Originally Posted by
cxorcist
Well, this is depressing. Thanks guys! Guess it wouldn't bum me out if I didn't believe it's true. Sadly, it probably is. Are these the same reasons the British Empire came to ruin as well? Bad management, arrogance, ignorance, and stupidity? One ponders...
To be fair, the British Empire didn't come to ruin for any of those reasons. Canada/ Australia/ New Zealand/ India/ Malaya etc were all given 'home rule'/ independence when the local populations asked for it/ were judged able to self rule - I would say the opposite of arrogance & stupidity. The part of the Empire where bad management & stupidity did have a part to play was Ireland, where, despite the democratic will of the people, Home Rule wasn't granted, leading to the 1916 uprising. And there, the British Empire made the decision to withdraw (1919-1921), rather than impose rule by force.
WW2 definitely sped things up - ISTR that the timeline set for Indian independence in the 1920's was 1955 or so (it was thought it would take one generation to fully localise the civil service)
Overall, the Empire didn't come to ruin, it came to the end of it's natural life, and for the most part, it's ending was well managed. Arrogance & stupidity would have been to have done what the French did in North Africa & Vietnam, and try and keep the Empire going regardless of circumstances, resulting in massive bloodshed for all.