Zulu Film - Men Of Harlech + Final Battle Scene

It was more about gold and diamonds (which are not capitalized) on NEARBY lands that the British either controlled or wanted to control. The Zulu were aggressive and were an inconvenience.

On a local level, it was a defensive war but only if one accepted that the British should have been in Natal in the first place.

WELSHMAN WILL NOT YIELD !!!!!

this isnt a welsh regiment though

Yes British Empire very much a financial entity coming about almost accidentally with the exception of the Dominions which were invasions. Once the Empire began cost more than it was delivering as a result of new demands (housing) or changed behavior (rioting) of natives requiring more services than they contributed in terms of taxation and economic value then B could not wait to leave. Look at how quickly B dished out independence after WW2. All gone by mid 60s with very little regret

Oh yes i read an almanack from the 1930s (cant remember its full name) detailing expenditure from British to the colonies. I think the total expenditure was somewhere in the region of £400,000,000 (not a small sum in the 1930s!). And that was before the Second World War and the farces of the 50s and 60s.

The British Empire was built to make money, and to defend what was already making Britain money. So the rich mines of the Boer Republic were an obvious target. Unlike the other European powers Britain did not have a concerted governmental plan for the expansion of empire to make Britain more powerful. For Britain the Empire was a way of making money and utilising the worlds resources for British business and the British economy. Cotton is a perfect example of this. It provided 100,000s of jobs.

@Tomm... opps sorry I missed the subtle of your comments... sometimes humour gets lost in the medium