Just to keep the mods happy, this is in a new topic.
[quote=“IRONMAN”]
“Commonwealth”, in relation to britain, politically means nations taxed and militarily protected by Britain, and which are ruled by the British Crown. The “commonwealth” applies to nations that Britain ruled by threat of force and which were taxed by Britain, whether they wanted to be or not. These nations supposedly shared a “common wealth” of British resources (lol - they really mean British wealth through taxation eh?). Today, England controls Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and the Faulkland Islands by conquest only. Australia, South Africa, Canada, New Zealand, Jamaica, etc are no longer under British political rule, and have not been for a long time. Britain has no has any willing subject nations.
The Queen of England has traditionally been the monarch of British commonwealth nations. Today, she is a figurhead only with no direct political power whatsoever, and rules no-one. All that changed with the coming of the 20th century, as I stated previously. In 1901 Australia created it’s own constitution, putting an end to British monarchy there. In Canada, Queen Elizabeth II remains as monarch of Canada only as a figurehead, and has no political power whatsoever there, or anywhere at all. Prior to or at the beginning of the 20th century, this scenario took place in every nation that had been considered a British “commonwealth” nation. The British crown in no longer a ruler, and no longer a monarch over nations outside the British Isles. So my friend…
There is no longer a British “commonwealth”.[/quote]
Totally wrong I’m afraid. From the Commonwealth website (www.thecommonwealth.org):
The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 53 independent sovereign states consulting and co-operating in the common interests of their peoples and in the promotion of international understanding and world peace.
The association has no constitution or charter, but members commit themselves to the statements of beliefs set out by Heads of Government. The basis of these is the Declaration of Commonwealth Principles, agreed at Singapore in 1971, and reaffirmed in the Harare Declaration of 1991. The fundamental political values underpinning the Commonwealth include democracy and good governance, respect for human rights and gender equality, the rule of law, and sustainable economic and social development.
HM Queen Elizabeth II is the Head of the Commonwealth and is recognised as the ‘symbol of their free association’ by members of the association. Among other things, Her Majesty attends the biennial Commonwealth summits or CHOGMs and the Commonwealth Games which are held every four years. At the Edinburgh summit in 1997, for the first time, she addressed the opening ceremony. On every Commonwealth Day a special message from the Queen is broadcast in all member countries.
What you seem to be doing here is confusing the British Empire, the short lived British Republic under Cromwell from 1649-1660, and the modern Commonwealth.
Your statement about the Queen only being the head of state of Canada is also totally wrong - she is head of state of:
Australia
Canada
New Zealand
Jamaica
Barbados
The Bahamas
Grenada
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Antigua and Barbuda
Belize
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Papua New Guinea
Solomon Islands
Tuvalu
(I may have missed one or two)
The Queen in her role as head of state of the UK is also head of state of the various British Dependent Territories (as the British Empire is now known in these politically correct days). These territories are:
Anguilla
Bermuda
British Antarctic Territory
British Indian Ocean Territory
British Virgin Islands
Cayman Islands
Falklands Islands, and Dependencies
Gibraltar
Montserrat
Pitcairn
Henderson
Ducie, and Oeno Islands
St. Helena and Dependencies
The Sovereign Base areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia (Cyprus)
Turks and Caicos Islands
The Government would love to get shot of these (with the possible exception of the Cyprus bases) since they contribute nothing to the UK except bills - and for exactly the same reason these territories generally want to remain British. Kind of blows out your statement that the Falkland Islands are the only British overseas territory.
Oh, and they aren’t ours by right of conquest - there was a British settlement there before the Spanish ever arrived which was kicked out by a Spanish invasion fleet in 1770. It almost led to war then, but the Spanish let us return instead. After Argentine independence, they tried to claim the Falklands as well, on the grounds that the Spanish used to own them (a claim the UK had never accepted). Such Argentine fortifications as there were got destroyed by the USS Lexington in 1831, which then declared the islands “free from government”, with the remaining colonists being removed by the RN in 1833 after they murdered the Argentine governor. They have been under continuous British administration since then, except for the duration of the 1982 occupation.
I’m getting curious as to why you’re always attacking the British…
,liberty for them!