren't allowed to say anything bad about Muslims and my comment will probably be shadow banned by CZcams for saying it.
@@OriginalBongoliath Well said,
Was going to correct this twat also thanks for doing it for me.
@Present Tense "The slave trade" (also referred to as the "Atlantic slave trade", or "transatlantic slave trade", or the "Euro-American slave trade") in the context of European Colonialism, refers to the transatlantic trading patterns which were established as early as the mid-17th century. The British triangular trade in slaves, in which trading ships would
sail from Europe with manufactured goods to the west coast of Africa to be traded for slaves, the ship would then transport the slaves to the Americas or the Caribbean, before returning home with cargoes of sugar, rum, tobacco and other 'luxury' items, is the "The slave trade" in question here.
It is this Slave Trade that the British Empire controlled and "essentially started", which is being discussed; It is not about the slaves in Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire or the Bible (which were made up of predominately captured enemies) but the activity of exchanging goods for human beings and then buying, selling these people as chattels in a triangular trade route.
Britain lost its geographical Empire but gained its financial Empire in the City of London.
Is it still the real deal or did 2008 end it?
@@mrsentencename73342008 end it
Britain hasn't been the same since.
The square mile isn't a part of Britain. It is a separate sovereign state run by the Bank of England. Similar to the State of Colombia, Washington DC and the Vatican in Rome.
Very infromtive videos , keep up the good work
I love how the chaos of Business Blaze is gradually migrating to the other channels haha
Also, the red stripe at the bottom of the thumbnail almost made me think I'd already seen the video. Food for thought
*Brain Blaze
Gotta keep up with the updates
Same problem here with the red stripe I thought I already watched it almost skipped over
I HATE red bordered thumbnails for the exact same reason.
Same here with the red stripe lol
Seems Simon's sponsors are becoming more comfortable with him being himself instead of just a buttery smooth voice.
*british grenadiers starts playing in the background*
You are being civilized, please do not resist
Resistence is futile
the trees start singing yankee doodle
Where the British Empire planted flags, great civilizations followed. America, India, Australia, and Canada eh!
@@madrabbit9007 iraque,iran,Palestine, Egypt, Syria and so on..
@@luislealsantos yeah, there are many hell holes as well where civilization didn’t stick due to the locals wanting to live in the dark ages. Look at the mess we Americans have left in Afghanistan. I cry watching the hoards of people trying to flee the cavemen.
Simon, it's ridiculous that your writers claim that the British started slavery.... more than once.
"Throwing hand grenades into the comment section" must be one of the best lines I've heard on CZcams 😄
I dont think you can say England started slavery, it was used well before that
I don't think they can take credit for ending slavery in their own territory either. It's not an accident that both Acts of Parliament limiting or abolishing slavery (1807 & 1833) almost immediately followed large influxes of anti-slavery Irish MPs in the elections immediately following the 1800 act of union forced on Ireland and the 1829 Catholic Emancipation Act. The change in voting between earlier failed efforts to abolish slavery in the late 1700s almost exactly aligns with the addition of Irish MPs.
@@cros13 The addition of Irish MPs... and where were they added? That's right, to Britain. Thus, Britain abolished slavery. Let's not forget the huge role played by the RN!
Keep in mind that he doesn't say slavery, slavery had already been prominent in Europe if you go back to antiquity and it was still widespread throughout the world.
He specifically says the slave trade, referring to the Atlantic Slave Trade. He would also be wrong on this account since the Portuguese and Spanish had already been trading in slaves previously. However, neither country would be able to match Great Britian in absolute numbers, it wouldn't have gotten as far as it did without British (or French) participation and it is largely responsible for creating the racial divide in the US (Not continuing it).
As a small aside, I'm not trying to say that what other european countries wasn't bad, you're either in the slave trade and colonialism or you're not and what others did is just as morally wrong even if they weren't as good at doing it. You can even go farther and look at other european countries who would have done it if they could. The Danes, Sweedes, Austrians and Poles also tried to have colonies of their own at one point or another.
@@CamoHunt8 The Portuguese still actually transported more slaves.
I don't think he did, did he?
"History is history, good, bad, ugly and the shameful its still history." - Daryl Davis
Take your "logic" and get outta here. :P
@@Archangelm127 agreed
@@Archangelm127 elaborate
Daryl Davis is an amazing person.
@@Crimelord43 It's a joke expression, commenting on how the most logical arguments often seem to be dismissed the most quickly in the public discourse.
Spectacular objectivity. Nicely done.
Pronounces Grenada like it’s a 70’s car! 😂😂😂
Probably not a great idea to ever put a red border around a video as it looks like the indicator that shows it has already been watched.
😎the “already watched” line never stops me…Simon’s Channels are the first I ever enjoyed reruns of!!!
I don't have that. Nothing in my feed tells me I've seen a video. For what its worth, I've never needed anything to tell me I've seen one. Thumb nails are great for recollection.
@@ryateo1 I watch thousands of videos and could never remember all of the thumbnails. CZcams will only put a red line under the last 2000..a lot of times I’ve started watching a video only to realize 5 mins in I’ve seen it before
@@stdesy I wonder if its because I only use cheap phones without Google apps?
@@ryateo1 It’s probably that. I’m only ever on the opposite side with an iPhone but I do also see the red line on my PS5 and Roku CZcams apps
Enjoy these presentations immensely. FYI- The Roanoke Colony was in present day North Carolina, not South Carolina. Back then, then the whole area was known as Virginia. It was not until much later when Charles I partitioned the Virginia territory and named the new divisions after himself that the Carolinas came into existence. Earlier in 1624, King James revoked Virginia’s private charter and declared it a Royal Colony, the first official such designation in what was to become the British Empire. Also, Virginia remained loyal to the crown after the Regicide of Charles I,. When Charles II took the throne after the Cromwell’s Protectorate collapsed, Charles II declared Virginia the “Old Dominion,” a nickname which survives today.
To be fair, when you have an empire that large its only natural to forget where you placed a colony here and there.
Spaniards first pass by Virigina, not the genocidal Brits.
See also the video "Spanish Discovery of Hawaii 1555."
Jamey Cooked is overrated. Brits are overrated.
The British Empire wasn't the biggest. Stay tuned for my video proving it.
@BB49 YOu can ask the brown people in Perú who exist because the Spanish weren't genocidal, and those people are indoctrinated to be anti-Spanish, so you'll get the wrong answer from their mouths, but the right answer from their existence.
@@scintillam_dei Ask the so-called indigenous “Brown People” in Mexico or Peru today of their opinions on how Cortez, Pizzaro or the other Spanish Conquistadores really treated their conquered & subjugated peoples (Their ancestors) in most, if not all their Latin-American colonies?!! It might totally be an eyes, ears, & wholly mind-opening experience for you!!
@@trevorfuller1078 You're talking to a Central Amercian. Most people are taught to hate Spain from youth. They're ingorant and gullible, just like you. Most Native Americans in América don't even know their identity. Their ignorant opinions don't change a thing except to show the injustice of anti-Spanish lies.
Superb explanation - thank you.
Always enjoyable Simon.
Why do you keep saying the British started the slave trade? You need to do a little more research on that subject sir. I know you are very well versed in a lot of things, but you are completely wrong on that topic. The British did nothing more but step in and take advantage of a preexisting slave trade. They did not start it. I'm not British so I'm not trying to make excuses for anyone, I'm just pointing out the facts.
if you look at the comments below you will notice that 300 others have pointed that out already.
@@andip7480 That means that 301 people that have commented know the truth.
Is he that well versed?...really? Seems like over simplified click-bait to me.
This is true, slavery predates Britain existance, romans did it, carthagenians did it, babylonians did it, hell on the oldest law code the Hamurabi code there is punishments for killing another person slave
The slave trade and slavery are not the same thing. The British started modern slavery to the US as we know it
A point to remember when talking about claiming lands like Australia is: The policy of Terra Nullus was established by the Pope when the Spanish and Portuguese were busy claiming lands in the Americas back in the 16th century and was a major part of claiming the lands in North America. This policy was also very strongly supported by the US and Canadian governments with their expansion across North America as well as being a core aspect of the US Government policies behind the settling of the the lands west of the original colonies.
Also those already there in Australia had no concept of land ownership, so couldn't sell the land for beans.
@@grahamross6397 Not to mention that the first European who "Discovered" Australia was the Dutch explorer Willem Janszoon which makes Britain's claim to Australia even thinner (if that is possible when the aboriginals had lived there for 60 000 years).
But might makes right and the nation with the worlds largest Navy kinda did like they wanted back then, just like Spain did in the early 1500s.
Australia was a managed land , the natives had practiced burning the land since they arrived and they had structures just not in the Eurocentric view of civilisation
Makes me wonder if id be an American or even if id be alive as the same person if, after the USA divorced GB, the US govt hadnt expanded west and just stayed the original 13 colonies
@@angryatheist managed the land is an interesting way of putting it. There was an extinction event when they settled Australia, like everytime humanity found a new place to call home.
Humans are the most ridiculously over and powered animal this planet has ever produced and this shows in the fossil record.
Great summary at the end
Always got the remember to first judge history through the lense of what was normal back then and then judge history by the values of today.
I think at least a shout out to IP law could be one discreetly major thing that the British Empire spread across the globe. It was a huge component in tying together the last major incentives and protections in law that made the industrial revolution possible.
Ah, IP law. That was worth millions of deaths and decades of exploitation, wasn't it?
@@davidpalk5010 They never said it was.
@@rogersmith9535 . They suggested it was a positive, but we didn't spread it to China, the world's biggest manufacturing country, did we? No international IP laws in China today, which is why Taiwan does much of the top tech, as they've signed up to all major treaties. Did our empire take IP treaties to Taiwan? Nope.
@@davidpalk5010 Nom they traded with the British and other western Nations. And so had to comply.
@@davidpalk5010 You say "decades of exploitation". India's GDP grew while the British were there. You underestimate the benefits from British trade and investment and from industrialisation of India's economy. Under the British an increase in Indian population also occurred with an increase of GDP per capita. And "between 1860 and 1940 employment in factories increased from less than 100,000 to two million. The share of factories in industrial employment of British India increased from almost zero in 1850 to 11% in 1938, and in industrial income from 15% in 1900 to 45% in 1947...The growth is impressive by any standard". Source: Tirthankar Roy.
"British started the slave trade" utter bollocks.
We definitley ended it though
the transatlantic...
@@mcmarkmarkson7115 he didn't say transatlantic
Surely the Spanish began the Transatlantic slave trade moving slaves from Ceuta to the Caribbean replacing the poor Taino across the Atlantic Ocean. In a crossing motion. In a Transatlantic kind of way?
Not condoning Slavery, slavery is 'orrible but Britain was relative late comers to the party. We just did it an absolute shit load over a relatively short period. We were also the first major player to stop it and then started enforcing everyone else to submit to ship searches to make sure everyone else stopped it also.
An over simplification, the British empire was one of the primary and initiating proponents of the Atlantic slave trade though, that specific one. People do tend to think of this specific one when they hear the phrase ‘slave trade’, because it was probably the worst slaves were treated in history if only because there were so many people being treated like utter shit. In the ancient world there would of course have been slaves treated worse I imagine, but not on such a massive scale.
Very good Simon
Surely the most poignant aspect of the British Empire’s involvement in the slave trade was the abolishment of slavery and then the enforcement of this ban around the globe at the cost of much blood and treasure.
My biggest issue with this video is the phrasing of “British created slavery.” Or basically blaming “slavery” on the British. Shouldn’t be this sloppy with your wording. Saying “British Empire along with the Spanish Empire helped create the African transatlantic slave trade” would be better. Slavery existed long before the British Empire and still persists today. Hell it was also beneficial to those Africans who sold other Africans into slavery. This issue is much more complicated than most people pretend it is.
Sums up my argument perfectly, we were involved in the Slave Trade, but WE also stopped it ... on the 'balance sheet' of History, i think that it will show that finally abolishing Slavery is/was more important than being involved in it ... WE even provided reparations to Slave Owners to emancipate slaves, setting them free ... in 1832's money, it was £20 MILLION - in todays money, conservative estimates equate that £20 MILLION to anywhere between £10-20 BILLION - WE only FINISHED paying off that loan in 2014
Simon seems like the sort of smug bastard that is quite happy to live the life he does, where he does, with all the benefits of education, security, etc that come with that, whilst decrying the efforts that got us here. If he wants to feel sorry about anyone, it should be for the forgotten millions at home in Britain who toiled for centuries in poverty, to create the wherewithal that enabled the Empire to be established in the first place, but that never seems to worry such smug lefty gits. Question ?? Why do this kind of person always have beards ?? Seems to be a common trait amongst oppressors.
@@harrypotter4309 ...brilliant 👍
@@harrypotter4309 ... if it wasn't for Empire generating wealth, there would be no 'Services' to speak of, as on the whole 'Libtards' work in the Service Industries, so not generating wealth themselves, this is after they get their Media Studies degrees at Uni ... 🤣🤣🤣
@@brianhodgson9547 Absolutely spot on. I usually have a go at the universities (ever more left leaning since the 1920's) but I ran out of steam. Totally agree regarding their taking up of non jobs as I like to call them, and the media studies bit is so true. I was a witness to this nonsense grabbing hold in the education system in the early seventies, that and "liberal studies" which usually had in charge someone who was half our age, and knew nothing of the world except the information they had been indoctrinated with . We had much fun pulling them and their assertions apart. But it was difficult not to get angry with their smugness sometimes !! Happy Days !!
The British didn't start the slave trade, it had been going for a long time before the British Empire.
I agree black African tribesmen were selling rival tribesmen taken battle and raids to Dutch merchants long before Britain got involved but that gets ignored cos we apologize and the Dutch don't.
The British STOPPED it, but unfortunately many people of colour still indulge in it. Anyway the British were victims of slavery for many hundreds of years before Africans.
@@chalky7285 what? The Egyptians were doing it 5000 years ago. They didn't invent it either.
@@randomuser6306 I totally agree my friend it is a humanity problem and it will probably never end but can hope
Up until the British abolition of slavery, slavery has been practiced on every continent, by virtually all people. In no way, shape or form is it a "British" thing.
The British Empire, a chapter in history's scroll,
With stories of glory, and tales dark as coal.
A colossal dominion, it once held sway,
But was it a force for good, or led hearts astray?
The good, they say, brought progress and law,
Institutions and culture, without a flaw.
A global reach, a legacy grand,
But did this empire's reach truly expand?
The bad, though, lingers in memory's grip,
Exploitation and conquest, with power's whip.
Colonial oppression, the cost so high,
In the name of the empire, did justice truly lie?
The ugly, it's clear, was a stain profound,
Injustices committed, in many a land.
With exploitation rampant, and suffering untold,
The darker chapters of history unfold.
But let's not forget, it's a complex tale,
With heroes and villains, and ships' tattered sail.
The British Empire, a mixed legacy,
In its rise and its fall, what's the true decree?
In questioning history, we seek to unveil,
The lessons it holds, the truths that prevail.
The good, the bad, the ugly, they intertwine,
In the story of empire, a narrative's design.
one thing I would quite like to point out is there were those in the empire who both supported its existance, while at the same time being horrified by atrocities commited by it. there was a political group which heavily praised the existance of the dominions and their self governance while critiquing British policy in Africa and Asia for not extending the same self government.
A channel called Megaprojects spending only 20 minutes talking about the British Empire is peak irony.
Most definitely want to see a video of Simon trying to awkwardly smile his way through Mongol atrocities or weird Mongol related horse facts.
Yep. An Empire that made such an impact through murder and rape that they changed the actual carbon foot print of the the human race as it was then (millions killed in such a short period, as in a few years that the amount of wood/fuels at the time burned reduced drammaticly, and 1 in 200 men in the human race share DNA direct to the Khans!).
What, you think that the Mongols were unique in their atrocities. Britain, France, Belgium, Netherlands were all able to shovel their problems under the rug. Winners write the history books, especially when most of those books were written after World War 1, mostly by the aforementioned powers. The most recent example of great atrocities is the infamous Mao Zedong, who from 1949 to 1979 (30 years) may have had 50-75 million killed through his actions. Even Genghis Khan did not do that, we do not know how many people Genghis killed, all is heresy written by others.
Whataboutery
What the Mongol Empire did doesn't change what the British Empire did.
@@roisinmalone3015 Not whataboutery as this thread is asking about a videon about the Mongols...
@@roisinmalone3015 he’s not saying the British didn’t commit similar atrocities. He’s just saying he would like to see a video of Simon trying to smile through talking about it. Bring up another video idea isn’t shoving this under the rug
We Portuguese have a heavy guilt in slavery, that is for certain. But slavery is way older than the country. Before Portugal being a naval power, the peoples from north Africa raided the Portuguese coasts, mainly Algarve (in the south) and took the villagers to slavery. I would say that slavery was a common concept at the time, just as was war. Slavery was a profitable trade, it was not an act of evil at the time. Awful and a crime to our modern eyes, for sure.
Slavery was awful and evil in the Bible circa 1000 BC.
@@sentientflower7891 Sure, but that was irrelevant for many, such as the Moors that enslaved the Portuguese or later some greedy Portuguese nobles and merchants. At the time there were champions against slavery, such as a humanist Jesuit that is one of our 'national heroes'. This greedy mentality that drove empires is not so different nowadays. People accept that climate changes is a consequence of our behaviour. Do most of the big companies really care? I don't see that. They just pay (or make us pay) a 'climate tax' and clean their hands. Immediate profit cannot be stopped, even if it seriously damages future generations. That is not properly a Christian idea, in my opinion. Not to disagree with you, it is just to say that this is the way humanity has been.
@@a.ferreira9787 the ultimate climate change tax is the extinction of the human species. That bill is coming due. Soon. Jesus Christ isn't returning. Ever.
we still have slaves you know, we just don't call them slaves. we call them, NBA players.
Yup
Love to see more
i know you're committed to this youtube 20 minute format but i think this warrants more depth.
There allegedly is a saying "if you see two fish fighting in a river an Englishman must have just passed by"
The stupidest quote ever.
Hahaha so damn true
@@theinformationbomber7102 explain
The British Empire evil, oh, compared to what, compared to which other empires. Ridding the Indian sub continent of it’s actually evil empire? Ffs get real.
@@drstrangelove4998 yes the British empire was evil.
The British weren’t the first to start the slave trade, slavery has existed since the beginning of man kind. Many civilisations such as the Greeks, Egyptians and Persians exploited slavery. I suggest you look into the Arab slave trade as it often gets overlooked compared to the Atlantic slave trade which gets far more attention.
I think the Portuguese were the first to be shipping from Africa. Maybe we was the first to do it on an industrial scale, as we'd just invented industry.
@@funster73mcr2 There was more shipped to Brazil. It's just America is the world's most powerful country and emphasising carefully chosen narratives works in favour of competing interests.
wasn't even that bad, the alternative was starving in many cases, or just being wiped out as was the case with ancient tribal warfare.
The British Empire put an end to slavery in the west though.
@@vinaynk erm, no.
15:44
German Empire: "Am i a Joke to you?!"
I acknowledge that its hard to fit in everything in a 20 minute video but I think that Ireland and Britains relationship was somewhat glossed over. It was only as recent as 1972 that that British soldiers committed Bloody Sunday in Derry. The atrocities of the empire can not be written off as a thing of the ancient past
Sad UK has found another way to mess with the irish.send immgrant. And put money in the pockets of Irish leaders to close there eye's. Ireland don't want those immgarts😢
So when are we going to see a mega projects about Simon and his youtube empire??
Underrated comment
Minor correction: the remains of Roanoke Colony is in modern North Carolina. Not South Carolina.
I go to Duck 3 or 4x's a year.
Was just there two weeks ago, it’s definitely in the OBX, not South Carolina
Grew up near there. It is NC.
It's also not Great Britain's first overseas colony. That would be St John's Newfoundland, granted Royal Charter in 1583 after being a fishing outpost since 1497
@@Uncommoner However it was only seasonal and not permanent until 1610, 3 years after Jamestown was settled as the first PERMANENT English settlement in the new world.
Of the 20 minute video 15 minutes is slavery, colonialism, and war. 2 minutes discussing health care and infrastructure. 3 minutes of ads. There I just saved you 10 minutes!
You mentioned the pandyan empire, good stuff
Dare I say the British Empire was the largest Megaproject in human history.
AND GREATEST
Make the British empire great again!
#MTBEGA
@@noworriesnoproblems6382 American Empire beat your British Empire, heck, the US doesn't even call it an empire. Get rekt mate, the metropole of the previous empire is now their bish. Britannia rules the its part of the waves for the US.
@@BallyBoy95 Can you write that again do its readable? I'll take it you said Britain is the best. TA LA!
@@noworriesnoproblems6382 Can I write it again do its readable? I'll take it you said Britain is the best at taking in immigrants as is your responsible.
“History can be a dark place to delve into, but not looking back and examining closely is usually even worse.” Well put megaprojects, well put.
The worst thing you can do with history is to take the wrong lessons from it. Today many liberals are seeking revenge against the British empire by being...racist to Whites...
I remember telling my late grandpa I was going to study engineering... His response. With a straight face "but where will you find a white person to work in their *company* " i was permanently impacted by that statement.
It's just a "norm" to him and society, even after independence. that you "can't exist or live" without working for the BSAP(British South Africa Company's private police force of ober 10 000, which he worked for) or another white owned company. Hearing about BEIC i realised colonialism wasn't even a military undertaking primarily but a corporate one. With growing (and eventually big) companies just like today's Amazon paying locals to fight each other. Eventually the government would "assume control" from the multinational.
45 trillion 🥺
Bro you are absolutely right it was indian who beated indian it was indian who killed indians when they were protesting just for money and power it was never about white black brown it was all about power they just spread the propaganda of white black so people will keep fighting each other they make fortunes and rule them we are still slave this is modern day slavery people won’t notice it because they are to busy fighting each other or watching Netflix or doing some other shit like war in ukraine dividing people etc it is all just same shit you have to pay money to government can’t say a thing against them or they will block you off social media they control news, social media everything just making us feel we are free but we aren’t.
Interesting that all colonial empires used the internal conflicts to rule
"Apparently here at Mega Projects, we like throwing hand grenades into the comments section." BEST LINE ON THE VIDEO. Had me laughing for a good minute. Thanks for making me spray my table with coffee.
And France should be happy they don't speak German after they dropped so many rifles in 2 world wars.
"and yes everyone, the past was the worst"
Possibly the future: Hey hold my beer!
Hello from a worse future.
The British role in the slave trade pales in comparison to the Islamic role in the slave trade.
@0:40 whenever you use that SFX, it always feels like I got a notification from another app
The amount of power the ussr was able to exert over its people to enact the 13 different 5 year plans was astonishing, we would love to hear the other 12
I am hoping they will do it. Simon said that they were thinking about doing the rest but the first video didn’t do that well.
@@matthewdopler8997 yeah I know thats why I keep commenting here and the side projects channel hoping he'll see it a realize many of us want them
Yes, we've had first Five Year Plan, but what about second Five Year Plan?
@@SkuLLetjaH there's 12 others
It's actually pretty simple: Every Soviet Citizen was given a stipend of vodka. Even when bread lines extended for miles and toilet paper was as rare as gold-pressed latinum, the USSR managed to keep the vodka flowing as if the supply was inexhaustible. THAT is a megaproject if evvrr thhrr wwss 1! 🥃🥴👌
Perfectly synchronised with Overly sarcastic production's channel
As all things should be...
I was wondering about that, is it a British holiday or something?
@@lejibus not that I know of; school year starts 4th September, then nothing else till Explodey Day on 5th November.
@@williamchamberlain2263 I love that. Explodey Day. Fabulous.
I too came to see this video because of Blue's recent one hehe
Britain stopped slavery on the main land in 1807 but they still had slavery in there Caribbean colony’s🔥
Britain certainly did not start the slave trade by any account. It was an industry already ongoing within africa, with customers in the middle East already who castrated slaves on the way. The first europeans to enter the market was the Portuguese. Britain came a lot later. So no britain did not start it. They definitely ended it for themselves and everyone else, but were not the pioneers.
I love seeing the older videos and seeing how much Simon's beard has grown.
The British Empire abolished Slavery and ended the slave trade. Worth praise in my humble opinion.
They did nothing during the famine in Ireland at the same time , but they did force ireland to export enough food to feed the population to Britain
@@daithideburca98 True.
@@daithideburca98 ye, one of the empires greatest mistakes. Sending more food aid could have saved many lives
Australia was also the target destination for unionists and other reformists, not just convicts.
Whenever think of how an empire could possibly control the entire world, I look at the British Empire as an example. The amount of people, supplies, and Navy size to be everywhere at once. I watched your video on the U.S. Military’s logistics and even when we have territories and states, we are no where near the size of the British Empire at its height even if we have military bases pretty much every where.
El imperio británico nunca pudo con una potencia de su nivel, solo sometió pueblos débiles y territorios invitados, además de ser el imperio más genocida de la historia
I’m pretty certain that just Britain today is richer than the whole British empire, everyone is richer. The USA is way more powerful than the British empire ever was, and I’m proud of our brothers across the pond taking the helm.
@@mrsentencename7334 el timón de genocidas
@@tercomada You criticise the British empire using the standards the legacy of the British empire set and the values it left behind. Think about what you're saying
Podría darte una lista de todos los tratados que rompió, traición de aliados, genocidio contra su propio pueblo, genocidio a pueblos externos, persecución religiosa, narcotráfico (opio en china, asta hicieron dos guerras porque no les dejaban hacer contrabando), y sin mencionar tratas aztuales que por ejemplo reino unido debía devolver el peñón de Gibraltar hace más de 100 años @@mrsentencename7334
Not one mention of Canada, taken by conquest from France and the largest colony by far in its day. Having lost what was then called British North America, perhaps Louis XIV said it best: "It was just a few acres of snow." 🙂
So...?
Dof.not France +.England both invade
indigenous 1st Nations?
Louis XIV died in 1715, well before the Treaty of Paris. New France was not the largest colony in 1759, it was the Portuguese colony of Brazil.
..
Jesus Christ is the only hope in this world no other gods will lead you to heaven
There is no security or hope with out Jesus Christ in this world come and repent of all sins today
Today is the day of salvation come to the loving savior Today repent and do not go to hell
Come to Jesus Christ today
Jesus Christ is only way to heaven
Repent and follow him today seek his heart Jesus Christ can fill the emptiness he can fill the void
Heaven and hell is real cone to the loving savior today
Today is the day of salvation tomorrow might be to late come to the loving savior today
Holy Spirit Can give you peace guidance and purpose and the Lord will
John 3:16-21
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Mark 1.15
15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Hebrews 11:6
6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Jesus
It was Voltaire said of Canada " it was just a few acres of snow" and Louis XIV died long before the Treaty of Paris gave New France to Britain. You really need to get your history straight. Although not mentioning Canada is a true oversight.
As an Irishman, I can list a lot of British atrocities against us alone that would mark them as evil, however a clear bias was shown in this video against Britain, you mainly talked about the bad and evil things they did while quickly glossing over and not even mentioning some good and great things they did. If you're going to try to make an unbiased video, at least make it equal and present it from a neutral view
I totally agree. Even though the British Empire conducted atrocities against my Irish ancestors, we cannot ignore the good it did throughout the world. The banning of slavery in our domains and then strong-arming other nations and empires to follow suit (blockading of Brazil). Also the eradication of barbaric practices in some regions which has ended up saving millions of lives.
The banning of Sati (a hindu ritual burning of widows on the funeral pyre along with their husbands) which was enforced with the threat of hanging. After the ban, Balochi priests in the Sindh region complained to the British Governor, Charles Napier about what they claimed was a meddlement in a sacred custom of their nation. Napier replied:
"Be it so. This burning of widows is your custom; prepare the funeral pile. But my nation has also a custom. When men burn women alive we hang them, and confiscate all their property. My carpenters shall therefore erect gibbets on which to hang all concerned when the widow is consumed. Let us all act according to national customs!"
@LemonCasino That's demonstrably untrue. You can definitely argue that in a balance of good vs bad the scales are weighted towards the bad though.
What do you mean a neutral view? What about an OBJECTIVE view. Not everything deserves neutrality.
Nothing good happened
@@5ryans please explain all the good
Qualityful video ,
Well done.
Can we all please agree that slavery predates history and wasn't a creation of the British Empire?
Of course Brits didn’t invented it but they just used it to build their empire for centuries
They didn’t invent it they just excelled it
Defo. Portugal was a lot more prolific at it too.
@@anoopkl4u Yes! The same as the the Mogul empire in India (and those before it), Egyptians, Chin Dynasty, Islamic states (espescially in Afirca where it was bigger and lasted longer than the Atlantic slave trade) etc... Infact every civilisation ever........ they also excelled at it.
@@anoopkl4u the Portuguese and Dutch were the experts on that that's leftist distortion of history
Agreed
One thing you can hand to the Brits is their willingness to openly discuss the evils committed in the name of empire. Would that other countries could do the same... looking at you, Japan.
I'm not sure if that's entirely true. There are some examples of the British starting to face up to their past but it's slow and patchy. There is no formal mention in school curriculums and the current government is trying to ban the national trusts from mentioning links to slavery attached to historic buildings. The conversations are just starting but not in full swing.
They were visited by the fat man and his little boy. Arguably more than enough payment long term
@@twofortyrida It's not a matter of payment. It's a matter of recognizing that their grandfathers and great-grandfathers committed some unspeakable crimes. Japan does not recognize historical events such as the rape of Nanking, medical and chemical experimentation conducted on Chinese citizens, the plight of Korean and Dutch comfort women. Young Japanese grow up believing that their country was an innocent victim of World War II which culminated in unprovoked atomic attacks.
@@wtorules4743 Do you have any evidence of that?
@@wtorules4743 slavery gets taught in secondary schools lol
As horrible as it was, the British didn't start slavery as the video says, those are the facts
You forgot to mention that William of Normandy colonised Ireland in 1066. My ancestors did well out of it.
Too many people today don't understand that anyone can be, and every country has at one time or another been both remarkably good, and unimaginably bad. Everything has to be absolute nowadays, there's no room for disagreement and discussion, and that is insanity, and it's dangerous.
Yeah, but slavery was far worse to their own people in each country that had factories. Those conditions now have been civilized, so no one really suffers any of this.
You’re right. Nothing is completely black or white and thinking in extremes can lead to dangerous path
Huh saying this because they are talking about Britain which is pride for most of you westners😂😂
It's also however a whataboutism... Everyone else did it so that's OK yeah?
The thing is, that if you actually have a conscience, and try to better yourself, which western societies in general do, unlike less developed societies, you will be called out, for exposing yourself. Even though other countries and cultures have done the exact same thing, sometimes much worse, they are not called out for it, and they are sure as hell not going to admit to ANYTHING. And that is essentially, why they are not able to better themselves and create better societies for their people.
if their inferior minds, you are exposing yourself. In a western context it's sometimes good to sometimes admit mistakes, so that there is a chance for you to better yourself.
Thank you so much for covering the true history of your home country with honesty. There is a good and bad to all things. History is always teaching.
I'm not entirely sure that this is entirely honest. Parts of this feel as though he's just saying what will get the approval of CZcams.
I'm gonna spend the next hour or two reading.
The greatest, best empire ever.
How
@@nishant7645 pick up a history book
If there is at least one good thing the British Empire did it was to outlaw barbaric local traditions such as Sati, where a widow sacrifices herself by sitting atop her deceased husband's funeral pyre in India.
The Portuguese started the trans-Atlantic triangle slave trade, then the Spanish, then the Dutch, then the English and the French later. As for all the slaughter, bondage and slavery (initially) in the British Empire (and it wasn't British until 1707), it's like what John Cleese's character said in the Life of Brian; "what did the Romans do for us?"
The slave trade itself was started by the muslim arabs in the 7th century after they *Invaded* *Occupied* *Colonized* North Africa , they converted the berbers and then the Othoman Turks came , all these 3 muslim groups established History's *Largest* and *Longest* slavetrade (7th to 20th century) , they enslaved millions of Black africans and millions of Europeans (they raided european coasts and ships) .... when Europe finaly broke out of the islamic siege in the 16th century they became Clients of the islamic SlaveTrade ,they bought slaves from the muslims , even many Pagan African tribes became SlaveTraders and raided neighboring tribes to sell them to both muslims and europeans
When the Roman empire left Britain, it turned into the dark ages
As a Brit I don’t find it hard to see the past of my ancestors because it’s the past and it was very different times. All we can do is use the past as a lesson and not make the same mistakes ago
Yep. The Bible is very clear, that we are not held accountable, responsible, or guilty for the sins of our ancestors. Anyone who believes in god believes in this.
@@robfer5370 Isn't one of the central ideas of Christianity that EVERYONE is held accountable/ responsible for a fruit-related transgression of an ancestor in the Garden of Eden?
@@NJards-zt4fp * Deity class beings may apply exceptions unilaterally. Deal with it, mortals
Actually u can't make those mistakes again
“not make the same mistakes” then get tf out of Ireland
Thank you for including the Irish plantations in your summary.
The British Commonwealth?…… I’d run the other way.
That last line about looking back at history for all the things we have done is gold.
there is no "we" however unless you're attributing generational, blood based collective responsibility. If people are collectively responsible for slavery, they are also collectively responsible for the modern world and all its luxuries.
So, are you sure "we" want to go down this road?
The British empire still exists
@@iseeundeadpeople9 In your head
@@Mute040404 It's called the Commonwealth.
“The bow and arrow was once the pinnacle of weapons technology. It allowed the great Ghengis Khan to rule from the Pacific, to Ukraine. An empire twice the size of Alexander the Great’s. And four times the size of the Roman Empire.”
- Raza Hamidmi al-Wazar
The great Genghis Khan.? The man was a murderer and rapist on an unimaginable scale. He should be spoken in the same breath as Hitler in my book. But that's just my view.
13:13 Yeah, it did.
"POW!! Right in the kisser!"
Lmfao
Thanks!
A few things you did not mention, and perhaps should have done:
The actual enslavement in Africa was mostly by one African tribe enslaving another and selling the slaves to traders from other countries;
The slave trade in Britain was private enterprise and not state enterprise;
After we changed our mind about slavery, we actively set about ending the global slave trade.
The Royal Navy was ordered to intercept slave ships of other nations and turn them back to Africa. In this, the Navy returned about 150,000 Africans to Africa.
Wikipedia has a good article on the topic.
You say that you tried to be balanced but there were far more negative aspects you went into detail with and simply glossed over anything positive. Also the British Empire did not start slavery, that is just false and you are a fool if you believe that.
Toke to the 19th minute to say anything positive, and that lasted 30 seconds
I think he said the slave trade. Slavery has been around for eons up to today, and will be here tomorrow but he means the British started the business of the slave trade across the Atlantic to the Americas and Caribbean.
@@Catkilledmeowbob Actually it was the Portuguese in 1526 who started the Atlantic Slave Trade. The British were not even the largest, that was also the Portuguese. It was also the British who eventually stopped the trade all together and forced the other nations to comply. Always do your own research.
@@Denazon you’re right, it was the Portuguese. Not sure what source he was drawing his info from. I gave him the benefit of the doubt. I thought your argument was based on the “act of enslaving people” which has been around since human civilization, not the slave trade which was also an incorrect assertion that it was started by the British Empire.
@@Denazon Yeah, it was the Portugese and Spanish who started the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, with the Portugese having the largest numbers overall - and both those countries did it for the longest period around 1500-1875. Britain was particularly bad in the 1700's, but before 1650 there was very little by comparison, and between 1807 and 1833 it was hugely reduced and then banned by Britain.
The video could have run significantly longer if we delved into the specifics like Cromwells genocide in Eire, the famine, the coffin ships to america, prison ships to the penal colonys, partitioning, pain and trauma that will take decades to reconcile..but the video is in the right direction and I appreciate how difficult it is to cover this topic
Haughey finished slavery in ireland in 1990 .. i know my mother was classified as one and couldnt own a say in our farm ... AND HER BIRTH FAMILY AND DADS THE OLDEST NATIVE ONES IN CONNOCHT .. THE black and tans were the first swatzika wearing lorries in the world ! the tax gathered always went to london and fitzgerald was worse than maggie and thats saying something but true .
Irish historians have brought into doubt the shrill claims of genocide.
the British did NOT start the Slave, that’s the daftest sentence that Simon has ever read from his script. !
this video needs to be redone using a better source of information which is freely available.
I find it an interesting comment on nature of bureaucracy is that, as the empire disintegrated post WWII, the Colonial Office was expanding at a ridiculous rate.
The birth of the Overseas Development industry
They were busy with operation Legacy, destroying any materials showing atrocities committed by the British in occupied nations.
Natives: But this is our land!
British: Yes, but do you have a flag?...
I believe they did not have a flag. Viva Espana
H. G. Wells book was a allegory of how the Brittish had considered the Australian aborigines being considered too primitive
You should have contextualised the slave trade segment. Britain did play a role, but it neither created the slave trade, neither was it the first to take slaves across the atlantic. All major powers of the time were invested in the slave trade, and the trade was done with the full participation of the African states that benefitted greatly from it.
I have no issue with confronting dark points of our past. The issue I have is when it is not put in a wider context of the time. Slave trading British were no better or worse than the states and cultures that existed at the time or came before.
In comparison to other empires the British slave trade was short lived
The biggest problem for the history of the British Empire, are the self flagelating Britons who for some reason get a big kick from blaming themselves and the rest of the British (English) people of this century!
It was one of the last European powers to take slaves across the Atlantic. Whilst it wasn't unique in being involved it was unique in the resources and efforts it expended to abolish slavery, globally. Half the world stopped slaving because of the British empire.
They didn't stop anti slaving patrols off East Africa till the 1970's.
He doesn't claim Britain created it. He says they were involved in it.
@@spiritualanarchist8162 wasn’t nearly every country in their turn.
I’ve seen a lot of videos in recent years, a lot of books, and heard a lot of talk, making this tentative sort of “hey guys, the British empire did bad things, you know?” arguments.
What I’ve noticed many people seem to not take away from this is that the message isn’t, or shouldn’t, be that living British people, or the country itself, should be made to feel accountable for things done by people who are long dead.
What we need to take away from this history, and indeed the history of every other empire, is that empire is a dangerous and brutal phenomenon which should be avoided. That’s the lesson for the future, not pointing blame at people for their past.
For at the end of the day, which country on Earth can claim to have a blameless past?
iceland and greeenland
@@0fficialdregs Okay, with the exception of the moral paragons of Iceland and Greenland, which OTHER country can lay claim to being blameless?
@@0fficialdregs geeenland, founded by a Viking colonialist fleeing a murder conviction. Iceland, partially responsible for the 2007 financial collapse 🤣
Well said, we should recognise the bad things in our past and seek to avoid repeating them but we should not feel guilt for actions performed before we were born. I doubt that the Italians feel remorse for the actions of the Roman Empire, the same can be said of the Scandinavians, Persians and mongols
@@Mike-jz3oo it's Greenland. don't try to come at me with that bullshit if you cannot spell. smh 🤡🤡🤡🤡
Is it possible that the fact that many Indians that now weak English, has enabled India to be able to be a power now
Completely glossed over what happened in Ireland and did up until recent years