Can English people explain how they feel about this?

[Green215]

As an English person, do you hold resentment towards any country based on historical grievances like war, invasion, famine, colonialism etc? If so, which; if not, why?

The reason I ask is because I’ve always found it odd how the English tend to be the only people in the world who do not hold such grievances.

Irish people are always complaining about British colonialism; many Scots and Welsh likewise complain about England on a historical basis; Greeks and Turks complain about one another; Africans, Indians, Arabs etc complain about European colonialism and American invasions; China complains about Japanese atrocities and vice versa; Russia complains about German atrocities; post-Soviet states complain about Russian occupation; France and Germany complain about one another; America often complains about the Revolution; Canada complains about the War of 1812; Mexico and Latin American countries and Caribbean countries complain about American invasions or interference or colonialism; some Australians resent British rule etc.

But, rarely do English people demand reparations or sing “rebel songs” or complain about historical grievances. Why?

I could understand if maybe some English people resented Germany due to the two world balls or resented America for things like the Suez crisis and the funding of the IRA. And truth be told, I have come across some English people that are like that. But, they are very few compared to the other peoples I described.

I understand that this is sort of an academic question, but I wanted to come on this forum to ask ordinary English people how they felt and I hope you can give some honest answers rather than sarcastic responses or not answering the question properly.

I don’t think anyone is defending the colonial era. My beef is that, the way some people talk, you’d think it was only the English who had an Empire.

They were all at it: French, Spanish, Portuguese, Germans, Dutch, Belgians.

I’m not accusing you of this,Val, but there was app a few weeks ago blaming the English for the Rwandan genocide!! I think that was …Germany? Happy to be corrected.

Quite!

Decent colonisers????? Are you aware of what was done to the indigenous Australians at the hands of these decent colonisers???? And I don’t think any country actually WANTS to be colonised???? I would love to read the history books you’ve been taught from

Well… was it “Norman Style”?

www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/watch/playlist-horrible-histories-songs/clip/wicked-william-the-conqueror

Maybe 90+

Im 70+ and bear no animosity but my uncle was one of the first to enter Belsen concentration camp and did bear animosity towards Germany

I'm going to respond once more and I'm done with you.

Irish culture isn't worth a million people's lives? Millions died and were forced to emigrate to survive the Irish Famine, a famine driven by the British. The Irish population to this day hasn't recovered. That's the famine alone, that's not taking into account the lives lost spanning 800 years.

The British Empire was also the largest coloniser within Europe. So for you to say you feel "entitled" to tell Irish people to stop moaning? Get off the stage. I'd say there's plenty you feel entitled to. As was said above, go read a history book.

@Val1985 well said

Here we go again

Tell that to the Irish people who think we're the devil incarnate

The Empire was upper class white men who went to public school. They were in Govt and had the Army and Navy and probably believed God was an Englishman.These same men had command of regiments from Scotland, Wales and Ireland eg Guards, Black Watch. Let's not forget the clearances in Scotland imposed by the aristocracy. That drove people to emigrate to Canada or the US.

If you've ever read "1066 and All That" you'll realise its a satire on English/British exceptionalism, referencing Britain as "Top Nation". Real history books I encountered at school weren't however much deeper in analysis. So maybe Uggboots has indeed read a history book but maybe that didn't help.

The Orange Day parades prove that.

I think it depends on the nationality. I've noticed that some Irish people tend to dismiss any colonisation that wasn't carried out by the English as not worth mentioning, whereas nationalities that were colonised by other countries obviously don't.

Often countries that were not big enough to colonise others treated their own women and children abysmally in the past.

I think the Top Nation joke is about more than just the Brits. Like all good jokes it contains truth. In 1066 and All That they say France is Top Nation in the 17th century, Britain TN after Waterloo and then after the First World War they declare America as Top Nation. This is surely true!😀

I guess China is Top Nation for the foreseeable.

There was a survey a few years back which found that most wealth was still concentrated in the hands of people with Norman-French names. Fascinating!

Eg: Grosvenor, Percy, Spencer, anything ending in -ville, Tollemache, Ferrers etc etc

Not really, seems a bit daft really considering a lot of this happened long before I was born and the world has evolved since.

I’m from what was Yugoslavia, so I’m quite familiar with (online) ancestral grudge holding. Every discussion devolves into an argument over who is historically the most persecuted that has never done anything that wasn’t completely justified. I hate it. How can you ever move forward by being so determined to live in the past?

Ironically, I’ve found that the worst for it are predominantly second or even third generation diaspora, who have never even lived in Serbia/Croatia/Bosnia/insert FYR here, yet feel the need to prove themselves as authentically Serb/Croat/etc by hating the traditional local rival (oh, and the Turks) like it’s their entire personality.

Funny how no one complains about the Mongols. Biggest empire in history: biggest murderers in history.

I do not believe in all the sins of the Father type stuff and I have relatives killed in WW2. My Grandfather died fighting for the British forces and my Aunt died as a baby when my family were fleeing the Japanese. They were also getting a hard time from the Communists and lost everything as they were nationalists. My Father hated communism till his dying day. He was very upset when HK returned to mainland China.

I don’t think anyone is defending the colonial era. My beef is that, the way some people talk, you’d think it was only the English who had an Empire.

England only had an empire up to 1707. After that it was shared with Scotland and became the British Empire. Scotland then became an enthusiastic participant in the expansion of the British Empire, providing a disproportionately high number of soldiers, administrators, traders, and settlers.

Access to lucrative colonial trade was one of the main drivers behind Scotland voting for union with England. Another was an economic crisis caused by its own disastrous colonial attempts in Central America.

I resent America. I think this is pretty universal for Brits to resent America.

I haven't heard that.

Not for reasons OP lists but for Americanisation. Color v colour, rising obesity, concerns over hormones in beef, arrogance stereotype, doling out idiot presidents like Bush, Trump etc. are just a few reasons.