reSee.it - Tweets Saved By @thinkingwest

@thinkingwest - ThinkingWest

The British Empire was, in some ways, a force for good. In many places it occupied it: -raised the standard of living -developed infrastructure -promoted education It also single-handedly ended slavery for much of the world…🧵(thread)

@thinkingwest - ThinkingWest

Though Britain had been a global power since the early 17th century, it wasn’t until Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo in 1815 that it emerged as the dominant power. By eliminating France from the world’s stage, Britain was left without a serious competitor. https://t.co/bpacPQyAe3

@thinkingwest - ThinkingWest

The Vienna Treaty that followed favored the Brits, granting them territorial possessions like modern-day South Africa, Trinidad, and Sri Lanka. These territories served as strategic naval bases Britain used to control its immense empire from all corners of the globe. https://t.co/ICZ1LOPb1F

@thinkingwest - ThinkingWest

The century following Napoleon's defeat is sometimes called the “Pax Britannica,” because of the relative prosperity enjoyed by Europe during this time. The presence of a single world power created stability and kept conflicts to a minimum. https://t.co/TIMsKmrrXK

@thinkingwest - ThinkingWest

Britain’s unmatched navy is what maintained its dominance. The British Royal Navy was more than twice the size of the next largest navy. Though their ships weren’t vastly superior to others’, their sailors were at sea continuously making them the best in the world. https://t.co/OaRZKXxqs8

@thinkingwest - ThinkingWest

British ships controlled most of the key trade routes in Asia, North America, and Africa, allowing its merchants and traders an overwhelming advantage compared to other nations—Britain got incredibly rich off sea power. https://t.co/VGksy9KzYc

@thinkingwest - ThinkingWest

But Britain didn’t just use its Naval supremacy to fill its coffers. Its navy actually became a source of peace and stability. British ships were on the frontline during one of the darkest episodes in Western history: the slave trade. https://t.co/yFwF1WUYfk

@thinkingwest - ThinkingWest

Decades before the American Civil War and 13th amendment ended slavery in the US, Britain passed two anti-slavery laws: the “Slave Trade Act 1807” banning the slave trade around the empire, and the “Slavery Abolition Act 1833” which officially made it illegal to own slaves. https://t.co/0jX9S1USiy

@thinkingwest - ThinkingWest

Britain enforced its legislation via their strong navy. Ship captains who were caught transporting slaves were subject to fine initially, but soon the Royal Navy declared all perpetrators of slave trading to be treated the same as pirates—the punishment for piracy was death. https://t.co/iDx8Zmeoyi

@thinkingwest - ThinkingWest

Britain's ships were the “global policemen” in the 19th century, and along the West coast of Africa became highly successful in capturing slave ships and freeing slaves. They basically declared war on the African slave trade in a move called the “blockade of Africa.” https://t.co/zL2tU9H0RI

@thinkingwest - ThinkingWest

In 1808, a fleet called the West Africa Squadron was formed to patrol the African coast and catch slave ships. In the following decades they seized an estimated 1,600 slave ships and freed a whopping 150,000 Africans slaves. https://t.co/QNvAJHMXu6

@thinkingwest - ThinkingWest

African kingdoms were also encouraged to sign anti-slavery treaties. Over 50 African rulers signed them, and for ones that didn't, “corrective action” was taken—sometimes fighting slavery meant using the full force of the British Navy. https://t.co/YEeeKR3ybv

@thinkingwest - ThinkingWest

One example was the deposition of Oba Kosoko of Lagos in 1851. After refusing to sign an anti-slavery treaty, the HMS Bloodhound and HMS Tartar besieged Lagos and deposed Kosoko. He was quickly replaced with an anti-slavery rival named Akitoye. https://t.co/6x0jlsxa52

@thinkingwest - ThinkingWest

While some illegal trade continued in far-off regions, by the middle of the 19th-century the Atlantic slave trade was almost completely eradicated. Slavery outside the empire’s jurisdiction, however, would continue for hundreds of years in some places. https://t.co/Wniuro7ggv

@thinkingwest - ThinkingWest

No nation on earth did more to eliminate slavery than Britain. Though empires are often viewed as inherently tyrannical, Britain’s war on slavery shows that immense power can, in some cases, be channeled for good. https://t.co/oWhfJ7lV8i

@thinkingwest - ThinkingWest

Undoubtedly some terrible things were done under its rule, but Britain's success against slavery leaves one questioning whether empire *per se* is always a bad thing. Is it possible to have a benevolent empire? https://t.co/54sTYu4Opb

@thinkingwest - ThinkingWest

If you enjoyed this thread and would like to join the mission of promoting western tradition, kindly repost the first post (linked below) and consider following: @thinkingwest https://t.co/rmJKTYSQ1M

@thinkingwest - ThinkingWest

The British Empire was, in some ways, a force for good. In many places it occupied it: -raised the standard of living -developed infrastructure -promoted education It also single-handedly ended slavery for much of the world…🧵(thread) https://t.co/54oNhogV4I

@thinkingwest - ThinkingWest

“Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder,” according to 20th-century historian Arnold Toynbee. He claimed every great culture collapses internally due to a divergence in values between the ruling class and the common people…🧵

@thinkingwest - ThinkingWest

Toynbee was an English historian and expert on international affairs who published the 12 volume work “A Study of History,” which traced the life cycle of about two dozen world civilizations. Through his work he developed a model of how cultures develop and finally die… https://t.co/6vvlR9oZfP

@thinkingwest - ThinkingWest

Toynbee argued that civilizations are born primitive societies as a response to unique challenges—pressures from other cultures, difficult terrain or “hard country,” or warfare. https://t.co/CXvIb8yjl3

@thinkingwest - ThinkingWest

Toynbee writes: “Civilizations, I believe, come to birth and proceed to grow by successfully responding to successive challenges.” But each challenge must be a “golden mean” between excessive difficulty, which will crush a culture, and ease, which will allow it to stagnate. https://t.co/V1sRvI1hA7

@thinkingwest - ThinkingWest

He believed civilizations continued to grow so long as they meet and solve new challenges, one after the other, in a cycle he calls “Challenge and Response.” Thus, each civilization develops differently because each confronts and overcomes different challenges. https://t.co/1pQxw3Kty7

@thinkingwest - ThinkingWest

But societies do not respond to challenges as a whole; rather, it's a unique class of elites within a society that are the problem solvers. He calls them the "creative minorities" who find solutions to challenges, and inspire—rather than force—others to follow their lead. https://t.co/vVtaTcN5bJ

@thinkingwest - ThinkingWest

The masses follow the solutions of the creative minorities by 'mimesis' or imitation, solutions they would have otherwise been incapable of discovering on their own. This synchronicity between the creative minorities and the masses brings civilization to its height. https://t.co/WtPeAUnRdH

@thinkingwest - ThinkingWest

Toynbee did not attribute the breakdown of civilizations to environmental forces or external attacks by other civilizations. Rather, it is the decline of the creative minority that leads to a culture’s downfall. https://t.co/hJL6fK1Fyq

@thinkingwest - ThinkingWest

Through moral decay or material prosperity, the creative minority degenerates. They are no longer the great men who solve society’s problems but are simply a ruling class intent on preserving their power. They become what Toynbee calls the “dominant minority.” https://t.co/lFTneaKNn8

@thinkingwest - ThinkingWest

Toynbee points to a kind of self worship that takes hold of the dominant minority. They become prideful about their positions of authority yet are wholly inadequate to deal with the culture’s new challenges. https://t.co/Ji1fkLbBw9

@thinkingwest - ThinkingWest

Ultimately the dominant minority, incapable of solving their culture’s actual problems, form a “universal state” in a gambit to shore up their power, but it stifles creativity and subjugates the proletariat (common people). Toynbee used the Roman Empire as a classic example. https://t.co/DTLtUIkET9

@thinkingwest - ThinkingWest

Toynbee writes: "First the Dominant Minority attempts to hold by force—against all right and reason—a position of inherited privilege which it has ceased to merit; and then the Proletariat repays injustice with resentment, fear with hate, and violence with violence.” https://t.co/vOF79hWuzC

@thinkingwest - ThinkingWest

As society deteriorates, four sentiments exist within the proletariat: Archaism - idealization of the past Futurism - idealization of the future Detachment - removal of oneself from a decaying world Transcendence - confronting the decaying world with a new worldview

@thinkingwest - ThinkingWest

From the disunity between the dominant minority and the proletariat, and between the different proletariat dispositions, a unified culture is impossible, and the civilization eventually ends. https://t.co/lks4SGFhLu

@thinkingwest - ThinkingWest

Toynbee sums up the three aspects of failing cultures: “...a failure of creative power in the minority, an answering withdrawal of mimesis (imitation) on the part of the majority, and a consequent loss of social unity in the society as a whole.” https://t.co/mHAXiO243l

@thinkingwest - ThinkingWest

It’s interesting to observe Toynbee’s formulation in light of the West’s current struggles. What do you think—was Toynbee observing universal patterns of civilizational development that might shed light on our culture today?

@thinkingwest - ThinkingWest

If you enjoyed this thread and would like to join the mission of promoting western tradition, kindly repost the first post (linked below) and consider following: @thinkingwest

@thinkingwest - ThinkingWest

“Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder,” according to 20th-century historian Arnold Toynbee. He claimed every great culture collapses internally due to a divergence in values between the ruling class and the common people…🧵 https://t.co/FUDC5J5LdD