The Student Room Group

The British Empire - was it worth it?

Scroll to see replies

Original post by Retired_Messiah
he British Empire was bad then as it forced everybody to drink tea and now there's a huge social pressure on me to start drinking it even tho the taste is bland af

I'm gettin to the real issues here.


Preach it.
Original post by similarBlank
In terms of for Britain, ultimately, no. Look at where it got us now. We act like it didn't happen because, for some reason, people seem to be ashamed of it for some reason and the world treats us like we're just a worthless country despite we practically built up the superpowers of the modern world.

"Arrogance is what made the British Empire.... And lost it.... And then pretended it never happened."

In terms of the world now, yeah, I think it was. English is the dominant language or whatever and western culture is the dominate culture in about 60% of the world now, all because of the foundations laid down by the British Empire.


Really?

Try telling that to the queen and those she "honours" every year in the new year and her birthday.

What does the E in MBE, OBE, CBE, etc stand for?
Original post by Dinasaurus
Not personally no, you're saying you would?


yeah.

i'm a hero, basically.

And you? Pfft, you're just an ordinary human.
Original post by Novascope
Preach it.


stfu tea is amazing
Original post by ZiggyStarDust_
stfu tea is amazing


"English tea" is horrible! Any type of herbal tea is yummy though.
Original post by Espada Zero
You are not aware of any impacts that colonialism has had on society today?....

...OK that it's I'm out. I'm leaving the planet. Goodbye all of you. People here are too stupid for me to tolerate.

Posted from TSR Mobile

You have been on here 2 days. That is not a dramatic statement. Nobody will care or notice the difference.
Original post by ZiggyStarDust_
stfu tea is amazing
wat
Original post by AperfectBalance
Was it worth it well yes, While all the slavery was bad and everything its pro's outweigh the cons. We created nations and we brought the industrial age to a start (not that other countries didn't help)
We improved a lot of places and we did what any good nation would do, colonize and expand becoming the biggest empire ever, we cemented our self in world politics for the future.
and the history of the empire is totally fascinating.


Whilst there were pros, they hardly outweighed the cons.
A lot was destroyed and a lot of people were killed, they brought along their barbaric religion and anti homosexuality laws (both of which Britain has done away with now), a lot was looted, people were treated like third class citizens in their own land. It was pretty bad.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by Novascope
"English tea" is horrible! Any type of herbal tea is yummy though.


what kind of high are you on

you've got it the wrong way round

English tea is the proper stuff

herbal tea is greeney spew
Original post by StrawbAri
Whilst they were pros, they hardly outweighed the cons.
A lot was destroyed and a lot of people were killed, they brought along their barbaric religion and anti homosexuality laws (both of which Britain has done away with now), a lot was looted, people were treated like third class citizens in their own land. It was pretty bad.


Exactly. (!)
Original post by ZiggyStarDust_
what kind of high are you on

you've got it the wrong way round

English tea is the proper stuff

herbal tea is greeney spew


Omg no please don't make me cry.

Real herbal teas are amazing.
Some families got extremely rich from the trade and exploitation, the rest of Britain just suffered in poverty and ignorance. Say what you like about their morals, they certainly had better aesthetic and political tastes than today, I very much doubt Kim K would be a celeb in the time of the empire. She'd probably be a prostitute providing services for the army :lol:
Original post by DanteTheDoorKnob
Some families got extremely rich from the trade and exploitation, the rest of Britain just suffered in poverty and ignorance. Say what you like about their morals, they certainly had better aesthetic and political tastes than today, I very much doubt Kim K would be a celeb in the time of the empire. She'd probably be a prostitute providing services for the army :lol:


LMFAO
Original post by Novascope
"English tea" is horrible! Any type of herbal tea is yummy though.


Ok thats it, I have called the police. this kind of behavior makes me sick.
Original post by AperfectBalance
Ok thats it, I have called the police. this kind of behavior makes me sick.


[video="youtube;KjyR-yR3f5I"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjyR-yR3f5I&nohtml5=False[/video]
Original post by ZiggyStarDust_
LMFAO


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saartjie_Baartman
i am a huge fan of the Empire; it brought the benefits of Christianity to millions of people. very few of the countries which abandoned us have made a success of things.
Original post by DanteTheDoorKnob


that's impressive, very much so
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by ZiggyStarDust_
What do you think?

Do you think it was worth it for Britain to have had it? Or not?

Thoughts, people!


There can be no doubt in my mind, the empire was a great thing. In a dog eat dog world where from 1500-1800 it was kill (expand the empire) or be killed (we were at constant war with Spain and France), we were able to triumph and dominate the world in a manner not seen before or since.

The disbanding of the empire was the second greatest crime that we ever committed.
Original post by Rakas21
There can be no doubt in my mind, the empire was a great thing. In a dog eat dog world where from 1500-1800 it was kill (expand the empire) or be killed (we were at constant war with Spain and France), we were able to triumph and dominate the world in a manner not seen before or since.

The disbanding of the empire was the second greatest crime that we ever committed.


what about the fact that people were treated like third-class citizens in their own country? does that not matter at all?
Original post by ZiggyStarDust_
what about the fact that people were treated like third-class citizens in their own country? does that not matter at all?


Honestly, no it does not. Our self interest was satisfied and a bunch of feudal societies were conquered.

I will admit that the empire was unsustainable in the manner it was in and as a result it should have transitioned into an imperial federation of some kind rather than be disbanded though.

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you