Question about the "power" of the Military

Former Member

despite all the flaws of the british empire, they did let a lot of their countires keep their traditional way of life, and didnt interfere with locals too much

Former Member

The British empire brought:
Abololition of slave
Education (many Indian peasants were better educated than their London dwelling counterparts)
Healthcare, again much better than in england
Infrastructure, roads/police/army/doctors/nurses
Freedom of expression. It was perfectly legal to criticise your rulers. We could have executed Ghandi on the spot, but we let him talk.
Wealth, India and Pakistan became wealthy countries, with a dominating sphere of influence in their own right.


yes, we ruled the people, but we didn't treat them like second class citizens, they were all treated as British citizens. They could travel freely in the empire if they could afford to do so.

Former Member

The problem that the Us will always face is that they can't win against an guerrilla resistance they always want to bring the big guns in and kill civilians and turn the population against them.

Former Member

Originally posted by Whowhere
The British empire brought:
Abololition of slave
Education (many Indian peasants were better educated than their London dwelling counterparts)
Healthcare, again much better than in england
Infrastructure, roads/police/army/doctors/nurses
Freedom of expression. It was perfectly legal to criticise your rulers. We could have executed Ghandi on the spot, but we let him talk.
Wealth, India and Pakistan became wealthy countries, with a dominating sphere of influence in their own right.


yes, we ruled the people, but we didn't treat them like second class citizens, they were all treated as British citizens. They could travel freely in the empire if they could afford to do so.

i agree with all that toher than infrastructure, all the railways etc in africa and asia, built in imperial times, whetherit british (or french), wereonly there for purposes of transporting goods to ports to be sent to europe

Former Member

erm....right.
Then why were passengers allowed to use it? Why did we send over passenger trains instead of just freight trains?
Why did the rail network link everywhere up, instead of just all the tracks leading to the coast?