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The reduction of the British Empire’s end to a numerical game of ‘most’ territories withdrawing peacefully is an egregious simplification of history.

The term ‘peaceful’ is fundamentally inadequate to describe the decolonisation of the British Empire when its demise was punctuated by massacres, uprisings, and partitions that led to millions of deaths and massive displacements. It’s not just about how many, but which territories experienced violence and the extent of that violence. The partition of India alone, with its absolutely massive death toll and refugee crisis, overshadows any attempt to label the process as ‘mostly peaceful.’

The weight of these events in the historical balance is immense, and their legacy lingers in the affected regions to this day. The portrayal of British withdrawal as ‘mostly peaceful’ isn’t just a matter of poor semantics; it’s a distortion of history that disrespects the memory of those who suffered and fought against colonial rule.

The scale of violence in key regions fundamentally challenges the integrity of your claim, and the insistence on the word ‘most’ as a defence is not only intellectually dishonest but morally insensitive.

A peaceful withdrawal implies a process largely devoid of violence, where decolonisation is negotiated and implemented without significant armed resistance or warfare.

However, the historical record demonstrates that armed conflicts during the British decolonisation were not merely sporadic or minor skirmishes, but rather substantial engagements with lasting consequences, such as those in Kenya, Malaya, Cyprus, and the violent partition of India and Palestine. These were not peripheral events but central episodes in the history of British decolonisation.

The scale and intensity of conflicts in these key regions mean that the term ‘mostly peaceful’ is at best an oversimplification, if not a misrepresentation.

I invite you to challenge the narrative of a predominantly peaceful withdrawal by highlighting that violence was a defining feature of the period, not a mere footnote. It is not just the number of conflicts but their intensity and impact that weigh against the claim of a ‘mostly peaceful’ process.

Decolonisation was a complex tapestry of events, and its violent threads are too significant to be dismissed or understated.

The assertion that the British Empire withdrew from its colonies "more or less voluntarily and without firing too many shots" wilfully glosses over the numerous instances of violence, resistance, and conflict that characterised the end of British colonial rule in far too many regions.

Lest we forget:

• Indian Subcontinent: The struggle for Indian independence was marked by significant unrest, protests, and acts of civil disobedience, most notably led by figures such as Mahatma Gandhi. The partition of British India into India and Pakistan in 1947 resulted in widespread communal violence and one of the largest mass migrations in history, with estimates of deaths ranging from several hundred thousand to two million people.

• Kenya: The Mau Mau Uprising (1952-1960) was a violent campaign against British colonial rule. The British response was severe, with a state of emergency declared, widespread arrests, and the establishment of detention camps. The conflict resulted in thousands of deaths, primarily among the Kenyan rebels.

• Cyprus: The island experienced a violent guerrilla campaign by EOKA (Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston) against British rule in the 1950s, which aimed to achieve unification with Greece. The British administration employed military force in response, leading to a period of violence and political turmoil.

• Palestine: British withdrawal from the mandate of Palestine in 1948 was preceded by an extended period of Arab-Jewish conflict, including attacks against British forces by Jewish paramilitary groups like the Irgun and Lehi.

• Malaya: The Malayan Emergency (1948-1960) saw a communist insurgency against British colonial rule, leading to a significant military response from the British and a prolonged period of conflict.

• Aden and Yemen: British withdrawal in 1967 was preceded by years of violent insurgency and increasing pressure from nationalist groups.

In each of these cases, the process of decolonisation involved significant armed conflict, contrary to the article’s claim of a mostly peaceful withdrawal. While it is true that some territories achieved independence with less violence and through political negotiation, such as Ghana and some Caribbean islands, the overall picture of British decolonisation is one of a complex and often bloody struggle.

Vinegar on iOS is also still working perfectly

It’s a myth that capitalism alone has lifted people out of poverty. In fact, many nations have fought to implement strong social policies just to try and shield their citizens from its excesses. For every claim of progress, there are countless tales of exploitation, dispossession, and environmental ruin. Saying no system is perfect trivialises the issue. With capitalism, the true cost is often hidden behind the glittering façade of consumerism, at the expense of human dignity, ethics, and our planet’s health.

Norway. Curious.

How fortunate! Anything to add to my growing research pile? What’s your take on the store norske leksikon?

Start here:

Backer, Larry Catá, Sovereign Investing and Markets-Based Transnational Rule of Law Building: The Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund in Global Markets

"By 2009 the NSWF was reported to own about 1% of global stocks and 2.25% of every listed European company."

"The Fund is to be used not merely to protect and increase the value of the Fund itself, but to influence behaviors among the pool of potential targets of investment."

"The objectives also contribute to the complex relationship between law and norm, between state regulatory policy and state projections of power through active participation in private markets, and between national legal structures and the internationalization of behavior standards."

"Responsible investing is not constructed merely to produce the highest achievable returns, but also to bend that objective to other Norwegian political objectives."

"The Norges Bank may not acquire more than ten percent of the voting shares of an enterprise. Unlike other SWFs, the NSWF does not aspire to be a controlling shareholder, just an influential one. Additionally, the NSWF may not invest in domestic companies or in fixed income instruments issued by governments."

"Private in form, active ownership provides a method for the transposition of national policy onto the operations of companies over which the Norwegian state has no legal claim to control. Additionally, this projection of public power through shareholding also appears to open a back channel to communication with other states."

"The NSWF does not merely lobby the companies in which it has an interest, it takes the position that its stakeholding gives it a means of lobbying states for changes in their legal regimes to conform to those that Norway prefers."

"Norwegian preferences themselves seek to universalize the Norwegian legal order by seeking to incorporate (and transpose) international law and norms onto Norwegian regulatory space, and thus onto the domestic legal orders of foreign states (whether or not the foreign states have embraced those international norms)."

The fund is only the tip of the iceberg. Norway’s PR game is absolutely stunning.

Their extensive (and curious) involvement ranges from importing Jewish prisoners to build infrastructure during WWII, later secretly moving thousands of the bodies of those same victims using paper/asphalt bags as bodybags, to deforestation of the Amazon in Brazil for the benefit of Norwegian Salmon, and so much more.

It’s a wild ride — buckle up.

Well gee, next to Norway and NATO, they’re my favourite regulators!

What a bright future for information.

Haven’t logged in since Apollo stopped working. old.reddit + every ad blocked. May they slowly decay, someday existing in archive alone.

Who decides what is, or receives the label of, misinformation?

Plus think of all the EXTRA jobs building the border wall will bring!