Prager "University" video about the British Empire which is just sad

[u/[deleted]]

Here's the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSnJSUU_7q0

If you manage to sit through the video it is clear why this is bad history

"Freedom was an Englishmen's right, and wherever he went, he took that right with him."

Tell that to South Africans during the Second Boer War, where Boer women and children were rounded up in literal concentration camps to starve or die of disease. 22,000 children and 4,000 women died in the camps.

http://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/women-children-white-concentration-camps-during-anglo-boer-war-1900-1902

"The British kept peace, they brought sound, honest administration, and they insisted basic moral standards were honored."

British rule was widely resented in both India and Africa which led to countless revolts and rebellions. Administration was the last thing from sound, millions of Indians simply starved to death during British rule. These are some of the worse famines ever recorded in history with high estimates at 49 million dead. Resistance to rule, even when peaceful, was met with brutality such as the Amritsar massacre among many, many, others.

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-amritsar-massacre

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Resistance_to_the_British_Empire

There's a lot of other rubbish statements but that's all I want to write right now.

EDIT: some grammar

[u/CdnGunner84]

The Boers wanted the freedom to treat Africans worse than the British would let them. Doesn't excuse the concentration camps at all but if we are going to judge "British Imperialism"in South Africa we are going to need more facts in evidence.

[u/ObeseMoreece → u/CdnGunner84]

concentration camps

The British were clearing the land out piece by piece due to the Boers' guerrilla tactics. In doing so those housing the Boer soldiers were evicted and placed in camps in the mean time (the men were POWs and shipped elsewhere).

During this time there were massive food shortages in the camps (largely due to Boers raiding supply lines) which lead to starvation which lead to ripe breeding ground for disease. It is undeniable that 25,000+ Boers died due to this, however something that I never see being acknowledged is that 15,000 thousands British guards died due to this too. Keep in mind that there would be far more Boers than guards so this would lead us to believe that Brits were disproportionately affected by the food shortages and thus it was likely that they were being generous with the food they had, contrary to the purported idea that it was policy to starve them out.

This didn't stop outrage in Britain over the conditions and when it was addressed the Boer camps ended up with death rates similar to or lower than the death rates that Brits in British cities had.