Blagger
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David Cameron has suggested that Britain and the legacy of its empire was responsible for many of the world's historic problems. But is that view fair?
Answering questions from students in Pakistan on Tuesday, the prime minister said: "As with so many of the problems of the world, we are responsible for their creation in the first place."
Two historians offer opposing views:
Nick Lloyd, lecturer in defence studies, King's College London.
Mr Cameron's remarks about the painful legacy of colonialism could not be further from the truth and they reveal a disappointing lack of historical judgment. The British Empire in India, known as the Raj, was the greatest experiment in paternalistic imperial government in history.
By the time the British left India in 1947 they had given the subcontinent a number of priceless assets, including the English language, but also a structure of good government, local organisation and logistical infrastructure that still holds good today. Far from damaging India, British imperial rule gave it a head start.
Andrew Thompson, professor of imperial and global history, University of Leeds.
Does Britain's colonial legacy still poison its relations with Africa, the Middle East and Asia? Mr Cameron's remark raises important questions for society about how we relate to history.
There's the inheritance of colonial violence. What you saw in the later stages of empire was a series of British counter-insurgency operations, exported from one hot spot to another. In places such as Kenya, Palestine, Malaysia, Zimbabwe, and of course Northern Ireland, the British were forced to resort to repressive legal and military measures in what was to prove an ultimately vain attempt to curb the tide of political unrest and nationalist opposition.
Detention without trial, beatings, torture, and killings punctuated the twilight years of colonial rule. The disclosure this week of a large tranche of Foreign Office files, hitherto kept secret about full extent of British brutality against Mau Mau in Kenya, suggests there may be further revelations still to come. Will there be similar stories and claims from Palestine, Malaya, Cyprus or Nigeria?
So, there you have it. Did us resourseful Brits guide our empire forward with a paternal hand firmly, but reassuringly attached to our subjects' shoulder, or did we use our military, econmic and industrial superiority to bully, intimidate and murder our native subjects into subservience?
David Cameron toadying to the natives by betraying the Empire - BBfuckingC
P.s. I'd be most grateful if any of our indignant Jew or fanatical Mohammedan readers, or any other race that we supposedly oppressed, could keep their replies under control. Although I concede that we did give you chaps a bit of a rough time, one must remember that one man's oppression is another man's civilizing.
Oh, and can any replies coming from the Irish quarter please remain objective, not invective.
Thanks for reading, you may now answer.