After the Duke of Wellington defeated Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815, a Pax Britannica set in. It lasted until 1914, when the Great War began.
The sun had begun to set on the British Empire in 1910. Barbara Tuchman wrote, “So gorgeous was the spectacle on the May morning of 1910 when nine kings rode in the funeral of Edward VII of England that the crowd, waiting in hushed and black-clad awe, could not keep back gasps of admiration… The muffled tongue of Big Ben tolled nine by the clock as the cortege left the palace, but on history’s clock it was sunset, and the sun of the old world was setting in a dying blaze of splendor never to be seen again.”
By the time the Second World War ended, the sun had finally set on the British Empire. As one source puts it, “The Suez Crisis of 1956 confirmed Britain's decline as a global power, and the transfer of Hong Kong to China on 1 July 1997 marked for many the end of the British Empire.”
Earlier, in 1981, in a bid to regain its lost standing in the world, Great Britain had gone to war with Argentina over a group of small islands at the end of the South Atlantic that had no strategic significance. It was too late. In that decade, Australia, Canada and New Zealand cut their constitutional links with Britain.
Yet the world continues to be fascinated with British Royalty, as we saw during the funeral of the Queen. She was just the nominal head of state of the United Kingdom with no executive authority. Yet she was buried with pomp and circumstance that rivaled the grand funerals that were accorded to British monarchs who had absolute authority.
Her funeral lasted for several days and was watched by billions throughout the world, even though there was no suspense, no mystery and no music in it.
At its conclusion, heads of state from around the world sat in hushed silence as the service took place. Among them, seated in a back row, was the president of the United States, a country that broke away from the Empire in 1776.
It didn’t take long for America to adopt Britain’s imperial practices. America’s original 13 colonies intruded brutally on the lives of the natives and eventually became the 50 states of the USA. The conquest was violent and victory came through the dint of arms.
I recently walked along the Freedom Trail in Boston, visited the house of Paul Revere, and stood on the deck of the ship on which the “Boston Tea Party” took place in 1773. I also saw a documentary which recreated “the shot that was heard the world.”
I must confess that I took all of this with a grain of salt. That chapter in history is now closed. Britain and America are now the best of friends. Indeed, the Queen visited Boston in 1976 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of American independence.
The two countries fought closely during the two world wars, and recently in Afghanistan and Iraq. At the Boston Airport, there were signs displaying the sights of London and telling the potential tourist that there were dozens of daily flights from New England to Old England.
London in particular is a favourite tourist destination for Americans. They come to see the castles and the museums, witness the pageantry of the changing of the guards and experience the pomp and circumstance that is visible in every other town.
The British royals, not just the monarch, remain the object of much attention, since they put on an ostentatious display of wealth as they change their residence from one castle to another. Even the infighting among the royals is the topic of gossip at parties on every continent.
It’s not so exciting to be reminded of the destruction that the empire levied on the world. The havoc they brought to the subcontinent is highlighted in William Dalrymple’s Anarchy. The literature about the horrors inflicted on India by the British Raj continues to grow.
Yet the British are admired in the subcontinent. Speaking English confers elite status instantly. It’s not uncommon to hear people speaking one of the local languages and inserting an English word or two in every sentence and sometimes entire sentences. English movies are instant hits. Cricket matches, especially the international ones, draw massive crowds and TV audiences. English novels are read regularly, often prescribed as texts in high school. Shakespeare’s plays are watched intently.
Thousands of people from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal visit London every year, check out the castles and museums, and indulge in desi food, which some say is better than the food at home.
Even though America kicked out Britain from the North American continent, it adopted just all of the imperial traits that had inspired the American revolution.
And what has become of America? It was created in the name of democracy as a republic. Its values were spelled out in the Declaration of Independence and expanded upon in the US constitution.
But it didn’t take long for America to adopt Britain’s imperial practices. America’s original 13 colonies intruded brutally on the lives of the natives and eventually became the 50 states of the USA. The conquest was violent and victory came through the dint of arms. Along the way, wars for control of North America were fought with Mexico and Canada.
The gap between American ideals and practice is sharply brought out in this history which shows how the white settlers destroyed the civilisation of native Americans. It’s only recently that Columbus Day has been recognised for what it is: a day of rampaging and unbridled conquest.
Less than a century after independence, a civil war broke out in the US over the issue of slavery. It was one of the bloodiest wars in human history. While the confederacy was defeated in 1865, racism still lingers on in the US, as demonstrated by the killing of George Floyd and President Trump’s indirect adoration of the leaders of the Confederacy.
Only in 1920 did women get the right to vote but America has yet to elect a female president.
America has inherited Britain’s mantle. It’s the world’s largest imperial power. In the post WWII period, America fought wars of conquest in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq, killing millions of natives ostensibly to bring democracy to those countries.
Even though America kicked out Britain from the North American continent, it adopted just all of the imperial traits that had inspired the American revolution.