Countries that have gained independence from the UK

[+ azdr0710]

found this via a vaguely-related reddit topic........I had no idea of the size of the list!

List of countries that have gained independence from the United Kingdom - Wikipedia

EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

 

[+ Pensant]

Interesting to note that Libya was an Italian colony from 1911 to 1942 and Tanganyika was German East Africa until WW1. I have a 1922 globe with all sorts of exotic colonial maps. Who can forget Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Basutoland, Bechuanaland, Aden Protectorate and Rhodesia and Nyasaland?

[mike carey]

... and the Gold Coast, Orange Free State and Transvaal Republic.

[+ Charlie]

Although she was born in New York City, my grandmother always liked to tell people she was "British," because her father had been born and raised in Bermuda.

[+ Pensant]

20 hours ago, Charlie said:

Although she was born in New York City, my grandmother always liked to tell people she was "British," because her father had been born and raised in Bermuda.

Haha! My paternal grandmother was proud that her ancestors had remained Tories in Philadelphia during the Revolutionary War. We never appreciated that.

[Rudynate]

The Brits haven't completely given up their attachment to imperialism - there are 56 members of the Commonwealth of Nations, formerly called the British Commonwealth.   14 of those (15 including the UK) are Commonwealth Realms that have the British Monarch as their head of state.  Famously, Princess Elizabeth and the Prince Consort had to interrupt a globe-trotting tour of the Commonwealth and return to Britain when George VI died suddenly.  When I was in grade school, there was always something in our Weekly Reader about the Commonwealth. A few years ago, I was thinking about and realized we never hear anything about the Commonwealth, so I did a little research to find out if it even existed anymore.  Lo and behold it still exists.

[+ Jamie21]

8 hours ago, Rudynate said:

The Brits haven't completely given up their attachment to imperialism - there are 56 members of the Commonwealth of Nations, formerly called the British Commonwealth.   14 of those (15 including the UK) are Commonwealth Realms that have the British Monarch as their head of state.  Famously, Princess Elizabeth and the Prince Consort had to interrupt a globe-trotting tour of the Commonwealth and return to Britain when George VI died suddenly.  When I was in grade school, there was always something in our Weekly Reader about the Commonwealth. A few years ago, I was thinking about and realized we never hear anything about the Commonwealth, so I did a little research to find out if it even existed anymore.  Lo and behold it still exists.

And is doing well as a force for good. And it’s not imperialistic 😉 Any country can apply to join. All countries in it are equal. The head of the Commonwealth is His Majesty King Charles III. 

[mike carey]

56 minutes ago, Jamie21 said:

And is doing well as a force for good. And it’s not imperialistic 😉 Any country can apply to join. All countries in it are equal. The head of the Commonwealth is His Majesty King Charles III. 

Indeed, and the Commonwealth Heads of Government Conference or CHOGM was just held in Samoa (not a former British colony, it was a German colony governed by Aotearoa after WW1). There are others that were colonies of Commonwealth countries rather than Britain, and several African countries (Cameroon, Gabon, Mozambique, Rwanda and Togo) that were Belgian, French or Portuguese colonies. Of course there are also former British colonies that are no longer, or have never been members of the Commonwealth. Two member states are also members of the EU. The Commonwealth is home to 2.7 billion people.

[+ Jamie21]

2 hours ago, mike carey said:

Two member states are also members of the EU.

But the UK isn’t!!! 

[mike carey]

Just now, Jamie21 said:

But the UK isn’t!!! 

Really? I'm shocked. But Malta and Cyprus are.

(I listened regularly to a podcast called 'Remainiacs' (you might be able to guess what it was about), and still do now it's called 'Oh God What Now'.)

[+ Jamie21]

4 minutes ago, mike carey said:

Really? I'm shocked. But Malta and Cyprus are.

(I listened regularly to a podcast called 'Remainiacs' (you might be able to guess what it was about), and still do now it's called 'Oh God What Now'.)

Oh God don’t mention Brexit…😱

[Rudynate]

13 hours ago, Jamie21 said:

Oh God don’t mention Brexit…😱

  In 2016, just after the referendum, I entertained a group of Examiners from the European Patent Organization who were visiting San Francisco and we were chatting about Brexit  - Oh, those crazy British, what have they done, etc. etc.  An Examiner from one of the newer member states in the EU, maybe Belarus or Bulgaria took offense at the conversation, because she was obviously very pro-Brexit, so much so that she wouldn't look at me or take any of the refreshments that were served and she wouldn't shake my hand as we were breaking up.   Citizens of some those newer member states were ambivalent - they were afraid they were losing sovereignty by joining the EU. I was impressed by her passion but I thought her conduct was very unprofessional.

[+ Jamie21]

5 hours ago, Rudynate said:

  In 2016, just after the referendum, I entertained a group of Examiners from the European Patent Organization who were visiting San Francisco and we were chatting about Brexit  - Oh, those crazy British, what have they done, etc. etc.  An Examiner from one of the newer member states in the EU, maybe Belarus or Bulgaria took offense at the conversation, because she was obviously very pro-Brexit, so much so that she wouldn't look at me or take any of the refreshments that were served and she wouldn't shake my hand as we were breaking up.   Citizens of some those newer member states were ambivalent - they were afraid they were losing sovereignty by joining the EU. I was impressed by her passion but I thought her conduct was very unprofessional.

It creates such extreme reactions, both for Brexit and against it. What’s clear though is that the British don’t see the EU in the same way that much of the rest of Europe sees it. It has long been the case that Britain doesn’t see itself as European. In the past Europe was the source of trouble. We played off the big European powers against each other to prevent any of them from getting too powerful and competing with us globally, especially the French. 

[Rudynate]

I was living in Germany in the early 70s and I remember how much the UK dragged its feet before joining in 1973.

[TonyDown]

Hong Kong was a former British possession and then a dependent territory.  Yes, it's complicated.

 

 

[+ Jamie21]

Americans, you’ve got a short period to reverse the declaration of independence and revert to having the King as your head of state. Just a thought…

[marylander1940]

1 hour ago, Jamie21 said:

It creates such extreme reactions, both for Brexit and against it. What’s clear though is that the British don’t see the EU in the same way that much of the rest of Europe sees it. It has long been the case that Britain doesn’t see itself as European. In the past Europe was the source of trouble. We played off the big European powers against each other to prevent any of them from getting too powerful and competing with us globally, especially the French. 

All major European powers occasionally faced a coalition of the whole continent against them: Spain, Germany, France, Sweden, Poland, etc. somehow the British were always capable of dividing Europe and never faced the entire continent going after them. 

[TonyDown]

31 minutes ago, marylander1940 said:

All major European powers occasionally faced a coalition of the whole continent against them: Spain, Germany, France, Sweden, Poland, etc. somehow the British were always capable of dividing Europe and never faced the entire continent going after them. 

Netherlands!   Don't forget them.   They were a major naval power 

[+ Jamie21]

2 hours ago, marylander1940 said:

All major European powers occasionally faced a coalition of the whole continent against them: Spain, Germany, France, Sweden, Poland, etc. somehow the British were always capable of dividing Europe and never faced the entire continent going after them. 

It’s safe over the channel. The Royal Navy kept them out of the way. 

[marylander1940]

2 hours ago, Jamie21 said:

It’s safe over the channel. The Royal Navy kept them out of the way. 

A storm kept them out of the way in 1588 after that in 1589 the English Armada or counter  Armada was defeated in La Coruña. I bet you and the other anglophiles on here never even heard about it:

https://thehistoriansmagazine.com/the-english-armada-the-tudor-naval-disaster-that-youve-never-heard-of/

Edited November 8, 2024 by marylander1940

[+ Jamie21]

5 hours ago, marylander1940 said:

A storm kept them out of the way in 1588 after that in 1589 the English Armada or counter  Armada was defeated in La Coruña. I bet you and the other anglophiles on here never even heard about it:

https://thehistoriansmagazine.com/the-english-armada-the-tudor-naval-disaster-that-youve-never-heard-of/

Yep I’ve heard of that. In 1588 God sent the storm, obviously because He’s English. In 1589 we lost the away leg because of poor leadership. Score draw 1:1.

[marylander1940]

6 hours ago, Jamie21 said:

Yep I’ve heard of that. In 1588 God sent the storm, obviously because He’s English. In 1589 we lost the away leg because of poor leadership. Score draw 1:1.

Agreed! The anglophiles on here won't ever admit it. I'm surprised you even knew about this subject largely ignored in English history classes. 

It was a draw but some historians consider the English Armada an even larger disaster and that's without the help of a storm. 

 María Mayor Fernández de Cámara y Pita later on her name was given to the main ship of the  Balmis Expedition, a Spanish healthcare mission that lasted from 1803 to 1806 and vaccinated over 1 million people.

Edited November 8, 2024 by marylander1940

[marylander1940]

Back to subject, the British Empire might get a bit smaller after handling Diego Garcia to Mauritius while keeping the American base there for 99 more years. 

Why is the UK handing the Chagos Islands back to Mauritius?

WWW.ALJAZEERA.COM

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An agreement between the UK and Mauritian governments could see thousands of exiled Chagossians resettled again.

Diego Garcia | History & Map | Britannica

WWW.BRITANNICA.COM

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Diego Garcia, coral atoll, largest and southernmost member of the Chagos Archipelago, in the central Indian Ocean. Administratively, it was a dependency of...

 

[Rudynate]

18 hours ago, TonyDown said:

Netherlands!   Don't forget them.   They were a major naval power 

And Portugal also had their time in the sun.

[+ Jamie21]

2 hours ago, marylander1940 said:

Agreed! The anglophiles on here won't ever admit it. I'm surprised you even knew about this subject largely ignored in English history classes. 

I went to a good school 😉.