Sathnam Sanghera and David Olusoga had fun at Hay Festival, 2 June 2024
For the first five minutes, they were like a comedy duo rather than rival historians on world history. Clearly good friends but Sathnam made it clear he was the newcomer on all things slavery and empire, playing second fiddle to David. "I get invited to do an event when David is already booked." Both men have ancestors rooted in colonialism - Nigeria for David and the Punjab for Sathnam.
Sathnam's books and this one hour session of erudition and humour has simply reinforced my already jaundiced view and horror at my ancestors' antics on the world stage. So my interpretation of our gloriously shameful, supremacist, and violent empire-building comes out here. With this: stolen lands, three famines, resources and people. And we seem to have killed millions! The lands are now in the Commonwealth, the 'prizes' (stolen goods looted) are in our museums and the descendants of the 'lucky' people ruled over are now flocking to enjoy the good life in small boats to their ancestors' Rulers' home nations!
READ the short children's book by Sathnam, "Stolen History". But, he misses out our first colony, Ireland and the legacy horrors of 'The Troubles' for thirty years to 1998.
The two men talked of our fellow Europeans' empires down the ages and those of Russia and China. The difference being the Europeans conquered lands across the seas but Russia and China were land based expansions.
One of them mentioned how we like to point the finger at our neighbour's empires being far worse than ours. "Just look at what the Belgians did in the Congo!" But Olusoga made it clear that ours was the biggest ever, taking up a quarter to one third of the world's land area. The biggest and the most bestial, it seems, for being top of the league for everything unfortunate! No wonder it's not taught in our schools.
Slavery got a look in. Both men know everything there is to know. Slaves became indentured labourers after 1833, only one step down from full blown slavery. Yet the owners and perpetrators were very handsomely rewarded by us taxpayers when they had already got intensely and mind-blowingly rich from their despicable behaviour. Like the Brum commissioners and their political advisors getting £1,100 per day from advising the city how to get out of bankruptcy!
Olusoga mentioned that the Netherland Jews came to Palestine from the twelve year old failed German empire. They came as victims, not perpetrators desperate for peace and safety and eternal security. But today's horrors in Israel/Palestine are an upshot of that empire from a European nation (our British mandate quickly ditched in the face of Jewish terrorism to reward that land grab!). And that empire came out of the imperialists fighting each other in that first 1914 European war that dragged in all their colonies to make a world war.
Brexit was somewhat made fun of, too. Brexit was a blessed relief from Europe. The Europe thing was a throwback to empire and those giddy days of ruling and conquering and being the top dog. Therefore, being in the European empire was a comedown for us until we finally got our independence, with Nigel Farage announcing 'Independence Day' in 2016. Now, we are little colonials once more on the world stage!
The handbook blurb had our imperial past is there at "the foundation of the NHS" but I don't recall it being mentioned by the two men. Any suggestions how/in what way? Dependence on our former empire for staff, as we all retire so early?
David Olusoga told a story of how Arab ISIS fighters were so very familiar with their hated, imposed upon them, Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916. However, this stitch-up of Arab nations' boundaries drawn in the sand was almost universally unheard of in Britain. Certainly, before 7.10.23. Victims remember more easily than perpetrators. I wonder why?!
My conclusion: Ours was the top empire for being the best at the worst behaviour, wherever we ruled - including Ireland.
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