Thursday, 7. May 2015
a critical voice
annika heinze, 09:09h
"Some of them [former British colonies] may have problems that can be partly attributed to their colonial past, but they all owe their existence as states to the British Empire"
This quote from a Newspaper Article, written by Stephen Glover for the Daily Mail is in my opinion more than controversial.
It is true, that many former British colonies owe the fact of them being a state to the British Empire but it seems completely oblivious of the fact, that the British Empire did in fact not collect colonies for the sole purpose of spreading democracy and to civilize the residents of said countries.
The British Empire needed or wanted colonies, because of their raw materials or their potential for them. In Britain it is close to impossible to grow cotton and before North America became independent in 1776 Britain could very well obtain their cotton from North America.
After they lost their colonies in America, they turned to India for cotton, because it had the perfect climate for growing this product.
Glover himself states in his article that not everything the British did in India was good : "Of course, bad things were done. Even by the standards of the time, British retaliation after the 1857 Indian mutiny was excessive. The British did little or nothing to ameliorate severe famines in India in the late 19th century"
Right in the next paragraph he writes about how India became what it is today due to British rule and help. It is nonetheless true, that Britain did a great part in the development of India to the economic power it is in today's world but the tone of Glovers article devaluates the crimes the British commited while ruling over India.
Only one example from many is the massacre of Amritsar, where the consequence for Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer was that he had to leave the army. Due to his, and his men's actions 379 people were shot and he simply had to leave the army.
This is only one example of the sometimes truly ruthless rule of the British in India. Therefore in my opinion the general, somewhat praising tone of Mr. Glovers article is not adequate and leaves out various important emphases.
This quote from a Newspaper Article, written by Stephen Glover for the Daily Mail is in my opinion more than controversial.
It is true, that many former British colonies owe the fact of them being a state to the British Empire but it seems completely oblivious of the fact, that the British Empire did in fact not collect colonies for the sole purpose of spreading democracy and to civilize the residents of said countries.
The British Empire needed or wanted colonies, because of their raw materials or their potential for them. In Britain it is close to impossible to grow cotton and before North America became independent in 1776 Britain could very well obtain their cotton from North America.
After they lost their colonies in America, they turned to India for cotton, because it had the perfect climate for growing this product.
Glover himself states in his article that not everything the British did in India was good : "Of course, bad things were done. Even by the standards of the time, British retaliation after the 1857 Indian mutiny was excessive. The British did little or nothing to ameliorate severe famines in India in the late 19th century"
Right in the next paragraph he writes about how India became what it is today due to British rule and help. It is nonetheless true, that Britain did a great part in the development of India to the economic power it is in today's world but the tone of Glovers article devaluates the crimes the British commited while ruling over India.
Only one example from many is the massacre of Amritsar, where the consequence for Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer was that he had to leave the army. Due to his, and his men's actions 379 people were shot and he simply had to leave the army.
This is only one example of the sometimes truly ruthless rule of the British in India. Therefore in my opinion the general, somewhat praising tone of Mr. Glovers article is not adequate and leaves out various important emphases.
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