A Review of Britain’s 400-Year-Old Crimes

n this report, we look at Britain’s inhumane record, which has one of the darkest colonial records in Europe. It should be noted that due to the many cases of human rights violations and crimes in the United Kingdom during its colonial period in the world, only the most important and important cases are briefly mentioned in this report.

The beginning of British colonization in Asia The beginnings of modern colonialism can be traced back to the 15th and 16th centuries, when the British Empire, with the founding of the East India Company in 1599, consolidated the foundations of British colonial rule over the fertile regions of South Asia, and since then, all colonial operations. And British hegemonic relations with the nations of South Asia were exercised through the East India Company. Three centuries after the founding of the company, Britain’s deep influence in India led to India being declared part of the British Empire and Queen Victoria being crowned Emperor of India and Britain. This period is considered to be the period of plunder of the Indian people by the British, which, under the guise of economic, trade and trade relations, became the basis for political influence in this land. Will Durant writes about India and the East in general against the West: Remember that the people of northern India, the more important half of India, are of the same race as the Greeks, Romans, and ourselves, that is, of the same race as Indo-Europeans or Aryans. ”(P. 14) Sanskrit is the root of the European language.He recalls how Indian mathematics was introduced to the West by the Arabs, as well as other issues such as philosophy, religion and civilization in India and in the East in general, which are significant in their place. He goes on to point out how India was invaded and plundered by British and French pirates, and how colonialism and exploitation prevailed in the country and the people of the land abated. He writes that the British sold everything in India, they even brought the rulers of the states to power by taking bribes, forcing the Hindus to buy expensive and sell cheaply, and it was imperialist policy that led to 30 million Indians in Calcutta reach the peak of misery.

British imperialist policies plunged 30 million Indians into misery in Calcutta According to various historical sources, during the British occupation of India in the 1770s, more than 10 million Indians in the state of Bengal alone, due to famine, disease, ill-treatment and torture at the hands of the British military, or under labor pressure. They were forced to lose their lives. Will Durant goes on to point out that although the British took steps to stabilize the British cultural, political and economic system in India, the Hindus also benefited from it, which can be summarized as follows: 1- The abolition of the “Sooti” tradition (burning women after the death of their husbands) 2- The introduction of organizational organizations into official Hindu institutions 3- The abolition of the slavery system (for which the Hindus paid a high price) 4- The construction of a railway (for Commercial and military goals) 5. Importing Western science and technology to India. He also examines the class system of India, but the point was the tax system created by the invading British in India.

10 million Indians died in the 1770s in Bengal alone due to British colonization In fact, the Indians had to pay taxes to the British in their own country; “India’s GDP is higher than any other country in the world, until recently it was twice the tax rate in Britain and three times in Scotland.” Because of these heavy taxes, the British paid for the Indian troops to dominate the entire subcontinent, and without spending any economic or human expense, they were able to dominate the whole of India, in fact from the Indians themselves to colonize and They benefited from the exploitation of India. He believes that the Hindus had no cry against all this oppression. Will India Durant goes on to describe how India’s economy was destroyed, writing: “India’s economic situation is the inevitable result of its political exploitation.” It killed another 5 million Indians. Between 3.5 and 5 million Indians died of famine between 1942 and 1944. According to Churchill, during these years all ships used to transport food to India were used to transport equipment and supplies to British troops in North Africa, leading to a great famine in the Indian state of Bengal. Took millions of Indians.

About 5 million Indians died of starvation between 1942 and 1944. Expanding colonialism to Africa At the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1814, Britain occupied the Dutch colony of Cape in South Africa. The Dutch immigrants, called Boers (Boers meaning farmers in Dutch), wanted to preserve their Calvinist customs and religion. So they migrated from Cape and headed north with a large caravan of carts pulled by cows. The Boers encountered the Zulu tribes on their way. There are constant battles between the Boers and the Zulu tribes. Zulu literally means “sky”. The Zulu were one of the racial and linguistic tribes in Africa who fought the Boers from 1830 to 1839, and finally defeated Britain in 1880. The war began on December 16, 1880. In the first round of the war, the British were defeated and their commander, General Kali, was killed. When the then Prime Minister of England, William Goldstone, saw this and realized the truth, he compromised and accepted Transval’s autonomy. Seeing this, the Boers imposed heavy taxes on non-native workers and British gold mining companies, barring newcomers from running in elections and gaining government positions in the area. This situation provoked the miners to protest and they complained to the Ministry of Colonies in London. The ministry issued an ultimatum to the Boer local government, which ignored it. At the behest of London, the British troops stationed at Cape intervened, and the second round of the war began on October 11, 1899, and any British military attack was defeated. This time the Boers used guerrilla warfare, dressed in civilian clothes, and attacked the ambush. Also, this time the European governments hostile to Britain, especially Germany, gave Boer superior weapons and military training, so that until the last months of this 29-month war, the 250,000-strong British force did not work effectively. Britain had sent its best soldiers and generals, including General Kitchener, General Kemp, Kwick, and Roberts, to the Boer War.

The war ended on March 31, 1902, with the signing of the Treaty of Werning. The British government gave the Boers 3 million under the treaty, recognized their autonomy and promised to later allow them to form the Federal Republic of South Africa, and fulfilled its promises. It increased in South Africa because during the war, the British tried to use local blacks against the Boers. Eventually, the Boers (Africans) created a minority government by excluding the black majority, which lasted until the last decade of the twentieth century. The Boers established the Republic of Natal on land that had been liberated from the Zulu tribes. But the British seized the coastal area, which they considered strategic, from the Boers. They establish the Orange Free Country. The Boers thought they were safe from British invasion. These small countries had a population of 25,000 and 10,000 whites at the time of their founding, respectively.

A second war between Britain and the Boers (1889-1902) was inevitable after the Africans drove the Witwaters, an area ceded to them by the British after the first Boer War (1880-81). The British wanted to share in the gold. Second, the British feared that the Africans would become rich by selling these golds, as they might ally themselves with their other ally, Germany, and endanger other British territories in South Africa. Changed and liberated the besieged cities, but the Boers continued their successful guerrilla warfare. Kitchener pursued a scorched earth policy. Boers and locals lost their shelter and food supplies. In addition, the British set up 50 concentration camps. More than 26,000 women and children died in the camps. When Emily Hubhouse visited the Bloemfontein camp in January 1901, she was horrified to see the condition of nearly 2,000 prisoners. The situation was reportedly similar in other camps – Kimberly, Norwallpont, Springfontaine.

The reason the British set up these camps and started a scorched-earth policy was because they were unable to withstand guerrilla weapons.But chants, newspapers and photographs of seemingly victorious soldiers displayed a different picture.The image presented was as magnificent as it is today.The general mentality of public opinion was brought under control by presenting this invincible and dignified image.

Chemical bombardment of Iraq On Churchill’s orders.

The British tested their chemical weapons in Iraq 82 years ago. According to Al-Hayat, the history of the use of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, which American and British forces were concerned about and paved the way for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, dates back to the early twentieth century, when British officials intensified their use of such weapons. In 1919, Colonel Arthur Harris, nicknamed Harris the bomber, said: “The Arabs and the Kurds now understand what the real meaning of bombing is, because in 45 minutes we can destroy villages and a third of their inhabitants.” At the time, the British Air Force Command in the Middle East, which had done little to suppress opposition to the British occupation, demanded a chemical weapons test against the Arabs, who were stubbornly resisting. The then Secretary of War, Winston Churchill, announced his widespread support for the use of toxic gases against Iraqi nomads. The use of lethal gases continued into the 1920s. The British Air Force once again used these weapons in 1925 to suppress the Iraqi people of Sulaymaniyah. The British responded to the unrest inside Iraq with chemical attacks by the army in the south, and the bombing of British Royal Air Force fighters in the north and south. When the Iraqi tribes stood up for their rights, we opened our war dogs on them to “ensure their peace and security.” The bombings, the night bombings, the heavy bombers, the delayed bombs (which especially threaten the lives of children) all happened during the attacks on the thatched and stony villages during the rule of the United Nations.

Churchill: I strongly agree with the use of poison gases against these civilizationless tribes to spread panic among them The Royal Air Force was initially sent to Iraq to quell the Arab-Kurdish insurgency, to protect newly discovered oil reserves, to protect Jewish settlers in Palestine, and to keep Turkey away. They must be used experimentally against the rebellious Arabs. “I strongly agree with the use of toxic gases against these uncivilized tribes to spread terror among them.” In modern parlance, the Arabs had to be poisoned, and the use of toxic gases did that.

In this regard, attacks on villages began. “Arabs and Kurds have already realized that a real bombardment means destroying an entire village in 45 minutes and killing and injuring a third of its population using four or five,” Harris Squadron Commander said after a series of attacks. “In this way, they have no real target to attack, no chance to rise or flee.” Another British method of dealing with Iraqis was to storm the tribes fleeing chemical pollution. Several thousand other Iraqis were killed in this way.

600,000 Germans massacred on Churchill’s orders The aim of the Allied forces was to destroy the German people in the most horrible way possible. On February 13, 1990, 45 years after the destruction of Dresden, David Irving addressed the Dresden Palace of Culture. “I do not want you to tell me how to destroy the important targets around Dresden. I want suggestions on how to grill the 600,000 refugees who came to Dresden from Breslau,” Irving said in his famous quote from Churchill. But grilling the Germans was not enough for Churchill. In the morning after the bombing, he ordered light aircraft to shell the survivors of the bombing on the banks of the River Elbe. Churchill’s systematic struggle to exterminate the German people was to destroy every German house in all the cities of the country: “If this is to happen, I hope we can destroy all German houses in all parts of the country.” In March 1945, Churchill questioned the rationality of bombing German cities in order to intimidate them. But the attacks continued.

Torture and poison gas testing on Indian soldiers According to documents leaked by the Guardian, British military scientists have sent hundreds of Indian soldiers to gas chambers and exposed them to mustard gas. Mustard gas has now been shown to cause cancer and other diseases. Many of these soldiers suffered severe skin burns, including in the genital area. Some were hospitalized with severe burns. When India was under British rule, Indian soldiers served under British command. Experiments on Indian soldiers are a very small part of the massive Porton chemical weapons test project on humans. Between 1916 and 1989, more than 20,000 Indian soldiers were exposed to chemical weapons tests, including toxic gases such as nerve gas and mustard gas, in Porton. Founded in 1916, the Porton Down is the oldest chemical weapons research center. The center also produced biological weapons, mainly anthrax bombs, in the 1940s and 1950s.

The Mysterious Cage of London, the secret torture chamber of England Between July 1940 and September 1948, three magnificent mansions in the heart of London were the base of one of Britain’s most secretive military organizations: the office of the London Interrogation Center, known as the London Cage. The London Cage was run by MI19, the part of the War Bureau responsible for gathering information on enemy prisoners of war, and few people outside the organization lived right behind the barbed wire fence that separated the three mansions from the busy streets and parks of west London. Years later, psychiatrist Tony Whitehead wrote in his memoirs that when he was a young soldier, one day he went to a cage to deliver a rebellious SS sergeant when he saw a German naval officer in uniform on his hands and feet cleaning. Is the earth. Seeing this scene, it dries up. A large bodyguard was standing next to the officer, putting one foot on his back and smoking. When Whitehead returned three days later to pick up his prisoner, he saw that the man was deeply engrossed and seldom raised his head, calling him a “victim.” “I really do not know what happened to him in the London cage,” he writes. After reviewing thousands of documents in the national archives as well as the archives of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva, the Guardian has uncovered behind-the-scenes secrets about how this prisoner and many other prisoners like him were treated. One of the uses of the London cage was a torture center where large numbers of German officers and soldiers were subjected to systematic abuse. A total of 3,573 people have been trapped in the cage, and more than a thousand have been persuaded to report war crimes. The brutality in dealing with the prisoners did not end with the beginning of the war. A number of German civilians also joined the prisoners, who were being interrogated until 1948. The London cage had enough space for 60 inmates, and 5 interrogation rooms. One of these methods was that the guards had to knock on the prisoners’ feet every 15 minutes so that they could not sleep. Among these documents was a detailed complaint from an SS captain, Fritz Neushline, about how he had been treated after He was transferred to a cage in October 1946. He claimed that because he “could not confess to what they wanted”, they took off his clothes and gave him only one pajamas, and did not allow him to sleep for four days and nights and deprived him of food. He claims that at first he was forced to do strenuous physical activity until he lost consciousness. He was then forced to walk in small circles for four hours. Even ordinary soldiers without rank were constantly kicking him. He was immersed in cold water, pushed down the stairs and beaten with a stick. He also claimed that he was forced to stand by a large gas stove and then imprisoned in the bathroom, where ice water was poured on him from all sides. He wrote in his letter that officers beat the prisoners so badly that the prisoners begged them to kill them. When Neoshline revealed this information, he was on the verge of execution for killing 124 British soldiers. “… Maybe in a few weeks or even a few months I will ask you to impregnate Germany with toxic gas. If it is going to do so, let us do it in the best possible way.” Churchill

Crime in Northern Ireland In Northern Ireland, there is credible evidence of the number of civilian casualties by British troops. Between 1970 and 2000, British military personnel killed more than 300 civilians, men, women and children. All the victims were unarmed and none of them was considered a danger to British soldiers. Among the dead were Catholic priests, elderly women, children and even teenage girls such as 14-year-old Annette McGowigan, who was shot at close range.Documents from the British government have recently been published that in 1972 all British soldiers accused of killing civilians in Northern Ireland were pardoned. Kathleen Thompson was one of the victims. He was shot dead by a British soldier on November 6, 1971, while standing in his backyard. No one was convicted and punished for this, and after nine years of fighting for the murder of her husband, the only thing the British government did was give her a check of £ 84.07, which she tore up. He was old. He was shot in the back by Brigadier General Nigel Robert. This time too, no one was arrested or punished in connection with the murder.

“We are not young people with a clean history and a small heritage. We have seized most of the world’s wealth and trade. We have gained all the territories we wanted. The vast colonies that we have seized by force and never invaded. “They did not. In the eyes of others, it is more irrational and unjustifiable.” Churchill

Can anyone imagine the British burning villages, raping women and children, executing prisoners without trial, killing local people with starvation, smallpox with opium and alcohol? Are they addicted? These are just a small part of British crime. Britain ruled Sri Lanka between 1815 and 1948. Upon entering Sri Lanka, the British set fire to villages and farms, destroyed livestock, destroyed vegetation and brutally killed people. They plundered their agricultural lands and began to cultivate cash crops, as a result of which the environment and the natural cover of the area were negatively affected. None of these colonial countries welcomed Britain or other Western countries with open arms, but by force. And their lands have been usurped by savagery.