The British Empire fall!?

Question

England used to be one of the most powerful countries in the world. It was actually called the british empire. We used to own america. So how come we are now so small and own less?

Answer 1

Every empire fall.....
Crete
Babylon
Persia
Egipt
Cartage
Rome
Germany
Spain
Britain
China
Rusia
and coming soon

will see fall USA, yes!!!

Answer 2

Of all the empires in history Britain is unique in that it gave most of its empire away. Admittedly the United States fought for and won independence but they were an exception. the rest of the empire, including Canada, Australia, India, and numerous African countries, became independent without the need to go to war.

Contrary to popular perception, empires are very expensive to run. Although the cost of running an individual country can be offset from trade, overall the empire cost Britain a huge amount of money over the centuries especially insofar as armies had to be kept there, supplied, re-equipped, etc.

Allowing independence and creating the British Commonwealth has proved to be a much better system for all concerned. There are still a few small nations such as Gibraltar and some of the smaller islands such as Tristan da Cunha which remain colonies, but they do so by their own choice as they cannot afford to pay for their own bureaucracy, education systems, social benefits, or security.

So the British empire didn't really fall. And although it is not what it used to be, it still has a reputation that keeps it among the most important countries on the world stage.

Answer 3

The British Empire basically yielded to a rising tide of nationalism that started at the beginning of the 1900s and gathered steam after World War II. It was pretty obvious that even had Britain wanted to, there was no way it could enforce Empire control over any colony that wanted independence, particularly after having been bled so badly by World War II. So they tried to evolve the British Empire into the British Commonwealth, with varying degrees of success. In my opinion, there are a lot of countries in the world that would be far better off had they remained British Colonies....

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Answer 4

The dissolution of the British Empire was no loss to the majority of the United Kingdom people. True, fortunes were made by the small minority of "Empire builders" but little of that wealth ever filtered down to benefit the relatively poverty-stricken back home here. However, when it came to taking and defending the countries of the Empire the British soldier and sailor, for a pittance, did the job in the name of the respective Queen or King.

When I was a young lad we all very proudly celebrated Empire Day each year, which helped to prime us, without question, for overseas postings in WW2 to defend parts of the Empire. On the troopship to Bombay we never questioned the moral or patriotic validity of defending the Empire in the Far East, whilst the threat to our own country and its people was unrelated to the Far East. It couldn't happen today, even though we now have a chunk of the old Empire people here in our midst.

We are now members of a European Union, thank Goodness. We are part of that people's Empire.

Answer 5

The British Empire didn't so much fall as drift apart. How did this happen?

Two things, the center of the empire - the UK, was weakened by the destruction and costs of the two World Wars, accompanying loss of human capital, subsequent "brain drain," and adjusting its previously protected economy to international trade.

Secondly, the various parts of the empire came into their own, or thought they did - the result was the same for both - a push for self-government and independence. The settler colonies - Canada, Australia, New Zealand, S. Africa - were successful politically and economically, and steps towards their independence were natural; especially since they helped fight two world wars for Eastern European nations' independence. Then there's India and Gandhi. Other colonies followed their lead. In some places, like Kenya, the movement for independence was marked with violence. In other places, independence was followed by violence, like Nigeria. Self-determination was the political rave, and was encouraged by the UN and by the USA, which was increasing its role on the international market. Dissolution of the British Empire meant better trading options for the USA, as well as other nations, since British protective measures would no longer be in place. (Incidentally, this was a concern of Germany that factored into WWI.)

Now it is significant to remember that not all colonies were profitable for Britain to maintain, whether the colonies agitated for independence or not. Likewise, not all Britain's Empire chose to leave.

Finally, the vestiges of the British Empire are still very much with us. The legacy of the British Empire in no small way anticipated and prepared the way for American suzerainty, particularly on the economic level. Perhaps in some ways, the British Empire is stronger in terms of cultural affinities than it was before. And as other international coalitions fail to garner results, like the AU or UN for example, perhaps the Commonwealth nations will look to each other for a revival of their former close-knit ties.

Answer 6

Every empire falls. But, no other empire as the british empire will ever be as global or on such large scale, we were the most powerful, not one of. The last empire it was.
America is now leadng super power, but by no means an empire as it would just not happen. Their crown will be taken by china in the near future, and rising from the ashes of third world status will be africa to take on a lead role.
However china will more than likely be the last super power. Africas role will be of a different lead capacity.

Answer 7

british empire fall

Answer 8

Every empire falls! One day America will fall too. Accept it will probably be WAYY worse than Britain's fall!! I think Britain did the right thing by giving back most of the land they conquered! If they hadn't given it back then sooner or later the people of those countries would have taken it back!

Answer 9

If an empire was so wrong for Hitler what makes you think it was right for us?

The empire was held together by military force and intimidation. Britain STOLE raw materials from the empire, brought them here, made them into manufactured goods and re-exported them to the dominions, compounding their poverty.

Thankfully, most sensible people see that the empire was not a good thing. We can not claim to have "owned" India. Indians own India. We didn't "own" America either, at least that's not how the Americans saw it!

Answer 10

The freedom of the countries over which the British Empire once ruled was not cheaply bought, but paid for with the blood of young men who willingly gave up their lives so that their rights, and the rights of their children would no longer be denied them.