230567 A Short History of British Colonialism (S) (SoSe 2009)

British colonialism has shaped the world in many different ways. Not only was the British Empire the largest ever, colonialism also meant the forced and voluntary migration of large numbers of people across the globe. Colonialism developed an economic system – which benefitted Britain for a long time. It provided a geostrategic safety net – for Britain. It brought cricket to, for example, the Caribbeans and Pakistan, and Indian restaurants to all British towns. However, the empire was disbanded after World War II and formal colonialism is, with a few exceptions, a thing of the past.

In this course, we will ask why Britain became a colonial power in the first place, how colonial expansion was justified, how public life in the colonies was organised, why Britain approved of terrible practices such as the slave trade, how colonised people responded to British domination, how they eventually received – or achieved – independence, and what the legacies of colonialism are.