jeremy brewer

Hi
the news about the residential schools made me think what did the brit goverments do historically

All i can recall from school lessons is

first ever concentration camps in 1900 by the british army in south africa

estimated of between 18000 - 28000 women & children died in them

and the slave ships/trade

anyone recall anything else from school history lessons


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Boer_War_concentration_camps


jerry

Piff Poff

It's really hideous when you think about it. It's very embarrassing.

jeremy brewer

Hi
Yep I wonder if it is time everything bad in history to come out,
​​​​​ I know history can't be changed
but at least ' aired ' ( if that is the right word ? )
jerry

Former Lancastrian

Football hooliganism.
There are lots of countries who carried out bad things but yes the Brits have had their share considering we used to travel to other countries and attempted to assimilate the locals. There are only about 22 countries Britain didn't evade. Some we did good in and some we did bad. By todays standards for an insignificant little island we certainly punched above our weight.

Jingsamichty

Missionary work, to convert "primitive natives" to our perverted version of Christianity. When I was at primary school in the 1970s our school used to encourage us kids to donate for "The Black Babies"... funding missionary work to Africa so that the poor little black babies might find Jesus.

kimilseung

In fairness, I am not sure that Britain invent either of these things. I can think of Van Buren interning the Cherokee as an earlier example of concentration camps, there are probably many more. I am sure we all know that slavery predates the triangular trade, which relied on preexisting slave traders to function, and was dwarfed by the roughly concurrent trade operated by the Portuguese.

kimilseung

I'd put rugby pretty close to the top of these crimes.

Former Lancastrian

Boy Bands. I think certain countries use the Bay City Rollers songs as a form of torture.

Shard

Still going on with the USA (with modernised language). As much as I despise religion, back then they did believe they were doing God's work. Now, everyone should no better.

Shard

Not sure if Britain started it, but have been listening to a podcast (Malcolm Gladwell, Bomber Mafia) about Britain's bombing of Dresden (amongst other things). Some psycho called Bomber Harris: it's hard to fathom how just seven decades ago there could be such wanton disregard for civilian life. The 'it' here is carpet bombing, not WW2, obviously.

Siouxie

Try looking more into the reasons behind it... the blitzkreig bombing of the UK by Germany, rather than judging. Bomber Harris wasn't a psycho... it was WAR.

mikelincs

Australia, could be classed as one (ducks down below the parapet before the flak flys)

caretaker

Oh, ok then. And let there never be another complaint about anyone killed in war from this moment forward. No more squawking about schools full of children bombed by accident in Iraq or Afghanistan, or hospitals blasted because of poor communication. Bomber Command killed 400,000 German civilians on the ground on purpose, schools, hospitals, everyone, so an honourable precedent has been set. It's WAR. Because the Germans bombed England.

Danny B

We started famines in India that killed between 12m- 29m people while under British rule.
Churchill said: “I hate Indians. They are a beastly people with a beastly religion. The famine was their own fault for breeding like rabbits.”

Plus the Irish suffered from many famines under English rule.

Shard

Plus "Northern Ireland". And even after a workable solution (Good Friday Agreement) insistence on Brexit risks re-igniting old animosities.