Editing British Empire (section)

== Legacy ==
{{See also|Anglicisation}}
[[File:Location of the BOTs.svg|thumb|The fourteen [[British Overseas Territories]]]]
Britain retains sovereignty over 14 territories outside the British Isles. In 1983, the [[British Nationality Act 1981]] renamed the existing [[Crown colony|Crown Colonies]] as "British Dependent Territories",{{efn|Schedule 6 of the [[British Nationality Act 1981]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=British Nationality Act 1981, Schedule 6 |url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1981/61/schedule/6/enacted |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401094630/http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1981/61/schedule/6/enacted |archive-date=1 April 2019 |access-date=18 March 2019 |publisher=legislation.gov.uk}}</ref> reclassified the remaining Crown colonies as "British Dependent Territories". The act entered into force on 1 January 1983<ref>{{Cite web |title=The British Nationality Act 1981 (Commencement) Order 1982 |url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1982/933/made |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401134239/http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1982/933/made |archive-date=1 April 2019 |access-date=18 March 2019 |publisher=legislation.gov.uk}}</ref>}} and in 2002 they were renamed the [[British Overseas Territories]].{{Sfn|Gapes|2008|pp=145–147}} Most former British colonies and protectorates are members of the [[Commonwealth of Nations]], a [[voluntary association]] of equal members, comprising a population of around 2.2&nbsp;billion people.<ref>[http://thecommonwealth.org/about-us The Commonwealth – About Us] {{Webarchive| url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927182840/http://thecommonwealth.org/about-us| date=27 September 2013}}; Online September 2014</ref> The United Kingdom and 14 other countries, all collectively known as the [[Commonwealth realm]]s, voluntarily continue to share the same person— [[Charles III|King Charles III]]—as their respective head of state. These 15 nations are distinct and equal legal entities: the [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|United Kingdom]], [[Monarchy of Australia|Australia]], [[Monarchy of Canada|Canada]], [[Monarchy of New Zealand|New Zealand]], [[Monarchy of Antigua and Barbuda|Antigua and Barbuda]], [[Monarchy of the Bahamas|The Bahamas]], [[Monarchy of Belize|Belize]], [[Monarchy of Grenada|Grenada]], [[Monarchy of Jamaica|Jamaica]], [[Monarchy of Papua New Guinea|Papua New Guinea]], [[Monarchy of Saint Kitts and Nevis|Saint Kitts and Nevis]], [[Monarchy of Saint Lucia|Saint Lucia]], [[Monarchy of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines|Saint Vincent and the Grenadines]], [[Monarchy of the Solomon Islands|Solomon Islands]] and [[Monarchy of Tuvalu|Tuvalu]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Head of the Commonwealth |url=http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Internal/150757/head_of_the_commonwealth |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100706045334/http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Internal/150757/head_of_the_commonwealth |archive-date=6 July 2010 |access-date=9 October 2010 |publisher=Commonwealth Secretariat}}</ref>
[[File:English language.svg|left|thumb|American and British interactions shaped the British Empire's breakup and resulting world order<ref>{{Cite web |last=Paradis |first=Michel |date=2024-06-03 |title=On D-Day, the U.S. Conquered the British Empire |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/06/d-day-world-war-2-legacy-america-britain/678544/ |access-date=2025-01-08 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}</ref>]]
During the colonial era, emphasis was given to study of the classical [[Greco-Roman|Greco-Roman heritage]] and their experience with empire, aiming to parse how that heritage could be applied to improve the future of the colonies.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kumar |first=Krishan |date=2012 |title=Greece and Rome in the British Empire: Contrasting Role Models |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-british-studies/article/abs/greece-and-rome-in-the-british-empire-contrasting-role-models/53EE7875D2AF38A9110CA21393CFA364 |journal=Journal of British Studies |language=en |volume=51 |issue=1 |pages=76–101 |doi=10.1086/662545 |issn=1545-6986}}</ref> [[American hegemony]], which throughout its early rise had challenged British claims of being the "[[Succession of the Roman Empire|New Rome]]",<ref>{{Citation |last=Malamud |first=Margaret |title=10 Translatio Imperii: America as the New Rome c.1900 |date=2010-10-07 |work=Classics and Imperialism in the British Empire |pages=0 |editor-last=Bradley |editor-first=Mark |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/6414/chapter-abstract/150221978?redirectedFrom=fulltext |access-date=2025-01-08 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-958472-7}}</ref> became the successor to British dominance in the mid-20th century; the two countries' [[Special Relationship|historical ties]] and wartime collaboration supported a peaceful handoff of power after [[World War II]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schake |first=Kori |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv24w62xt |title=Safe Passage: The Transition from British to American Hegemony |date=2017 |publisher=Harvard University Press |doi=10.2307/j.ctv24w62xt |jstor=j.ctv24w62xt |isbn=978-0-674-97507-1}}</ref> As for the United Kingdom itself, British views of the former Empire are more positive than is the case with other post-imperial nations;<ref>{{Cite news |title=Britain misses its empire more than other major post-colonial powers, poll finds |url=https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/home-news/british-empire-colonialism-slavery-yougov-poll-nationalism-brexit-a9393486.html |work=The Independent}}</ref> discourse around the former Empire has continued to impact the nation's present-day understanding of itself, as seen in the debate leading up to its decision to [[Brexit|leave the European Union]] in 2016.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Foley |first=James |date=2023-08-30 |title=Race, nation, empire? Historicising outward and inward-facing British nationalism |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00471178231196073 |journal=International Relations |language=en |pages=00471178231196073 |doi=10.1177/00471178231196073 |issn=0047-1178}}</ref>

Decades, and in some cases centuries, of British rule and [[British diaspora|emigration]] have left their mark on the independent nations that rose from the British Empire. The empire established the use of the [[English language]] in [[English-speaking world|regions around the world]]. Today it is the primary language of up to 460&nbsp;million people and is spoken by about 1.5 billion as a first, second or foreign language.{{Sfn|Hogg|2008|p=424|loc=chapter 9 ''English Worldwide'' by [[David Crystal]]: "approximately one in four of the worlds population are capable of communicating to a useful level in English"}} It has also [[Englishisation|significantly influenced]] other languages.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bolton |first1=Kingsley |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s6BYrnD1XPMC&pg=PA253 |title=World Englishes: Critical Concepts in Linguistics |last2=Kachru |first2=Braj B. |date=2006 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-415-31509-8 |language=en}}</ref> Individual and team sports [[British sports|developed in Britain]], particularly [[association football|football]], [[cricket]], [[lawn tennis]], and [[golf]] were exported.{{Sfn|Torkildsen|2005|p=347}} Some sports were also invented or standardised in the former colonies, such as [[badminton]], [[polo]], and [[snooker]] in India (see also: [[Sport in British India]]).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Imperialism |url=https://sk.sagepub.com/ency/edvol/the-sage-dictionary-of-sports-studies/chpt/imperialism |access-date=2025-01-08 |website=sso.sagepub.com}}</ref> British [[missionary|missionaries]] who travelled around the globe often in advance of soldiers and civil servants spread [[Protestantism]] (including [[Anglicanism]]) to all continents. The British Empire provided refuge for religiously persecuted continental Europeans for hundreds of years.{{Sfn|Pestan|2009|p=185}} British educational institutions also remain popular in the present day, in part due to the importance of the English language and similarity of British curriculums to those in the former colonies.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Morrison |first=Nick |title=Why The World Loves A British Education |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/nickmorrison/2014/06/30/why-the-world-loves-a-british-education/ |access-date=2025-01-08 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:കുട്ടികൾ ക്രിക്കറ്റ് കളിക്കുന്നു.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Cricket]] being played in South Asia, where [[Cricket in South Asia|it is popular]]. Sports developed in Britain or the former empire continue to be viewed and played.]]
Political boundaries drawn by the British did not always reflect homogeneous ethnicities or religions, contributing to conflicts in formerly colonised areas. The British Empire was responsible for large migrations of peoples (see also: [[Commonwealth diaspora]]). Millions left the [[British Isles]], with the founding [[Settler colonialism|settler colonist]] populations of the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand coming mainly from Britain and Ireland. Millions of people moved between British colonies, with large numbers of [[South Asian diaspora|South Asian people emigrating]] to other parts of the empire, such as Malaysia and Fiji, and [[Overseas Chinese]] people to Malaysia, Singapore and the Caribbean;{{Sfn|Marshall|1996|p=286}} about half of all modern immigration to the Commonwealth nations continues to occur between them.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nurse |first=Keith |url=https://www.thecommonwealth-ilibrary.org/index.php/comsec/catalog/book/206 |title=The Diasporic Economy, Trade and Investment Linkages in the Commonwealth |date=2016-02-26 |publisher=Commonwealth iLibrary |series=International Trade Working Paper |language=en |doi=10.14217/5jm2jfg8c26c-en}}</ref> The [[demographics of the United Kingdom]] changed after the Second World War owing to [[Immigration to the United Kingdom since 1922#Post-war immigration (1945–1983)|immigration to Britain]] from its former colonies.{{Sfn|Dalziel|2006|p=135}}

In the 19th century, [[List of British innovations and discoveries|innovation in Britain]] led to revolutionary changes in manufacturing, the development of [[factory system]]s, and the growth of transportation by railway and steamship.{{Sfn|Walker|1993|pp=187–188}} Debate has also occurred as to what extent the [[Industrial Revolution]], originating from the United Kingdom, was facilitated by or dependent on imperialism.<ref>{{Cite web |title=When was the industrial revolution? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/z6kg3j6#zsqk4xs |access-date=2025-01-08 |website=BBC Bitesize |language=en-GB}}</ref> British colonial architecture, such as in churches, railway stations and government buildings, can be seen in many cities that were once part of the British Empire;{{Sfn|Marshall|1996|pp=238–240}} Western technologies and architecture had been globalised in part due to the Empire's military and administrative requirements.<ref>{{Cite book |last=MacKenzie |first=John M. |url=https://academic.oup.com/manchester-scholarship-online/book/31628 |title=The British Empire through buildings |date=2020-03-09 |publisher=Manchester University Press |isbn=978-1-5261-4597-0 |language=en |doi=10.7765/9781526145970}}</ref> Integration of former colonies into the global economy was also a major legacy.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Thomas |first1=Martin |last2=Thompson |first2=Andrew |date=2014-01-01 |title=Empire and Globalisation: from 'High Imperialism' to Decolonisation |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07075332.2013.828643 |journal=[[The International History Review]] |volume=36 |pages=142–170 |doi=10.1080/07075332.2013.828643 |issn=0707-5332}}</ref> The British choice of system of measurement, the [[Imperial units|imperial system]], continues to be used in some countries in various ways. The convention of [[Right- and left-hand traffic|driving on the left-hand side of the road]] has been retained in much of the former empire.{{Sfn|Parsons|1999|p=1}}

The [[Westminster system]] of [[Parliamentary system|parliamentary democracy]] has served as the template for the governments of many former colonies,{{Sfn|Go|2007|pp=92–94}}<ref>{{Cite web |date=2 December 2013 |title=How the Westminster Parliamentary System was exported around the World |url=http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/how-the-westminster-parliamentary-system-was-exported-around-the-world |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131216190945/http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/how-the-westminster-parliamentary-system-was-exported-around-the-world |archive-date=16 December 2013 |access-date=16 December 2013 |publisher=University of Cambridge}}</ref> and [[English law|English common law]] for legal systems.{{Sfn|Ferguson|2002|p=307}} It has been observed that almost every former colony that emerged as an independent democratic state is a former British colony,<ref>{{Cite web |title=America's Lessons From the Legacy of British Empire  |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2003/4/25/americas-lessons-from-the-legacy-of/ |access-date=2025-01-08 |website=The Harvard Crimson |date=April 25, 2003 |first1= Garrett M. |last1=Graff }}</ref> though this correlation greatly declines in strength after 30 years of an ex-colony's independence.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lee |first1=Alexander |last2=Paine |first2=Jack |date=2019-09-01 |title=British colonialism and democracy: Divergent inheritances and diminishing legacies |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147596718302142 |journal=Journal of Comparative Economics |volume=47 |issue=3 |pages=487–503 |doi=10.1016/j.jce.2019.02.001 |issn=0147-5967}}</ref> International commercial contracts are often based on English common law.{{Sfn|Cuniberti|2014|p=455}} The British [[Judicial Committee of the Privy Council]] still serves as the highest court of appeal for twelve former colonies.{{Sfn|Young|2020|p=20}}

=== Interpretations of Empire ===
Historians' [[historiography of the British Empire|approaches to understanding the British Empire]] are diverse and evolving.<ref name="winks">{{Cite book |last=Winks |first=Robin |author-link=Robin Winks |title=The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume V: Historiography |date=1999 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-1982-0566-1 |editor-last=Winks |editor-first=Robin |location=Oxford |pages=40–42 |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205661.001.0001}}</ref> Two key sites of debate over recent decades have been the impact of [[Postcolonialism|post-colonial studies]], which seek to [[Critical theory|critically]] re-evaluate the history of imperialism, and the continued relevance of historians [[Ronald Robinson]] and [[Jack Gallagher (historian)|John Gallagher]], whose work greatly influenced imperial historiography during the 1950s and 1960s. In addition, differing assessments of the empire's legacy remain relevant to debates over recent history and politics, such as the Anglo-American [[2003 invasion of Iraq|invasions of Iraq]] and [[United States invasion of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]], as well as Britain's role and identity in the contemporary world.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Middleton |first=Alex |date=6 August 2019 |title=Review: The Imperial History Wars: Debating the British Empire, by Dane Kennedy |journal=The English Historical Review |volume=134 |issue=568 |pages=773–775 |doi=10.1093/ehr/cez128 |doi-access=free| issn=0013-8266 }}</ref><ref name="mitter">{{Cite news |last=Rana |first=Mitter |author-link=Rana Mitter |date=17 March 2022 |title=Legacy of Violence — the bloody ends of empire |url=https://www.ft.com/content/e7c4feac-7123-4e7c-8a7e-bf13107ee6f9 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/e7c4feac-7123-4e7c-8a7e-bf13107ee6f9 |archive-date=10 December 2022 |access-date=29 June 2022 |work=Financial Times}}</ref>

Historians such as [[Caroline Elkins]] have argued against perceptions of the British Empire as a primarily liberalising and modernising enterprise, criticising its widespread use of violence and [[emergency law]]s to maintain power.<ref name="mitter"/><ref>{{Cite book |last=Elkins |first=Caroline |author-link=Caroline Elkins |title=Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing |year=2022 |isbn=978-0-3072-7242-3 |pages=14–16, 680}}</ref> Common criticisms of the empire include the use of detention camps in its colonies, massacres of [[indigenous peoples]],<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Howe |first=Stephen |date=2010 |title=Colonising and Exterminating? Memories of Imperial Violence in Britain and France |journal=Histoire Politique |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=13–15 |doi=10.3917/hp.011.0012}}</ref> and famine-response policies.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sheldon |first=Richard |title=Empire, Development and Colonialism: The Past in the Present |date=2009 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |isbn=978-1-8470-1011-7 |editor-last=Duffield |editor-first=Mark |location=Woodbridge, Suffolk |pages=74–87 |chapter=Development, Poverty & Famines: The Case of British Empire |jstor=10.7722/j.ctt81pqr.10 |editor-last2=Hewitt |editor-first2=Vernon}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Stone |first=Jon |date=21 January 2016 |title=British people are proud of colonialism and the British Empire, poll finds |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/british-people-are-proud-of-colonialism-and-the-british-empire-poll-finds-a6821206.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220628013502/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/british-people-are-proud-of-colonialism-and-the-british-empire-poll-finds-a6821206.html |archive-date=28 June 2022 |access-date=28 June 2022 |website=[[The Independent]] |language=en}}</ref> Some scholars, including [[Amartya Sen]], assert that British policies worsened the [[famine in India|famines in India]] that killed millions during British rule.<ref>[[Amartya Sen|Sen, Amartya]]. Development as Freedom. {{ISBN|978-0-3857-2027-4}} ch 7</ref> Conversely, historians such as [[Niall Ferguson]] say that the economic and institutional development the British Empire brought resulted in a net benefit to its colonies.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ferguson |first=Niall |author-link=Niall Ferguson |date=3 June 2004 |title=Niall Ferguson: What the British Empire did for the world |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/niall-ferguson-what-the-british-empire-did-for-the-world-41252.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220629225418/https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/niall-ferguson-what-the-british-empire-did-for-the-world-41252.html |archive-date=29 June 2022 |access-date=29 June 2022 |work=The Independent |language=en}}</ref> Other historians treat its legacy as varied and ambiguous.<ref name="mitter"/> Public attitudes towards the empire within 21st-century Britain have been broadly positive although sentiment towards the Commonwealth has been one of apathy and decline.<ref name=":0"/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Booth |first=Robert |date=11 March 2020 |title=UK more nostalgic for empire than other ex-colonial powers |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/11/uk-more-nostalgic-for-empire-than-other-ex-colonial-powers |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220625170301/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/11/uk-more-nostalgic-for-empire-than-other-ex-colonial-powers |archive-date=25 June 2022 |access-date=29 June 2022 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2" />