Would Britain be richer without its imperial past?

By Jacqueline Liu - Hong Kong SAR

A country that is described as rich adds more value than it takes away. This can be interpreted from an economic as well as cultural sense. What would Britain have been like without colonialism? The lack of its resources combined with the deprivation of trade links would have minimised growth, so, in times of global conflict, would have suffered greater consequences. Furthermore, the lack of immigrants from all over the empire would have created a less culturally diverse Britain today. However, Britain’s wealth came at the cost of the devastating impacts on what is now known as the Commonwealth. From the beginning of colonisation, a strong motivating factor has been wealth which is why my argument today will focus on the wealth of Britain economically. Across British colonial history, we see time and time again the exploitation of a country’s resources for the benefit of Britain. As a result, Britain’s economy improved while the economy of many colonies remained stagnant. British colonialism has had many faults in the past on the lines of ethical and political disagreements but there is no doubt that colonialism was what made Britain so powerful in the first place.

The start of colonisation helped Britain gain riches. British colonialism first began with interest in the New World in the 16th century. At the start, England’s primary goal in North America was to disrupt Spanish shipping due to their underlying years of religious and political differences. However, economic opportunities were discovered which caused the migration of Britons in search of a better life with better earnings ("1584: The First English Voyage"). The first permanent English settlement in the Americas was founded by Captain John Smith in 1607. The settlement was formed to bring profit to shareholders of the Virginia Company as well as to establish it as an English colony. With the help of John Rolfe and his intermarriage with the local Chief Powhatan’s daughter, Britons were able to assimilate into the area and develop it to become more economically driven. Tobacco plantations grown there became the region’s main industry and were able to earn profit for the mother country (Hansen). Overtime, colonisation increased as did settlers and because of this, the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade was expanded to fuel this process, exposing Britain’s market to the wider world. 13 colonies were established in total, with 5 commodities that accounted for over 60% of ("Colonial American Exports"). Subsequently, the New World was used as an export market for the finished products from the mother country. Britain became rich through colonisation in the New World and the increase in agricultural production prompted the development of trade and encouraged the expansion of her empire. 

British interest in India helped Britain pave the way for economic prosperity at the expense of the local economy and resources. After the American War of Independence (1775 - 1783), Britain was forced to search for other countries where they could establish control. With India, in 1600 Queen Elizabeth I granted a royal charter to London merchants trading to the East Indies in competition against the Dutch monopoly, which caused many to settle in India. As well as that, the accumulation of wealth from previous trades permitted Britain to acquire land on other continents, allowing her to gain a global ‘superpower’ status eventually. Britain conducted her imperialistic policies in the east through the East India Company (EIC) and made millions through the global trade in spices, tea, textiles, and opium. In particular, the EIC’s directors and its shareholders grew extremely wealthy ("Charter Granted to the East India Company"). For example, Robert Clive, an EIC nabob who consolidated EIC rule in Bengal. Upon death, his fortune was worth about £500,000, around £33 million today ("Robert Clive: The Nabob General."). With his fortune, the Powis Castle in North Wales was able to be refurbished and today it remains one of the most beautiful castles in Wales, depicting the long-standing impacts of wealth gained by individuals. The wealth of these nabobs ‘made a huge impact on British society’ (Spear). When the EIC lost its monopoly on trade (1813), Britain made sure it was at the forefront politically so it could keep control and continue trade. 

To cement control, Britain made sure they collected tax revenues through the use of the Council Bills which forced the local population into unnecessary debt to their colonial overlords. The Indian empire provided Britain with many resources including grain, cotton, tea, textiles, and a recruitment ground for the imperial army, which became important later on. Between 1871 and 1939, cargo carried by railway and ships increased from 5 to 140 million tonnes which increased Britain’s affluence. A study conducted by Utsa Patnaik, the renowned economist, calculated that Britain drained a total of $45 trillion from India between 1765 - 1938 which for comparison is more than the annual GDP of the United Kingdom today (Hickel). In India, the prevalent ideas of Social Darwinism and the ‘survival of the fittest’ caused many to argue for the superior race. ‘The white man’s burden’ heightens the idea of a responsibility the superior race has for so-called more primitive countries. This motivation along with the prospect of wealth intensified British interest beyond the control of the EIC and created a justification for many to subjugate people when they tried to follow an independent path. This ideology led to a lot of dissatisfaction in India amongst locals which caused nationalism to rise. Shashi Tharoor blames the Raj for ‘depredation’, ‘brutality’, and ‘plunder’ in his book. In a way, it can be said that India developed Britain instead of the generalisation of Britain developing India (Roy). Not only did Britain earn money through tax collections, they gained wealth through the exchange of goods and were able to gain valuable manpower which was used in wars against other countries. Britain is richer than it would have been without colonisation as seen with India because it gained access to a new profitable market of goods.   

Across the British empire, calls for independence along with the economic burden due to the world wars led to the eventual decolonisation of individual countries in the 20th century. In India, many faced racial injustice which was seen in the Amritsar Massacre (1919) where an estimated of nearly 400 innocent civilians were killed under the command of General Dyer. It left a permanent scar on Indo-British relations and acted as a prelude to Gandhi’s fight for independence (Pletcher). In particular, his Salt March in 1930 inspired mass disobedience across the land with millions following his example by breaking the salt laws. Jawaharlal Nehru put it as the first time ‘the village masses’ started to ‘think a little in terms of India as a whole’, increasing nationalism and the fight for independence. This inspired other nations to follow in their footsteps (Kurtz). 

In World War Two, Britain was dragged onto the world stage as a result of Hitler’s invasion of Poland in which a voluntary army of 2.5 million Indian men came together to form part of the largest volunteer army in the world. Arguably, the actions of Britain hurriedly putting together an army shows a certain dependence on its colonies, in terms of manpower and not just trade. These Indian soldiers contributed greatly to Britain’s army to lessen the impacts of war on Britain as much as possible (Gupta). These men fought voluntarily in the hope of being granted a steady income. However, the uncertainty at the end of the war as well as the death of over 87,000 Indians led to anger and heightened the demand for decolonisation. The war left Britain’s economy in shreds with the government debt peaking at around 270 percent of the GDP. This made Britain unable to keep such an extensive empire and began the process of decolonisation. India gained independence in 1947 and many followed after. In Africa, calls for independence were gradually increasing as well. In 1957, leader Kwame Nkrumah helped achieve independence for the Gold Coast which was renamed Ghana. Nigeria followed closely after and gained independence in 1960 then Sierra Leone in 1961. In 1960, Prime Minister Harold Macmillan delivered the famous ‘Wind of Change’ speech, the first public acknowledgment of Black nationalist movements in Africa, showing Britain slowly giving into the reality of being unable to keep up her empire. ("Decolonisation: Geopolitical Issues and Impact on the European Integration Process”). These examples show that world events led Britain to lose its grasp over its colonies gradually. Without it’s colonies, Britain would not have had to go through the trouble of decolonisation.

Some will say that decolonization only caused an increase in economic hardships for Britain. This is deeply flawed because they fail to acknowledge the opportunities brought to Britain as a result. The Commonwealth was introduced in 1926 at a conference where Britain and its Dominions agreed that they were equal members of a community under the British Empire. The idea was that all owed allegiance to the British monarch in exchange for the United Kingdom’s approval of freedom of rule (“Our History”). This ensured peace, democracy, and prosperity in each country and this collaboration allowed Britain to strategically keep its former colonies close to the mother country to preserve previously established trade links. After the war, post-war reconstruction required the involvement of people from all over the empire. Empire Windrush sailed into Britain in 1948, bringing nearly 500 passengers from Jamaica to fill post-war labour shortages. This sparked the passing of the British Nationality Act (1948) which came into force the following year and the beginning of the Windrush generation in Britain. Jobs included manufacturing, agriculture, and staffing for the NHS. It is because of colonialism that Britain was able to quickly recover from the detriments of war and improve its economy to prewar standards by 1950, showing the effectiveness of post-war reconstruction (Yeo). When Britain joined the EU (formerly known as the EEC) in 1973, it was motivated by economic stability which it was still working on achieving after the wars. The UK’s GDP per capita relative to the EU founding members’ declined steadily from 1945 to 1972. However, between 1973 and 2010, its GDP remained more stable, suggesting improvement as a result of joining the EU. The EU aims to create a single market where trade and services would happen as one. The freedom of movement of people and goods allowed economic growth for Britain. This all stems from the peaceful relationship between Britain and member states in the late 20th century, which comes from the long-standing relationships between Britain and its past colonies (Coricelli and Campos).

From the beginning of British colonialism, it is clear that colonialism was heavily, if not always motivated by the prospect of wealth which to this day has had an impact on it’s riches. Despite the eventual decolonisation of Britain’s empire, colonisation allowed Britain to gain access to resources it otherwise would not have had, establish strong trade links across the world, and improve the relationships with many countries which became helpful after world wars to establish Britain’s economy once again. All these reasons linked together suggest that Britain’s economy would not have been as successful as it was without the help of its colonies, and now, its former colonies. To this day, the impacts of colonisation are felt all over Britain and in the rest of the world. Economically, Britain was able to become richer as a result of colonisation and decolonisation amongst other world events going on. 

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