What The British Really Did To India | The Bastani Factor
Summary
TLDRDieses Video skizziert das koloniale Erbe Großbritanniens, insbesondere in Indien, und hinterfragt die positiven Beiträge, die oft diskutiert werden. Es zeigt, wie die indische Wirtschaft von 23% des weltweiten Einkommens im 18. Jahrhundert auf nur 4% gesunken ist und wie die Industrialisierung Großbritanniens die Deindustrialisierung Südasiens vorantrieb. Des Weiteren wird die Rolle Indiens in den Weltkriegen und die verheerenden Hungersnöte unter britischer Herrschaft thematisiert, die politischen Entscheidungen zufolge geschahen. Das Video fordert eine ehrliche Auseinandersetzung mit der Geschichte der britischen Kolonialherrschaft und deren Folgen.
Takeaways
- 🌍 Im 20. Jahrhundert dominierten europäische Kolonialmächte die Weltkarte, mit Großbritannien als größtem Imperium und Indien als seinen wirtschaftlich bedeutendsten Besitz.
- 🏛 Die britische Kolonialherrschaft in Indien begann nicht durch militärische Eroberung, sondern durch die East India Company, die politischen Vakuum nutzte, nach dem Zusammenbruch des Mughal-Imperiums.
- 💹 Im 18. Jahrhundert hatte Indien einen wirtschaftlichen Anteil von 23% an der Weltwirtschaft, was dem gesamten Europa oder dem heutigen USA entspricht.
- 🤝 Robert Clive und die East India Company nutzten politische Instabilität, um Macht in Indien zu erlangen, was schließlich zur Kontrolle über einen der reichsten Staaten der Erde führte.
- 📉 Zwischen 1765 und 1938 entfiel der wirtschaftliche Anteil Indiens an der Weltwirtschaft von 23% auf 4%, was die Industrialisierung Großbritanniens und die Deindustrialisierung Südasiens widerspiegelt.
- 🧶 Die Textilindustrie Indiens, einst mit 25% des globalen Handels, wurde durch britische Importe und politische Maßnahmen dezimiert, was Großbritannien zur 'Werkstatt der Welt' machte.
- 💸 Großbritannien nutzte Indiens Ressourcen und Einnahmen, um seine eigene Industrialisierung zu finanzieren und für den Ersten und Zweiten Weltkrieg.
- 🇮🇳 Mehr als 1 Million indische Soldaten dienten im Ersten Weltkrieg und 2,5 Millionen im Zweiten Weltkrieg, während indische politische Führer inhaftiert waren.
- 🌾 Unter britischer Herrschaft starben etwa 30 Millionen Menschen an Hunger, hauptsächlich aufgrund politischer Entscheidungen der Briten, die den freien Markt und Ideologie bevorzugten.
- 📚 Als Großbritannien Indien 1947 verließ, hinterließ es ein Land mit 16% Alphabetisierungsrate, einer Lebenserwartung von 31 und 90% der Bevölkerung unter der Armutsgrenze.
- 📊 Ein Umfrage von YouGov im Jahr 2020 zeigte, dass nur 17% der Briten der Meinung sind, dass die von Großbritannien kolonisierten Länder schlechter dran sind, während 32% stolz auf das Imperium sind, und 19% sich beschämt fühlen.
Q & A
Wie sah die Weltkarte zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts aus?
-Zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts sah die Weltkarte viele europäische Kolonialimperien, darunter Frankreich mit Besitz in Afrika und Indochina, Italien in Ostafrika und Libyen, die Niederlande in Indonesien und Großbritannien mit dem größten Empire, insbesondere dem Indischen Subkontinent.
Was war das Hauptmerkmal des britischen Empires?
-Das Hauptmerkmal des britischen Empires war die Kontrolle über den Indischen Subkontinent, der als das Juwel in der Krone des Empires galt.
Welche Rolle spielte die Ostindien-Kompanie in der Eroberung des Indischen Subkontinents?
-Die Ostindien-Kompanie eroberte den Indischen Subkontinent nicht direkt, sondern nutzte die politische Instabilität des 18. Jahrhunderts, um Macht zu erlangen, und wurde schließlich durch den britischen Staat abgelöst.
Outlines
🗺️ Koloniale Reiche Europas und der Aufstieg der East India Company
Zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts dominierte Europa weite Teile der Welt durch seine kolonialen Reiche. Großbritannien, Frankreich, Italien und die Niederlande hatten weite Teile Afrikas, Asiens und Indiens unter ihrer Kontrolle. Besonders hervorzuheben ist der Aufstieg der East India Company, einer britischen Handelsgesellschaft, die nicht nur Handel trieb, sondern auch ein eigenes Reich in Indien errichtete. Trotz der politischen Instabilität in Indien kontrollierte diese Gesellschaft schließlich einen der wohlhabendsten Staaten der Welt, bevor die britische Regierung nach dem Aufstand von 1857 direkt die Verwaltung übernahm.
📉 Wirtschaftlicher Niedergang Indiens unter britischer Herrschaft
Indien war im 18. Jahrhundert ein wirtschaftliches Kraftzentrum mit einem Anteil von 23 % an der Weltwirtschaft. Doch durch die britische Kolonialherrschaft sank dieser Anteil bis 1947 auf nur noch 4 %. Die Briten förderten ihre eigene Industrialisierung, indem sie die Textilindustrie Indiens zerstörten. Diese Ausbeutung führte zu einem enormen wirtschaftlichen Schaden für Indien, während Großbritannien von gestohlenen Waren profitierte, die mit Hilfe indischer Steuergelder finanziert wurden. Diese wirtschaftliche Ausbeutung diente als Grundlage für die industrielle Revolution in Großbritannien.
🪖 Indiens Opfer für das britische Empire
Indien wurde nicht nur wirtschaftlich ausgebeutet, sondern trug auch die Hauptlast in den britischen Streitkräften. Indische Steuergelder finanzierten einen Großteil der britischen Armee, und Millionen von Indern kämpften und starben in den beiden Weltkriegen. Trotz dieser Opfer war die politische Führung Indiens während des Zweiten Weltkriegs inhaftiert. Diese massive Ausbeutung von Menschenleben und Ressourcen blieb in Großbritannien weitgehend unerkannt, obwohl sie entscheidend für den britischen Erfolg in den Kriegen war.
🌾 Hungersnöte und die grausame Politik des British Empire
Unter britischer Herrschaft starben rund 30 Millionen Inder an Hungersnöten, die weniger auf Naturkatastrophen als vielmehr auf die bewusste Untätigkeit der britischen Regierung zurückzuführen waren. Freier Handel und das Streben nach Profit verhinderten jegliche humanitäre Hilfe. Die British Empire stellte die wirtschaftlichen Interessen über das Leben von Millionen, ähnlich den Zwangskollektivierungen des 20. Jahrhunderts. Besonders grausam war die Bengal-Hungersnot 1943, als Winston Churchill die Umleitung von Nahrungsmitteln von indischen Zivilisten zu britischen Soldaten anordnete.
🏴 Wahrheit über das britische Empire und seine Folgen
Bei seiner Gründung war Indien unter der Mughal-Herrschaft eines der reichsten und kulturell fortschrittlichsten Länder der Welt. Doch als die Briten 1947 abzogen, hinterließen sie ein Land in Armut, mit niedriger Alphabetisierungsrate und einer stark gesunkenen Lebenserwartung. Im Gegensatz dazu entwickelte sich Japan, das nie kolonialisiert wurde, im 19. Jahrhundert rasant. Dennoch glaubt eine erhebliche Anzahl Briten, dass die Kolonialzeit den kolonialisierten Ländern Vorteile brachte. Es ist jedoch wichtig, die Wahrheit über die brutale Ausbeutung durch das Empire zu lehren und zu verstehen, dass Großbritannien eines der reichsten Länder der Welt durch koloniale Plünderungen und die Verarmung von Millionen zu einem der ärmsten machte.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Kolonialreiche
💡Ostindienkompanie
💡Mughalische Dynastie
💡Schlacht von Plassey
💡Indische Aufstände von 1857
💡Indien Unabhängigkeit 1947
💡Industrielle Revolution
💡Deindustrialisierung Südasiens
💡Faminkrise
💡Britisches Weltreich
💡Wirtschaftliche Ausbeutung
Highlights
At the start of the 20th century, Europe's colonial empires dominated the world map, with Britain controlling the Indian subcontinent, which was an immensely wealthy region.
The East India Company, a British corporation, effectively controlled India before direct British rule, exploiting its wealth and resources.
Economic historian Angus Maddison noted that in 1700, India's share of the world economy was 23%, comparable to the whole of Europe or the United States today.
The political vacuum created by the collapse of the Mughal empire allowed the East India Company to expand its control in India.
Robert Clive's victory at the Battle of Plassey in 1757 marked a significant turning point in British control over India.
In 1765, the East India Company gained control over tax collection in India, effectively controlling one of the world's largest and wealthiest states.
The British empire's expansion in India led to a significant economic decline, with India's share of the world economy dropping from 23% to 4% by 1947.
Britain's industrialization relied heavily on the deindustrialization of South Asia, particularly affecting the textile industry.
Economists estimate that Britain extracted around 45 trillion from India between 1765 and 1938, primarily through trade.
The East India Company's monopoly over Indian trade allowed Britain to acquire Indian goods for free, financing its industrial revolution.
India's contribution to the British empire included significant financial and military support, including over 1 million Indian troops during World War I.
The Bengal famine of 1943, exacerbated by Churchill's policies, resulted in millions of deaths due to starvation.
British rule led to a drastic decline in India's literacy rates, life expectancy, and an increase in poverty levels.
A YouGov poll in 2020 revealed a significant lack of awareness among Brits about the negative impacts of British colonialism.
The video calls for a truthful education about the British empire's grim history and its effects on colonized countries.
The video concludes by encouraging viewers to support Novara Media for unbiased and informative content.
Transcripts
At the start of the 20th century a map of the world looked like this. These colours are Europe's
colonial empires. France had possessions across Africa and Indochina. Italy was in east Africa
and Libya and the Dutch were in what is today Indonesia. By far the biggest empire however
belonged to Britain and the jewel in its crown was the Indian subcontinent. People talk a lot
about Britain's colonial legacy and whether it's really so bad. Given the importance
of British India for the empire it's the best place to start if you want an answer to that.
It's important to say that the Indian subcontinent at that time the Mughal empire wasn't conquered by
Britain but rather a British corporation. Its name was the East India Company. The Mughal empire of
the 18th century was politically volatile but also immensely wealthy. According to economic historian
Angus Maddison its share of the world economy in 1700 was 23% – pretty much the same as the whole
of Europe combined or the United States today. Although the East India Company started life in
the early 1600s, it was only a century later after the sack of Delhi by the Persian king Nader Shah
that the Mughal empire effectively collapsed. That created a political vacuum with warring
principalities and factions becoming increasingly distrustful of one another
for the East India Company this presented a major opportunity and in 1757 Robert Clive,
who came to be known as Clive of India, won the battle of Plassey eight years later. In 1765
Shah Alam issued an edict that revenue officials be replaced by those of the company. A private
corporation with its own army now controlled one of the largest and wealthiest states on earth.
Over the following century the area they controlled significantly expanded
that was until the Indian mutiny of 1857 at which point the British government administered the
country instead things would remain that way until India gained independence in 1947. So on balance,
over those two centuries did Britain make any positive contribution to India by making it a
part of the British empire? We look back on that period now as just awful don't we? I think there
were some there were some there were some good bits and there was some less than good bits. You
look at the fact that we introduced parliamentary democracy to a lot of countries – this sort of
civil service system of government which all of these countries or a lot of these countries
are still using today. The British put in a system that actually brought about an education that
actually brought about partial emancipation of women that actually brought about democracy that
made India where it is today. It's time to stop seeing empire as a dirty word.
First let's talk about the economy when Clive triumphed the battle of Plassey the Mughal empire
comprised around 23% of the world economy by 1947 as the British withdrew that figure had fallen to
4%. The reason why was that in the intervening 200 years, the industrialisation of Britain
had come to depend on the deindustrialisation of South Asia take textile manufacturers one example
in the early 18th century India enjoyed 25% share of the global trading textiles
but by 1834 Lord Bentnick declared that "the bones of the cotton weavers were bleaching the plains of
India". Meanwhile exports of British textiles to india soared with a billion yards entering the
latter each year after 1870. Things were so bad that by 1896 India produced only 8% of the cloth
consumed domestically meaning it had gone from exporting powerhouse to serving a tiny portion
of domestic demand. It wasn't an accident that Britain became the workshop of the world
starting with cotton manufactures, something which would have been impossible without force. Indeed
according to an economist Britain took around 45 trillion out of India between 1765 and 1938.
That's 14.5 times the size of the British economy today this primarily happened through trade.
Prior to the 18th centur, Britain bought things from Indian producers and would pay for them
with precious metals, generally silver. But this changed after 1765 when the East India
Company established a monopoly over Indian trade. They then began collecting taxes in India using a
portion of those revenues – typically a third – to fund the purchase of Indian goods for British use.
In other words, instead of paying for Indian goods british traders acquired them for free.
Some of these essentially stolen goods were consumed in Britain while the rest were exported
elsewhere. This allowed Britain to finance the flow of imports from Europe including materials
like iron tar and timber which were critical for – you guessed it – Britain's industrial revolution.
But India's exploitation wasn't merely limited to economics and resources. By the late 19th
century two-thirds of the British empire standing army was paid for by Indian taxes and by 1922
around two-thirds of the Indian government's revenues paid for British. Indian troops abroad
Indians weren't just paying for their own subjugation but that of others too.
But India also paid in blood with over 1 million Indian troops serving during the first world war
suffering an estimated 74 000 casualties – a statistic which is generally neglected. Then there
was the second world war which Britain joined in order to defend the sovereignty of Poland. It
did so while maintaining an empire. What is more, India contributed the largest number of soldiers
to British imperial forces, raising the largest volunteer force in history – around 2.5 million
men by 1945. Meanwhile the country's elected political leadership the congress party was in
prison. 87 000 soldiers from the Indian empire lost their lives fighting for democracy and yet
the very politicians they elected were in prison. Some British officers were honest about the scale
of British India's contribution with Field-Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck, Commander-in-Chief of
the Indian Army, admitting that the British couldn't have come through both world war one
and two if they hadn't had the Indian army indeed in its darkest hour Britain relied on India to get
through – something forgotten today when people say it stood alone. Finally there's famine with
around 30 million people dying as a result of starvation under British rule. Now you could put
that down to natural disaster but the grim truth is that the overwhelming majority of those deaths
were the result of political choices made by the British. Indeed when it came to famine just as in
Ireland in the 1840s and 50s British policy was in action. Firstly because intervention
was undermining free trade. Secondly because of concerns about overpopulation and finally
well they just didn't want to spend money the point of empire was that it was a cash cow this
wasn't a secret. Indeed when Sir Richard Temple imported rice during the Orissa famine of 1866,
the Economist magazine – yes that one – attacked him for allowing Indians to think it is the duty
of the government to keep them alive. That was the position of the British government too.
In British India people were allowed to starve to death as a point of ideology and all in the
name of the free market. That's no different to the forced collectivisations that killed millions
during the 20th century. Unsurprisingly then the last famine on the Indian subcontinent
was in 1943, shortly before the British departed. That was the Bengal famine when Winston Churchill
deliberately ordered the diversion of food from starving Indian civilians to British soldiers
and to top up European stockpiles. According to Churchill "the starvation of anyway underfed
Bengalis was less serious" and as deaths began to pile up he blamed it on the Indians themselves for
"breeding like rabbits". When the East India Company was established the Mughal empire
presided over the world's largest economy with one of its most sophisticated cultures.
At that point India had literacy rates and a life expectancy on a par with europe. When
Britain departed the subcontinent in 1947 by contrast it left a society with 16% literacy,
a life expectancy of 31% and 90% of people living below the poverty line.
Compare that to japan, which achieved 90% literacy after the Meiji Restoration and rapid development
during the late 19th century. The key difference of course is that Japan was never colonised.
Yet despite all of this a poll by yougov in 2020 found that only 17% of Brits think the
countries Britain colonised were worse off as a result, with almost twice as many thinking
they'd benefited. It's one thing to say Britain's empires in the past but it's quite another to
insist that imposing poverty and starvation on hundreds of millions of people was actually good
for them. It brought order security education and democracy to much of the world. When asked whether
the empire was something to be proud or ashamed of 32% claimed to feel proud of the empire while
19% were ashamed. Personally speaking I don't feel shame for things I haven't done but pride
in what exactly? Theft, starvation, mass murder? The only way to make sense of such findings is
to accept that even today people don't know the truth about the British empire and how gruesome
it really was. Given recent calls from politicians that we should learn about our history rather
than seek to erase it all I can say is I couldn't agree more. But let's start by teaching the truth
about the British empire and how it's one of the world's wealthiest countries and turned it
into one of the poorest. If you enjoyed this video there are two things you can do which won't cost
you a thing. Like this video and subscribe to the Novara Media youtube channel and if you want to
see more like it help us build a new media for a different politics. Go to novaramedia.com/support
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