Great Britain?

[mjw47]

This 'debt of honour' which we owed to Poland? How exactly did that work out then? Did the debt only count if specific country's infringed Poland's independence?

Was the USSR exempt from our wrath?

 

The world would be a better place if the British Empire still existed?

Did you not bother to read Vague Boy's post at 43 above?

 

Empires - all of them - are there to benefit themselves at the expense of others, & the world would be far better off if there were no Empires remaining.

 

The American Empire is far more amenable than the British Empire was & yet still manages to create mayhem, carnage & chaos in far flung corners of the world where it has no business interfering in the first place.

[buck]

I think she sucked his.

 

---------- Post added 08-08-2013 at 14:24 ----------

 

 

The empire had to be given up because we were bankrupt, we had fought the greatest war in the history of mankind alone. In doing so we put ourselves into hock with the USA (a debt we paid). As part of the support we received we agreed to dismantle the empire.

 

Your comparison with the French is erroneous, they gave up their empire at the same time and for broadly similar reasons.

 

You will no doubt remind me of the contribution the US made in the second world war, I acknowledge and accept that, however, it needed the Japanese to attack and Hitler to declare war before the US got involved.

 

The UK never needed to declare war on Germany it did so because we owed a debt of honour to Poland. The US entered the war because it was in its interests to do so. It could and maybe should, have restricted its conflict to Japan.

 

Had the British under Lord Halifax come to terms with Hitler in 1940, the Empire would still exist and the world would be better for it.

Fine, but Hitler declared war on America, not the other way round. As to whether it should have or not is beside the point, except you'd be speaking German today otherwise.

[tinfoilhat]

Fine, but Hitler declared war on America, not the other way round. As to whether it should have or not is beside the point, except you'd be speaking German today otherwise.

 

Battle of Britain was pretty much done and dusted by the time America joined in, and Germany turned their attentions and resources east. We weren't going to invade France or anything but Britain (channel islands aside) was largely secure from then on.

 

Did none of you watch The World at War? It's on telly nearly everyday?

[WeX]

just interested in peoples different opinions so the question is what will put the 'great' back into great britain?

 

Great Britain is called Great because its the largest island in our group.

[Eccentric]

Do you think there is a possibility that my post doesn't echo the viewpoint of Thilo Sarrazin because I happen not to be called Thilo Sarrazin?

 

Just a thought.

 

A classic example of Hineininterpretierung. You attribute meanings to a general statement, which are not intrinsically there. A semantic analysis of my sentence would yield: ‘Thilo Sarrazin is of another persuasion than you are’. It says nothing whatsoever about either you or me.

[Staunton]

... who should we try and emulate? Can't complain really can we?

 

I feel inclined to say that we should emulate the Scandinavian countries, as I have said elsewhere on this forum. But I am not entirely confident in my assertion - I have a feeling that even Denmark and Finland are going to have difficulty maintaining the sucesses that their social experiments delivered over the last fifty years.

[mjw47]

That's exactly what the Germans did wrong, turn their attentions east. Had they continued to attack Britain there is no doubt they would have succeeded. An army which lost almost 7.000.000 troops on the eastern front & yet continued to fight on would have successfully invaded this country without a doubt.

Hitler knew we presented no threat as far as us attempting another invasion of France was concerned & so we could be dealt with later.

What he failed to factor in was the US joining in the war & using Britain as a base to launch that invasion, meaning Germany then had to fight on two fronts.

 

Hitler never rose above the rank of corporal & yet continuously meddled with strategy instead of leaving it to his generals who were career professional soldiers & would have achieved far greater success without his interference.

[Hillpig]

This 'debt of honour' which we owed to Poland? How exactly did that work out then? Did the debt only count if specific country's infringed Poland's independence?

Was the USSR exempt from our wrath?

 

The world would be a better place if the British Empire still existed?

Did you not bother to read Vague Boy's post at 43 above?

 

Empires - all of them - are there to benefit themselves at the expense of others, & the world would be far better off if there were no Empires remaining.

 

The American Empire is far more amenable than the British Empire was & yet still manages to create mayhem, carnage & chaos in far flung corners of the world where it has no business interfering in the first place.

 

Your reading of history is partial and incomplete, the British empire thrived for nearly 300 years the American empire is floundering after 50.

 

Prepare yourself for the next one, it will be Chinese.

 

---------- Post added 08-08-2013 at 16:24 ----------

 

That's exactly what the Germans did wrong, turn their attentions east. Had they continued to attack Britain there is no doubt they would have succeeded. An army which lost almost 7.000.000 troops on the eastern front & yet continued to fight on would have successfully invaded this country without a doubt.

Hitler knew we presented no threat as far as us attempting another invasion of France was concerned & so we could be dealt with later.

What he failed to factor in was the US joining in the war & using Britain as a base to launch that invasion, meaning Germany then had to fight on two fronts.

 

Hitler never rose above the rank of corporal & yet continuously meddled with strategy instead of leaving it to his generals who were career professional soldiers & would have achieved far greater success without his interference.

 

 

 

Maybe maybe not, To invade this country they needed to achieve dominance in the air, they tried but failed, they would also have had to take on the Royal Navy. Which was far larger than the German Navy, we also had Ultra. They would have been very lucky to succeed.

[Eccentric]

As for the initial question: is Britain great? Aye, Britain is a great country. And if Scotland gains independence, England and Wales will be a great country. The mark left by the Empire upon the entire world is indelible for as long as there is a planet Earth. Everybody who is not French likes Britain. To the entire world, Britain is synonymous with quaint villages surrounding cricket pitches, afternoon tea, large moustaches, bowler hats and deerstalkers, Miss Marple and drinking sherry. Truly everyone loves Britain; the country has nothing whatsoever to worry about in terms of image.

 

Britain can leave the EU in about 6 to 7 years, when I have been naturalised. I don’t care whether Britain is in or out, but I’m not going anywhere unless I get deported by force.

[mjw47]

You said greatest, nothing about longevity, if that's the measure then the Romans take the title with an Empire which outlasted the British one by two thousand years.

 

Should the Chinese become the next major empire - and you may well be correct - then we have a problem.

The Chinese have long memories & have not forgotten nor forgiven us for the Opium War nor for our prolonged occupation of Hong Kong.

 

Old Chinese curse ' May you live in interesting times.'