I've met an American that thought England was on the other side of America...😅 I tried to argue that there was an Ocean between us but he was having none of it.. conspiracy is what he called it! He then went on to tell me that the Moon Landing was filmed in a swimming pool apparently you can see the air bubbles from space suits?? He Said..😂
@@SteveTidz WELL, AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, AND CANADA, STILL HAVE SPECIAL CLOSE TIES WITH BRITAIN, AND LESSER COUNTRIES ? WE PAY OUT A LOT OF DOSH, TO ENSURE THEY STAY PRO BRITISH. IT'S NOT COMPULSORY
I think the Canadians had a far more exiting sport than cricket ,and that is Ice Hockey. We taught the Indians how to play cricket, and the Australians,too.. How on earth can countries like these, possibly have, such a dull sport to watch, as their national sports. It must say a lot for each country
From 43AD to 1,066AD we had a crash course in being invaded (the Roman Invasion, Angles, Saxons, Anglo Saxons, Vikings, and finally the Normans). Then we decided to show the rest of the world how to do this invading thing properly.
The angle and Saxon aka the Anglo Saxon our English we invaded Britain when the Celtic tribes own Britain that was after the Romans left Britain plus we English our germanic tribes the Saxon wæs raiding the coastline of Britain when the Roman was still here 😂 back then we was the Viking when it came to the Roman and the Roman was well wouldn’t say they was scared but they knew that they had to be on there toes with us with how suddenly we would attack them and these our historical fact proud to be Anglo Saxon English 🏴❤️✝️⚔️
When you said ‘the math isn’t mathing’ you hit the nail on the head. That’s how we got away with it for so long. Nobody noticed that there were only six of us in total and we’d roped them in to occupying their own country for us. Ingenious really.
Simple answer , we had the best navy on the planet for a long time . Also being a small island full of raw resources and nothing more than 70 miles from the sea , with rivers that go inland along way meant we could get our goods out cheaper than land locked countries The thing that has always baffled me is the condensation of so many brilliant minds that extracted the best from the resources we had , coal , iron , timber etc and then pretty much gave our inventions to the rest of the world
@@StephenWestrip WHERE THE LARGER DOMINENT COUTRIES OF EUROPE, LIKE FRANCE AND GERMANY, HAD HUGE PERMANENT ARMIES, WE NEVER DID. WE ALWAYS HAD SMALL , BUT VERY PROFESSIONAL ARMIES , THAT COULD BE ADDED TO BY THE DUKES AND EARLS WHO COULD RELY ON CREATING LOCAL ARMIES TO FIGHT FOR THE MPIRE, IF NEEDED. BUT, WE HAD THE GREATEST NAVY, SO AS TO PROTECT OUT TRADING LANES ABROAD, AND FIGHT OFF WOULD-BE RIVALS AT SEA. ALTHOUGH WE HAD WARS WITH MANY EUROPEAN COUNTRIES, WE NEVER WANTED TO PERMANENTLY OCCUPY ANY LANDS. LIKE FRANCE AND GERMANY DID, TOO EXPENSIVE TO KEEP A ARMY THERE. WE JUST WANTED TO TRADE WITH OTHER'S ANYWHERE. THAT'S WHY WE BECAME RICH.
Damn you two! I had a lot of things to get done this week and now I've spent half the time binging on your wonderful videos. So if my grandkids dont all end up getting their Christmas presents it's your fault! I dont usually watch reaction videos - i take the view that I'm a reasonably intelligent 74 year old Kiwi/Australian with a lot of experience of life, I can decide for myself whether I like a video or not. But, Mike & Jess, you're different, You're fun, you're respectful, you're intelligent and curious about the world. I found the first of your videos by accident and i can't believe the number of rabbit-holes you've led me down now. Thank you both from the bottom of my heart. I feel like I've spent a couple of days with a pair of wonderful, charming, likeable people and I dont want to get on with my work.
They’re not all conquered / occupied territories, some are just part of wars But in relation to that, you don’t occupy it with pure force, it’s all about economic interests and usually it was still largely managed by the local population with a handful of British administrators Although there were absolutely those spreading Christianity it wasn’t generally a policy in the same way it was for Spain, Portugal or France and their colonies.
The UK did not just have its own Navy and Army to invade and keep countries. They recruited other Nationalities. Indian supplied over 10 million men to their leaders (The British) and many more Africans where used as well for Soldiers and Navy, an est 20 million in all. Most countries the British invaded, soon gave men to the British to boost up the numbers in their Army and Navy, thus how the British / English kept so many countries and kept invading more.
Parliamentary democracy, Railways, Rule of Law and trial by jury was the spread of the British Empire, much of which still exists today within the Commonwealth. It's also why American Independence Day is no big deal in Britain. We've 64 other country's Independence Days to celebrate. ♥ from the UK
Is that what they teach in British schools so that they dont feel guily for all the centuries of death, desctruction, plunder and summary exeuction of anyone who dissented, that was visited upon those countires that were invaded. Are you suggesting that the countries invaded were too stupid to come up with decent societies themselves without British 'help'?. I'm sure if the NAZI'S had succeeded they'd be telling their future generations that they made the trains run on time and imposed 'laws' and "Fair trials" on the unruley populace. I hope your post was just a bit of satire but if not, ask yourself how many Africans, Americans, Asians and Europeans died fighting for those 65 independance from Britian and then reflect on your post.
The US Bill of rights is actually based upon the magna carta as is the principle of human rights, something else Britain exported to the World along with industry, sanitation, farming, medicines all of which saved millions upon millions of lives and made many more much better than previously.
Scotland should be recognised far more for having a son who has saved millions upon millions of lives since his discovery. Alexander Fleming has likely saved more lives than anyone else in history due to Penicillin.Not just this great man,Scotland has produced a long list of incredible people that have achieved something special.
We invented the Jet Engine, World Wide Web, Computer, Radio, TV, Telephone, Antibiotics, Vaccine, the Steam Train, The Industrial Revolution, Modern Medicine and Chemistry beyond belief, Clothing Manufacturing and countless other fundamental Technologies, both Physical and Non Physical etc. So I would like to thank myself for all this greatness 🧡 Thanks 🙏🏻
@@SteveTidz We were extracting so much wealth from India, that we were prepared to go to war with Russia to protect our cash cow on more than one occasion. Sure we built the railways, but that was so we move our army around more efficiently. The British Empire was all about stealing more wealth from our colonies than the French & Dutch could steal from theirs.
If we're so horrible, why are so many migrants dying (literally) to get here when there are so many other peaceful countries that they will have passed through (and could have stayed in - as required by the UN) to get here?
@@chrisaskin6144 They all wanted to leave home (independence from us) and now that they're eating tins of beans and can't pay the rent, they all want to return home to mummy (England/UK) and live rent free in her house and get their washing done and dinner cooked.
In answer to your question, the UK still oversees approximately 660,000 sq miles of Antarctica to this day - it is called The British Antarctic Territory (BAT).
What they didn't tell you in this Video was all the Good things Britain did. We built Schools and Trained Teachers. We built Hospitals and Trained People to be Doctor, Surgeons not forgetting Nurses. We built Rail Roads and Taught the People everything they need to know. The list goes on.
The British Empire was factually the most benevolent to ever exist,, despite some isolated atrocities over the centuries. There is no doubt Billions of lives around the World are much better today thanks to the British Empire and its influence. I'm not saying conquest is good, it isn't, but over human history it has been the norm and most Empires were far more brutal than the British and gave next to nothing back whereas Britain ended slavery and shaped the modern civilised world..
@@Muckylittleme Yes, British rule was relatively benevolent for its time. Maybe part of it was that they needed to rely more on diplomacy because they were so spread out?
This is quite funny as some are only taught the whitewashed version of the British empire. "Built English Schools and trained teachers" (from the tax money of the colonized Country) to fill the employment quota for the British empire after destroying the colonized Country's economy by market manipulation, cutting out trade routes, destroying the local education system, stopping local businesses from competing, etc. Built railroads (from the tax money of the colonized Country) to loot the Colonized Country's wealth and goods. Also, the British were experts in creating artificial mass famine that finished off millions of local people. Taxes were brutal upwards of 80% in these colonized countries. You would only know if you had learned real history instead of some fairy tales 🙄🙄
As a Brit myself, who has friends in the US, I once wished those friends a happy independence day. One of those friends messaged me back and asked if it bothered and upset me as a Brit that the US celebrated it's independence from us. My reply was "Of course not, the US is just one of 65 countries that have independence days from us". He couldn't believe it. He thought that the US was the only one and that it would be a big deal to the UK.
This one has been doing the rounds of our American friends for a couple of years. My only gripe with this video is, it is not invading a country when you enter it to up hold a defence treaty you have with them, that's called fulfilling your obligation.
on paper perhaps you re right, but even in those cases that doesn't mean you are welcomed by the locals. You ve just shook hands with a government (or the local dictator/king etc) to give access to your troops in their territory, or to join your alliance. For example by that logic, the Soviets didn't invade Afghanistan, they were invited by the leftist Afghan government to protect them from the mujahideen jihadists and terrorists.
Lmao you still literally invaded then you idiot. Just because a government or a ruler *which most indigenous locals have no clue what’s going* says you can come and help me win a war doesn’t mean the locals want the British or any power to come and help them 🤦🏾♂️
If anyone has not been affected by the issues raised in this video, and would like democracy or railways, please let us know and we will get back to you in 3-5 business days. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.
The permanent UK presence in Antarctica began with Operation Tabarin during the Second World War. The 14-man Admiralty expedition was led by Lieutenant James Marr and Major Andrew Taylor. They departed from the Falklands in January 1944.
And that presence was then extended and consolidated imediately post-war, by an expedition whose 2IC was a certain Lt Col Blair (Paddy Mayne) - formerly Commanding Officer of 1 SAS.
You have to remember that one third of the world’s population are in countries who are members of the British Commonwealth voluntarily. Even some countries we have never invaded have requested membership 😊
A lot of context is missing from this video. Example: from 1066 England was ruled by French Kings, so they were just ruling their lands in France rather than invading.
And Americans do not realize they only exist because of Britain. They are an extension of Britain, and they are completely ignorant.. They would all either be in a few countries in Europe, or in Britain. It annoys me when they see themselves as something completely different, we are cousins, directly related. They can walk because we ran. We are the same damn people!
Also spread a few inventions, inovations, improvements in science and medicine around the planet too, including the most widely spoken language, so it wasn't all bad stuff!
Guys, this is why the world speaks my language. you do too.😄 you also have our idea of a democratic government For the people, by the people. Not a bad legacy. 'english dave' here.
the Union jack is the flag of the navy the flag of the union applies to all others but we use Union Jack it's easier( just for referance not nitpicking)
Great Britain is a seafaring nation Island so built up a huge Navy over a long time period. Being a relatively tiny island we were driven to forge trading relations worldwide. Over time trading relations turned into Empire building . The British Navy the most powerful in the world for a long time, enabling most these 'invasions' wrong word really and Empire building. Great Britain being the first Nation to undergo an industrial revolution also gave us a huge technological advantage. Wherever GB went, usually, the Railways, roads & infrastructure building, Parliamentary Democracy and of course the English language followed. English is recognised as the international language mainly due to the effect of the vast global spread of British Empire. I am in no way glorifying the British Empire, as empire building can be a brutal business, just making some observations.
Britain did not colonize by force, they colonized through economy, they took control of the countries economies and made them reliant on Britain, all Britain had to do is supply a minimal presence and if force was needed they were extra brutal to reinforce the fear of the British military and quash any further rebelion. A sound tactic.
Yeah very true mate and most of them didn’t want to rebel. We helped them built schools and hospitals established law and order and shared our knowledge with them! And most of all they was safe from invasion from another empire
Don't forget that your colonies filled your empty pockets. schools , hospitals and railways were built for the British , by their slaves , to keep them comfortable for their thieving .
Parliamentary democracy and trial by jury are a pretty good stick to bring with you on a world tour. As a Dane with an English mother it's always been an interesting debate - the Royal Navy did a drive by on our capital to stop Napoleon getting the Danish fleet and they took Norway and the Danish Virgin Islands for similar reasons but they didn't have soldiers on the ground in Denmark - it's like someone landing on the Philippines when they were part of the US and claiming they invaded the United States - it doesn't really work that way. On the other hand, hundreds of place names (anything ending with "by" or "thorpe" amongst other naming conventions) in Britain come from the numerous Viking invasions and settlements over centuries and a lot more Danish words entered the English language, the concept of the third person plural (they, them, there) - no, we aren't responsible for pronouns!! Not entirely anyway.. The English names for days of the week coming from those used by the Norse and reflecting Norse Gods, the Scots use of Kirk (Church) and Kist (a scandi box/coffin) and ultimately the unification of England as a single Kingdom was, for the mot part, to be able to fight off the invading Norse - since they couldn't do so existing as numerous small tribes and the half dozen small kingdoms making up the islands). Before also becoming a part of the Danish North Sea Empire for a while, under King Cnut (the English spelling that requires some care..). The need to dominate the sea that they learnt from that era eventually gave us the Royal Navy that was to rule the waves for centuries to come. On the flip side, we've never been ruled or dominated in the same way by the Brits - no English King or Queen has ruled Denmark and we were a Kingdom before England was and Danish Kings have ruled England and other parts of Britain (albeit more out of kindness more than lack of the ability for the Brits to kick our arse if it were required in the meantime..). I'm not getting into the Norman debate since there's plenty others that'll be jumping on that one too, especially the very Danish policies (the Normans were following policies laid down by the Danish at home and then brought those to France) that were in place in Normandy and eventually England when that was taken. From the Anglo-Saxon -invasion- migration to today - we been 2nd generation immigrants fighting off the next generation of migrants lol and frankly that's how it is in most places across the world - find something nice and worth protecting, fight for it if need be and then protect it from the people we were trying to leave behind in the first place when we found this place..
Hi Folks, do remember that this video was made by an anglophobic American and his bias by calling them invasions is to be expected. Just like when the USA invaded Iraq, many of these "invasions" were to protect ourselves or others. The UK was not greedy for land like many other empires, they were happy to rule the waves so they could trade. Where they ended up with so much territory was more from circumstance. If this American was to be fair, he would include the "WHY" for these invasions. Their rule could not have been too tyranical either, as the small population of the UK had no way of ruling over this large area without the consent of the peoples living there. Also, nearly all of the countries that left the empire are now part of the commonwealth by choice!
We have never had a large standing army in the UK, (until WW1 and WW2) but our Royal Navy was the REAL deal. Trade was an important focus for our roaming. We did a lot of that and that only worked if it was mutually beneficial to all sides. You will know also that we spent nearly two hundred years, from 1807 onwards, sailing the high seas to stop the practice of slavery around the World during our Anti Slavery Crusade - so that accounts for some of our travels. The Sudan in Africa, for instance was 'run' by a comparatively small number of clerks as we tried to put in place a different economy to replace the one based on slavery. We also loved to explore of course - being confined to an island. Yes there was fighting as well. Lots perhaps over the years. For instance we did fight the ZULU's in Africa, but ten years later they joined with us to fight another common foe and we respect and honour each other, still today - even attending some of the others celebrations. BUT, our history goes back a few millennia so I won't bore you rigid. Suffice to say we also, because of our long reach, gradually became the Policeman of the World until the end of WW2 when we were simply exhausted as a nation and no longer had the resources. Instead of an Empire we are now part of the Commonwealth of Independent Nations which our Queen, Elizabeth II, made her life's work. Fifty-six nations are members. Some other nations, who were not in the old empire, have also joined. She loved the Commonwealth and its people. We were very proud of her achievement as most of us here in the UK loved her too - she had an average approval rating of 79/80% throughout her seventy year Reign. We still miss her very much - even though we now have a fine King. Suppose it will take time to get used to having a new Monarch. It goes without saying, I think, that I am very proud of being a Brit. That said, it's time now for a cup of tea! So, thank you both for this, and all your reactions, they are great. Take care, love from the UK.
We had nothing to do on a Wednesday afternoon. We left most of them with democracy, and I'm getting fed up with the way some of these programs are putting us down!
As a person whose family originate from one of the countries the British colonised, I'm not so sure it's accurate to say you left us with democracy. The British drew random lines on a map to divide people, gave land away to neighbouring nations, which ended up causing wars over those lands and thousands of deaths. Not to forget the recourses the British stole while the occupied our lands and used it to build up British cities whilst our lands remained mostly under-developed.
@@bookclub5021 But those 'random lines' were nearly ALWAYS to sort out local problems, for instance, two state solution for israel or safe place for muslims to live in Afganistan. Empire was a two way thing, do you think a tiny place like Britian could do all that with out strong agreement with the locals? In the Indian uprising, 30,000 indians for for independance, 56,000 to remain part of the Empire. In addiiton to that, what cities did those lands build up BEFORE Britian arrived? and most after.
@@bookclub5021 Does your country have a really low GDP score it's classed as a third world country, where there's poverty, famine and loads of diseases rampaging about? No? None of the British colonized places do. Compare it to those we didn't colonize, or the ones France or Spain colonized. The British took resources because it cost a lot to build railroads etc, for the country. The British made sure the country could at least stand on it's own feet through trade, and that's why Thomas Sowell, one of the best economists in the world, says the British empire was a good thing. On top of that, look at all the inventions British made and shared, including vaccines which those of the empire got too. That's why all countries that gained independence through diplomacy joined the common wealth.
@@bookclub5021nah nah let us British tell u about the undisputable good we did in the place you haven't even named yet, these lot GUARANTEE are doing better than if that hadn't happened 😂😂 I know the British empire did a bunch of good but they were also self serving hateful opportunistic monsters in some cases, we're all people lots of good an bad but these lot wanna over hype our history to make themselves feel glorious, hey guys if u wanna feel that mmph get it on naughty websites not in UA-cam comment sections so sad, like they represent any of it what a joke 😂
There is context to every one of those events. We never had the manpower to hold all those territories, many were invaded without too much effort due to global and local politics, they were strategic, we were able to hold them because many of the locals preferred us to the alternatives and fought alongside us...that is about as brief as I can be in summing up the past 1000 years. As empires go we couldn't have been all bad, countries may celebrate their independence but it was often independence that was given without the need for a war and 90% of those countries that were actual colonies are now in The Commonwealth.
We've been subdued through relative prosperity & comfort...but Starmlin is changing that. He's probably going to have his very own Marie Antoinette moment in the near future.
Christainity was not forced on people in the same way as say the Spanish Empire. The British for the most part respected other religions. Unlike ALL previous empires the British Empire was not based on conquest but trade and influence. Conquest was only the very last stage. The British brought proper Law and Order, trial by jury etc. (not the local headman) an end to slavery, what we think of as modern human rights, local democracy, plus technology like railways and sewerage processing plants. We now look on the Empire as "bad thing", but this is false. Sure by modern moral standards it was bad, but by the ones of the time, it was a huge improvement of what had existed before. Certainly in the early days of Empire subjects were far better off under the British than they had been previously, sadly the Empire didn't not keep raising the standards with the times. If we look at the UN in the 1970's when much of the world was covered in dictatorships, nearly every democracy outside of Europe was an ex-British colony. Even the few who were not like Japan, had created a version of it based on the British model. An example of proof is that an army of 200,000 men (and it was often smaller than that) could not capture, let alone hold an Empire of that size for around two centuries by force alone. It had the consent and support of many people.
11.50 You ask how we British had the men to invade so much land, that the maths doesn't add up. The fact is, just about every battle we have fought in, we have been vastly outnumbered by the enemy in terms of number of men. It's common in our history to have fought in wars where we have been outnumbered 5 to 1 and we have still won. The napoleanic wars are a good example of this. The things that made invading and conquering so much land with so little forces were better tactics, more advanced technology such as the British invention of the rifle made a big difference in the war against Napoleon and the invention of the tank made a big difference in the first world war, then there's the main fact that for hundreds of years we had the largest navy in the world. We literally ruled the seas so we could sail anyway and attack anywhere when we wanted to. For context, a good land area size comparison for the UK as a whole is, it's similar in land area to the US state of Idaho.
Invaded is the totally historically wrong word to use for most countries, as trade and exploration was the main aim. Name me a well known country that hasn't invaded or tried to invade another.
@@shivi007100 the british invented the nation of india. Before that there was many nations, many religions, tribes, factions, forces, peoples etc etc The british empire estabilished a lot of countries thats what made them so succesful, people WANTED trains and vaccines and sanitation and economic stability etc enough to combine to form their own nations supported by the british empire.
@@WookieWarriorz feels bad for you westeners ...who never gt to see the actual history...not going to debate here cz you clearly unaware of the atrocities done by the british...yes india was a nation ,infact greeks gave the name india ...but here people called it bharat..pakistan ,bangladesh nepal bhutan...all were part of it...and what did you say british baught economic stability?wtf😅...india had 27% of the worlds gdp and was the richest and most diverse manufacturing hub before british came...when they left the gdp was below 2% and all the instituions have been destroyed and people got divided deeply...go read about how britishers drew the LOC..go read about winston churchill and how he was directly responsible for killing 4 million bengalis...its not even a scratch on the surface..but yes go read some history...and btw bharat already had proper sanitation 4 thousand years ago..go read about harappan civilization and indian infras...45 trillion was the amount they looted from india ....you have to dig deep by yourself cz your media and papers are not gonna show it..unfortunately...so its not your mistake that you dont know !
13:25 I can only shake my head at the map and the dates. Canada, at the time known as New France, was ceded to Britain by France thru the Treaty of Paris, which ended the 7 Years War. That was in 1758. Up to this point, the British colonies extended to the Ohio river. Same with Florida and the Gulf Coast. This area remained French and Spanish until the Louisiana Purchase and later.
It was like, When the Island family sorted out their arguments, they went on a Jolly around the world together, found some kindred spirits in Nepal and carried on the party.......like all parties, you need to know when to step out :)
Invaded country South Africa here. You invaded us 4 times btw. Or was it 6, 7? Idk. You could have shared that out more fairly with the rest of the world, don't you think?
UK actually did go to Antarctica and was second to the South Pole with Captain Robert Falcon Scott, who was beat there by Norwegian Roald Amundsen. Scott died on the way back. Antarctica is now under a treaty from 1959. According to Wikipedia: "Antarctica's status is regulated by the 1959 Antarctic Treaty and other related agreements, collectively called the Antarctic Treaty System. Antarctica is defined as all land and ice shelves south of 60° S for the purposes of the Treaty System.[1] The treaty was signed by twelve countries, including the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Chile, Australia, and the United States. Since 1959, a further 42 countries have acceded to the treaty. Countries can participate in decision-making if they can demonstrate that they do significant research on Antarctica; as of 2022, 29 countries have this 'consultative status'.[183] Decisions are based on consensus, instead of a vote. The treaty set aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and established freedom of scientific investigation and environmental protection."
"Know your ally: Britain" should be your next reaction. It expands on this and is funny and informative. It was made for U.S. troops entering WWII. It's on the U.S National Archives, youtube channel.
I like that you have not just watched this as a jingoistic thing. They are good illustrations of the history of each age but hopefully we can move beyond conquest being a way of measuring worth.
People forget, the first country the English invaded was their own. William The Conqueror, of which the king is a direct descendant. They invaded in the 6th century and colonised the British Isles.
Countries England invaded, Cornwall was the first Celtic country they invaded, then Wales and Scotland, and off the island they still occupy a fifth of Ireland, and further away still occupy Gibraltar and about 2.5% of Cyprus. But Britain is made from the people who invaded it, Celts, Romans, Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Vikings, more Vikings (the Normans), and the Dutch who forced the protestant religion onto Britain. Also the French invaded Little Britain ('brittany') and still occupy it.
Hi, to you both. I am an Englishman and proud of it. This video doesn't show what Britain did for a lot of these countries, how many of them are developed countries to this day, and most of the countries that we did not invade are still third-world countries. What Britain was in the past was a great seafaring nation, still exploring the world. We brought trade to the majority of the developing world. it does not show how many times we have gone to war on behalf of others, the Second World when Germany invaded Poland Etc, "The saying you had to be there and none of us was" "history is someone's opinion written down on a piece of paper" Regards Peter
Talking of how vast Russia is, did you know Africa is almost twice as large as Russia in sq. miles? The standard world map we all know isn't drawn to true scale, the widest part of Africa is actually wider than Russia even though Russia looks twice as wide as Africa on a map, it's a phenomena called Mercator projection where the further away from the equator countries are made to look much larger than they actually are.
Pick up any British Atlas of the late 19th and early 20th century, and look for all the parts coloured pink. That was the extent of the British Empire. Like all other empires it was hardly fair or benign, but still pretty impressive.
This is sloppy, quick history reference folks: everything before 1707 is English, everything after 1707 is British I.e. England & Scotland although instigated by England.
Some of the most enthusiastic British imperialists were Scots and Irish. See the Opium Wars and Jardine Matheson in China and Hongkong. Wellington was Irish!
If you guys aren’t up on your world history; definitely check out the history behind the suspicious invasion of the kingdom of Nepal in 1814. Note that it said “Nepal was invaded and never actually conquered”. 100,000 Indian troops & 39,000 British soldiers, with 60 heavy artillery couldn’t defeat 11,000 Nepalese Gurkhas. The British were so impressed with their ferocity in battle that they hired them as mercenaries to fight for the crown as a gun for hire. This was later eradicated after the treaty of Suguali, where the Nepalese Gurkhas agreed to fight in the British army as a loyal vassal & equal regiment. After 200 years of fighting together the Gurkha rifles are the single most feared regiment in global warfare. I’ve met all kinds of specialist units over the years; Royal Marines, US Marines, Navy Seals, French Foreign Legion, Israeli Special Forces, etc; Nobody comes close to a Gurkha, definitely worth reacting to a Gurkha training video. They’re absolutely incredible people, you’ll never have seen anything like it.
From a Danish historical perspective & narrative, we do acknowledge the impact England had all over the world. But WE invaded & ruled England, England had a Danish king in 1013-14 the viking age, the last battle was in 1066, if i remember correctly. So the fact that England invaded us in the Napoleonic wars in 1807, is less significant in our history. All the best from Denmark ❤
@@williammackenzie6115 English population making up more than 80+ percent of Britain. At the end of the day, we still don't give a fck about 1807 in Danish history.
@@kristinajendesen7111 There is Viking spirit in Britain the Vikings settled in the Highlands and islands of Scotland and the Normans settled in England,Wales and also Scotland.
The battle of Hastings was Sunday the 14th- October 1066. and started at 9am a bit inconsiderate for a Sunday morning 😊, and it was the Norman's, not a viking invasion.😊 good health to you from, Great Britain 🇬🇧.
It might surprise you to know the British army was small, less than 100k professional troops. During the Napoleonic wars the British parliament didn't wish to commit large amount of troops to assist the allies, so Sir Arthur Wellesley (The Duke of Wellington) had to rely on volunteers for the most part. Even to this day our army is barely larger than it was at the height of the British empire.
The tables have turned my friend..WE are now being invaded by those that were ruled over in the past. They wanted to break from us but now they think the grass is greener and are all coming over here. Britain is no longer Great and Starmer is the latest in a long line of dickhead politicians that are allowing the gradual and insidious takeover of our country by immigrants. We and our culture have been swallowed up..we are 3/4 of the way down the anaconda's throat and only drastic action could stop us ending up in it's gut and being shytted out...but this will not happen as it would take massive strength to pull us back out and there's nobody to do it as our wonderful government blocks anybody from even getting near the snake...as they are snakes themselves. :(( Meanwhile ..tick-tock, we slide down that throat a little bit more every day. Goodbye Britannia..in a few generations you will be a historic footnote and the warriors that we were will be gone forever. I guarantee you that past soldiers would not have even bothered fighting if they could have seen the future...ah well shyt happens eh?.
09:56 what I find fascinating is that in the Sherlock Holmes books Dr. Watson is described as an 'Army doctor invalidated out after service in Afghanistan.' In the latest iteration of SH, the current one with Benedict Cumberbatch, which is set in the present day, Dr. Watson is described in exactly the same way. One hundred years difference, no change.
@@Randomdude21-e My apologies. Some of us native English speakers write it so badly that it doesn't occur to others that the writer maybe not have English as a first language.
Hi guys ian from glasgow.we cant change history but we can learn from it .life is too short we should all put our differences asside .this is our planet everyone should learn to live in peace .if we put more time into helping one anther than in hurting each other .enjoying your reactions keep safe god bless x
sooooo it would be interesting to see a map of every non US state where the US has put a military presence at some point or another for whatever reason, and see how it compares to what is shown here.
And every country blossomed under English rule , look at zimbabwe since we left. Cecil rhodes made it one f the wealthiest countries n the world only for the africans to take it back and ruin it . Indias life expectancy went up 15 years on average under british rule
And got rid of some horrific practises as well eg, Suttee (QUOTE)....Suttee, also known as sati, was a Hindu practice where a widow would sacrifice herself by sitting on her husband's funeral pyre. It was a symbol of a woman's devotion, but was not widely practised.
@@lobeznoblancoesp the empire came about after the English had abolished slavery , u do know that ? it was our navy and armies that died trying to stop africans selling their own. The english never rounded up any slaves , that was done by their own families and friends , again u did know that hey??
"Where were all these people to hold these territories". The British Empire was not a military empire, something this video does little to address. It was a commercial empire, backed with (mostly naval) threat, advanced technology for the time and small numbers of troops proportional to the indigenous population. The general inference was, '"Earn heaps of money with us or we'll choose someone else to make money with - your choice.' but orders from empire could be negative for the locals too. A very good example of this is the history of Zanzibar. Firstly ordered to cease their slave trade, then threatened with a blockade until they did so. Then, a few years later when a pro-British Sultan died and was replaced by someone the British didn't like we have the Anglo-Zanzibar war, which lasted less than 40 minutes. The whole thing from dead Sultan to unpopular Sultan to naval bombardment to surrender covered the 25 August to the 27th August 1896.
Britain nuked America Twice! Would be another video that will blow your minds, and seems like a good follow-up on this one. It sounds like click bait, but....not really. Go check it out!
You ask how we managed to occupy all these places with such a relatively small population: the simple answer is we colonised 'smarter not harder' when we could. Control of somewhere like India was managed primarily by judicious use of politics and trade rather than brute force. We made ourselves 'indispensable' by bringing in lots of trade revenue, which enriched local leaders greatly. Once it was established how potentially profitable it was to cooperate with us we could play politics by, for example, denying resources to the enemy of one leader to favour another - thereby using our trading power as a weapon, and getting lots of non-Brits to do the heavy lifting in terms of day-to-day administration.
You asked where the manpower came from. It wasn't all from Britain itself. Local Troops were raised in many parts of the Empire, particularly India had units of 'Sepoys' ie Indian soldiers fighting for the British, and some of these 'native' units were sent to other parts of the Empire. Even in the 13 colonies, local troops were raised, many of whom left with the British, basically in exile for staying loyal. George Washington himself was part of the colonial forces before he 'turned'. In the case of Australia, a lot of it was unoccupied and the parts that weren't belonged to the Aborigines who were scattered and didn't have the tech.
Many Americans appear to think that American independence is somehow important to us, that the British somehow begrudge ‘losing’ that we are taught about it, that it is historically important to us etc. US independence was just another skirmish in over 1500 years of history, And not a particularly key one historically for the UK.
Al Murray as the pub landlord does the same in one of his routines. He rattles dates off when people in the audience shout out a country. Amazing! You should watch it.
How they did the math is, like the Romans, they drew soldiers from the countries they had previously conquered. The number of solders needed to hold a territory is much smaller than the number you need to conquer it. Once conquered, a territory was governed by British law and institutionalised, so it became harder to have a revolt. Also, in Asia/Pacific specifically, they held a huge technological advantage over indigenous peoples. Technically, the British Empire lasted 414 years (1583 - 1997) although most of it devolved into independent countries by the 1960s.
They didn't mention Malta or some of the other Med islands. It is important to know that the average Brit does not swagger around boasting about all the places ever invaded by Britain. The reality is that most of these 'invasions' were actually part of much wider wars and the fighting was in alliance with others usually because of a third country being a beligerent acting against a weaker nation with whom Britain allied itself. It was a British policy not to allow any other nation to become more powerful within Europe and would act to assist others who were threatened - the opposition included France, Russia, Austria, Spain, Sweden and other nations that allied against Britain's allies. Just as a note, Britain did not simply decide not to give Gibraltar back, as was suggested in the narrative. The Spanish ceded the territory as part of the treaty of Utrecht in 1713 following the end of the War of the Spanish Succession. It is interesting that no-one sems to feel the need for Spain to give up on its two territories on the North African coast of the Med.
Nepal was such a pain in the butt to conquer because of the Gurka that England decided to hire them as fighters for the crown. Which still holds true to this day. Every year x amount of young Nepalese are chosen to join the British Army.
We did accumulate our fair share of animosity from some of the nations we ruled or fought with over the years. But we also had very good relations with lots of them. The British empire brought prosperity to a lot of the developing world, and even after we voluntarily gave the empire up those countries willingly joined the Commonwealth and maintained strong ties to Britain. We get a bad reputation for our colonialism but we were one of the most benign empires in history, and did more good with our power than anyone else I can think of. So I'm quite proud to be British. When we had the reigns of power we did some great things with it.
Apologies to the countries Britain ignored.
Beautiful
Short list lol
We haven’t had time to get around to them yet - we’re just having a brew and a biccie.
there on the too do list that and taking the trash out and doing the food shop
We have time 😇
I met an american who thought that the reason English was the most spoken language around the globe was because of American movies.
It figures....lol
I've met an American that thought England was on the other side of America...😅 I tried to argue that there was an Ocean between us but he was having none of it.. conspiracy is what he called it! He then went on to tell me that the Moon Landing was filmed in a swimming pool apparently you can see the air bubbles from space suits?? He Said..😂
😂😂😂😂😂
😂
@@Posion_986Once you mentioned "American" it all made sense
“Everyone’s a gangster until the British arrive on your shore” - Mahatma Gandhi.
Gandhi never said that idiot
Nuclear Gandhi might've said that.
"Emancipate yourself from mental slavery but let the British run shit" Marcus Garvey 1917
How? God Almighty
@@JohnDuffy-vc8wrthe answer is in the second part of what you said
As Al Murray says, most of these countries we controlled with just two men, a typewriter and a bicycle.
You forgot the dog, who made up a third of their occupying forces.
My Dad was a RAF Squadron Leader based in India during WW2 - his favourite expression was, "Go home missy".
no way they all had a bicycle
Is AI Murray on hardcore drugs
@@banjoscranjoBetter, he's hardcore British! 🇬🇧
When I was a kid (and older) 'the sun never sets on the British Empire' was a very common saying. This was not just a saying. I was very true.
"Because God didn't trust us in the dark".
Still true anyway. We just changed the name from empire to commonwealth 😅
WHAT PERIOD ARE YOU TALKING OF ? POST WW2 WAS THE BEGUINING OF THE END, WITH INDIA'S FREEDOM. THIS APPLIED TO ALL OTHER EMPIRES OF EUROPEAN ORIGIN.
@@SteveTidz WELL, AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, AND CANADA, STILL HAVE SPECIAL CLOSE TIES WITH BRITAIN, AND LESSER COUNTRIES ? WE PAY OUT A LOT OF DOSH, TO ENSURE THEY STAY PRO BRITISH. IT'S NOT COMPULSORY
Counting the British Overseas Territories, it is still true
We held Canada 🇨🇦 for 300 years until they agreed to play cricket 🏏 with us,but it took another 200 years for them to understand the rules.
Lol!!!!!
hahahaha
200 years for them to stop apologising for not knowing the rules lol
I think the Canadians had a far more exiting sport than cricket ,and that is Ice Hockey. We taught the Indians how to play cricket, and the Australians,too.. How on earth can countries like these, possibly have, such a dull sport to watch, as their national sports. It must say a lot for each country
Lol😅
From 43AD to 1,066AD we had a crash course in being invaded (the Roman Invasion, Angles, Saxons, Anglo Saxons, Vikings, and finally the Normans). Then we decided to show the rest of the world how to do this invading thing properly.
The angle and Saxon aka the Anglo Saxon our English we invaded Britain when the Celtic tribes own Britain that was after the Romans left Britain plus we English our germanic tribes the Saxon wæs raiding the coastline of Britain when the Roman was still here 😂 back then we was the Viking when it came to the Roman and the Roman was well wouldn’t say they was scared but they knew that they had to be on there toes with us with how suddenly we would attack them and these our historical fact proud to be Anglo Saxon English 🏴❤️✝️⚔️
you didn't decide anything. Your conquerors decided that 😜😜
The English, the very definition of ' Going for a enthusiastic Walk '
@@Æthelstān-thé-glørîøüs-96 We? What did you do? Glorying in people's death. Another keyboard warrior.
Technically the English are Anglo saxons and norse(vikings) the Normans are also have Norse ancestry . Conquest isnt the same as migration
The reason Britain was so dominant was down to the Royal Navy...which once had more warships than the rest of the world combined!
And tea 😊 well fuck u up for a cuppa tea and a bag of pepper 😂 .
Don't forget our superior people who birthed many of the things still used in every nation across the globe today. 🇬🇧
We would have invaded more but we kept stopping for a cup off tea lol
🤣
😅🤣😂
Every great force needs fuel old boy 😂
Absolutely my good man, tea anyone!
😂 so true
When you said ‘the math isn’t mathing’ you hit the nail on the head. That’s how we got away with it for so long. Nobody noticed that there were only six of us in total and we’d roped them in to occupying their own country for us. Ingenious really.
Simple answer , we had the best navy on the planet for a long time .
Also being a small island full of raw resources and nothing more than 70 miles from the sea , with rivers that go inland along way meant we could get our goods out cheaper than land locked countries
The thing that has always baffled me is the condensation of so many brilliant minds that extracted the best from the resources we had , coal , iron , timber etc and then pretty much gave our inventions to the rest of the world
we are simply superior people - end of.
They were real life "Risk" champions back in the day =)
@@geoff9759 so superior we can't even get rid of a tinpot dictator called Kier Stalin
Naval power, plain and simple. We had the best navy in the world for centuries.
@@StephenWestrip WHERE THE LARGER DOMINENT COUTRIES OF EUROPE, LIKE FRANCE AND GERMANY, HAD HUGE PERMANENT ARMIES, WE NEVER DID. WE ALWAYS HAD SMALL , BUT VERY PROFESSIONAL ARMIES , THAT COULD BE ADDED TO BY THE DUKES AND EARLS WHO COULD RELY ON CREATING LOCAL ARMIES TO FIGHT FOR THE MPIRE, IF NEEDED. BUT, WE HAD THE GREATEST NAVY, SO AS TO PROTECT OUT TRADING LANES ABROAD, AND FIGHT OFF WOULD-BE RIVALS AT SEA. ALTHOUGH WE HAD WARS WITH MANY EUROPEAN COUNTRIES, WE NEVER WANTED TO PERMANENTLY OCCUPY ANY LANDS. LIKE FRANCE AND GERMANY DID, TOO EXPENSIVE TO KEEP A ARMY THERE. WE JUST WANTED TO TRADE WITH OTHER'S ANYWHERE. THAT'S WHY WE BECAME RICH.
We were just on the longest pub crawl
stupid comment
Everyone needs a hobby.
Excellent comment thanks
😂😂
😂😂😂😂😂
😂
😂
The Brits were experts in making local rulers rule their territories for the Brits. The population often ruled their own country for Britain.
Divide and conquer
Missed a few, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, etc in 1942. Oh, and Antarctica to quell a penguin uprising in the 19th century.
😅🤣😂
And the Falklands
@@richardhall6034 The Falklands weren't invaded by the British.
@@bwilson5401 Colonisation is not necessarily the same thing as invading, A dictionary can help here.
@@bwilson5401 Colonising is not the same as invading. That's why they're two different words.
Damn you two! I had a lot of things to get done this week and now I've spent half the time binging on your wonderful videos. So if my grandkids dont all end up getting their Christmas presents it's your fault!
I dont usually watch reaction videos - i take the view that I'm a reasonably intelligent 74 year old Kiwi/Australian with a lot of experience of life, I can decide for myself whether I like a video or not. But, Mike & Jess, you're different, You're fun, you're respectful, you're intelligent and curious about the world.
I found the first of your videos by accident and i can't believe the number of rabbit-holes you've led me down now.
Thank you both from the bottom of my heart. I feel like I've spent a couple of days with a pair of wonderful, charming, likeable people and I dont want to get on with my work.
Not the presents! 😅 Thank you for the kind words friend. Glad we could share some virtual time with you. All the best to you and the grandkids ❤️
They’re not all conquered / occupied territories, some are just part of wars
But in relation to that, you don’t occupy it with pure force, it’s all about economic interests and usually it was still largely managed by the local population with a handful of British administrators
Although there were absolutely those spreading Christianity it wasn’t generally a policy in the same way it was for Spain, Portugal or France and their colonies.
The UK did not just have its own Navy and Army to invade and keep countries. They recruited other Nationalities. Indian supplied over 10 million men to their leaders (The British) and many more Africans where used as well for Soldiers and Navy, an est 20 million in all. Most countries the British invaded, soon gave men to the British to boost up the numbers in their Army and Navy, thus how the British / English kept so many countries and kept invading more.
Parliamentary democracy, Railways, Rule of Law and trial by jury was the spread of the British Empire, much of which still exists today within the Commonwealth. It's also why American Independence Day is no big deal in Britain. We've 64 other country's Independence Days to celebrate.
♥ from the UK
Is that what they teach in British schools so that they dont feel guily for all the centuries of death, desctruction, plunder and summary exeuction of anyone who dissented, that was visited upon those countires that were invaded. Are you suggesting that the countries invaded were too stupid to come up with decent societies themselves without British 'help'?.
I'm sure if the NAZI'S had succeeded they'd be telling their future generations that they made the trains run on time and imposed 'laws' and "Fair trials" on the unruley populace. I hope your post was just a bit of satire but if not, ask yourself how many Africans, Americans, Asians and Europeans died fighting for those 65 independance from Britian and then reflect on your post.
We have a democracy? 😮
We don't celebrate any of them. We couldn't give a monkey's uncle.
The US Bill of rights is actually based upon the magna carta as is the principle of human rights, something else Britain exported to the World along with industry, sanitation, farming, medicines all of which saved millions upon millions of lives and made many more much better than previously.
@@commonsense9176 Briefly. Enjoy it while it lasts.
Scottish person here. Still very proud of my British heritage and what we brought to the world 🏴🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
The Scottish regiments, some of the most feared in the world, when the enemy hears the pipes coming they know their time is short!
@@alanbobbymcguire5099 It'll be a sad day when you gain your independence, but wish you all the best when it happens
@@cannissolis there's a bit more to us than just making war.
@@erinundra I never suggested otherwise, I'm proud of my Scottish heritage
Scotland should be recognised far more for having a son who has saved millions upon millions of lives since his discovery. Alexander Fleming has likely saved more lives than anyone else in history due to Penicillin.Not just this great man,Scotland has produced a long list of incredible people that have achieved something special.
The time when the UK liked to go on a world tour. Who'd of thought this tiny island would have so much influence on the world.
We invented the Jet Engine, World Wide Web, Computer, Radio, TV, Telephone, Antibiotics, Vaccine, the Steam Train, The Industrial Revolution, Modern Medicine and Chemistry beyond belief, Clothing Manufacturing and countless other fundamental Technologies, both Physical and Non Physical etc. So I would like to thank myself for all this greatness 🧡 Thanks 🙏🏻
'Have' not 'of'...smh.
It was not the size of the armies but the discipline and training that counted. It also shows why English is spoken through out the world.
What many fail to realise is that the British empire was more about trade than force. And we controlled 25% of the world at the same time!
Trade but… backed up by force. Basically we frequently used force to protect our trade interests!
Depends on the era the first British Empire was more trade focused. The second British Empire was all about force.
We also built schools and hospitals in these countries shared our knowledge with them but all that is never mentioned
Also spent billions and lost our own men ending the slave trade another thing never mentioned
@@SteveTidz We were extracting so much wealth from India, that we were prepared to go to war with Russia to protect our cash cow on more than one occasion. Sure we built the railways, but that was so we move our army around more efficiently. The British Empire was all about stealing more wealth from our colonies than the French & Dutch could steal from theirs.
A LOT of what this video called ' Invaded ' , was the British DISCOVERING new places and not an invasion at all.
Also, going somewhere to fight a war (and maybe staying a while because you won) isn't the same as "invading" somewhere?
Which the locals had no idea of until we explained that they had now been discovered.
Look up the meaning of invasion in the English dictionary mate
And what happened after the discovery of these new places?
Jess and Mike look completely stunned by our little World Domination Phase, but we're nice people really! 🤣
Most of the time 😉 🇬🇧
If we're so horrible, why are so many migrants dying (literally) to get here when there are so many other peaceful countries that they will have passed through (and could have stayed in - as required by the UN) to get here?
@@chrisaskin6144 They all wanted to leave home (independence from us) and now that they're eating tins of beans and can't pay the rent, they all want to return home to mummy (England/UK) and live rent free in her house and get their washing done and dinner cooked.
If we missed anyone don’t worry we were probably having a cup of tea and we get around to you soon or later 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧💂♀️💂♀️💂♀️
In answer to your question, the UK still oversees approximately 660,000 sq miles of Antarctica to this day - it is called The British Antarctic Territory (BAT).
What they didn't tell you in this Video was all the Good things Britain did. We built Schools and Trained Teachers. We built Hospitals and Trained People to be Doctor, Surgeons not forgetting Nurses. We built Rail Roads and Taught the People everything they need to know. The list goes on.
Exactly
The British Empire was factually the most benevolent to ever exist,, despite some isolated atrocities over the centuries.
There is no doubt Billions of lives around the World are much better today thanks to the British Empire and its influence.
I'm not saying conquest is good, it isn't, but over human history it has been the norm and most Empires were far more brutal than the British and gave next to nothing back whereas Britain ended slavery and shaped the modern civilised world..
Railways.
@@Muckylittleme Yes, British rule was relatively benevolent for its time. Maybe part of it was that they needed to rely more on diplomacy because they were so spread out?
This is quite funny as some are only taught the whitewashed version of the British empire.
"Built English Schools and trained teachers" (from the tax money of the colonized Country) to fill the employment quota for the British empire after destroying the colonized Country's economy by market manipulation, cutting out trade routes, destroying the local education system, stopping local businesses from competing, etc. Built railroads (from the tax money of the colonized Country) to loot the Colonized Country's wealth and goods. Also, the British were experts in creating artificial mass famine that finished off millions of local people. Taxes were brutal upwards of 80% in these colonized countries.
You would only know if you had learned real history instead of some fairy tales 🙄🙄
As a Brit myself, who has friends in the US, I once wished those friends a happy independence day.
One of those friends messaged me back and asked if it bothered and upset me as a Brit that the US celebrated it's independence from us.
My reply was "Of course not, the US is just one of 65 countries that have independence days from us". He couldn't believe it. He thought that the US was the only one and that it would be a big deal to the UK.
This one has been doing the rounds of our American friends for a couple of years. My only gripe with this video is, it is not invading a country when you enter it to up hold a defence treaty you have with them, that's called fulfilling your obligation.
on paper perhaps you re right, but even in those cases that doesn't mean you are welcomed by the locals. You ve just shook hands with a government (or the local dictator/king etc) to give access to your troops in their territory, or to join your alliance. For example by that logic, the Soviets didn't invade Afghanistan, they were invited by the leftist Afghan government to protect them from the mujahideen jihadists and terrorists.
Lmao you still literally invaded then you idiot. Just because a government or a ruler *which most indigenous locals have no clue what’s going* says you can come and help me win a war doesn’t mean the locals want the British or any power to come and help them 🤦🏾♂️
If anyone has not been affected by the issues raised in this video, and would like democracy or railways, please let us know and we will get back to you in 3-5 business days. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.
Always nice to watch Americans see our scoreboard and realise that they’ll never surpass it.
The permanent UK presence in Antarctica began with Operation Tabarin during the Second World War. The 14-man Admiralty expedition was led by Lieutenant James Marr and Major Andrew Taylor. They departed from the Falklands in January 1944.
And that presence was then extended and consolidated imediately post-war, by an expedition whose 2IC was a certain Lt Col Blair (Paddy Mayne) - formerly Commanding Officer of 1 SAS.
that would be a punishment posting for sure. Antarctica in 1944... meet new people, socialise etc.... in your off duty hours of course!!!
@@colonelfustercluck486 You don't seem to understand what life for everyone was like, in WW2.
You have to remember that one third of the world’s population are in countries who are members of the British Commonwealth voluntarily. Even some countries we have never invaded have requested membership 😊
My grandfather served in the British Army in northern Russia in 1918-1919, and he didn't want to be there, either !
A lot of context is missing from this video. Example: from 1066 England was ruled by French Kings, so they were just ruling their lands in France rather than invading.
French kings ........ wow, did you come to that conclusion having read a book or something ...... a little bit of knowledge can make you look a dick!
In our defence , the French started it with that arrow in the eye in 1066 😂😂
Not French, Norman. Like calling a Glaswegian English.
@@beefy8269 How did you know that this commenter's real name is Norman?
@ph8077 the same way I know your name is Richard, dick obviously suits you
We ran the world, ended Slavery, stabilised nations and funded governments. And we are a tiny island lol
And Americans do not realize they only exist because of Britain.
They are an extension of Britain, and they are completely ignorant..
They would all either be in a few countries in Europe, or in Britain.
It annoys me when they see themselves as something completely different, we are cousins, directly related.
They can walk because we ran.
We are the same damn people!
Also spread a few inventions, inovations, improvements in science and medicine around the planet too, including the most widely spoken language, so it wasn't all bad stuff!
But, we had the greatest navy in the world🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
and dominate the music industry too
Guys, this is why the world speaks my language. you do too.😄 you also have our idea of a democratic government For the people, by the people. Not a bad legacy. 'english dave' here.
Please note:
England and the UK are different countries.
The Union Jack is the flag of the UK.
The flag of England is the St George's cross.
the Union jack is the flag of the navy the flag of the union applies to all others but we use Union Jack it's easier( just for referance not nitpicking)
@@robmcrob2091 and it's known as the union flag not the union jack, only when it is at sea is it known as the union jack
@@CraigKennethWebster good point
Great Britain is a seafaring nation Island so built up a huge Navy over a long time period. Being a relatively tiny island we were driven to forge trading relations worldwide.
Over time trading relations turned into Empire building . The British Navy the most powerful in the world for a long time, enabling most these 'invasions' wrong word really and Empire building. Great Britain being the first Nation to undergo an industrial revolution also gave us a huge technological advantage. Wherever GB went, usually, the Railways, roads & infrastructure building, Parliamentary Democracy and of course the English language followed. English is recognised as the international language mainly due to the effect of the vast global spread of British Empire. I am in no way glorifying the British Empire, as empire building can be a brutal business, just making some observations.
It's also worth remembering, for context, that England, Scotland and Walse combined land mass is similar to the state of Ohio!!
Proud to be British 🇬🇧
We gave most of them back
@@MikeSmith-ye9howe just changed the name from empire to commonwealth 😅
... For killing, invading and enslaving and you're proud of that? Something is missing in your brain.
Надеюсь когда нибудь ваш остров утонет.
@@MikeSmith-ye9howe forget a lot of the colonies we gave back post waw1 and 2 were conditions of help.
Don’t hate us. If we did not do it then some other people would. Love you pair. ❤
And they wouldn’t have been so nice😊
Well i doubt that any other would steal 45 trillion dollars from india like you did
True well said. 🐝👍👍👍
The UK does have part of Antarctica that it manages (as does the US)
The Brits didn’t try to rule by force..but by trade. Much better for everyone.
Trade mmmm Sounds much better than 'gun boat diplomacy' The Slave Trade perhaps
Britain did not colonize by force, they colonized through economy, they took control of the countries economies and made them reliant on Britain, all Britain had to do is supply a minimal presence and if force was needed they were extra brutal to reinforce the fear of the British military and quash any further rebelion.
A sound tactic.
Yeah very true mate and most of them didn’t want to rebel. We helped them built schools and hospitals established law and order and shared our knowledge with them! And most of all they was safe from invasion from another empire
Don't forget that your colonies filled your empty pockets. schools , hospitals and railways were built for the British , by their slaves , to keep them comfortable for their thieving .
“They didn’t colonise by force” erm who told you that and where did you read that? Please cite sources and just Carl Benjamin sources
You can’t blame us as it is very cold and wet over here. We have to do something with ourselves in the boring long winters.
Parliamentary democracy and trial by jury are a pretty good stick to bring with you on a world tour.
As a Dane with an English mother it's always been an interesting debate - the Royal Navy did a drive by on our capital to stop Napoleon getting the Danish fleet and they took Norway and the Danish Virgin Islands for similar reasons but they didn't have soldiers on the ground in Denmark - it's like someone landing on the Philippines when they were part of the US and claiming they invaded the United States - it doesn't really work that way. On the other hand, hundreds of place names (anything ending with "by" or "thorpe" amongst other naming conventions) in Britain come from the numerous Viking invasions and settlements over centuries and a lot more Danish words entered the English language, the concept of the third person plural (they, them, there) - no, we aren't responsible for pronouns!! Not entirely anyway.. The English names for days of the week coming from those used by the Norse and reflecting Norse Gods, the Scots use of Kirk (Church) and Kist (a scandi box/coffin) and ultimately the unification of England as a single Kingdom was, for the mot part, to be able to fight off the invading Norse - since they couldn't do so existing as numerous small tribes and the half dozen small kingdoms making up the islands). Before also becoming a part of the Danish North Sea Empire for a while, under King Cnut (the English spelling that requires some care..). The need to dominate the sea that they learnt from that era eventually gave us the Royal Navy that was to rule the waves for centuries to come. On the flip side, we've never been ruled or dominated in the same way by the Brits - no English King or Queen has ruled Denmark and we were a Kingdom before England was and Danish Kings have ruled England and other parts of Britain (albeit more out of kindness more than lack of the ability for the Brits to kick our arse if it were required in the meantime..). I'm not getting into the Norman debate since there's plenty others that'll be jumping on that one too, especially the very Danish policies (the Normans were following policies laid down by the Danish at home and then brought those to France) that were in place in Normandy and eventually England when that was taken. From the Anglo-Saxon -invasion- migration to today - we been 2nd generation immigrants fighting off the next generation of migrants lol and frankly that's how it is in most places across the world - find something nice and worth protecting, fight for it if need be and then protect it from the people we were trying to leave behind in the first place when we found this place..
Well played, that man! Well played, old chap.
Hi Folks, do remember that this video was made by an anglophobic American and his bias by calling them invasions is to be expected.
Just like when the USA invaded Iraq, many of these "invasions" were to protect ourselves or others.
The UK was not greedy for land like many other empires, they were happy to rule the waves so they could trade. Where they ended up with so much territory was more from circumstance.
If this American was to be fair, he would include the "WHY" for these invasions.
Their rule could not have been too tyranical either, as the small population of the UK had no way of ruling over this large area without the consent of the peoples living there.
Also, nearly all of the countries that left the empire are now part of the commonwealth by choice!
Nah..not having that, that he's an Anglophobe. Ignorant of certain things maybe but not a hater. I didn't feel that at all.
We have never had a large standing army in the UK, (until WW1 and WW2) but our Royal Navy was the REAL deal. Trade was an important focus for our roaming. We did a lot of that and that only worked if it was mutually beneficial to all sides. You will know also that we spent nearly two hundred years, from 1807 onwards, sailing the high seas to stop the practice of slavery around the World during our Anti Slavery Crusade - so that accounts for some of our travels. The Sudan in Africa, for instance was 'run' by a comparatively small number of clerks as we tried to put in place a different economy to replace the one based on slavery.
We also loved to explore of course - being confined to an island. Yes there was fighting as well. Lots perhaps over the years. For instance we did fight the ZULU's in Africa, but ten years later they joined with us to fight another common foe and we respect and honour each other, still today - even attending some of the others celebrations. BUT, our history goes back a few millennia so I won't bore you rigid. Suffice to say we also, because of our long reach, gradually became the Policeman of the World until the end of WW2 when we were simply exhausted as a nation and no longer had the resources. Instead of an Empire we are now part of the Commonwealth of Independent Nations which our Queen, Elizabeth II, made her life's work. Fifty-six nations are members. Some other nations, who were not in the old empire, have also joined.
She loved the Commonwealth and its people. We were very proud of her achievement as most of us here in the UK loved her too - she had an average approval rating of 79/80% throughout her seventy year Reign. We still miss her very much - even though we now have a fine King. Suppose it will take time to get used to having a new Monarch. It goes without saying, I think, that I am very proud of being a Brit. That said, it's time now for a cup of tea! So, thank you both for this, and all your reactions, they are great. Take care, love from the UK.
Most of these were not brutal invasions, it was control by trade , make the local rulers rich and you control the country.
We had nothing to do on a Wednesday afternoon. We left most of them with democracy, and I'm getting fed up with the way some of these programs are putting us down!
@@digidol52 Absolutely
As a person whose family originate from one of the countries the British colonised, I'm not so sure it's accurate to say you left us with democracy. The British drew random lines on a map to divide people, gave land away to neighbouring nations, which ended up causing wars over those lands and thousands of deaths. Not to forget the recourses the British stole while the occupied our lands and used it to build up British cities whilst our lands remained mostly under-developed.
@@bookclub5021 But those 'random lines' were nearly ALWAYS to sort out local problems, for instance, two state solution for israel or safe place for muslims to live in Afganistan.
Empire was a two way thing, do you think a tiny place like Britian could do all that with out strong agreement with the locals? In the Indian uprising, 30,000 indians for for independance, 56,000 to remain part of the Empire.
In addiiton to that, what cities did those lands build up BEFORE Britian arrived? and most after.
@@bookclub5021 Does your country have a really low GDP score it's classed as a third world country, where there's poverty, famine and loads of diseases rampaging about? No? None of the British colonized places do. Compare it to those we didn't colonize, or the ones France or Spain colonized. The British took resources because it cost a lot to build railroads etc, for the country. The British made sure the country could at least stand on it's own feet through trade, and that's why Thomas Sowell, one of the best economists in the world, says the British empire was a good thing. On top of that, look at all the inventions British made and shared, including vaccines which those of the empire got too. That's why all countries that gained independence through diplomacy joined the common wealth.
@@bookclub5021nah nah let us British tell u about the undisputable good we did in the place you haven't even named yet, these lot GUARANTEE are doing better than if that hadn't happened 😂😂 I know the British empire did a bunch of good but they were also self serving hateful opportunistic monsters in some cases, we're all people lots of good an bad but these lot wanna over hype our history to make themselves feel glorious, hey guys if u wanna feel that mmph get it on naughty websites not in UA-cam comment sections so sad, like they represent any of it what a joke 😂
There is context to every one of those events. We never had the manpower to hold all those territories, many were invaded without too much effort due to global and local politics, they were strategic, we were able to hold them because many of the locals preferred us to the alternatives and fought alongside us...that is about as brief as I can be in summing up the past 1000 years.
As empires go we couldn't have been all bad, countries may celebrate their independence but it was often independence that was given without the need for a war and 90% of those countries that were actual colonies are now in The Commonwealth.
us British have been known to be a little bit feisty
true
Thieves are feisty .
It's our Viking and Anglo-Saxon ancestry 😁
@kristinajendesen7111 We Welsh and the Scots are of a Celtic heritage 😂
We've been subdued through relative prosperity & comfort...but Starmlin is changing that. He's probably going to have his very own Marie Antoinette moment in the near future.
It's why English is so prevalent around the World.
Christainity was not forced on people in the same way as say the Spanish Empire. The British for the most part respected other religions. Unlike ALL previous empires the British Empire was not based on conquest but trade and influence. Conquest was only the very last stage. The British brought proper Law and Order, trial by jury etc. (not the local headman) an end to slavery, what we think of as modern human rights, local democracy, plus technology like railways and sewerage processing plants.
We now look on the Empire as "bad thing", but this is false. Sure by modern moral standards it was bad, but by the ones of the time, it was a huge improvement of what had existed before. Certainly in the early days of Empire subjects were far better off under the British than they had been previously, sadly the Empire didn't not keep raising the standards with the times.
If we look at the UN in the 1970's when much of the world was covered in dictatorships, nearly every democracy outside of Europe was an ex-British colony. Even the few who were not like Japan, had created a version of it based on the British model.
An example of proof is that an army of 200,000 men (and it was often smaller than that) could not capture, let alone hold an Empire of that size for around two centuries by force alone. It had the consent and support of many people.
15:30 The UK still claims part of Antarctica today (as does the United States and a few other countries) - called the British Antarctic Territory
11.50 You ask how we British had the men to invade so much land, that the maths doesn't add up.
The fact is, just about every battle we have fought in, we have been vastly outnumbered by the enemy in terms of number of men. It's common in our history to have fought in wars where we have been outnumbered 5 to 1 and we have still won. The napoleanic wars are a good example of this.
The things that made invading and conquering so much land with so little forces were better tactics, more advanced technology such as the British invention of the rifle made a big difference in the war against Napoleon and the invention of the tank made a big difference in the first world war, then there's the main fact that for hundreds of years we had the largest navy in the world. We literally ruled the seas so we could sail anyway and attack anywhere when we wanted to.
For context, a good land area size comparison for the UK as a whole is, it's similar in land area to the US state of Idaho.
Invaded is the totally historically wrong word to use for most countries, as trade and exploration was the main aim. Name me a well known country that hasn't invaded or tried to invade another.
india
Iceland is well known :)
France, Spain, Italy, are a few in Europe then the Arab countries invading Europe look at Spain for example.
@@shivi007100 the british invented the nation of india. Before that there was many nations, many religions, tribes, factions, forces, peoples etc etc The british empire estabilished a lot of countries thats what made them so succesful, people WANTED trains and vaccines and sanitation and economic stability etc enough to combine to form their own nations supported by the british empire.
@@WookieWarriorz feels bad for you westeners ...who never gt to see the actual history...not going to debate here cz you clearly unaware of the atrocities done by the british...yes india was a nation ,infact greeks gave the name india ...but here people called it bharat..pakistan ,bangladesh nepal bhutan...all were part of it...and what did you say british baught economic stability?wtf😅...india had 27% of the worlds gdp and was the richest and most diverse manufacturing hub before british came...when they left the gdp was below 2% and all the instituions have been destroyed and people got divided deeply...go read about how britishers drew the LOC..go read about winston churchill and how he was directly responsible for killing 4 million bengalis...its not even a scratch on the surface..but yes go read some history...and btw bharat already had proper sanitation 4 thousand years ago..go read about harappan civilization and indian infras...45 trillion was the amount they looted from india ....you have to dig deep by yourself cz your media and papers are not gonna show it..unfortunately...so its not your mistake that you dont know !
13:25 I can only shake my head at the map and the dates. Canada, at the time known as New France, was ceded to Britain by France thru the Treaty of Paris, which ended the 7 Years War. That was in 1758. Up to this point, the British colonies extended to the Ohio river.
Same with Florida and the Gulf Coast. This area remained French and Spanish until the Louisiana Purchase and later.
Not just England but they helped a few Scots, Welsh and Irish too 😂
It was like, When the Island family sorted out their arguments, they went on a Jolly around the world together, found some kindred spirits in Nepal and carried on the party.......like all parties, you need to know when to step out :)
As a British person, I apologise if we missed you.
I'm sure those that were left out must be gutted! 😂🤣
@@keith1222 Those that we left out had the misfortune of being invaded by more ruthless European countries like Belgium or Spain.🙁
If we didn't invade them, they didn't have anything to offer
Invaded country South Africa here. You invaded us 4 times btw. Or was it 6, 7? Idk. You could have shared that out more fairly with the rest of the world, don't you think?
UK actually did go to Antarctica and was second to the South Pole with Captain Robert Falcon Scott, who was beat there by Norwegian Roald Amundsen. Scott died on the way back. Antarctica is now under a treaty from 1959. According to Wikipedia: "Antarctica's status is regulated by the 1959 Antarctic Treaty and other related agreements, collectively called the Antarctic Treaty System. Antarctica is defined as all land and ice shelves south of 60° S for the purposes of the Treaty System.[1] The treaty was signed by twelve countries, including the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Chile, Australia, and the United States. Since 1959, a further 42 countries have acceded to the treaty. Countries can participate in decision-making if they can demonstrate that they do significant research on Antarctica; as of 2022, 29 countries have this 'consultative status'.[183] Decisions are based on consensus, instead of a vote. The treaty set aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and established freedom of scientific investigation and environmental protection."
The Japanese do a lot of research down there..... like catching f**ken whales. For research (cough, cough) purposes.
The British do actually own part of Antarctica lol
"Know your ally: Britain" should be your next reaction. It expands on this and is funny and informative. It was made for U.S. troops entering WWII. It's on the U.S National Archives, youtube channel.
I like that you have not just watched this as a jingoistic thing. They are good illustrations of the history of each age but hopefully we can move beyond conquest being a way of measuring worth.
I am Filipino, I know this from high school back in the Philippines. js.
People forget, the first country the English invaded was their own. William The Conqueror, of which the king is a direct descendant. They invaded in the 6th century and colonised the British Isles.
Countries England invaded, Cornwall was the first Celtic country they invaded, then Wales and Scotland, and off the island they still occupy a fifth of Ireland, and further away still occupy Gibraltar and about 2.5% of Cyprus.
But Britain is made from the people who invaded it, Celts, Romans, Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Vikings, more Vikings (the Normans), and the Dutch who forced the protestant religion onto Britain. Also the French invaded Little Britain ('brittany') and still occupy it.
Hi, to you both. I am an Englishman and proud of it. This video doesn't show what Britain did for a lot of these countries, how many of them are developed countries to this day, and most of the countries that we did not invade are still third-world countries. What Britain was in the past was a great seafaring nation, still exploring the world. We brought trade to the majority of the developing world. it does not show how many times we have gone to war on behalf of others, the Second World when Germany invaded Poland Etc, "The saying you had to be there and none of us was" "history is someone's opinion written down on a piece of paper" Regards Peter
Talking of how vast Russia is, did you know Africa is almost twice as large as Russia in sq. miles? The standard world map we all know isn't drawn to true scale, the widest part of Africa is actually wider than Russia even though Russia looks twice as wide as Africa on a map, it's a phenomena called Mercator projection where the further away from the equator countries are made to look much larger than they actually are.
Pick up any British Atlas of the late 19th and early 20th century, and look for all the parts coloured pink. That was the extent of the British Empire.
Like all other empires it was hardly fair or benign, but still pretty impressive.
This is sloppy, quick history reference folks: everything before 1707 is English, everything after 1707 is British I.e. England & Scotland although instigated by England.
Some of the most enthusiastic British imperialists were Scots and Irish. See the Opium Wars and Jardine Matheson in China and Hongkong. Wellington was Irish!
If you guys aren’t up on your world history; definitely check out the history behind the suspicious invasion of the kingdom of Nepal in 1814.
Note that it said “Nepal was invaded and never actually conquered”.
100,000 Indian troops & 39,000 British soldiers, with 60 heavy artillery couldn’t defeat 11,000 Nepalese Gurkhas.
The British were so impressed with their ferocity in battle that they hired them as mercenaries to fight for the crown as a gun for hire. This was later eradicated after the treaty of Suguali, where the Nepalese Gurkhas agreed to fight in the British army as a loyal vassal & equal regiment.
After 200 years of fighting together the Gurkha rifles are the single most feared regiment in global warfare.
I’ve met all kinds of specialist units over the years; Royal Marines, US Marines, Navy Seals, French Foreign Legion, Israeli Special Forces, etc;
Nobody comes close to a Gurkha, definitely worth reacting to a Gurkha training video. They’re absolutely incredible people, you’ll never have seen anything like it.
From a Danish historical perspective & narrative, we do acknowledge the impact England had all over the world. But WE invaded & ruled England, England had a Danish king in 1013-14 the viking age, the last battle was in 1066, if i remember correctly. So the fact that England invaded us in the Napoleonic wars in 1807, is less significant in our history. All the best from Denmark ❤
In 1807 it would have been Britain invading Denmark not England.
@@williammackenzie6115 English population making up more than 80+ percent of Britain. At the end of the day, we still don't give a fck about 1807 in Danish history.
Yes it's your fault. Viking spirit in our blood (and in the blood of the wonderful Ukrainians)
🇬🇧❤️🇺🇦
@@kristinajendesen7111 There is Viking spirit in Britain the Vikings settled in the Highlands and islands of Scotland and the Normans settled in England,Wales and also Scotland.
The battle of Hastings was Sunday the 14th- October 1066. and started at 9am a bit inconsiderate for a Sunday morning 😊, and it was the Norman's, not a viking invasion.😊 good health to you from, Great Britain 🇬🇧.
It might surprise you to know the British army was small, less than 100k professional troops. During the Napoleonic wars the British parliament didn't wish to commit large amount of troops to assist the allies, so Sir Arthur Wellesley (The Duke of Wellington) had to rely on volunteers for the most part. Even to this day our army is barely larger than it was at the height of the British empire.
We were running out of countries to invade, so we decided to stop and save some for later. You never know when we may start again. 🤫
The tables have turned my friend..WE are now being invaded by those that were ruled over in the past. They wanted to break from us but now they think the grass is greener and are all coming over here. Britain is no longer Great and Starmer is the latest in a long line of dickhead politicians that are allowing the gradual and insidious takeover of our country by immigrants. We and our culture have been swallowed up..we are 3/4 of the way down the anaconda's throat and only drastic action could stop us ending up in it's gut and being shytted out...but this will not happen as it would take massive strength to pull us back out and there's nobody to do it as our wonderful government blocks anybody from even getting near the snake...as they are snakes themselves. :(( Meanwhile ..tick-tock, we slide down that throat a little bit more every day. Goodbye Britannia..in a few generations you will be a historic footnote and the warriors that we were will be gone forever. I guarantee you that past soldiers would not have even bothered fighting if they could have seen the future...ah well shyt happens eh?.
09:56 what I find fascinating is that in the Sherlock Holmes books Dr. Watson is described as an 'Army doctor invalidated out after service in Afghanistan.'
In the latest iteration of SH, the current one with Benedict Cumberbatch, which is set in the present day, Dr. Watson is described in exactly the same way. One hundred years difference, no change.
Thats why we all speak english😂
The funny thing americans say forth of july. And all other dates they say the month first😂
Most Americans do know how to spell 'fourth', however.
@ As they should, its their language. My 3rd language.
@@Randomdude21-e My apologies. Some of us native English speakers write it so badly that it doesn't occur to others that the writer maybe not have English as a first language.
@@mindless-pedant no worries😊 im from Norway btw.
Hi guys ian from glasgow.we cant change history but we can learn from it .life is too short we should all put our differences asside .this is our planet everyone should learn to live in peace .if we put more time into helping one anther than in hurting each other .enjoying your reactions keep safe god bless x
To call a lot of these invasions is stupid. As is calling them all English when most were British.
A hell of a lot of this was before the Union, It was the British Empire.
sooooo it would be interesting to see a map of every non US state where the US has put a military presence at some point or another for whatever reason, and see how it compares to what is shown here.
And every country blossomed under English rule , look at zimbabwe since we left. Cecil rhodes made it one f the wealthiest countries n the world only for the africans to take it back and ruin it . Indias life expectancy went up 15 years on average under british rule
And got rid of some horrific practises as well eg, Suttee (QUOTE)....Suttee, also known as sati, was a Hindu practice where a widow would sacrifice herself by sitting on her husband's funeral pyre. It was a symbol of a woman's devotion, but was not widely practised.
@@lobeznoblancoesp the empire came about after the English had abolished slavery , u do know that ? it was our navy and armies that died trying to stop africans selling their own. The english never rounded up any slaves , that was done by their own families and friends , again u did know that hey??
"Where were all these people to hold these territories".
The British Empire was not a military empire, something this video does little to address. It was a commercial empire, backed with (mostly naval) threat, advanced technology for the time and small numbers of troops proportional to the indigenous population. The general inference was, '"Earn heaps of money with us or we'll choose someone else to make money with - your choice.' but orders from empire could be negative for the locals too.
A very good example of this is the history of Zanzibar. Firstly ordered to cease their slave trade, then threatened with a blockade until they did so. Then, a few years later when a pro-British Sultan died and was replaced by someone the British didn't like we have the Anglo-Zanzibar war, which lasted less than 40 minutes. The whole thing from dead Sultan to unpopular Sultan to naval bombardment to surrender covered the 25 August to the 27th August 1896.
Britain nuked America Twice! Would be another video that will blow your minds, and seems like a good follow-up on this one.
It sounds like click bait, but....not really. Go check it out!
You ask how we managed to occupy all these places with such a relatively small population: the simple answer is we colonised 'smarter not harder' when we could. Control of somewhere like India was managed primarily by judicious use of politics and trade rather than brute force. We made ourselves 'indispensable' by bringing in lots of trade revenue, which enriched local leaders greatly. Once it was established how potentially profitable it was to cooperate with us we could play politics by, for example, denying resources to the enemy of one leader to favour another - thereby using our trading power as a weapon, and getting lots of non-Brits to do the heavy lifting in terms of day-to-day administration.
The British also took democracy and civilisation to many places.
You asked where the manpower came from. It wasn't all from Britain itself. Local Troops were raised in many parts of the Empire, particularly India had units of 'Sepoys' ie Indian soldiers fighting for the British, and some of these 'native' units were sent to other parts of the Empire.
Even in the 13 colonies, local troops were raised, many of whom left with the British, basically in exile for staying loyal. George Washington himself was part of the colonial forces before he 'turned'.
In the case of Australia, a lot of it was unoccupied and the parts that weren't belonged to the Aborigines who were scattered and didn't have the tech.
We did what the Romans did, when we conquered a nation we created new regiments and recruited the local people into them.
Many Americans appear to think that American independence is somehow important to us, that the British somehow begrudge ‘losing’ that we are taught about it, that it is historically important to us etc.
US independence was just another skirmish in over 1500 years of history, And not a particularly key one historically for the UK.
Al Murray as the pub landlord does the same in one of his routines. He rattles dates off when people in the audience shout out a country. Amazing! You should watch it.
How they did the math is, like the Romans, they drew soldiers from the countries they had previously conquered. The number of solders needed to hold a territory is much smaller than the number you need to conquer it. Once conquered, a territory was governed by British law and institutionalised, so it became harder to have a revolt. Also, in Asia/Pacific specifically, they held a huge technological advantage over indigenous peoples. Technically, the British Empire lasted 414 years (1583 - 1997) although most of it devolved into independent countries by the 1960s.
We may be small but we are mighty.
They didn't mention Malta or some of the other Med islands. It is important to know that the average Brit does not swagger around boasting about all the places ever invaded by Britain. The reality is that most of these 'invasions' were actually part of much wider wars and the fighting was in alliance with others usually because of a third country being a beligerent acting against a weaker nation with whom Britain allied itself. It was a British policy not to allow any other nation to become more powerful within Europe and would act to assist others who were threatened - the opposition included France, Russia, Austria, Spain, Sweden and other nations that allied against Britain's allies. Just as a note, Britain did not simply decide not to give Gibraltar back, as was suggested in the narrative. The Spanish ceded the territory as part of the treaty of Utrecht in 1713 following the end of the War of the Spanish Succession. It is interesting that no-one sems to feel the need for Spain to give up on its two territories on the North African coast of the Med.
Al Murray, “nations of the world” well worth watching
Nepal was such a pain in the butt to conquer because of the Gurka that England decided to hire them as fighters for the crown. Which still holds true to this day. Every year x amount of young Nepalese are chosen to join the British Army.
Ayo Gurkhali! Absolute legends.
Look we needed tea and curry, so we went and acquired them!
Yep. We were looking for hot and spicy food, and olympic quality athletes we could import.
@@PaulVincent-n2x actually it was the British who invented the curry
We did accumulate our fair share of animosity from some of the nations we ruled or fought with over the years. But we also had very good relations with lots of them.
The British empire brought prosperity to a lot of the developing world, and even after we voluntarily gave the empire up those countries willingly joined the Commonwealth and maintained strong ties to Britain. We get a bad reputation for our colonialism but we were one of the most benign empires in history, and did more good with our power than anyone else I can think of. So I'm quite proud to be British. When we had the reigns of power we did some great things with it.
So we English like to travel. Nothing wrong with that.