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Posted: April 7, 2011 11:26 pm  | |||
      IRC Nickname: Armybuilder Group: Raid Leader Posts: 1468 Member No.: 2173 Joined: December 6, 2009 Total Events Attended: 227    | So ye this is my History Coursework for this year. Focuses on the British Empire. Would like some outside views on how you guys think the British empire fell. or if you think anything wrong. Warning long post +P ___________________________________________________________________ "Despite its' economic problems of the 1950's post World War II era”, Britain was able to maintain its' role as a major power" assess the validity of this claim within the context of 1900-2000. Going into the 20th century the British Empire was the most powerful in the world. The Navy ruled the waves. No European Empire had as much wealth as Britain. However times were changing and although the Edwardian age was an elegant time in which the king led the fashionable society, however, this was all going to change and Britain’s role in the world would no longer be at the top. Over the next 100 years Britain’s position changed dramatically. I will explore whether or not Britain can maintain its role with four categories. Firstly economically, is Britain still the financial capital of the world? Secondly militarily does Britannia still rule the waves? Thirdly Britain’s main source of power comes from the empire is this maintained. Finally on a world scale. Is Britain able to help in world diplomatic path or is she reacting to world events At the turn of the century an alliance with Germany was attempted in 1898 and in 1901. Britain wanted an diplomatic support against Russia in the far east, whilst the Germans wanted help or neutralism in a war that could consume Europe ‘Have we ever felt that danger [of isolation] practically’ This alliance was seen by some as a move in the wrong direction for Britain in world affairs by making it look as if Britain needed allies to help itself and not stand alone as it had done for so long and had done so successfully. ‘As long as we are envied by all, and as long as we have interest which at one time or another conflict with the interests of all, we are likely to be confronted at any moment with a combination of great powers’ This on the other hand suggests this was the right way to go by improving our position to stop a number of powers becoming aggressive to Britain. Allies would secure Britain’s place in world Affairs by having strong allies for support. The attempt of the Germans perusing an alliance with Britain shows that Britain is a strong world power. This could be seen as maintained until WWII as Hitler holds of his invasion of Britain in hope to form an alliance. ‘The only democracy he took seriously was the British, which he rightly regarded as not entirely democratic’ This clearly shows Britain has maintained its power as Germany would not attempt to ally a weak nation. In 1904 an Anglo-French agreement was made. This granted France control of morocco and Britain that of Egypt whilst leaving Siam as a state between the two. ‘Changing positions and polices of Germany were at the back of the minds of both the French and Britain statesmen’ . The alliance of France and England helped maintain the power both of these nations had against Germany. This alliance let Britain maintain its position on the sea as Frances navy had the ability to help combat the ever growing German Navy. The Entente also allowed Britain to maintain its African colonies and stopped any disputes with France over them. The entente with Russia from the British point of view was to keep check on Germany meaning Britain could maintain her power in Europe without having a serious challenger World war one showed that Britain still had the naval power it was renowned for in the 19th Century. Coming out of the First world war the Navy was still the world’s strongest and was still the world’s largest too ‘By the end of the First world war it had no fewer than 61 battleships, more than the American and French fleets put together plus 120 cruisers and 466 destroyers’ and Britain could use her navy too. She had successfully blockaded Germany’s food trade routes to which Germany could not break. ‘If the German fleet ever becomes superior to ours the German army can conquer this country’ Clearly Britain maintains the position as a major power throughout World War I and two as Germany is never able to conquer Britain. At the turn of the 20th century London was still the financial capital of the world and Britain in 1899 was still exporting more manufactured exports than the US and Germany and was exporting more exports all together than Germany. This though was not maintained by 1913 as Britain was falling behind Germany in both manufactured exports and overall exports and hadn’t improved there manufactured to the great speed as Germany and the United States . In addition to this in 1917 the Americans started to force the change of New York as the financial capital of the World moving business away from London. The decline of Britain exports continued to fall. ‘In 1944 domestic exports were only £262 million about % of their 1931 value’ . Britain had not managed to maintain itself as a major power as they were over taken by the US and Germany economically early into the twentieth century. ‘The present situation of the United Kingdom is that of a rapidly declining industrial power whose output and exports are no long central important to the world economy’ Britain’s position as a major Power economically has defiantly not been maintained she has been removed from the top of world economies by two rising major powers. The defeat of the Triple Alliance in world War I thrust Britain in a new place as a major power in World Diplomacy ‘while in the council the great powers were to be predominate’ in addition to this Britain had one of the deciding votes on the treaty of Versailles. Britain’s membership in the League of Nations gave Britain a new role in world politics that previously outside of the empire Britain had no power. However not everyone thought that the league of Nations maintained Britain as a major power ‘the league of nations and the principle of collective security is futile yet dangerous... we have such a policy it provides that great Britain should adopt towards European affairs an attitude of detachment’ . They clearly thought the league of nation was lessening Britain’s power and security of the Empire not maintaining Britain’s power in ‘depriving Germany of all her former overseas colonies (these were redistributed among the British and her dominions and the French’ with the addition of these colonies we can see due to world diplomatic positions Britain not only maintained but it increased its power as we controlled more land from the colonies that we gained from Germany. In 1938 chamberlain visited Germany and returned with a signed piece of paper declaring ‘Britain and Germany’s desire never to go to war with each other again’ England had once again showed the world especially Europe that peace was still achievable. Britain has showed it can maintain power by keeping peace in Europe which Chamberlain himself believes ‘my good friends, for the second time in our history a British prime minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honour. Duff cooper after this resigned as First Lord of the Admiralty. He believed as did A.J.P Taylor that it was ‘an hour of national humiliation’ This shows that it may have been another step from Britain’s fall as a major power due to Britain’s naivety. Britain showed herself as a major power during World War II as for a while they single-handedly held back the Germany forces. The RAF during the Battle of Britain showed that the German Luftwaffe was not a match for the RAF and they were not in position to beat England ‘In 15th August , the Luftwaffe committed its maximum strength the battle was bested by the RAF: 75 German planes for 34 British Aircraft’ . Here Britain’s military power is maintained. In World War she holds the Germans back using her Navy this time with the Air force. In addition to this the support of the Dominions helped Britain’s war effort as could be seen at D-Day when there were 2 British, 2 American and one Canadian Landing. However Britain was not solely able to win the war and so her military power is not completely maintained. ‘The Anglo-US forces were already firmly established on the European Mainland’ the Americans and the Russians had the Military power during WWII it was with their support that Germany was defeated. Due to this Britain’s Military power was not maintained Britain did have a major role in World War II but her Military Power was not decisive as it had been in WWI when they were able to cripple Germany trade routes. In 1947 Britain had been forced out of India by the last resort of trying to keep the Indian congress happy. However this failed an eventually the last viceroy Lord Mountbatten quickly signed over India and Pakistan over to their successor governments ‘Britain had lost the colony that had provided much of its military muscle east of Suez, as well as paying 'rent' for the 'hire' of much of Britain's own army’ The loss of India is colossal to the Britain it had suddenly lost the entire army it could be seen. No longer did they have their Jewel in the crown to pay for the Army and they didn’t have the large force of Indians defending the Suez. ‘The union jack flew over a fifth of the globe and nearly ¼ of its population at the turn of the century ‘ The loss of the Indian Raj means that a great deal of the Empires wealth had now gone. Britain has not maintained its self as a major power in this case as it has let a third world country overcome it.’ On economic grounds alone, the dominions were vital for Britain with their supplies of food and raw materials ‘ The dominions are what keep Britain going. Britain’s presence in India and then loosing it would have been such a shock to the British Empire. Their most valued prize was no longer there. Mason clearly is stating that the empire is what made Britain it a major power with the dominions separating all around the world and the commonwealth coming into play Britain power gained by having its amazing economy is has had for the last century and the land mass that it owned throughout the world disappearing the British Empire was quickly going back to the small island in the north sea. This loss of India and other dominions had a major impact on Britain ‘Britain’s role as a great power was increasingly shown up as an illusion. By 1947, her financial position was far weaker; the withdrawals from Greece, India and finally Palestine along with the convertibility crisis confirmed the fact. Britain was subordinate to the United States.’ K.O.Morgan disagrees clearly with Britain’s ability of being a major power as here he believes that Britain had lost that status before the 50s and that the decline of the Empire in the 40s she had lost her financial position. In addition to these withdrawals it was clearly that Britain was no longer top dog that was now owned by the United States. The British economy coming out of World War II was the best in Europe however in 1949 Britain despite Marshall Aid ran into crises and devalued the pound from $4.03 to $2.80. Britain from this was slow to recover There is numerous reasons for this one of which could be that the industries that Britain was involved in like Cotton and Wool had a low long term growth industry. Britain was far from being involved with the second industrial revolution with products made of manmade fibres and electronics. Rather than improving Britain’s modernism Britain instead chose to reward its people from its wartime effort. Not allowing Britain to grow. In addition to this rationing was still being used and was not replaced until 1954. Britain never really attempted to modernise her economy so she was left behind the world as she attempt to carry on ‘At the same time, she continued to act as a world policeman, and was obliged to maintain higher levels of defence expenditure than her international competitors, and this generated few economic benefits.’ Due to this I believe that Britain failed to maintain her position Britain just stayed where she was whilst the world developed around her. A.Marr disagrees with me on this’ in the mid-fifties, Britain is a worldwide player, connected and modern. The major companies are global leaders in oil, Tobacco shipping, and finance’ If taking A.Marr views then Britain is still forefront of the economic major powers but if you take those of Nicholas Woodward then Britain has been left behind. Britain's position looking back in hindsight we can see that Britain fails to maintain herself as an economic power house due to our position today. However these problems only held Britain back to a certain degree. In 1954 colonel Nasser came to power in Egypt. He persuaded world powers to help finance his High dam Project. After Nasser taxed the cotton crop to pay for Czechoslovakian troops. British and America feared the USSR was trying to take a hold over the Middle East s they withdrew their grant to the project. In reaction to this Nasser Nationalised the Suez Canal Company without giving shareholders who promised funding compensation. To This France, Israel and UK decided to launch a strike force against Egypt. Immediately Britain’s standing in the world took a turn for the worse. The USA and the UN and the USSR demanded a ceasefire. This came as a major blow as Britain depended on US money to keep going. This greatly affected Britain’s position in maintaining its position as a major power as it had fallen out of favour with other Major Powers. However on the other hand this wasn’t because of economic problems as they could still launch an attack although they were still struggling from the backlash of WWII. The Suez is an important event in the fall of Britain as a major power in numerous ways. Previously Britain would have never have been in a situation such as this. Egypt was a British colony they would have had complete control over the Suez so a crisis of this scale would never have been necessary. Due to the seemingly British retreat from the Empire Egypt no longer is under British jurisdiction. It also shows Britain's Military weakness, the help of the French and the Israeli’s Britain against a nation such as Egypt shows that she has defiantly fallen from a major power as previously she would have sorted it out on her own. In addition to this Economically Britain shows that she is not the economic power Britain was ‘Eden cabled to President Eisenhower that Britain could not afford to let Nasser win’ also the fact that she is allowing other nations to have such an influence on her actions shows that Britain as a world power has fallen as previously no one would have dared to tell Great Britannia what to do. ‘`Suez’ became a four-letter shorthand for the moment when Britain realized her new place in the world' A.Marr clearly disagrees that Britain was able to maintain her position as a world power. He believes that the Suez crisis in 1956 was the fall of Britain from power ‘The attempt by Britain and France to reassert themselves as global imperial powers in the Suez adventure of 1956 seemed more doomed than it evidently did to the governments in London and Paris ‘ Eric Hobsbawm disagrees though and believes that this was an attempt to get Britain and France back on the World Map. From these views I think that Britain was no longer able to maintain its position as a major power and that this is defiantly the turning point for Britain ‘There are only two great powers in the world today, the United States and the Soviet Union… The ultimatum put Britain and France in their right place, as power neither big nor strong. ‘ This comment from Eisenhower puts Britain’s place in the world into context on the world scale. No one thinks of them as a power anymore it’s now the US and Soviets. ‘Britain entered the sixties still in confident mood, despite the legacy of divisions and tension inherited from pre-war years. The sense of national decline, even humiliation, at the time of the Suez drifted away. Externally and internally, the land appeared to be thriving and self confident’ This Suggests that 50s although Britain had problems to start with they had quickly sorted the economic problems created by WWII and had carried on to grow as a nation and put it behind them. This also suggests that the events of the Suez had been forgotten and Britain was once again standing as one. This creates the image of Britain losing status as a world power during the 50s but by the time the 60s came around they we’re back where they were. Whilst in Reality this was not true. By 1862 unemployment was 800 000 and Britain’s defences were lacking they were buying Weapons from the US due to it wanting to stay independent nuclear deterrent. At the end of the 50s yes there was an economic boom but this was a short two year span and as the 60s hit a reverse could be seen and Britain once again had an economic crisis on its hand. Clearly the buying of Weapons from the Americans shows that in all Britain is no longer playing a major role as she cannot fend for herself. She relies on the Americans to fund her and defend her it seems. In 1982 it saw Argentina’s attack on the Falklands Island. The island having its soveignity over it has been disputed for along time and as of 2010 is still not completed. It was another chance to show how well Britain can show its world power as she show what the Americans thought was “militarily impossible” was not such and therefore gained much But its also important as its one of the few naval battles that happened after the wars. In addition to this the international respect for Britain raised with the victory and worried the USSR still in Cold war mode which then increased its troop amount facing the British troops in the Rhine.’ “The significance of the Falklands War was enormous, both for Britain's self-confidence and for our standing in the world. Since the Suez fiasco in 1956, British foreign policy had been one long retreat. The tacit assumption made by British and foreign governments alike was that our world role was doomed steadily to diminish. We had come to be seen by both friends and enemies as a nation which lacked the will and the capability to defend its interests in peace, let alone in war. Victory in the Falklands changed that. Everywhere I went after the war, Britain's name meant something more than it had. The war also had real importance in relations between East and West: years later I was told by a Russian general that the Soviets had been firmly convinced that we would not fight for the Falklands, and that if we did fight we would lose. We proved them wrong on both counts, and they did not forget the fact. ... ‘ The Falkland’s War is a major turning point for Britain in terms of power. It’s the event that truly puts Britain back on the map. The cold war had been going on for years between the Soviets and the States. No one had really given two glances at Britain other than the soviets who thought of her as a target as she housed American Missiles. However after the British retook the island from the Argentineans’ the world was surprised that the tiny island could still show great military feats. The Falkland’s is the event where Britain came back to its status as a major power and was noticed once again.’ These were the last years of the cold war. Britain Mattered more in Washington than any south American (after the Argentinean invasion of the Falkland’s island)’ Britain is noticed again in the world. The fact that the American’s believed that Britain was a valuable ally to them again gives Britain its place back as a major world power as now one of the two super powers of the cold war has acknowledged them. Replaces Britain as a major world power and A.Marr clearly believes this. In conclusion Britain’s did fall from power. Britain has finally come full circle and is now a second rate power in the shadow of Japan and Russia. Britain’s fall from a major power can be seen at the start of the 20th century especially in the economic sector. Britain had the best economy in the world the empire ensured that we had all the produce needed to satisfy the world. However quickly into the 20th century we fall behind the rest of the world who are going through a second industrial revolution whilst we are still using 19th Century methods. In other factors Britain is still a major power in. She is a commanding force in World War 1. She gains a great place in the League of Nations that although she now has new found allies Britain is still the strongest country within the league. The actual year in which Britain falls from grace cannot be said. Time period however I would say that World War II is where Britain falls. The Immense pressure of World War II on Britain's economy cripple’s their already Poor economy. But World War II itself showed a great many flaws in the Britain as a country. The Military didn’t have the deciding factor it had had in World War I in addition to this Britain had to rely on the lend and lease from the US in making sure she stayed supplied throughout world war one. Not a country maintaining its power. From World War II to the Suez Crisis Britain is on a continuing downward path with the Suez Crisis being the key point in where Britain realises it is not the power it once was. The Suez crisis shows that due to economic problems Britain is unable to maintain itself as a major power. The fact that Britain admits to the Americans, that without the Suez Canal Britain cannot go on shows that all four factors have been lost, to none other than the Americans. So from this we can see that the title of this essay is false and Britain was not able to maintain herself as a major power. However The victory in the Falkland’s does show that Britain is still a force to be reckoned with and she still has some of the features of a major power. She takes the world by storm when the troops retook the Islands in what was called an impossible task. This victory though still does not mean that she was able to maintain herself as a major power more a case of holding on to that what Britain once had. ‘What indeed, were the international powers, old or new, at the end of the millennium? The only state that would have been recognized as a great power, in the sense in which the word had been used in 1914 was the USA. ‘ Eric Hobsbawm in this quote I believe sums up the 20th Century. The Russia/Soviets fell from Major power status, France fell from Major Power status and so did Britain. The only Power that has remained that a power throughout is the United States. Britain no matter its effort has gone back to being a small regional power not the Major power it was at the turn of the century. --------------------     | ||
Posted: April 11, 2011 10:01 am | |||
 IRC Nickname: Group: Guest Posts: 127 Member No.: 2612 Joined: February 23, 2011 Total Events Attended: 31 | This is pretty good man. Your conclusion was epic. Yeah it was long, but you leave nothing untold, theres no cliff-hangers (which is one of the most common mistakes people have when doing essay's) Besides all of which this shits in ELABORATE detail. So ima say this is pretty freaken guudd -------------------- | ||
Posted: April 11, 2011 10:22 am | |||
| IRC Nickname: Rodney75 Group: Council Posts: 1683 Member No.: 2109 Joined: October 29, 2009 Total Events Attended: 154 | Did not read it, won't even claim I did. But it looks a bit like a story, too chronological. When I did A level history, they liked you to rank by importance rather than order. Maybe it's all changed now  --------------------  | ||
Posted: April 11, 2011 01:21 pm | |||
| IRC Nickname: Wayshow Group: Higher Guardian Posts: 733 Member No.: 2584 Joined: February 6, 2011 Total Events Attended: 41 | commenting cuz i deserve a post count for readin the whole thing xD learned a lot from it...... but improve ur grammar LLLL --------------------
3rd for Heavens Slayer Challenge :) All join WG Asia Unit <3 | ||
Posted: April 11, 2011 01:28 pm | |||
| IRC Nickname: ZurvivorMan Group: Emeritus Posts: 1098 Member No.: 1528 Joined: December 6, 2008 Total Events Attended: 99 | Tbh i didn't read it, its too long But good luck! -------------------- You don't have to feel like a waste of space You're original, cannot be replaced If you only knew what the future holds After a hurricane comes a rainbow Maybe you're reason why all the doors are closed So you can open one that leads you to the perfect road  | ||
Posted: April 11, 2011 03:08 pm | |||
| IRC Nickname: Armybuilder Group: Raid Leader Posts: 1468 Member No.: 2173 Joined: December 6, 2009 Total Events Attended: 227 | Meh grammer is shit im not good at english going to be totally honest with you lolz. @Tom Ye its in chronilogical ive gotta show the 100 year spread as im sure you know but as its teh decline in the british empire. If its not done in order it wouldnt make any sense or thats how i see it. But order of importance would work too -------------------- | ||
Posted: April 11, 2011 03:47 pm | |||
 IRC Nickname: Bgpgraebner Group: Higher Guardian Posts: 780 Member No.: 2457 Joined: November 17, 2010 Total Events Attended: 51 | Yay for post count@ Lookin' good man, pretty good - only yeah, work a bit more on the grammar, because if it's an essay you'll do better with a better grammar  -------------------- SEX. Now that I got your attention, please read my post. | ||
Posted: April 11, 2011 05:09 pm | |||
 IRC Nickname: Group: Raid Leader Posts: 1110 Member No.: 2430 Joined: October 14, 2010 Total Events Attended: 77 |
Told by a year 9 equivalent army  -------------------- | ||
Posted: April 11, 2011 09:40 pm | |||
 IRC Nickname: DG_Keanu Group: Council Posts: 4782 Member No.: 2033 Joined: August 25, 2009 Total Events Attended: 173 | A lot of grammar/spelling/tense issues, and some minor flaws in the argument, eg: "Allies would secure Britain’s place in world Affairs by having strong allies for support." - Needs to be backed up better. Can't say "Allies secured a world affairs spot by having allies" - how exactly did the alliance do this? Just little stuff like that. I could do a complete re-draft if you want. --------------------  [05:42] <+WG_Keanu> I think I got a semi just looking at the pic [05:42] <%kat> same | ||
Posted: April 11, 2011 10:13 pm | |||
| IRC Nickname: Armybuilder Group: Raid Leader Posts: 1468 Member No.: 2173 Joined: December 6, 2009 Total Events Attended: 227 | lolz keanu. Already sent in dude +P -------------------- | ||
Posted: April 12, 2011 01:06 am | |||
| IRC Nickname: DG_Keanu Group: Council Posts: 4782 Member No.: 2033 Joined: August 25, 2009 Total Events Attended: 173 | o.  -------------------- [05:42] <+WG_Keanu> I think I got a semi just looking at the pic [05:42] <%kat> same | ||
History Essay, Would like some views from non brits