Comments by "Kimberly Perrotis" (@kimberlyperrotis8962) on "The British Empire: The Complex Truth" video.

  1. I just purchased Churchill’s History of the English-Speaking Peoples, which I’ve always wanted to read, on Audible, in four volumes, unabridged. Last time I checked, it wasn’t yet available and I’m excited to now have it! E-books are how I prefer to “read” nowadays. This will keep me happy for a while!
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  2. Germany is a very wealthy country, they should be held to paying the WWII reparations. They devastated Europe economically, not to mention in all the other ways, and got financially rewarded for it! If they want to be forgiven for what their country did, and be accepted as an equal participant in the modern world, they must pay the reparations, with interest. (They paid only 20% of what they owed, from what I understand). It irks me every time I see the rebuilt and regilded Brandenburg Gate, they could afford that. While countries like Greece never recovered!
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  3. I don’t see the British Empire as slavery-based. There were places where the British participated in and promoted slavery, but slavery per se wasn’t the goal or practice of the Empire. It was based on an economic system and culture that was exploitative, paternalistic and racist, certainly, but it wasn’t intended to conquer and enslave. A realistic, balanced view of history should be striven for, always; colonialism and empire-building brought benefits, too, like improved education, personal liberties, reduced food insecurity, and better healthcare, industry and transportation. Ultimately, it sowed the seeds of democratic, representative, liberal government, national unity and independence in its former colonies. As these concepts expanded in Britain, so did they in its colonies.
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  4. Let’s not forget the other groups the Germans tried to eliminate: gypsies/Romani, disabled or other “imperfect” persons, other “non-Aryans” and those too old to work or reproduce or who resisted. I don’t believe for a second that Germany would have reformed itself without utter defeat, it was a society drunk on violent, self-aggrandizing, racist ideologies, conquest, military “glory”, state-sponsored theft and subjugation of all others.
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  5. I think the two innovations that most changed the world are: the Industrial Revolution and the British Empire, both originated in England/Britain, of course. The third is innovations of the Iberian Empires, the Spanish and Portuguese, stemming from early Portuguese exploration of Central and East Asia and the New World. The contribution of Portugal is often ignored, I think, in connecting distant parts of the world. It’s difficult to imagine how our present globalization would have been attained without these. (I consider the Digital Revolution, the Internet, wireless and satellite communication. etc., to be parts of the ongoing Industrial Revolution, not separate ones).
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