- 8 hours ago
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00This is the story of the British Empire, seen in colour for the first time.
00:08It's history's biggest empire.
00:13At its peak in 1919, the British Empire controls a quarter of the Earth's land
00:19and almost 500 million people.
00:23In Africa, the Far East.
00:27And India, the jewel in the crown.
00:32On this empire, it's said, the sun never sets.
00:37Imperial trade brings prosperity to Britain.
00:42But while British colonialists enjoy the fruits of British rule,
00:47the colonised often suffer.
00:52And with World War II come demands for self-determination.
00:58Gandhi challenges Britain's grip on India.
01:02And World War exhausts Britain, leaving her bankrupt.
01:07British dominance fades.
01:10Revolts and insurgencies tear at the empire.
01:15But a young new queen helps reinvent it.
01:18This is the British Empire, as you've never seen it before.
01:25Georgie.
01:38I'm happy to make you feel nervous.
01:41And that's right.
01:50I'm happy to make you feel nervous.
01:53in this rare film Queen Victoria seated in the left corner reviews the British Army's senior
01:59regiment the lifeguards at Windsor her Empire is growing Britain is embarking on another war of
02:11expansion this time in South Africa they'll be fighting the Boers descendants of Dutch
02:18settlers for land gold and diamond mines the troop ship Roslyn Castle leave Southampton
02:28cameraman from the Warwick trading company will follow the action
02:33at Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape crowds greet Imperial forces
02:41for this campaign the Empire musters 400,000 men from across the globe
02:49these Indian soldiers are serving in the medical corps others are Australian like these mounted
02:57riflemen in Cape Town the British draft local Zulu herders to deliver army supplies by ox train a
03:09victory will give the crown complete control of South Africa this film of British infantrymen digging
03:19trenches on the edge of Boer territory is some of the earliest surviving footage from a war zone the
03:28empire expects a rapid victory but just after British lances cross the Moda River a Boer attack kicks off a
03:37string of bloody battles the war turns ugly costing 22,000 Imperial troops and 6,000 Boer soldiers their lives
03:57outnumbered outnumbered and outgunned the Boers resort to guerrilla tactics
04:03to crush their resistance Imperial forces destroy land and farms
04:09Boer men women and children are held in prototype concentration camps which are overcrowded and filthy
04:1826,000 Boer civilians die in them and 12,000 local Africans in Boer territory suffer the same fate but
04:29the public at home never sees images like these
04:36in 1902 troops leave South Africa as the Boers surrender their land to the British
04:44British it's the final colony that the Empire will secure through conflict
04:50crowds in London welcome the city volunteers home
04:56South Africa brings new wealth to an empire already enjoying the riches of India
05:10it's known as the Raj Sanskrit for ruler Britain has run things here since the
05:18mid 18th century first through the East India Company and since the 1850s by direct crown rule
05:29home to 250 million people and rich in natural resources India is called Britain's jewel in the crown
05:39in 1911 new British King George the fifth and Queen Mary visit Delhi in a derba Persian for grand meeting
05:50the king becomes emperor of India
05:55India no expense is spared it's described as the grandest extravaganza of the Raj 50,000 troops and platoons of
06:06bejeweled elephants dazzle a quarter of a million spectators
06:17Britain's top dozen cameramen film the event with orders to keep a respectful distance
06:24it's a landmark in cinematic news coverage
06:34the king accepts expressions of fealty from nearly every Indian noble
06:39people and thousands of the country's gentry
06:48in deference each bowels three times taking care not to give offense by turning their backs as they walk away
06:59but the wealthy Maharaja of Baroda bows only once he then turns his back on his emperor swings his cane
07:08and it is said laughs
07:15the incident makes headlines at home
07:26the prince apologizes pleading nervous confusion
07:33as a powerful ally of the Raj he is not rebuked by George the fifth and a few years later
07:40the king gives
07:41sire jirao the third Maharaja of Baroda a knighthood
07:50the empire needs to keep India on side
07:55Britain recruits thousands of Indian soldiers who do battle in Europe starting in 1914 when Britain goes to war with
08:04Germany
08:10they have a reputation as tough professional fighters
08:19in November 1915 newsmen including Jeffrey Malins shown here spend two weeks filming these Indian soldiers for cinema audiences back
08:29home
08:31having fought alongside British troops they're now at the rear
08:45but duty still calls making trench periscopes
08:52sharpening blades
08:53sharpening blades
08:54digging trenches
08:56and deploying barbed wire
09:00despite the winter chill
09:02there's still time to think of home
09:05a field becomes a venue for a performance of a southern Indian dance
09:09where soldiers swirl their traditional swords
09:15and the freezing mud doesn't deter them from staging a wrestling match
09:22these soldiers continue the tradition of the once famous Sikh army the Khalsa
09:31here the 47th Sikh regiment present their bayonets to British command to touch as a symbol of loyalty
09:41and the 58th Vaughan's rifles march by while officers take the salute
09:49in World War One 75,000 Indian soldiers will die for the Empire
10:00as the war in Europe spreads the border of a German colony in Africa becomes a new front
10:08far south of European battlefields
10:10Royal Flying Corps pilots patrol the line between British East Africa
10:15now Kenya
10:16and German East Africa
10:18modern-day Tanzania
10:21Imperial troops are here
10:23because Germany has attacked the British colony
10:26to divert resources from Europe
10:28these locally recruited Askaris
10:32Arabic for policemen
10:33make up the King's African Rifles
10:41their officers are mostly British and white
10:51a newsreel films military exercises
10:54an Ascari drill and British artillery bombardment
11:00fighting continues until the armistice in 1918
11:0510,000 soldiers and a hundred thousand local Africans are killed
11:14Britain and the Allies win the war
11:18in 1919 at the Palace of Versailles
11:22cavalry line the route as delegates arrive to negotiate a lasting peace
11:28on May the 27th
11:30Lieutenant Victor cubes of the US Army films an appearance by British Prime Minister Lloyd George on the left
11:36Italian Prime Minister Orlando French Premier Clemenceau
11:42and American President Woodrow Wilson on the right
11:55the German delegates are taken to sign the surrender documents inside the palace's great hall of mirrors
12:04the Versailles treaty does not resolve the conflicts that caused the war
12:09but it does strip Germany of its colonies and hands them to the Allies
12:16the pact reframes the world and expands British territory to its greatest ever size
12:28Britain now has control of people land business and trade on a scale that brings it enormous wealth and power
12:36the empire is at its peak
12:44in the 1920s London as ever is the bustling commercial hub of the British Empire
13:02in North West London workmen break ground for a huge project
13:09they're building a complex of pavilions gardens and an immense stadium for an exhibition to show off the fruits of
13:17Empire
13:20a year
13:21a year later on the 23rd of April 1924
13:24King George the fifth and Queen Mary arrive at the brand new Empire Stadium
13:29later it will be renamed
13:32Wembley Stadium
13:34for the first time ever the BBC's fledgling radio service broadcasts the King speaking
13:40to come here today
13:42to come here today
13:43with the Queen
13:44for the purpose of opening
13:47the British Empire Exhibition
13:50he has encouraging words for the Empire's future
13:54no one can trust
13:56actual and potential
13:59of the Empire
14:01and how they convinced
14:03to develop
14:05and utilize
14:11the Empire's future
14:11visitors can tour thousands of exhibits
14:17plus there's an amusement park for children
14:22on one June day a record-breaking
14:25300,000 visitors enjoy this display of the Empire's assets
14:32the King and Queen tour a replica of an African village
14:39Ashanti nobles from the Gold Coast demonstrate carving and weaving
14:47the Royal couple amaze onlookers by taking a ride on a miniature railway
15:14six months later in a downpour sodden crowds listen as the Prince of Wales
15:19later King Edward the eighth
15:21closes the exhibition proclaiming it a huge success
15:30the exhibition brings the glory of the Empire home to Britain
15:34and along with that glory comes substantial wealth
15:46the river Thames in London is the centre of British trade with the Empire
15:55in July 1921 King George the fifth sails on the Royal Yacht Rover
16:00to open a new multi-million pound dock
16:07nine years in the building it bears the King's name and is to be the centrepiece of Imperial trade
16:15suiting an Empire built on sea power
16:26in 1925 this power is projected by heir to the throne the Prince of Wales
16:32as he begins a journey aboard HMS repulse to the Gambia a colony in West Africa
16:43he's part of an Imperial PR mission to the farthest part of the Empire
16:50boyishly handsome in his naval uniform the Prince is the first royal pin-up
16:54and the most photographed celebrity of his era
17:00camera's role as he pauses to inspect the Royal Navy's Atlantic fleet in the Bay of Biscay
17:08it takes one week to reach Bathurst capital of the Gambia
17:12where residents cheer the Prince and his entourage
17:16he meets local judges and dignitaries thanking them for stepping up during the war
17:21seven years after it ended
17:28on his tours the Prince travels thousands of miles mainly by sea
17:33but the Empire has a new way to get to its furthest reaches
17:43the British government has invested one million pounds into the Imperial Airways service
17:50the new airline criss-crosses the Empire at premium prices
17:57photographer Leon Levson a Russian émigré films an Imperial Airways Empire flying boats leaving from South Africa
18:07London to Cape Town is a four-week sailing trip
18:11by air the travel time dips to around 10 days with overnight stops
18:20the planes offer luxury travel
18:23and a satisfyingly full restaurant service
18:29by 1925 the airlines pilots are logging a hundred and thirty five thousand miles each month
18:37many of its passengers are wealthy businessmen and top colonial administrators
18:47men like Sir Charles Kendall in India who lives the luxurious life of the colonial elite
18:54Charles on the right is one of only 1000 British senior civil servants who run the whole of India
19:04his palatial residence in Allahabad befits his status as a judge presiding over a quarter of a million people
19:14wife Claire and daughters Barbara and Nancy the family filmmakers document daily life
19:21uniformed servants attend the Kendall's as they take tea and play croquet
19:28as Claire admires the garden the staff help to recreate a vision of the mother country with rolling lawns and
19:35rose gardens
19:39as many colonials here do the Kendall's flee the summer heat
19:44they relocate 400 miles north to the hill station of Ney Natal in the Himalayan foothills
19:53there's no roughing it though
19:55a china tea service graces a picnic outing
19:59on their way home
20:01they're followed downhill by over a dozen servants
20:04carrying heavy boxes with the day's supplies
20:09the servants are not only there to assist the grown-ups
20:14the Kendall's granddaughter Lucinda shows off her dolls and her books to the household servants
20:25and even she travels in style carried uphill in a dandy by two servants and a nurse
20:34and she travels in the house
20:35but not everyone is living in such luxury
20:41the Kendall family also take their film camera out to the local villages
20:45where many communities live in rural poverty
20:53this is the reality for millions of Indian subjects
20:57and fuels a growing resentment and desire for change
21:03one figure harnesses this resentment to demand freedom from imperial rule
21:09Mahatma Gandhi
21:17in the early 1920s Gandhi a Hindu lawyer is elected leader of the Indian National Congress
21:23and advocates for self-rule
21:29he devotes himself to disrupting imperial trade
21:38in 1930 Gandhi embarks on a non-violent non-cooperation campaign
21:43defying British controls on production of salt in India
21:49Gandhi known as Mahatma or venerable
21:53sets out on a 240-mile walk to the sea
21:58it becomes known as the salt march
22:07Gandhi and his 80 core followers are joined by thousands as they march towards the western coast of India
22:22India
22:23after a 24-day walk a crowd of 50,000 greets them as they reach the sea at Dandi
22:36jubilant the protesters make their own salt
22:41a symbol of self-reliance
22:44a symbol of self-reliance
22:45and self-governance
22:53in Bombay his followers demonstrate in favour of boycotting British businesses
23:02by May 1930 protesters are picketing British owned shops in the city
23:11Britain's Indian police force crack down
23:24violent repression does not deter Gandhi
23:28he arranges a bigger and more specific boycott of imported British fabrics
23:36Gandhi's goal is to hit Britain's textile mills and the empire's trading profits
23:42he urges his countrymen to spin and weave their own cloth
23:48and he leads by example
23:52annual British textile exports are over 1,200 million yards
23:57but within two years they fall by over half
24:07now gaining a reputation worldwide
24:09in 1931 Gandhi aged 62
24:13travels to Britain
24:15to the public he's presented as an exotic Indian peasant
24:19whose coming has caused so much comment
24:22complete with loincloth, spinning wheel and goat's milk
24:25he is here to participate in independence talks with the government
24:30Britain's hope he can be persuaded to end the boycott
24:34he makes a point of visiting the mill town of Darwin in Lancashire
24:38to meet some of the thousands that his boycott has helped to put out of work
24:43it's a chilly day as the laid-off mill workers greet the Mahatma
24:48they hope that seeing their state of distress will change Gandhi's mind
24:53surrounded he speaks warmly to his hosts
24:58you are going to tell the other children that I love you all as my own children
25:04that's all I want to say
25:07and finish my speech
25:09you have
25:12he later tells a reporter that while Lancashire has 30,000 out of work
25:16India has 30 million
25:21but independence talks in London achieve little
25:26Gandhi prepares to leave Britain
25:28and emphasises that he bears no ill will
25:32I carry with me the presentest recollections of many happy friendships for
25:50Despite Gandhi's attacks on the Empire
25:52in other parts of India it is still business as usual
25:59Owen Williams works for his Calcutta based family firm and builds railways
26:05an enthusiastic amateur filmmaker Owen is married to Helen
26:09and drives his imported Morris Oxford
26:16his company is extending a rail line in northern India
26:20today's Pakistan
26:22the tracks will serve crews shifting timber from the Changamanga forest to make into rail foundations
26:46as ever cheap labour is the backbone of his job
26:50simply rolling a log onto a flat car requires dozens of men straining every muscle
27:06the train itself is the most automated part of the operation
27:17the wood will be used on the Changamanga line
27:26and across the 24,000 miles of railway built under British rule in India
27:37British rule brings more than infrastructure
27:41colonialists also spread faith across its territories
27:48cleric George Basden is about to leave Britain
27:52he is a Christian missionary
27:57George is also a filmmaker
28:01he records his luggage being winched aboard ship at Liverpool
28:07he's traveling to West Africa where he is archdeacon of an Anglican congregation
28:14after weeks at sea George reaches Nigeria
28:19a smaller craft carries him up the Bonnie River to Port Harkat
28:27further inland a ferry carries him and his Ford across the river Niger
28:36he's near the end of his hundred-mile journey from the coast to his mission at Oweri
28:42crowds come out to welcome him back
28:47he films the missionary dispensary as nurses treat polio patients
28:57the missions Western style education drills boys and girls in sports and music
29:04such as the brass band
29:11the Oweri congregation is thriving
29:16and today Nigerians make up a quarter of all Anglicans in the world
29:30but by the late 30s this great empire is threatened by the prospect of another world war
29:36news of war as Japan's armies search forward across China
29:41the Japanese army already controls parts of China
29:47its next target Britain's Far East Island colony of Singapore
29:57always thinking of trade
29:59Britain reinforces its business centre with a massive naval base and dockyard
30:04named after King George the sixth
30:08it's the largest dry dock in the world
30:11and stores enough fuel to supply the British Navy for six months
30:16the new base costs four billion pounds in today's money
30:20and is believed to be impregnable
30:30gun crews drill constantly ready for action
30:34the garrison which is being continually reinforced
30:37is fully capable of maintaining Singapore as a city of the British lion
30:42readiness is all
30:43but when the shooting starts
30:46readiness will not be enough
30:59by December 1941 the Japanese army have advanced through China
31:04they attack and invade Hong Kong
31:07a major trading hub of the British Empire in the Far East
31:12then only six weeks later in early 42
31:15they set their sights on the impregnable fortress of Singapore
31:21Japanese transports steam ominously through Asia's troubled waters
31:25as Nippon's forces press southward ever closer to Singapore
31:29their aim is to attack the new naval base and capture this great centre of imperial trade
31:37into that tropical hothouse the Malay Peninsula
31:39were being rushed men of nearly a dozen nationalities
31:43British troops are joined by thousands from across the empire to mount a defence
31:49once again the famous Gurkhas made their appearance
31:52these Nepalese troops have one of the finest records in military history
31:56even with the Gurkhas the British struggle to stand up to the Japanese
32:06the Japanese move quickly filming their advance as they cut off the island
32:12in a skillful bluff they attack the base with an army of less than half the size of the British
32:1980,000 allied troops are outmaneuvered by a Japanese army of 30,000
32:27many prisoners of war are enslaved by the Japanese
32:28Singapore once thought impregnable falls after seven days of fighting
32:32on February the 15th 1942
32:37few defeats have humiliated the Empire more thoroughly
32:4380,000 Imperial soldiers and civilians surrender
32:50many prisoners of war are enslaved by the Japanese and sent to Burma to build a railway
32:58eventually POWs make up 60,000 of that slave labour force
33:0512,000 of them lose their lives in horrific conditions
33:08building 260 miles of track through the jungle to link up with India
33:17this story inspires the film the bridge on the river Kwai
33:22those who endured the real thing call it the Burma death railway
33:36fearing neighbouring India will be next the British start the fight back against the Japanese
33:41with the Burma campaign
33:45R.A.F. liberators of Eastern Air Command keep up a constant strath against Japanese supply lines and stores on
33:51the Burma front
34:00Gherka troops reinforce the Empire's defences and again prove themselves on the front line
34:07masters of jungle warfare they booby trap enemy positions
34:13setting ambushes with nets and lining pits with razor sharp punji sticks
34:24they also have survival skills such as boiling river crabs in bamboo tubes
34:33these Gurkha soldiers are from Nepalese battalions
34:37and part of the force that fight fiercely to take a key Burmese city
34:45the Japanese made use of ancient pagodas and temples as strong points
34:49resistance was determined and made the capture of Mandalay the costliest campaign of the whole Burma war
34:56in 1943 with a foothold in Burma
34:59Lord Louis Mountbatten is sent to lead the campaign to push back against the Japanese
35:04and finish the job in the Far East
35:08Lord Louis has great news from Europe to tell these men of the British 14th Army
35:12South East Asia Command is re-establishing our Far East supply lines
35:18India is safe Burma is liberated
35:24In June 1945 the Japanese are defeated in the Far East
35:34as World War II comes to a close
35:37victory reveals the darkness of Japanese tyranny
35:43Singapore September 1945
35:46Allied troops discover hideous scenes in what was Changi jail
35:53POWs allow camera crews to document their horrible condition
36:10After three years of torment they are going home
36:19The Empire has survived the onslaught of World War II
36:26Prime Minister Winston Churchill gets much of the credit for the victory
36:32Now he faces re-election
36:35and the result is shocking
36:40Conservatives 180
36:44Labour 364
36:47It's a decisive rejection of Churchill's Conservative Party
36:51and his own great support for the Empire
36:56Successor Clement Attlee and his Labour Party
36:59have a radically different vision
37:01Elected on a radical social welfare manifesto
37:05resources are reallocated from the Empire
37:07to rebuild Britain
37:10But future decolonisation
37:11will not be so easily achieved
37:15After years of monitoring distant horizons
37:18Britons will look homeward
37:21Attlee's focus will be on housing
37:24building a national health service
37:26and creating a welfare state
37:28The Labour Party's great victory
37:32shows that the country
37:34is ready for a new policy
37:37to face new world conditions
37:41The shift means an abrupt change in policy towards India
37:45Attlee and his government want to get out
37:48and quickly
37:51Independence is within India's reach
37:56Gandhi's dream is an independent and united country
38:02But India's 42 million Muslims
38:05led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah
38:07want their own state
38:10Jawaharlal Nehru wants to protect the interests of 270 million Hindus
38:16The sides cannot agree on a form of united government
38:19and tensions rise
38:30In 1946 with India about to come apart at the seams
38:34British businessman Arthur Wise films as conditions deteriorate
38:41Avid cameraman Arthur is a manager for a British conglomerate
38:46He and his family live comfortably on Harrington Street in Calcutta
38:52He shares his home with his wife Ivy, his daughters and the household servants
39:00When Gandhi forms a commission to work towards peace, Arthur is asked to join as an intermediary between Hindus and
39:08Muslims
39:10Arthur is the only European member
39:14And when Gandhi takes centre stage at a local rally, Arthur is there with his camera
39:22But Gandhi is unable to keep the peace
39:25startup hopes
39:3231
39:3231
39:3231
39:3331
39:3331
39:3431
39:3532
39:3831
39:4232
39:4332
39:4332
39:4332
39:4432
39:4432
39:55of riots between Hindu and Muslim, 5,000 die.
40:00But in the aftermath of a fading empire,
40:03there will be worse to come.
40:07After his success in Burma, the new Labour government
40:10names Lord Louis Mountbatten as the Viceroy of India
40:14in February 1947.
40:17He will be its last.
40:19He's charged with organizing a rapid British withdrawal
40:22from India.
40:26Prime Minister Attlee advises Mountbatten
40:29to keep India united if you can.
40:32If not, save something from the wreck.
40:35In any case, get Britain out.
40:41The Hindu and Muslim factions are increasingly hostile.
40:46Negotiations break down.
40:48The lone solution appears to be partition along religious lines.
40:54At midnight on August 14, 1947, new states are to take form.
41:01Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan.
41:05As Gandhi's dream of a united India collapses,
41:09he spends time in seclusion and prayer.
41:13Throughout the country, the deadline unleashes chaos.
41:19Millions of Muslim refugees are forced to flee to Pakistan.
41:24Millions of Hindus flee the other way.
41:28Enraged, both sides kill each other.
41:32Vengeance is all.
41:38The violence claims up to 2 million lives and displaces 14 million people.
41:46Tensions have persisted ever since.
41:51Within two weeks of independence,
41:53Lord and Lady Mountbatten are bidding farewell to British troops,
41:57thousands of whom begin departing.
42:00With violence ongoing, the British leave.
42:05After almost 200 years, the jewel is gone from Britain's imperial crown.
42:11It's a story of upheaval that will repeat itself throughout the empire.
42:17In the future, even former colonies that maintain their connections to Britain
42:21will do so on an equal footing.
42:27In late 1953, newly crowned Queen Elizabeth II reaches the Pacific
42:33on her extensive tour of the world.
42:37The young monarch is on an epic mission
42:40to turn an empire into a commonwealth,
42:43a collection of independent but allied states.
42:49The tiny Pacific island of Tonga is a colonial protectorate,
42:53loyal to the crown,
42:54and its financial and foreign affairs are run by Britain.
42:59Queen Salote greets Queen Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Philip.
43:07That evening, they sit down on the ground
43:10to eat a traditional Tongan roast pork banquet.
43:27Six weeks later, the Queen arrives in Sydney, Australia,
43:31one of the seven original commonwealth members.
43:35Again, huge crowds turn out to greet them.
43:40Although Tonga and Australia are happy to evolve their relations
43:44with Britain peacefully, other colonies gain independence through violence.
43:50And no amount of royal visits will prevent them
43:53from descending into bloody battles.
43:59Flames consume the Great Aikho rubber factory in Singapore,
44:03marked for sabotage in recently captured plans
44:05of the Malayan Communist Party.
44:08Since 1948, a communist uprising in Malaya, now Malaysia,
44:13has tried to get the empire out.
44:16This attack is just one in a worldwide chain of uprisings against Britain.
44:22Malays crave independence.
44:25The communists crave control.
44:27A deployment of 40,000 British troops stops the Reds,
44:33killing 6,000 insurgents.
44:38But a non-communist Malaya gains independence in 1957.
44:46Colony upon colony rebels.
44:49Britain has ruled resource-rich Kenya in East Africa since 1895.
44:56In the 1950s, an insurgent group called the Mau Mau make vicious
45:01and lethal attacks on white farmers and their families.
45:06To protect the settlers and its revenues from Kenyan coffee and livestock,
45:11the empire strikes back with disproportionate force, killing thousands.
45:18Imperial might prevails for the moment.
45:23But the empire's days are numbered.
45:33In February 1960, Prime Minister Harold Macmillan acknowledges reality
45:39in his now-famous appearance at Cape Town.
45:43The wind of change is blowing through this continent.
45:48Whether we like it or not,
45:50this growth of national consciousness is a political fact.
45:57We must all accept it as a fact.
46:00And our national policies must take a country.
46:05The Prime Minister's remarks signal a new era.
46:12In the 1960s, starting with Nigeria,
46:15the Union flag comes down for good in 24 British colonies.
46:23The Queen's mission is realised as the former colonies voluntarily become members of the Commonwealth of Nations,
46:31an organisation which promotes maintaining economic and social links,
46:37rather than crown rule.
46:42Britain's centuries of imperial ambition and dominance have come to an end.
46:48The legacy of those centuries is mixed.
46:51Extensive infrastructure,
46:54Anglicanism as a worldwide faith,
46:57English as a lingua franca.
47:01But also a legacy of subjugated peoples,
47:04economic exploitation and cultural repression.
47:09The effects of the empire will be a long time fading.
47:15As the empire's territory dwindles in the 60s,
47:18a vivid cosmopolitan British culture is emerging.
47:23Across the globe there is a new kind of British invasion.
47:27Bands like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones rock the world.
47:34The miniskirt, symbol of swinging London, rules high fashion and the street.
47:40Fictional British agent James Bond fills movie theatres.
47:46And in 1966, the Queen hands England's victorious soccer team the World Cup.
47:53A cooler Britannia rules the waves.
Comments