‘Sadness for the Queen, not her empire’: criticism in former British colonies (and beyond) as well as grief

To understand where these mixed feelings come from, let’s delve into the past.

The foundations of the British colonial empire were laid as early as the 16th century, and the empire reached its regional peak in 1921. “It was the largest colonial empire the world had ever seen, stretching from Australia through Africa to Canada,” explains Gooderes. . Most decolonization occurred after World War II. In 1997, Hong Kong, the last colony, was returned to China.

The entire history of the British Empire effortlessly covers a ten-volume encyclopedia and is hugely diverse, according to Gooderes. “Ranging from slavery and the plantation economics of Jamaica, to the conscious extermination of the population in Tasmania, to the politics of divide and rule in former British India and the burdensome decolonization of Kenya and Malaysia, with conflicts continuing today.”

Economically, the British were able to enrich themselves tremendously. As early as the nineteenth century, India spoke of a “drain of wealth”. Today, books appear in which they describe the colonial period as “the darkest era in their history.”

On the other hand, in the 1930s, one-sixth of the Indian people were allowed to vote in elections, and the fight against slavery was born in Britain. It is a complex history with many nuances.”