British Empire Decline

England, the central nation of the United Kingdom and much of the Western World for centuries, is named for a derivative of the Old English name Englaland, which means "land of the Angles". The Angles are an ancient Germanic people whose presence in history is dated as far back as the first century AD. Since then, the small island nation has grown politically, economically, and territorially. While most of this territorial gain has not been permanent, the British empire was at one point the largest in history, spawning the phrase, “the sun never sets on the British Empire.” In large part, this empire was due to a sense of intense patriotic nationalism and belief in British exceptionalism. The ultimate end goal was to spread British values, institutions, and ways of life to those not blessed to have been born in the British empire, “influenced by the assumption that the colonizing race was superior to the colonized (O’Neil 319). However, there are costs, …show more content…
However, a more subtle cost has been one that the British have paid: a decreased feeling of contentment with their place in the world. Similar to how Germany and Italy “felt they had been cut a bad deal” (Chehabi) following World War I, England saw its decline as an empire and the end of the age of Super-Powers as a slight to their history, one which had always been a source of pride and patriotism. Thus, much of the England’s post World War II history has been defined by its need to establish itself as an individual nation, a lone wolf in a world where nations are increasingly banding together, driven by the ideology of Conservative Nationalism. A great deal of the resentment felt by the British can be summarised through the understanding of the phrase “English, not European.” The complex and long history of England and its place as one of the dominant powers of the west lend to the nation a deep rooted, unshakable pride, one that is distinctly it 's own and, in their minds, does not