The British Empire resulted in many benefits for the colonies, giving them a bureaucracy and government that would have taken far longer to establish without the British presence. There is only so long that the former colonies can go on blaming the British for their internal problems. They are responsible for their own government and have been for a long time. In fact, I doubt that they do blame the British at all any more; it is only the imperial apologists who bring the issue up.
There were indeed many negative aspects to the Empire, including slavery in the earlier years, but that doesn't mean that we should forget the positive effects. I think that is is unfair to blame Britain for slavery; that was the normal behaviour at the time, throughout the world, and was certainly present in most areas prior to inclusion in the Empire. Britain, however, was one of the first nations to abolish it and took very strong steps to eradicate it in other nations.
Without the Empire, Europe may well have fallen completely under Nazi control in 1940/41. Indians, Australians, Canadians and many other countries helped to fight against the Axis during the war, long before the USA ever joined in. It was the British Empire and Commonwealth that brought all those nations together. If it had been Britain alone, Operation Sealion may have become a reality.
|