An Empire Divided

TimeWatch Editorial
June 27, 2016

So the British claim that they want their country back. In order to accomplish this, they have voted to leave the European Union. Well, not all the British, of course, maybe those who continue to dream of a return to the days of the old British Empire. If there is one country that should know what an Empire is today, that country would be Britain. The self description of that Empire was that it the largest formal empire that the world had ever known, upon which the sun never set.

“The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas possessions and trading posts established by England between the late 16th and early 18th centuries. At its height, it was the largest empire in history and, for over a century, was the foremost global power.” Ferguson, Niall (2004). Empire, The rise and demise of the British world order and the lessons for global power

Because we now live in a world where history is certainly not an engaging blueprint that informs our present and our future, the majority would by now have forgotten the days when there was hardly a part of the world that was not under the direct influence of the British Government.

“In 1897, the year of her Diamond Jubilee, Queen Victoria reigned supreme at the apex of the most extensive empire in world history. The figures are astonishing. In 1860 the territorial extent of the British Empire had been some 9.5 million square miles; by 1909 the total had risen to 12.7 million. The British Empire now covered around 25 per cent of the world’s land surface – making it three times the size of the French and ten times the size of the German – and controlled roughly the same proportion of the world’s population: some 444 million people in all lived under some form of British rule. Not only had Britain led the Scramble for Africa. She had been in the forefront of another Scramble in the Far East, gobbling up the north of Borneo, Malaya and a chunk of New Guinea, to say nothing of a string of islands in the Pacific: Fiji (1874), the Cook Islands (1880), the New Hebrides (1887), the Phoenix Islands (1889), the Gilbert and Ellice Islands (1892) and the Solomons (1893).According to the St James’s Gazette, the Queen-Empress held sway over ‘one continent, a hundred peninsulas, five hundred promontories, a thousand lakes, two thousand rivers, ten thousand islands’. A postage stamp was produced showing a map of the world and bearing the legend: ‘We hold a vaster Empire than has ever been’. Maps showing its territory coloured an eye-catching red hung in schools all over the country. Small wonder the British began to assume that they had the God-given right to rule the world. It was, as the journalist J. L. Garvin put it in 1905, ‘an extent and magnificence of dominion beyond the natural.” Ferguson, Niall (2004). Empire, The rise and demise of the British world order and the lessons for global power, page 178.

It has always been more attractive to be the ruler of an empire than to simply be part of an empire. Independence is by far the more compelling, hence the need to reestablish the singular identity of the United Kingdom. What is perhaps troubling is the fact that Scotland and Wales might not share the desire to be separate from the European Union. This might mean that an independent Britain might find itself further divided from those countries that share the name “United Kingdom.” But there is another element that has already begun to surface. The global financial impact has begun to register. It is clearly an important issue, especially for Britain. Tumbling markets, the declining value of the pound and the threat to manufacturing and trade are just upon the horizon. How far this will go, we shall have to wait and see, but it is clear that the impact will surely be noticeable. Compare all this with the past and it will surely have an effect.

“Britain was also the world’s banker, investing immense sums around the world. By 1914 the gross nominal value of Britain’s stock of capital invested abroad was £3.8 billion, between two-fifths and a half of all foreign owned assets. That was more than double French overseas investment and more than three times the German figure. No other major economy before or since has held such a large proportion of its assets over-seas. Between 1870 and 1913 capital flows averaged around 4.5 per cent of gross domestic product, rising above 7 per cent at their cyclical peaks in 1872, 1890 and 1913. More British capital was invested in the Americas than in Britain itself between 1865 and 1914. In addition, these flows were far more geographically dispersed than those of other European economies.” Ferguson, Niall (2004). Empire, The rise and demise of the British world order and the lessons for global power, page 178.

So here we are. The nation that was indeed a preeminent global power is now searching desperately for identity. The question must therefore be, is the decision the correct one? We shall see.

Cameron A. Bowen