Could Britain Reunite Its Empire Today? | What If

there was a time when global politics from asia to africa from europe to america were deeply interwoven with the policies and whims of britain and its world sprawling empire britain at its height held claim to lands on every continent including antarctica the british by virtue of their nature as an island placed a heavy emphasis on naval advancement and overseas trade from an early point they were an up-and-coming power whose technological development was priming this geographically disconnected european realm to one day assume a leading role on the continent and beyond consequently the british were growing at a rate which their measly islands could no longer sustain if britain was to continue growing in population in strength and in wealth it would need more land and more resources fortunately for them the new world had been opened up as a land of opportunity the first of many and the extensive colonial empire that would be raised in the following centuries while the majority of britain's conquered land served as resource and military hubs to further enrich and secure the empire the british extensively settled a number of these colonies in north america oceania and southern africa the impact of which has made a certain few of these countries virtual extensions of britain whose cultures and governments to this day share much with their parent nation in this regard britain's first settler colonies in north america were a lesson in both success and failure once holding dominion over nearly the entire eastern coast from baffin island in the north to florida and the caribbean islands in the south and extending as far inland as the mississippi river this domain would be slashed in half by the end of the 18th century following the breakaway of the united states for many this marked the end of the first british empire and the rise of the second the 13 colonies as a colonial venture were deemed a failure but one that was perfectly salvageable in many ways not only did the early american administrations favor a continued trade partnership with britain but thousands of colonials who remain loyal to the crown would over the course of the next few decades resettled themselves in britain's sparsely occupied northern colonies in modern day canada these same settlers being responsible for carving out of culturally french quebec the anglo-american stronghold of ontario from which britain would expand the canadian domain westward until it finally reached the pacific ocean here britain would find yet another enormous landmass to claim conquer and settle the continent of australia and the neighboring islands of new zealand as we mentioned before britain's domestic islands could no longer support its rising population especially come the industrial revolution this was previously alleviated by shipping criminals and undesirables to the lower colonies but such was no longer an option and canada was unwilling to take on such a burden at the time consequently britain also feared that the presence of the united states would give criminals an incentive to escape justice by crossing the border or inversely encouraged the u.s to invade canada turning its prisoners loose and using them to terrorize the local population into accepting american rule thus a better alternative was needed something far away from rival powers unclaimed by any nation and large enough to house not only prisoners but new settlers in general australia was just what britain needed the empire would continue to expand over the next several decades cape colony would be secured away from the dutch during the napoleonic wars and it too was on track to become a settler colony like canada australia and new zealand though it did have a large local dutch and african population to compete with the whole of india would also be conquered but settlement of so large and densely populated a country proved especially difficult thus the territory was relegated to a mere resource colony eventually the empire grew to become the largest the world had ever known but with such size came new problems how was one island to govern so many vast and distant lands at the same time defending not only them but itself from threats both foreign and domestic britain had learned the consequences of attempting long-distance direct rule over a well-developed colony during the american war for independence and knew that it needed to avoid these same follies now that the stakes stood ever higher those who realized that the empire was wavering attempted to reform it into something that could endure the coming changes this led to the creation of the dominions canada australia new zealand and south africa became semi-independent in an effort to keep britain's hold on the world without the direct responsibility of maintaining it for the most part it worked all of the dominions had a strong anglo presence that remained culturally tied with britain while also having the capacity to operate as autonomous states this allowed britain to shed its largest geographic colonies while preserving imperial cooperation britain could now focus on its personal and immediate agenda as well as invest itself in the development of other colonies it also prevented the same resentment which led to the breakaway of the us despite the benefits of this reform there are fears that semi-autonomous dominions would inevitably grow apart from the empire ultimately abandoning it this sparked calls to reorganize the empire into a massive imperial federation in which all members could collaborate on a shared agenda but before this plan could take off britain's involvement in the great war dragged these dominions through four years of carnage britain had to fight off its enemies while also dealing with internal instability and the economy the war revealed that even the all-powerful britain had its limits the great depression post-war recession rebellions in the non-dominion colonies and revolutions abroad simply added more strain to the empire when hitler rose to power in germany and invaded austria on czechoslovakia britain did not intervene but when germany invaded poland who received a guarantee of protection britain was forced to act the fall of france battles in the mediterranean the bombings of london in a separate war against japan and the pacific added more and more way to the faltering empire by the war's end britain laid once again battered and exhausted and as dominion stood disillusioned america had been the industrial powerhouse during the war america spearheaded the invasions of france and italy and america defeated japan in the pacific it was a new world and with britain crippled america was simply bettered equipped to face it britain was now subject to america's demands and of those demands with a new policy of decolonization the west could no longer appear as the imperialist oppressor when communist propaganda was being increasingly targeted at the developing world britain was willing to let go of its less important colonies but it resisted leaving behind gems like india and egypt only to again be coerced by the us into standing down by 1980 there was almost nothing left of the global empire canada and australia drifted closer to the united states and britain soon found itself tied to europe in the emerging european union once the world's greatest power was made a secondary figure in a union led by its rivals france and germany though britain's entry into the rising european economic community appeared to halt its decline the former empire still lagged behind its continental neighbors british efforts to catch up to its old rivals from within the eu ultimately left them far behind the leading economy of germany and just barely surpassing that of france at the same time participation in the union was costing britain significant control over its domestic laws economic practices and its borders all this only to remain second best in germany the country they had defeated in two great wars only decades prior for britain it became clear that the eu was not its ticket back to global prominence if anything it would only stall their efforts for higher advancement by leaving them in a comfortable stagnation until they were ultimately assimilated into or expelled from europe's union if britain was to seize back the spotlight and become a leading force once again it would need to look for more compatible partners the dominions of canada australia and new zealand having lost the collaborative unity they once held under the empire also fell further to the wayside of global and local affairs their individual economic political and military might become easily overshadowed by the likes of china the us india and japan from abroad britain's decolonization and withdrawal from anglo affairs to instead join the continental european community appeared to the dominions as britain abandoning its overseas family in favor of a more lucrative club of strangers some felt betrayed others accepted the changing paradigm most simply mourned what they saw as the severing of long-held historic cultural and political ties between the fatherland and its children yet despite this informal parting of ways and moving down such diverging paths on three different continents for decades those familial bonds refused to break the three former colonies now stood fully independent and took to forging their own futures as best they could but the richness of their past was not forgotten canada australia and new zealand retained the dominion titles to this very day as well as official status as commonwealth realms two of three still proudly display the union jack on their own flags and they all still hold the british monarch as their head of state today all four countries regularly collaborate on joint ventures related to defense economics and foreign policy they'll often find much red tape obstructing their path even at the citizen level there's a tremendous degree of kinship felt between these countries to the point that they each contribute largely to one another's foreign-born populations it would appear that consistently there has been a great desire from the four states to bring this estranged family back together in some capacity but the patriarch has been essentially held captive so to speak that is until recently with britain free from the shackles of the eu there's no place it'd rather turn to than home but this time things would be different the dominions have matured and now stand on their own two feet without need for britain's guidance but they can't deny the fact that they're still stronger together not a return to imperial ways but a bold new strategy is what is needed a pact that would see barriers lifted streamlined cooperation effectively facilitated and cultural ties strengthened all whilst preserving the sovereignty of each nation involved this is the kanzak plan while on the surface you might think of kanzuk as a restored british empire it's actually a bit more complicated than that as we already went over once these colonies achieved a large enough settler population and demonstrated the ability to properly govern britain knew that it would have a hard time keeping a hold over them and that the best course of action would be to simply grant them more local autonomy while preserving the most useful aspects of the relationship loyalty was never a major issue as once again these countries had been virtual extensions of britain itself sharing much the same culture practices and overall ambitions they're essentially the same people separated only by geography thus kansak is a very natural evolution of britain's original dominion strategy to respect the local autonomy of each member as a co-equal within the empire but to maintain a moral obligation to support one another both for mutual enrichment and in times of need the three pillars of the kansas plan are as follows one free movement between each of the kanzak countries to help rekindle relations across the anglo world and allow for greater job opportunity in this regard kansas draws heavily upon the trans-tasman travel agreement implemented between australia and new zealand what that translates into is the ability to freely move between reside in and practice your profession across any of the kansas countries to ensure the safety of all within the union limitations on travel will of course exist for those convicted of serious crimes those diagnosed with an infectious disease or those deemed to be a threat to national security the second pillar of the kansas plan is free trade so that commerce between these states might be streamlined allowing for cheaper prices within the kansas countries while also making the union a far more competitive force on the international scene kansaic however does not intend on taking further action to encourage preferential trade between its countries and leaves the door open for any member to establish independent trade relations with non-kansan nations the third major pillar of the plan is cooperation on matters of foreign policy this would see the kansas countries develop a shared defense agreement which would build off already existing programs established alongside the united states to allow for maximum interoperability between the four powers to defend shared interest in the atlantic and pacific foreman imposing the turn capable of standing against any foreign threat and contribute to overall global security efforts will also be made to lend a helping hand to the less developed commonwealth realms providing joint aid packages proper oversight and security to ensure fair elections and general law enforcement whenever necessary if the kansas plan were successful it certainly would become quite a formidable force on the world stage but exactly what effects and how notable would this power be to get a clearer picture let's look at some overall stats for this hypothetical nation it would cover an area of 18.2 million square kilometers or around 7 million square miles this would make the nation the largest in the world area-wise being roughly a million square kilometers ahead of russia and around twice the size of the u.s and china it would also have a population of 136 million making it the 10th most populous nation in the world a bit ahead of mexico and japan but still behind russia the economy is where this nation would really shine as all members are among the richest nations in the world its combined gdp would be around six and a half trillion making it the world's third largest economy it would be a fair bit larger than the economy of japan but still at around half the gdp of china and a third of the us per capita this nation would also be among the richest in the world the gdp per capita of just under 46 000 making it the 21st in the world still a fair bit behind the top tiers in the world of the united states the nordic countries switzerland etc but very similar to countries like germany on the world stage this nation would likely be an incredibly important ally and partner of the us as it would be the second most prominent and influential western style democracy in the world it would also be in a position where it would have to work with the us as it would still be inferior in its military might and economic power and would share the world's longest border with the us considering how the uk has acted as a partner of the us and its many endeavors around the world ever since the second world war this nation would likely play a similar role but the relationship would be a lot less one-sided as this union on its own would be a significant force to contend with and could certainly defend itself against most potential foes if it would make it so the western world has two major world players or three if you count the european union kenzik would also have a very notable sphere of influence i imagine many former british colonies that were not subtler colonies would have a very close relationship with the union today the commonwealth nations as a whole would likely be even more interconnected with kenzik as the main power and voice within it with kenzig as a world player quite an interesting dynamic would play out in africa and asia china as they are already doing in the real world would be attempting to expand their influence across the developing world with infrastructure projects and economic support but with this more interconnected commonwealth of nations china would not just have to contend with american influence in asia but also the kansas sphere of influence in both asia and africa as is shown here africa would be highly contested with the red nations leading towards kansak the orange ones being contested and of course the yellow ones leading towards china the biggest consequence geopolitically from kansas rising as a world power would be that china would face a lot more challenges geopolitically as two strong western powers working alongside each other would be contesting chinese attempts at expanding their sphere of influence at every turn this could potentially limit the rise of china if it does turn out to be a trend that continues so while kansak might appear to some as a return to imperial ways it's actually something altogether new which draws upon successful policies of the past but what if things went even further what if instead of merely following the kansas model canada australia new zealand and the uk pushed for an even closer union an imperial federation of sorts immediately the biggest difference between the two models would be the creation of a single currency a joint court system and a centralized government while it's likely a federation of the kansas countries would allow each state to retain its local parliament a higher government would be formed capable of passing federation-wide legislation collecting taxes and more directly managing the resources and assets of the kansas countries in contrast to the eu kansak has strictly emphasized its opposition to the concept of federalization or progress toward a closer union however it should be pointed out that if kansas were to attempt this it would be able to do so with far greater ease as unlike the eu which encompasses 24 different languages 27 different countries all with distinct legal codes and housing several distinct identities who carry a long history of animosity the kansas countries all share a majority language or few were in number and hold a history of collaboration and kinship if any federated union of such great size were to be successful there's likely no better candidates in all the world than the kansas countries though it's likely they'd enter into this federation under the dominion standard of co-equal states within the empire there's no doubt britain itself would hold a special role in the union given its role in creating the other countries however on a long enough timeline britain could be expected to be surpassed in importance by canada whose geographic position would make it a bridge between the pacific realm of australia and new zealand and the atlantic realm of the uk turning canada into a central hub through which much wealth resources trading goods and citizens would frequently make their way from one part of the federation to another inevitably promoting greater settlement of canada's sparsely populated territory attracting more business and investment to canada and dramatically boosting its population potentially raising it to the status of a great power all its own as per the course of kansas agenda the less developed members of the commonwealth would certainly be a focus for this alternate federation in much the same fashion however in a seeming reversal of past colonial policy upon demonstration of sufficient economic growth and political stability invitations would be made for these states to become closer partners or members of the federation while those who don't meet the criteria simply remain under the federation's watch and protection continually receiving support to either speed up their membership process or to simply remain as independent but successful allies now given that a federation would be far more ambitious and game changing than a loose union active efforts would need to be made to promote goodwill and trust between the imperial federation and the united states who if for any reason sense that the federation was a threat could easily invade neighboring canada and capture its major population centers before the other states could properly react fortunately as we've mentioned before the kansas countries and the u.s have long worked on mutual defense projects and since the great wars have fostered a strong friendship but this is no guarantee that such a friendship will last forever and this partnership will need to be continually maintained especially once canada begins rising as a major force and becomes more difficult for the us to overwhelm it's not difficult to imagine a sino-soviet split-esque situation which ultimately leaves two of the world's most powerful former allies now at each other's necks for this reason of maintaining us if relations we can expect a doubling down of investment in canada as the federation's central hub while federation activities focus primarily in the european and asian theaters as mentioned earlier the federation could be expected to become a major economic rival to china and alongside the united states would actively seek to curtail their growing international and even local influence as australia and new zealand see increasing specialization to better compete in the pacific marketplace coming to rely upon canada for non-specialized goods the eu should also be expected to become a more hostile economic adversary to the federation as britain's close proximity once again makes it a major shipping and distribution center for federation made goods to the european market we could expect tariffs and quotas to be implemented by both sides building up to the outbreak of a trade war reviving the old franco-british and anglo-german rivalries this return to the british and mainland divide would drive scotland to finally decide whether it wishes to stand as a part of the federation or as a disconnected member of the eu given the greater economic opportunities provided by the union with canada australia and new zealand as well as the high risk scotland would assume by becoming only one of two economic rivals to the federation to share a border with them remaining within the united kingdom would ultimately prove their best course of action ireland becomes another matter as the irish currently maintain a free travel arrangement with the uk despite being a member of the eu if relations between the european union and imperial federation were to break down this privilege to irish citizens may be suspended leading to increased tension within the republic of ireland and northern ireland as demands for reunification rise the leading members of the eu might be expected to accelerate their own efforts at political integration to better compete with the imperial federation but this is likely to meet heavy resistance from a certain few states possibly leading some to break away and ultimately leaving the imperial federation in a far stronger position over the mainland union once again if britain was to rebuild its empire today the result would undoubtedly be world changing though it's difficult to say what this new union would mean looking forward to the far future the immediate implications for the following decades would seem clear new opportunities would be created old rivalries would return and the anglosphere would finally retake its long-desired leading role the usfz thanks for watching special thanks to our friends neatling the group education and alternate history up for helping us put this video together and of course my personal gratitude to all of you watching for helping me achieve my 100 000 subscriber milestone this may be my 100k special but all these videos i work on the days of research and writing the hours of editing know that i do all this with a deep sense of thanks especially for my most loyal followers you've done tremendous things for me and i will not stop bringing you the very best on here and beyond so with that said and as always support your legion by liking the video or join our ranks by subscribing for more mr z out

Channel: Monsieur Z

Views: 431,338

Keywords: Alternate History, Althist, Althistory, History, Of, What If, CANZUK, Imperial Federation, Anglosphere, United, English Speaking World, What If The English Speaking World United, What If The UK Joined The US, Brexit, Should, Reunite, Explained, New Zealand, Canada, UK, Britain, Australia, How, Forming, Superpower, Union, What Is, What If The British Empire Reunited Today, Never Fell, Survived, Reunited, Reunion, What If The EU Attacked The UK, CANZUK vs EU, After Brexit, International, Geography, Timeline

Id: hgGB8oYbq6s

Length: 22min 5sec (1325 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 27 2021

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