people that act like Britain’s colonial past is ancient history, here are some facts:
Afghanistan’s independence was in 1919.
Egypt was in 1922.
Iraq was in 1932.
Jordan was in 1946.
India and Pakistan were in 1947.
Myanmar and Sri Lanka were in 1948.
Libya and Oman were in 1951.
Sudan was in 1956.
Ghana and Malaysia were in 1957.
Singapore was in 1959.
Cyprus and Nigeria were in 1960.
Cameroon, Kuwait, Tanzania, and Sierra Leone were in 1961.
Jamaica, Uganda, and Trinidad and Tobago were in 1962.
Kenya was in 1963.
Malawi, Malta, and Zambia were in 1964.
The Gambia and the Maldives were in 1965.
Barbados, Botswana, Lesotho, and Guyana were in 1966.
Yemen was in 1967.
Eswatini (Swaziland), Nauru, and Mauritius were in 1968.
Fiji and Tonga were in 1970.
Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates were in 1971.
The Bahamas was in 1973.
Grenada was in 1974
Seychelles was in 1976.
Dominica, Tuvalu, and the Solomon Islands were in 1978.
Kiribati and Saint Lucia were in 1979.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines were in 1979.
Vanuatu and Zimbabwe were in 1980.
Antigua and Barbuda and Belize were in 1981.
Saint Kitts was in 1983.
Brunei was in 1984.
In addition to that: Northern Ireland is still a British territory. So are the Falkland Islands and Bermuda.
This is in the lifetime of ancestors we have that are still alive. Many of these countries were left in financial ruination after colonization with their resources drained. Many of these countries have been repeatedly bombed by the UK and their allies since independence as well. The very act of independence often resulted in massive loss of life (see the partition of India and Pakistan which resulted in 2 million people dead, 20 million people displaced, and countless others never recovered). Calling it ancient history or underplaying the sheer cruelty of what the British empire did is such a slap in the face to the people who suffered for centuries.
my mother was born before sudan became independent. my father was born when kenya became independent. vanuatu, zimbabwe, antigua and barbuda, belize, saint kitts and brunei were still colonised when margaret thatcher was elected as the UK’s prime minister. this is modern history, not ancient history.
