an old figure of these lands, claims that the imperialist came 1st with a priest 2nd with a trader 3rd with the soldiers each wave killed one way or another those who did not resist On Tue, Apr 15, 2014 at 3:09 PM, Lawrence Helm <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>wrote: > In *The Decline and Fall of the British Empire, 1781-1997, *Piers > Brenden on page xviii and xix writes, “The British Empire had a small human > and geographical base, remote from its overseas possessions. In the late > eighteenth century it gained fortuitous industrial, commercial and naval > advantages that rivals were bound to erode. Having such a limited capacity > to coerce, it sought accord and found local collaborators. But imperial > domination, by its very nature, sapped their loyalty. . . The history of > empires,’ he wrote, ‘is the history of human misery.’ This is because the > initial subjugation is invariably savage and the subsequent occupation is > usually repressive. Imperial powers lack legitimacy and govern > irresponsibly, relying on arms, diplomacy and propaganda. But no > vindication can eradicate the instinctive hostility to alien control. > Gibbon, himself wedded to liberty, went to the heart of the matter: ‘A more > unjust and absurd constitution cannot be devised than that which condemns > the natives of a country to perpetual servitude, under the arbitrary > dominion of strangers.’ Resistance to such dominion provoked vicious > reprisals, such as the British inflicted after the Indian Mutiny, thus > embedding ineradicable antagonism. Yet Britain’s Empire, much better than > any other, as even George Orwell acknowledged, was a liberal empire. Its > functionaries claimed that a commitment to freedom was fundamental to their > civilizing mission. In this respect, Lloyd George told the Imperial > Conference in 1921, their Empire was unique: ‘Liberty is its binding > principle,’ To people under the imperial yoke such affirmations must have > seemed brazen instances of British hypocrisy. . . And in the twentieth > century, facing adverse circumstances almost everywhere, the British > grudgingly put their principles into practice. They fulfilled their duty > as trustees, giving their brown and black colonies the independence (mostly > within the Commonwealth) long enjoyed by the white dominions. The British > Empire thus realized its long-cherished ideal of becoming what *The Times > *called in 1942 ‘a self-liquidating concern.’” > > > > *Observations: *While the above isn’t precisely a definition, we who > have not been influenced by Lenin, will understand what Gibbons means when > he uses the word “empire.” Rome and Britain subjugated a long list of > cities and tribes. After that it occupied them and made them colonies. > Britain because of influence of the Enlightenment and Humanism perhaps > could not feel good about all aspects of their empire building – at least > not ultimately. That did not seem to be true of the Russian empires. > > > > In *Russia's People of Empire: Life Stories from Eurasia, 1500 to the > Present*, ed by Norris and Sunderland, we read on page 251, “In the last > years, enfeebled by strokes, Stalin was arguably the most powerful man in > the world. Not only did he control the USSR and much of Eastern Europe, > but the communist leaders of China, North Korea, and Vietnam deferred to > him. In 1950 he agreed that Korean leader Kim Il Sung could invade South > Koreas, thus opening the way to the Korean War. . .” > > > > “Like his predecessors Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great, and Catherine > the Great, Stalin was both a state builder and an empire builder. > Historically Russia’s ‘national’ identity was an imperial one – nation, > absolute state, and empire intimately intertwined – and Stalin contributed > to that tradition in an exceptionally brutal manner. His legacy was a > hypercentralized state, a crudely industrialized economy, a country in > which millions died to build his idea of socialism, and other millions to > defend their country against the enemies of Communism.” > > > > Lawrence > > > -- palma, e TheKwini, KZN palma cell phone is 0762362391 *only when in Europe*: inst. J. Nicod 29 rue d'Ulm f-75005 paris france