For many in the West, the British monarchy, in all its flamboyant and anachronistic splendor and ceremony, is a symbol of stability and democracy, but World War II There is a different perspective on Elizabeth’s reign that cannot and should not be overlooked.
The British royal family has always made an effort to isolate itself from politics and the country’s long colonial and racist history, but that’s something that millions of descendants of in Africa, Asia or the Caribbean have suffered from colonialism and still experience its influence.
Maya Jasanoff, professor of history at Harvard University, wrote in The New York Times that the now-deceased queen helped “hide a bloody history in the process of decolonization, the proportions and effects of which have yet to be analyzed.”
In fact, no one can deny that Great Britain has historically been an imperialist power that has colonized and exploited dozens of countries and regions in the so-called Third World for its own interests. Exploitation also included neighboring Ireland, let’s not forget.
The British monarchy was founded on piracy and slavery. As early as 1562, Elizabeth I, known as the Virgin Queen as she never married or had children, supported sailor John Hawkins, a pirate and African slave trader who he would later sell in the Caribbean and South America.
Upon his return to England, he was honored with the title of “knight” by Elizabeth I, thanks to the substantial profits from this trade. Hawkins was assisted in such vile assignments by his second cousin, Francis Drake, who was also a pirate, known for his military campaigns against our country in Spain.
If we go back in time, it’s Queen II, who is no longer Tudor but Windsor. It would be fair to admit that Elizabeth was not directly responsible for the colonial policy of their governments and even secretly tried to aid South Africa against the Iron Lady. Thatcher, who continued to support apartheid in that country.
But the British Crown has so far been able to resist the slave trade claims presented to London by two now independent Caribbean nations, despite being members of the British Commonwealth: Barbados and Jamaica.
On the black continent, Great Britain occupied a large territory in its eastern part and declared it a protectorate to exploit its mineral wealth while brutally fighting the rebellious indigenous population.
In fact, for example, in Kenya, in Giriama, Muranga women’s actions against forced labor and World War II. There were numerous rebellions during Elizabeth’s long reign, such as that of Winston Churchill, the first of fifteen heads of government. , then made a call to suppress the rebels.
In 1952, the year she was proclaimed queen upon her father’s death, British colonial rule declared a state of emergency in Kenya and established an extensive and brutal system of concentration camps.
The rebels of the Mau Mau secret society, which waged a long guerrilla war against the invaders, were not only persecuted and tortured, all locals suffered the minor inconvenience of having to carry an internal passport at all times to travel inland from your home country. .
II. Whether Isabel’s “by the grace of God” successor, according to her proclamation, would be more sensitive to the injustices committed, and always a small mouth, than that of other statesmen of the state.
On one occasion, while still Prince of Wales, today’s Charles III publicly acknowledged the “terrible atrocities” represented by the slave trade. For countries that suffer in their own bodies, the consequences are atrocities that will continue for a long time.