That discussion about a post-Brecit “return of the British Empireâ€� is   
   pointless  because the empire of course will not come back in the 21st   
   century. Furthermore, even the idea of a tighter, closer Commonwealth (a kind   
   of reinvented “British Union†  
   � as an alternative to the EU) is probably unrealistic. It is important to   
   stress, however, that the so-called British Empire (post the independence of   
   the United States) was never a monolithic entity.    
      
   On one hand, the Empire included white settlement colonies like Australia,   
   Canada and New Zealand where the native population was either exterminated,   
   displaced, or outnumbered by European settlers and European (mostly British)   
   culture and institutions    
   largely replaced native cultures. Those settlement colonies quickly progressed   
   to self-government, gaining control of their own military, taxes, currency and   
   internationl trade, and setting up their own legislatures (eventually   
   parliaments) and executive    
   governments responsible thereto. Today they are among the richest countries in   
   the world.   
      
   On the other hand, there were other dependent territories, mostly in the   
   tropics, which were either directly ruled by the British or governed by puppet   
   local rulers under British “protectionâ€�. In those tropical dependencies,   
   the population of    
   European origin was quite small compared to the much larger native population   
   and consisted mostly of civil servants, military personnel , businessmen and   
   missionaries. Unlike in the white settlement colonies, the focus of   
   colonization in the tropical    
   dependencies was indeed trade and exploitation of natural resources.   
   Furthermore, while the English language and English law were introduced by the   
   colonial authorities in public administration, the courts and schools, the   
   native cultural substrate,    
   including language and religion, was largely preserved to the point that it   
   outlasted colonial occupation and remained intact when the British left.   
      
   Unlike the European settlers in Australia or Canada, whom the Victorians saw   
   as “free Englishmenâ€� capable of governing themselves, the native   
   populations of the African and Asian dependencies were seen by the imperial   
   elite as unfit for British-style    
   parliamentary government and institutions, although local rule under   
   traditional law/custom was accepted to a certain extent, as long as it did not   
   conflict with British interest. That greatly slowed down the path to   
   independence and the buildup of    
   efficient and strong democratic institutions and  administration in the   
   dependent territories.   
      
   Finally, there was a smaller, third class of so-called “contested white   
   settlementâ€� colonies, where there was a sizeable European settlement   
   community that created a new transplanted society in the colonial area, but   
   was nevertheless unable to    
   outnumber or replace the native societies. Those contested settlement   
   colonies, of which South Africa (including Rhodesia) is the prime example,   
   also evolved to British-style self-government, not unlike Australia and   
   Canada, with which they enjoyed equal    
   status within the late Empire. However, the local government institutions   
   there were built excluding the non-European native population, which was   
   largely deprived of civil and political rights.   
      
   To be fair, it must be said that the exclusion and/or marginalization of (the   
   residual) natives also took place in Australia/New Zealand (e.g. the   
   Aborigenes and the Maori) or in Canada (e.g. the so-called “reserve   
   Indiansâ€� and the Inuit), but,    
   because the natives were a comparatively small percentage of the total   
   post-settlement population, it was not quite as evident there as it was for   
   example in South Africa, where, even at its height in percentage terms, the   
   white European population never    
   rose above 20 % of the total population.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)