From the second half of the18th century to the19th century, Britain has always been the most powerful country in the world. At that time, Britain had a large number of colonies, with a land area of more than 30 million square kilometers, which was about a quarter of the total land area of the world. From Britain to Hong Kong, Gambia, Newfoundland, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore and countless islands, 24 time zones on the earth are colonies of the British Empire. So Britain is called? Empire when the sun never sets? It can be seen how powerful Britain was at that time, even worse than the United States now.
At that time, Britain occupied so many colonies, not simply military bases, but frantically plundered the local economy for its own use. Jevons, a British economist, once described that the plains of North America and Russia are our cornfields, Canada and the Baltic Sea are our forest areas, Australia is our pasture, Peru is our silver mine, South Africa and Australia are our gold mines, India and China are our tea plantations, East India is our sugar cane, coffee and spice plantations, and the southern United States is our cotton plantation. ? The description of British economists really hit the nail on the head, vividly describing the prosperity and greed of Britain at that time. It can be said rudely that without these colonists, Britain would not be as powerful as it was then. This is the evil of capitalism.
After two world wars in British India, especially after World War II, Britain gradually declined, and the United States and the Soviet Union became the world's number one power. With the development of national liberation movements around the world, British overseas colonies have become independent. At that time, Britain could not stop it, so it had to bite the bullet. Of the lost colonies, there is no doubt that the loss of British India made Britain feel the most sad.
British India does not simply refer to India today, but includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar and other countries today. There are two main reasons for the loss of British India: one is economic reasons. Britain colonized British India for more than 200 years. British India has fertile land and rich products, and its annual economic aggregate accounts for about a quarter of the world's GDP. So many shares of GDP have finally contributed to Britain for free. It is conceivable how important such a huge economic contribution is to the development of Britain. Without British India, Britain can be said to have fallen directly from a world-class country to a world-class country, and even now it is almost a world-class country.
The second is strategic significance. Britain and India are of great strategic significance. Because of its unique geographical position, during the British colonial rule of British India, Britain could use this to deter Russia in the north, hinder Russia's expansion to the south and invade the Ottoman Empire to the northwest. British India guards the Indian Ocean. When Britain owned British India, it firmly controlled the Indian Ocean and owned the Indian Ocean. Its strategic significance is very important.
Although British India is so important to Britain, after the outbreak of World War II, Britain was tired of coping with the European battlefield and gradually relaxed its control over India. In addition, Britain wants to tie India to its own chariot to make India more powerful. Then, after World War II, with the development of India's national independence movement, Britain was helpless. 1947, British India officially gained independence, and Britain completely lost the fattest piece of fat.
Conclusion Although there are various problems in India's development today, the former British brother economy has developed rapidly, and the total GDP of India has been equal to that of Britain. According to the current development momentum of India, it is not a problem to surpass Britain. To sum up, from the economic and strategic point of view, Britain's loss of British India is undoubtedly the most painful.