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"The Sun Never Sets....": An Overview of the British Empire

© Joseph Sramek

"The Sun Never Sets..." is one of those cliches that inevitably is a throwback to an earlier, more confident era that has now, figuratively speaking, set. At its height in the 1930s, the British Empire encompassed nearly a third of the earth's land mass and nearly half of the world's population. It was the largest Islamic power in the world, the largest economy; it had the largest army, navy, air force, etc. It was, in short, the preeminent model of greatness.

Yet, today, all that is left is nostolgia and history. Thoroughly decimated by the two world wars, and aided by the developments of the beginning stages of the Cold War, the British Empire divested itself of colonies over a 20 year period between 1947 and 1970. In all, the British Empire now consists only of 10 colonies (the Falkland Islands, and its dependencies (South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands), Gibraltar, St. Helena and its dependencies (Ascension and Tristan da Cunha), Montserrat, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Cayman Islands, Anguilla, Bermuda, the Virgin Islands, British Indian Ocean Territory, and British Antarctic Territory. [1] It is still technically true that the "sun still never sets on the British Empire," but that is akin to splitting fine hairs. The truth is, the British Empire is obviously gone; the concept has lost all meaning since the loss of India (1947), and it is now succeeded by a nebulous Commonwealth of Nations, where former colonies can or can not belong or can or can not acknowledge the Queen as titular head of state. Ireland and India are the most famous examples of former colonies that do not belong, and Australia and Canada are currently debating whether to abolish the monarchy. Thus, as you can see, the transformations from Empire into something else still are continuing.

The British Empire has had its critics and its defenders and it remains controversial to this day. It has been an integral part of the world's historical experience from 1497 (when explorer John Cabot first landed off Newfoundland) to the present, and as part of the human experience the past five centuries, it has both its good and its bad points. It is fair to say that it was both a force of progress and civilization and an unjust, racist system that inhibited the colonies, as well as all points in between. In despite modern day sensibilities about imperialism as a force more of evil than good, many of the proponents of Empire in its past honestly believed that they were doing good. There are many sides to this very multi-sided coin, if one is permitted to borrow another cliche.

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