was the british empire a good thing?

Answer 1

Yes it was, it help keep the world at relative peace and was the most benign world superpower up to that time. I believe the British empire was lost because countries of the west forced them to renounce it.

Look at all of the former British colonies, they were far better off under the British than they are now. Most of them still blame the British but it has been sixty years, their whines and excuses just do not hold up anymore.

I am an American, I can see this clearly from the outside.

Answer 2

Depends-as a job creation scheme for the military and countless beaurocrats, it was very good.

For the rest of the world it was an absolute disaster on an almost unparalleled scale.

It was founded on a combination of greed and racism-The idea that these black people were incapable of running their own nations and needed white people to do it for them.

in reality, these white people were only interested in running it primarily for their own benefit.

The worst consequences however was when the empire inevitably crumbled. The state of countries across Africa and the rest of the third world is surely testament to what a failure the British empire was.

To the person who suggested that after 60 years they should have got over it by now- 60 years is a tiny amount of time in terms of the development of human cultures. Recovering from the effects of having their native cultures dismantled by the British and then what was put in it's place being removed too, will take a lot longer-just think about how long the Dark ages after the collapse of the roman empire lasted in Europe.

The French, Belgium, German etc. empires are similarly guilty.

Along similar lines, the US's empire building in Iraq is a worrying development.

edit; Brendan, that strikes me as an extremely woolly argument. the essence of which is 'it's all very complicated, so it's probably not our fault, and the empire was a good thing because we've "learnt from it' "

you do not address the morality of invading other people's country, dismantling their societys and then leaving a very badly thought out system in place.

Apparently though in your view the African's problems aren't anything to do with the empire; it's all their own fault.

I can't understand how you can suggest that the history of these countries over the previous few hundred years can have no bearing on their current situation. That's like saying the second world war has no bearing on the state of the UK today.

Answer 3

My parents were born into the Brit Empire. At school in SA we were taught it was an evil thing. The teaching was done by people who believed in apartheid & the fundamental weakness / stupidity of the blacks. Having spent some time researching the Empire at Uni , I can state that the Brits never shared this view of the people of their Empire.
The Empire gave much of the world its legal & philosophical systems. It was without doubt a 'good thing' as was the Roman before it. Civilisation owes you Brits (or at least your Great Granpapas) a major debt.
Whereas the 'US Empire' has only brought darkness to the world.
STOP FEELING GUILTY!

Answer 4

Most people will ignore this question and answer the question "was the british empire nice or nasty?" The answer to that question is, of course, complex. Given its size and power it had virtually immeasurable potential for damage (imagine if Nazi Germany had a similar empire) and by and large, with spectacular exceptions, did not fulfill this potential except in isolated areas, and brought peace, prosperity and justice as well as violence, povery and injustice, depending on where and when you look. But look at the language of its detractors: it was racist, imperialist, ethnocentric, greedy etc etc. Before the empire these things were meat and veg of international politics - everyone (including non-europeans) thought they were superior in some way, they all wanted to expand power over others and grab some of their wealth- these values were largely unquestioned. Only when one power had overwhelming success at meeting these ambitions did everyone else start to question those ambitions, citing morality but would loved to have had it themselves. And, over time, Britian modernised its values and did not, i believe, abuse its power to nearly the extent that any other people on earth would have at that period in time had they been in the same position.
Only by having a power in a position of international domination was the world able to question the values of international domination. Of course everyone still wants to dominate today but at least they pretend to believe in self determination, pluralism etc that are the result of the empire and its fall (nazism and communism also gave these values power and urgency in the west).
The British empire was a naive rather than malicious - it believed it was inherently more civilised and better governed and could bring those attributes to the world, whilst making a penny or two at the same time. That naivity (including the racism, ethnocentrism etc which were a product of a far more insular age rather than timeless values of Britain, Europe or white people in general) led to bad things, but we learnt from it and ajusted our values accordingly, (such as by abolishing slavery when it was still very much an accepted practice throughout the world, including black africa itself) - something many empires, nations, or communities are loath to do. I believe the empire was overall a good thing because we are wiser from it, and we are still learning the lessons as its consequences reverberate through time.
In addition, the idea that tribal Africa was somehow a peaceful utopia before those brits culturally disturbed them is a fantasy. Violence, ignorance, inequality, slavery are all present in pre-european africa, and persist in present day tribal africa, as well as (probably more than) urban westernised africa. The problems of africa today are not so much a result of the british empire but of the difficulty in reconciling the african desire for european standards of living and political freedoms with ingrained tribal attitudes and traditional values. The WTO, world bank, etc dont help either, mind.
Remember, Honk Kong is also ex-empire and is hugely successful for it. Empire can be got right, but when it goes wrong, it can go badly wrong.

Answer 5

The British Empire was the great power of it's time, however, in the ensuing years, governments have 'given away' our superiority and now all that is left is a joke.......

We can't even call foreigners bad names now without being arrested. Nope...sorry but the Empire is now an empty husk of political correctness gone mad...

Charlie

Answer 6

It was important in the political development of the world.
Although Britain done many things wrong in the name of the Empire we also done many things right. Even Karl Marx praised the fact that we laid the railway system across the Indian sub-continent.

Answer 7

Only if robbing others of their wealth is a good thing. The queen even has a robbed jewel in her crown!

Answer 8

Oh heavens yes it was. Look what has come from it. Australia, Canada, the United States just for starters.

Answer 9

For whom? It was very good for Britain.

Answer 10

nah uh