Could the British Empire have surrvived?

[Armchair Athlete]

Actually I would rather go the opposite direction entirely...

Western Australia the Country

hehe, yeah that'd be alright actually, we make more money than any other state in Australia (about one third of Australias GDP) cause of all the mining and agriculture except those leaching b*******s in the eastern states take most of it! Rise up WA!!!!!

[Papewaio]

Hail the Sandgropers... so are you a Docker, Coaster or Glory fan?

[Armchair Athlete]

Glory all the way!!! Are you a West Aussie too Pape? I knew you were from New Zealand then moved to Aus, didn't know it was here though! What about you, Glory Supporter? Or more a AFL person and going for dockers or eagles? I'm assuming you're a fairly enlightened person and don't go for any eastern states teams.....

[Papewaio]

New Zealand / West Aussie... parents meet in Mt Newman...

Grew up in NZ and moved to WA when I was 15 with my parents... so I am WA/NZ...

Eagles and All Black supporter... love to see a non Victorian team win at AFL.

[Armchair Athlete]

Well I would put my money on Brisbane Lions again this year. Shame about the eagles getting eliminated, I don't follow AFL heaps but I always try and keep track of the WA teams. I heard the Eagles didn't score a single goal in the second and third quaters? Hmm This is getting a bit off track though, maybe I will have to start an AFL finals thread in the frontroom. Final is o the 26th of this month right?

[Rayaleh]

As a patriotic Canadian, and an ardent supporter/admirer of the British Empire, I gotta say this would most definately have rocked, and if all the conditions were ideal and whatnot....it might have been worked. But as we all know, conditions are NEVER ideal. I mean, there were the aboriginals in Australia, apartheid in South Africa, French-Canadians in Canada, the Irish....Eventually it'd have failed, and it's better that it didn't happen because imagine the loads of problems to clean up after the fall of that British Empire. Plus, my first love is Canada and a Canada that isn't known as Canada but as part of the British Empire is very bad.


Blah, er, I love rugby, go all-blacks, I don't love the English rugby, I am disappointed by the Canadian rugby teams, I went to a game of the Churchill Cup which came to my city this summer.

Prop Power!!!1

[Beelzebub]

The Empire's strength wasn't so much based on it's territory, but rather the fact that it controlled so much of the world's trade. It's fun to play with maps and flags, but the real power of the empire was economic. Losing the colonies was not what weakened Britain, it was the fact that it exausted itself fighting from start to finish, the 2 most costly wars in human history, and was brought to the brink of ruin during both of them, creating massive debts.

The British Empire could definitely have survived had WW1 and WW2 never happened. If that had been the case, Britain, France and Germany would be much, much stronger than they are now, all 3 most likely considered superpowers, while the USA and Russia would not have risen so quickly. The USA"s meteoric rise was mainly due to the way it stepped into the econimic vacuum created when the European powers were ruined. Britain lsot it's colonies mostly as a result of these wars, which made it impossible to maintain them financially (and even though Canada/Australia/NZ/South Africa had gained independance pre-ww1, they were still very close and gave their full support to Britain untill post WW2).

[lancelot]

I would agree with that assesment Beelzebub.

Although I would think probably the French would have been in a more precarious position.

Terrible shame.

re-instate the Empire!

[English assassin]

What an excellent idea. I don't see it as racist at all its to do with a common culture.

Whats in it for the Canadians though my impression is they don't see themselves all that closely associated with the British (including Ozzies and Kiwis) any more?

I'm glad I found this post that flag has been bothering me in people's sigs for a while, I thought I ought to know it but I didn't. Now I see why.

[lancelot]

@English assasin

Are you saying the flag bothers you or it was bothering you that you couldnt find out what it was all about?

What an excellent idea. I don't see it as racist at all its to do with a common culture.

What are you on about here?

[Del Arroyo]

Well, this is all very interesting stuff. As far as taking down the US, don't worry, we're doing a pretty good job of that all by ourselves

But even with a Union like you propose, China will still be the next primary superpower. They've already bought us out and are in the process of quietly plundering. And you would not be able to count on Europe once it has been taken over by the Moors (it will happen within 50 years, mark my words).

So actually, as a US citizen I would very much like to see such a Union between all you Brits. It would give us a more friendly arm to lean upon in the very scary world which is forming up now

DA

[Beelzebub]

Americans don't like to admit it, but they are just as close to Britain as Canada or Australia are. They are a former british colony also, founded on british values and are just as much a part of the white english speaking guys alliance as any other former British colony. Sure, all the countries of that group act in their own interests to some extent, but we're a lot more alike than we are different. Combined, the USA + Britain + Australia + NZ is still by far the most powerful group in the world with nobody even close. It will take China a helluva long time to be able to project more power than those countries combined (plus throw in hardcore US allies like Japan, Taiwan, S Korea when discussing china, and China has even further to go), because China is horribly backward still in many areas with tons of reform needed to catch up.

The above mentioned english speaking club will continue to be the dominant force in the world for hundreds of years, just as it has been already for over 200.

[Del Arroyo]

I dunno, Beel. If you ask me, Russia, US of A, Britain, et al, are Greek city-states. China is Rome. China may be under-developed, but we are un-developing, so it evens out pretty well.

I think that Liberal Democracy may have finished its dominant run, at least for this age... many of its weaknesses are beginning to show, some severely.

Not that I think we're doomed-- the Greeks certainly weren't, and we may even yet give a better show than them.

DA

[lonewolf371]

The Greeks didn't have the power to cause a nuclear winter...

[English assassin]

@English assasin

Are you saying the flag bothers you or it was bothering you that you couldnt find out what it was all about?

I thought I ought to recognise it but I didn't. I'd sort of decided it must be St Helena or some weird out of the way place.