Views on the British Empire essays

Views on the British Empire essays There are several attitudes towards the empire expressed in the music and visual material provided. The key attitude of the British toward the Empire is patriotism, which naturally is followed by pride, then in turn developed in self-righteousness and ego. The strong sense of patriotism grew when the British power provided peace and wealth.  ¡Ã‚ §Days of plenty and years of peace; March of a strong land ¡s swift increase; ¡ as Henry H. Bennett wrote in The Flag Goes By. Citizens were brought up in an environment that taught them to love Britain. The  ¡Ã‚ §Empire-day Catechism ¡ of League of the Empire, informed the duties of a British citizen:  ¡Ã‚ §To be the loyal friend of all fellow subjects of the King-Emperor ¡K To prepare himself by every means in his power to advance the welfare of his fellow citizens, whether in peach or war... ¡ These words were like blueprints for a patriotic British heart. The patriotism fostered hasn ¡t perished yet; there is still an an nual concert in London performing patriotic music. The words of Pomp and Circumstance March in D Major, by Edward Elgar echoed in the great hall  ¡Ã‚ §Land of Hope and Glory, Mother of Free, ¡ the audience sang with loyalty,  ¡Ã‚ §How shall we extol thee, who are born of Thee! ¡ Although patriotism was the incipient reaction of the citizens, there is no doubt that this feeling produced ego. Arrogance was inevitable; The Empire ¡s size alone had the charisma to attract pride! The Catechism said the extent of the Empire was twelve million square miles; it took up one-fifth of the earth ¡s surface. There ¡re a total of 400 million subjects of King Edward, which is also about one-fifth of the world... ¡ All the contemporary pieces reflected grand pomposity of the empire. They were loud and thick in texture with roaring melody lines. Brass and percussion instruments were popularly used to represent the glory of the empire. Poetry-wise, The Flag Goes By cleverly expressed the people ¡...