Ten Minute History - The Late British Empire (Short Documentary) 

"Like Risk, but people died." My friend, you _clearly_ haven't been playing Risk properly.

British Empire: We would show the world of our peaceful ways by force.

Ancient warfare: soldiers chase their enemies across the screen with swords Modern warfare: soldiers chase their enemies halfway across the screen, stop, and shoot

The British Empire always felt to me like a thing of centuries past, like the wooden sail ships, single-shot muskets, and coonskin caps. It's a bit of a shock that it really only started dissolving in the 50s.

"Britain found itself opposed by two anti-imperialist superpowers: the United States and the Soviet Union." *Good one*

This production was from the pre James Bissonette era.

The writing is LITERALLY on the wall, oh GOD I love it! You've got by far the best history channel to ever exist, and that includes history channel in its prime. Thank you for your awesome content, I look forward to your next upload!

As a Kenyan, I love your inclusion of our uprising and how it affected Britain's thinking. Most historians would overlook such a minor or insignificant country or only recognize it as the only African colony that fought back.

Basically the whole video: So they started a war and Brittain won.

Lesson learned: Do not invade Afghanistan. Do not invade Russia.

British empire in 1800’s: *doom* British empire in 1950’s: *mood*

Correction: In 1922, Ireland became a dominion, retaining control over foreign policy as well, as the Irish Free State was dissolved in 1948, becoming the Republic of Ireland.

RIP History Matters from being 1 second away from 10 minutes

"It's like Risk, except people died" So...exactly like Risk, then.

Famine: *strike a british colony* The British: This is fine, gave us your food.

1:03 I like how the pillars in China just say 'China' (中国) over and over. I can't read Chinese, but it's the same as in Japanese.

0:59 things that are banned -opium -mongols -brithis gunships

R.I.P. The British Empire 1497-1997 "The Sun has Set"

As a Kenyan I feel proud that you included us and even took time to animate Kenyatta! (and not too bad pronunciation for good measure!)

Being British today is like being a Roman after the fall of Western empire

9:59 so close, yet so far away

Congrats on being so attentive to the small details in your maps! Not only you remembered that Goa was not under British rule in India, but also you didn't forget about the Falklands/Malvinas in the last map. Congrats! ☺

“REAR RANK, FIRE! ADVANCE! REAR RANK, FIRE! ADVANCE!” “They’re mocking us!” “No you fool, they’re saluting you! Saluting fellow braves!” Great movie. Dawn was ok but the first was better.

7:57 smart of you by not showing Kashmir...

Ones does not simply walk into Afghanistan

Ang on a sec we still own the falklands. The empire lives!

6:10 Rorkes drift was an amazing battle, I heard that during the battle, the commanders yelled at the troops *"the lines must hold"* its amazing how their story is told, and how rorkes drift was controlled

Fwiw, I was talking with a British friend of mine, and she said she remembered the moment when she realized Britain was just Britain and not "Great Britain" anymore. By the time the British handed over Hong Kong the empire had been over for decades, a lot of historians mark its end as when the US forced the British to relinquish the Suez canal.

One small thing, you said "the population of Ireland was halved and still hasn't returned to it's pre-1840 level", it was actually much worse than half, as Ireland has only RECOVERED to about half it's pre-1840 pop, which was ~8 million, as opposed to the ~4.5 million today Edit: yes, I know I forgot to include NI, my bad.

Sorry about the wait. The next episode if 'The Early Portuguese and Spanish Empires (1415 - 1570)'. What other episodes would you like to see?

Ireland: starves Britain: shame

If I had a nickel for every time Britain funneled food away from a region severely stricken by famine in this video, I would have two nickels.

Hey there- Just want to say an Irishman really appreciates your inclusion of the Great Famine in this overview. It's overlooked soooo often by history channels it was a pleasant surprise to see it dealt with a nice bit of depth & sensitivity for such a short video covering a complex topic. You do fantastic work, man!

There were mistakes in south east Asia *British Malaya gain independence peacefully in 1957 *Singapore, North Borneo and Sarawak became part of malaysia in 1963 but Singapore gain full independence in 1965 *Brunei gain independence in 1984

4:00 leading to the term "refusing to bite the bullet "

Choose Your James: James Cook Or James Bissonette

It's sad because if you look at polls the Hong Kong population clearly preferred British rule

You didn't even mention the colonisation in Malaysia, despite it being one of THE most important trade routes in human history.

I love how you pay attention to little details like goa

Who would win? *Half the world or 1 tiny tea thirsty island?*

Not sure why Malaya (modern day Malaysia) wasn't highlighted on the map

The Great Game - It's like Risk, except people died. Fucking loved it.

Didn’t realise that was so recent. I mean my Nan was alive whilst the empire was at its peak

Ireland did not “[become] an independent republic in 1922.” It became the Irish Free State, essentially no different from Canada or SA etc. It formally became an independent republic in 1949. And I believe it’s worth distinguishing that it wasn’t the whole of Ireland; this distinction is what led to huge bloodshed in Ireland (not the Republic, but in the six counties of Ireland in the north).

6:07 Great reference! I loved that movie.

"whether the British Empire was a civilizing force or an oppressive one" Why not both? Imposing the particularly British civilization onto the world. It has certainly aided in uniting the modern world and globalization, even if just by their common English language, although it has done this by often systemically wiping out native ones. It is fascinating that each former colony, while clearly retaining their British legacies, have evolved and are continuing to evolve uniquely. Some people say we're living in an American Empire today, but it seems more like a case of a former colony usurping their motherland in the leadership of the continuation of the same empire if you ask me!

Britain's tactics for creating an empire: 1. Replace food crop production with cash crops. 2. Put down resistance when people rebelled against famines.

One of the lasting effects of the empire not mentioned was the internationalizing of the English language

The description of the Maori wars was far too simple which kinda made it wrong however I think you did a good job of making it quick and I’m just happy y’all included us lmao

Top notch as usual. One small often misunderstood fact. Kenya got home rule not independence in 1963. Kenyatta (a made up name, that roughly translates into light of Kenya - spoiler alert, turned out rather differently - his real name was Johnstone Kamau) was first Kenyan Prime Minister of Her Majesty and Kenyans still used British passports. Kenya became a republic in 1964 and that's when we formally left the empire and the queen ceased to be head of state. Until then she was on our money, god save the queen was the anthem and our flag was navy blue with a Union Jack in the top left and a red rampant lion in the mid-right.

Thanks for the way you bring all these events into a succinct narrative

6:52 Looks like someone looking down, about to strike something with a tool.

When i first came across this channel i was surprised you had such few subs. with these high quality videos this channel will be big

“That led to war which the British won” just say that and roll credits bruh

"since about 5 minutes after it turned up." I love the humour. Best history summary channel on RU-vid.

When your government is dealing drugs to other countries

"An civilizing force or an oppressive one" this things aren't mutually exclusive, the answer is, it was both.

6:10 A hostile spear A new frontier The end is near

“Indians were opposed to British rule about 5 minutes after brits landed in India” LOL this is epic 🤣🤣🤣

Absolutely brilliant! just found this channel and binge watching

A list of possible videos: Sweden Portugal/Spain Netherlands France Russia Ottomans Or Scotland ;)

This is one of my favourite history RU-vid channels, I was searching for ages for an interesting video about the prelude to ww2 and you definitely have the best video on it. All your vids are great

When you look at that little island and think about what it achieved. Wow.

This video was so well written, and I learnt so much from it, mad respect, def a new sub 🙏

These are awesome btw :D

I remembered Sherlock Holmes deduced Dr Watson’s battle wound in Afghanistan

The more I see your channel the more I appreciate it, so thank you!

6:28 Ethiopia "lol, I'm in danger"

I was a part of an American invasion force of Britain back int he 90s. We were on a mission to occupy Britain's pubs and drink up as much beer as we could. Really, I was stationed there from 93-96 and had a great time.

Thanks for bringing up the Concentration Camps used against the Boers. Many English people hardly realize how awful that was.

One main reason why Ireland refused to join the commonwealth: that would suggest being a part of Britain, ireland was never really a big fan of that

Love to watch these videos when I have to wait like a half hour it's funny, love the animated style and I get to learn something new

The USSR - anti imperialist - really? I always thought they and the US were empire building

I’d love to see another video like this except for the French colonial empire

I love your channel keep up the great stuff!

10 mins, more accurate info than in most 40 min so called history vids ive seen. Great work! 👍 Subscribed

man you need more subs. your videos are awesome

A great video. Your honesty is appreciated.

I love this channel and I love studying history... keep up the good work

One thing that seems to be a trend is under British rule there was relative peace and prosperity, except for a few individuals. Once given independance, many went to pot, as they were before.

Hey, as a South African who recently learnt Isandlwana at school, this is some background on that one great Zulu victory. (British burned their capital Ulundi later on after winning war). They defeated the British, who had opted not to dig in and build defensive structures and who were unawares of their presence in that exact region. Anthony Durnford, his men, and the rest of the British faught back valiantly but due to ammunition shortages, (having to run back and fetch large wooden crates of ammo from a distance away), a huge numerical disadvantage (martini-henri rifle was highly efficient however and led to initial successes in the battle), and a wide thinly spread circle of men around the camp (about 1 metre between each man) they ultimately lost. Hours afterwards the British were able to hold the Zulu off at the Battle of Rorkes Drift (trade outpost with a small garrison) which is a really good story with tons of bravery and courage, enjoyed learning about it.

The amount of inaccuracies in this video!

4:03 I didn’t realize that had been confirmed.

Interesting that Victoria also quietly supported the Confederacy in the United States' civil war. If the CSS had succeeded, the British empire would have had a major emerging rival (albeit a friendlish one) greatly diminished, and Pax Britannica would have been different.

Just found this channel, I am a self stylized history nerd and love these types of videos. Good work.

great work putting all this together

That's a solid ten minutes. Well done :)

This channel is amazing! Keep up the great content this is one of the best channels on RU-vid for history by far!

0:00 best opening ever

1:00 The ban on Mongols is not a mere joke. The Qing ordered the extermination of a Mongol tribe called the Dzungars in 1755.

PLEASE keep doing these. Please.

Why did they skip the abolishen of slavery in 1833 and the huge military effort to shut it down?

Fantastic channel and good solid research, you'll go far! All the best and anxiously waiting for the Portuguese and Spanish Empires, a biased portuguese fan

Ah, the glory days of this channel content wise. Volume wise... well my ears are blown out every time I switch to a video not from this channel.

Fantastic video. Thanks.

can you do an episode on the unification of germany through to the first world war? might be too boring for the viewers but would help with my studies

My great great grandfather was a military officer in India. We still have his sword. It was given to my uncle. I want it.

I grew up in Canada but by the time I came of age any trace of brittania had been wiped out. I suspect sometime in my retirement Canada will become a republic

Great video!