Should We Be Proud Of Britain’s Warmongering Past?

Should we be proud of Britain’s warmongering past?The nation of England started its empire when they conquered our little Welsh nation. Then following the death of Elizabeth I, the last of the Tudor monarchs to reign over England and Wales, the English and Scottish crowns were reunited under the Stuart Monarchy and thus Britain was born.

Over the course of the next few centuries the empire expanded so it became true that the sun never set on the British Empire. The British Royal Navy became the most powerful navy in the world. It is important to mention that Britain was not alone in building an empire, but due to the successive victories in the wars it fought it built up the largest empire the world has ever seen.

Britain may have been one of the first countries to declare slavery illegal, although British history will forever be tarnished by the fact that they built their early wealth on the backs of slaves from Africa. African people were forcibly taken from their homeland and made to work for white British people across the empire. They were forced to work on plantations where the labour was tough and the harsh discipline was even tougher.

The reason that Britain was able to achieve such success in land expansion was that it was an efficient military state. Britain surpassed its European rivals in its ability to raise money quickly and this then put Britain at a significant advantage as they had a capacity to wage war unlike any other nation.The Industrial revolution changed the world but it first started in Britain.

The industrial revolution made Britain, for a time, the workshop of the world. It could now produce products quickly and cheaply, the problem was that it needed new markets to sell British goods to. Many private individuals took it upon themselves to find new markets. The new markets then became colonies of the British Empire.

In Australia and New Zealand the native population were murdered and driven out of their homes to pave the way for British settlers. The most popular product that Britain exported was arguably sport; Cricket and Rugby are played globally today. However, due to the industrial revolution the British also exported lethal weapons used to conquer and expand British territory: Machines guns and artillery were exported and used to conquer more successfully.

The British Empire did not stand for freedom and democracy and a lesson can be taken from the American War of independence. The thirteen colonies in America were inhabited by British settlers and were a part of the British Empire. However, they felt it was unfair that they were being governed by a parliament in Britain where they had no representation.

The British Government also subjected them to a tax on tea that the Amercians thought was unfair. So they fought for and won their freedom from Britain. The USA would become a democracy before the British Empire. However, the USA excluded women from politics until the 20th century meaning that it wasn’t a true democratic country.

Britain needed a large number of soldiers to conquer and maintain their large empire. Britain fought many wars in the centuries it needed to forge its empire. The consequence of war is death. So the fact that Britain was responsible for a large number of wars indicates that they should then be responsible for the deaths that the wars created.Many have argued that the British Empire was good because it spread democracy and modernity.

If the Nazi party had won the Second World War and were successful in creating an empire then I’m sure similar arguments would have been made to praise their efforts for empire building.

Some people regard British history as something to be proud of. However, I have to wonder, should we really be proud because our country was efficient at state sponsored murder?