Critical Examination of the legacy of the British Empire



Critical Examination of the legacy of the British Empire

Introduction

The British Empire is amongst the greatest empires of the history that has had an immense influence on the world. The most observable legacy of the British Empire is the language of English that has been now prevalent all around the world, and currently considers as the international business language of the world. Thus, amongst one of the other great British Empire's legacies, the parliamentary government of Westminster-style is also universal. The British Empire had a cabinet system with the head of government i.e. Prime Minister, and with the head of state i.e. the British monarch signified by a Governor General. It is comprised of a stabilized governmental system with regular elections i.e. democratic and free government. The Parliament of UK in Westminster, recognised as the 'Mother of all Parliaments”, has been proven itself as the replica of parliaments of Commonwealth nations like Australia, Canada, South Africa (till the period of 1960s), New Zealand, Jamaica, India, Trinidad, Bahamas, Tobago, and Barbados. Other big nations like the U.S.A and some other nations of Africa have also implemented an unusual system, such as the Congress of the United States, with an influential Executive President who is authorised as the head for both the state and the government (Diamond et al., 1995).

The British Empire was lasted for more than 200 years and it was the greatest Empire that has ever existed in the history. It may be evidently argued that its commencement reclined with the confinement of Jamaica in 1655 from the Spanish and that it's ending may be witnessed in the fast African decolonisation in the period of 1960s. The problematical question of precisely whatever its legacy about will be fallen out for an extensive period; as by the passage of time, perspectives also change, and some obvious conclusions can be made (Herbst, 2000). In this paper, there will be a focus on some different areas of the history of British Empire in order to explore the wide-ranging influences of the Great Empire.

Discussion

When the British Empire lost its valuable colonies of America, a new Empire was established by the Britain. Trade was imperative as it was appropriately associated with wealth. Since its inception, Britain has been known as a trading country and has also endeavoured in opposition to the Dutch, the Spanish, and the French, who were enthusiastically eager for edging the Britain out of the lucrative world of business (Muller, 1985). These all business rivals of the Britain had emerged as the top-most imperial power of the world, but the world of today has been really different from that. Thus, with the least trounce of the French Dictator, Napoleon Bonaparte, by the period 1815 at the Waterloo Battle, the British Empire has come out as the unsurpassed and supreme nation. Throughout many areas of history of the British Empire, some are chosen to be critically examined, which are mentioned below in ...