0 00:00:04,487 --> 00:00:06,762 (BIG BEN CHIMES) 1 00:00:25,087 --> 00:00:29,797 DAVID DIMBLEBY: This was once the heart of the British Empire. 2 00:00:29,847 --> 00:00:34,762 It used to house the India Office and the Colonial Office. 3 00:00:34,807 --> 00:00:37,719 Between them, they ruled a quarter of the globe. 4 00:00:44,127 --> 00:00:47,836 Today, the British Empire is long gone. 5 00:00:47,887 --> 00:00:49,957 But hidden away at the top of a staircase 6 00:00:50,007 --> 00:00:53,556 is a work of art from 1 7 78 7 00:00:53,607 --> 00:00:56,997 that brings back the spirit of that age. 8 00:01:07,527 --> 00:01:12,840 This is a painting called Britannia Receiving The Riches Of The East. 9 00:01:12,887 --> 00:01:17,915 And it shows Britannia sitting on a rock with the British lion beneath her, 10 00:01:17,967 --> 00:01:19,685 receiving various gifts - 11 00:01:19,727 --> 00:01:23,322 a string of pearls, 12 00:01:23,367 --> 00:01:25,835 a casket of jewels, 13 00:01:25,887 --> 00:01:28,401 a great porcelain vase, 14 00:01:28,447 --> 00:01:30,677 a tea chest 15 00:01:30,727 --> 00:01:32,240 and a bale of cotton. 16 00:01:34,087 --> 00:01:38,399 Britannia's receiving these gifts as though she's entitled to them, 17 00:01:38,447 --> 00:01:40,244 as though it were her birthright. 18 00:01:40,287 --> 00:01:43,245 Not a view we hold today, and perhaps that's one reason 19 00:01:43,287 --> 00:01:47,166 why it's hidden away in the Foreign Office, where few visitors can see it. 20 00:01:47,207 --> 00:01:50,756 But it does give us an insight into the era - 21 00:01:50,807 --> 00:01:52,843 the development of the British Empire 22 00:01:52,887 --> 00:01:56,482 with a kind of spirit of adventure and opportunity - 23 00:01:56,527 --> 00:02:00,566 even though we know today that there was a darker side 24 00:02:00,607 --> 00:02:05,965 as Britain tried, by force, to impose its will on the unwilling. 25 00:02:41,367 --> 00:02:44,245 In the middle of the 1 8th century, 26 00:02:44,287 --> 00:02:46,960 with naval and commercial victories overseas, 27 00:02:47,007 --> 00:02:51,159 Britain was entering a new imperial era. 28 00:02:53,287 --> 00:02:56,962 It drew us into a different way of thinking about the world, 29 00:02:57,007 --> 00:03:02,559 led from the top by the Royal Family, the figureheads of the nation. 30 00:03:11,727 --> 00:03:15,276 Here at Kew, in a modest, even homely fashion, 31 00:03:15,327 --> 00:03:19,115 King George III and Queen Charlotte raised their large family. 32 00:03:20,327 --> 00:03:24,002 But there was nothing modest about what they taught their children. 33 00:03:28,047 --> 00:03:31,357 At the heart of the palace is a very special children's toy. 34 00:03:32,407 --> 00:03:37,322 This is a tiny, elegant cabinet, very small. 35 00:03:37,367 --> 00:03:40,598 But it contains the whole world. 36 00:03:41,647 --> 00:03:45,003 When you open it, take out the drawers, 37 00:03:45,047 --> 00:03:48,960 what's revealed is one of the very first jigsaw puzzles ever made. 38 00:03:49,007 --> 00:03:52,966 And it shows a map of the world. 39 00:03:53,007 --> 00:03:55,919 It was used to teach the children geography. 40 00:03:57,367 --> 00:03:59,483 And I'm going to see if I can put it together, 41 00:03:59,527 --> 00:04:02,439 which is not easy, because, unlike modern jigsaws, 42 00:04:02,487 --> 00:04:04,955 which have their sort of interlocking pieces, this doesn't. 43 00:04:05,007 --> 00:04:06,918 It's almost completely shapeless. 44 00:04:06,967 --> 00:04:08,958 The shapes are the shapes of the countries. 45 00:04:09,007 --> 00:04:11,601 So you have to know where each country goes, 46 00:04:11,647 --> 00:04:13,478 and, what's more, it's all written in French. 47 00:04:13,527 --> 00:04:15,802 So of course you have to speak French as well. 48 00:04:15,847 --> 00:04:16,996 Er... 49 00:04:17,047 --> 00:04:18,844 Hmm. Ah! 50 00:04:18,887 --> 00:04:21,845 Ethiopia, I think. 51 00:04:21,887 --> 00:04:23,605 Wait a moment. Somalia... 52 00:04:23,647 --> 00:04:25,842 Don't think my geography's that bad. 53 00:04:25,887 --> 00:04:28,447 Where's this thing go? 54 00:04:28,487 --> 00:04:30,557 I can't read that one. 55 00:04:32,527 --> 00:04:34,597 Can you read that one? 56 00:04:36,207 --> 00:04:39,040 The infant Prince of Wales poring over this puzzle 57 00:04:39,087 --> 00:04:43,603 pieced together strange countries and continents. 58 00:04:50,327 --> 00:04:51,760 When the jigsaw was complete, 59 00:04:51,807 --> 00:04:56,961 the young prince could look at all the lands that he would inherit - 60 00:04:57,007 --> 00:04:59,760 Great Britain, Ireland, 61 00:04:59,807 --> 00:05:02,605 the east coast of America, 62 00:05:02,647 --> 00:05:04,558 but not the part to the west - 63 00:05:04,607 --> 00:05:07,167 ''Partie inconnues'', ''Unknown part'' - 64 00:05:07,207 --> 00:05:09,482 bits of the Caribbean, 65 00:05:09,527 --> 00:05:13,440 down here, parts of West Africa, the Gold Coast... 66 00:05:15,367 --> 00:05:16,925 ...parts of India. 67 00:05:16,967 --> 00:05:20,039 But interestingly, not Australia and New zealand, 68 00:05:20,087 --> 00:05:23,124 because when this jigsaw was made, they hadn't yet been discovered. 69 00:05:23,167 --> 00:05:24,600 That was still to come. 70 00:05:24,647 --> 00:05:29,516 In his lifetime, he would add those two great chunks to his Empire. 71 00:05:29,567 --> 00:05:33,480 What an enticing prospect the whole thing must have seemed! 72 00:05:41,407 --> 00:05:43,762 British explorers crossed the oceans, 73 00:05:43,807 --> 00:05:47,004 claiming new territories in the name of the King. 74 00:05:54,807 --> 00:05:59,085 At the heart of Britain's naval exploits was Greenwich. 75 00:06:04,127 --> 00:06:08,598 It's here that our great seafaring heroes are celebrated - 76 00:06:08,647 --> 00:06:11,366 Horatio Nelson, 77 00:06:11,407 --> 00:06:14,205 Sir Walter Raleigh 78 00:06:14,247 --> 00:06:18,035 and, of course, Captain James Cook. 79 00:06:22,887 --> 00:06:26,516 Captain Cook was one of our greatest explorers. 80 00:06:26,567 --> 00:06:31,357 In three daring, magnificent voyages, he crisscrossed the world, 81 00:06:31,407 --> 00:06:34,638 finding things that were unknown in Europe at the time - 82 00:06:34,687 --> 00:06:37,884 new peoples, new species, 83 00:06:37,927 --> 00:06:40,441 new islands, new countries, 84 00:06:40,487 --> 00:06:42,239 new continents even. 85 00:06:42,287 --> 00:06:45,438 The very names of his ships - 86 00:06:45,487 --> 00:06:48,843 Endeavour, Resolution, 87 00:06:48,887 --> 00:06:50,957 Adventure, Discovery - 88 00:06:51,007 --> 00:06:53,282 send a chill down the spine. 89 00:07:06,607 --> 00:07:10,919 Cook's expeditions weren't just undertaken by rough sailors. 90 00:07:10,967 --> 00:07:15,279 He also travelled with scientists, with botanists 91 00:07:15,327 --> 00:07:17,682 and with artists. 92 00:07:20,327 --> 00:07:22,522 This room is hung with the paintings 93 00:07:22,567 --> 00:07:26,116 of one of the artists who accompanied Cook on his voyages - 94 00:07:26,167 --> 00:07:28,397 William Hodges. 95 00:07:28,447 --> 00:07:32,281 They're the holiday snaps of Cook's journeys, 96 00:07:32,327 --> 00:07:34,716 and pretty sensational they are. 97 00:07:44,407 --> 00:07:46,398 In the 1 7 7os, 98 00:07:46,447 --> 00:07:50,486 Hodges'canvases changed Britain's understanding of the world. 99 00:07:55,167 --> 00:07:58,682 People were thrilled to see for the first time 100 00:07:58,727 --> 00:08:02,515 the far-flung lands of the Pacific. 101 00:08:12,327 --> 00:08:15,717 This big canvas is the most exciting of all Hodges' paintings 102 00:08:15,767 --> 00:08:19,726 and it shows a true and really terrifying event 103 00:08:19,767 --> 00:08:21,803 on one of Cook's voyages. 104 00:08:21,847 --> 00:08:25,556 He was sailing in the Resolution when it got caught in a terrible storm, 105 00:08:25,607 --> 00:08:27,643 described by one of his officers 106 00:08:27,687 --> 00:08:31,043 as great black clouds coming up from the horizon, 107 00:08:31,087 --> 00:08:34,363 the wind blowing in all directions 108 00:08:34,407 --> 00:08:36,841 and, worst of all, these. 109 00:08:36,887 --> 00:08:41,677 The waterspouts - four waterspouts - great columns of water. 110 00:08:41,727 --> 00:08:44,799 This one all turbulent, lifting up into the sky. 111 00:08:44,847 --> 00:08:48,681 And the officer described how they had to shorten sail quickly, 112 00:08:48,727 --> 00:08:50,319 furl all their sails, 113 00:08:50,367 --> 00:08:55,361 and try and claw their way off the land to avoid going onto the rocks. 114 00:08:59,047 --> 00:09:01,163 But what's really striking about this painting 115 00:09:01,207 --> 00:09:04,563 isn't just that it's a picture of a terrifying incident. 116 00:09:04,607 --> 00:09:08,566 It's these figures down here that Hodges has painted in. 117 00:09:10,047 --> 00:09:13,119 A half-naked woman with a child 118 00:09:13,167 --> 00:09:18,036 and a man standing on the rocks with his hand up, almost in benediction, 119 00:09:18,087 --> 00:09:22,797 some say looking like Moses showing the way to the Promised Land 120 00:09:22,847 --> 00:09:27,875 or parting the waters to make a safe passage for Resolution. 121 00:09:28,927 --> 00:09:33,284 Hodges is saying this is much more than just a dangerous journey. 122 00:09:33,327 --> 00:09:37,684 There's something mystical about this, about the triumph of man over nature. 123 00:09:37,727 --> 00:09:39,843 This is an epic voyage 124 00:09:39,887 --> 00:09:42,640 with Captain Cook as its hero. 125 00:09:56,447 --> 00:10:02,556 The spirit of adventure didn't just inspire great explorers. 126 00:10:02,607 --> 00:10:04,916 In their wake came thousands of people 127 00:10:04,967 --> 00:10:08,846 wanting to escape Britain in search of opportunity. 128 00:10:22,847 --> 00:10:26,237 These British didn't leave home just to conquer unknown lands. 129 00:10:26,287 --> 00:10:29,962 They wanted to settle, to make a new life. 130 00:10:42,927 --> 00:10:44,997 Ever since the 1 7th century, 131 00:10:45,047 --> 00:10:47,436 for those brave enough to make the journey, 132 00:10:47,487 --> 00:10:53,517 America had seemed a thrilling new world offering prosperity and freedom, 133 00:10:53,567 --> 00:10:57,924 ideals which remain at the heart of the American Dream. 134 00:11:11,927 --> 00:11:14,725 - Ah! Looks like a dog's breakfast. - (MAN LAUGHS) 135 00:11:16,327 --> 00:11:17,760 Thanks very much. 136 00:11:19,407 --> 00:11:21,204 Oh, it's nice and warm, anyway. 137 00:11:21,247 --> 00:11:22,566 Three bucks. 138 00:11:22,607 --> 00:11:24,086 - Great. Thank you. - Enjoy. 139 00:11:28,767 --> 00:11:32,157 Philadelphia's one of the great American cities 140 00:11:32,207 --> 00:11:35,199 and it's remarkable, because it was the vision of one man - 141 00:11:35,247 --> 00:11:37,681 an Englishman, William Penn. 142 00:11:37,727 --> 00:11:42,164 He was a Quaker, a religious sect which was persecuted in Britain. 143 00:11:42,207 --> 00:11:44,118 He himself had been imprisoned. 144 00:11:44,167 --> 00:11:46,283 And he came over here to seek freedom 145 00:11:46,327 --> 00:11:49,046 and founded Penn...sylvania. 146 00:11:49,087 --> 00:11:52,921 And, for that matter, this great city of Philadelphia - 147 00:11:52,967 --> 00:11:56,437 the Greek for ''the city of brotherly love''. 148 00:11:56,487 --> 00:12:00,082 And now the city of the Philly cheesesteak. 149 00:12:01,127 --> 00:12:02,879 Don't know which end to start at. 150 00:12:07,807 --> 00:12:09,479 (CHUCKLES) 151 00:12:15,087 --> 00:12:19,365 The figure of William Penn still dominates the city of Philadelphia. 152 00:12:25,847 --> 00:12:29,726 Penn wanted to make this a place of tolerance, 153 00:12:29,767 --> 00:12:33,885 a place where all religious sects could flourish 154 00:12:33,927 --> 00:12:36,441 without fear of persecution, 155 00:12:36,487 --> 00:12:38,955 equal in the eyes of God. 156 00:12:42,127 --> 00:12:43,560 Throughout the 1 8th century, 157 00:12:43,607 --> 00:12:45,677 the British settlers built on Penn's ideals 158 00:12:45,727 --> 00:12:48,525 of living in harmony together. 159 00:12:51,407 --> 00:12:54,001 Central to this was architecture. 160 00:12:54,047 --> 00:12:57,357 Following Penn's guidelines, 161 00:12:57,407 --> 00:13:01,320 Old City, Philadelphia, was built with wide streets, 162 00:13:01,367 --> 00:13:05,565 healthy open spaces, 163 00:13:05,607 --> 00:13:08,883 uniform, regimented houses - 164 00:13:08,927 --> 00:13:12,442 all built on simple geometric lines. 165 00:13:15,367 --> 00:13:19,679 Perfect harmony - in stone. 166 00:13:23,967 --> 00:13:28,518 But lurking behind this ideal was an inconvenient truth - 167 00:13:28,567 --> 00:13:31,639 that the great city of freedom 168 00:13:31,687 --> 00:13:34,884 was built on land that had belonged to Native Americans. 169 00:13:34,927 --> 00:13:38,283 Many of my people were forced out of the region 170 00:13:38,327 --> 00:13:41,080 by the mid 1 7OOs, late 1 7OOs. 171 00:13:41,127 --> 00:13:43,595 The majority of us were forced further west. 172 00:13:43,647 --> 00:13:46,286 Those that remained had to basically hide in plain sight... 173 00:13:48,087 --> 00:13:50,396 ...without the rights that we had 174 00:13:50,447 --> 00:13:53,644 in dealing in British courts even under William Penn. 175 00:13:53,687 --> 00:13:57,475 It was a difficult time and it's been a difficult time. 176 00:13:57,527 --> 00:13:59,483 What's your feeling about Penn? 177 00:13:59,527 --> 00:14:01,722 He was a man trying to live out his faith, 178 00:14:01,767 --> 00:14:05,123 to build an ideal situation here in Pennsylvania. 179 00:14:05,167 --> 00:14:06,839 But for us to live together 180 00:14:06,887 --> 00:14:11,881 meant that we did not impose our wills on each other. 181 00:14:11,927 --> 00:14:14,236 That was not necessarily the way 182 00:14:14,287 --> 00:14:19,281 that even Penn, in all of his benevolence, seemed to view it. 183 00:14:19,327 --> 00:14:22,603 It was living in peace under his government, 184 00:14:22,647 --> 00:14:24,080 under the British Crown, 185 00:14:24,127 --> 00:14:26,880 and that was something that was foreign to us. 186 00:14:39,327 --> 00:14:42,000 It didn't suit the settlers'image of themselves 187 00:14:42,047 --> 00:14:45,801 to think they'd simply stolen their land from somebody else. 188 00:14:45,847 --> 00:14:49,806 So much so that one Pennsylvanian-born artist, 189 00:14:49,847 --> 00:14:55,444 Benjamin West, created a fantasy around the founding of the colony. 190 00:15:09,927 --> 00:15:13,237 At the centre of the picture is William Penn himself 191 00:15:13,287 --> 00:15:16,563 in Quaker dress, a rather portly figure. 192 00:15:16,607 --> 00:15:20,441 There are merchants here - colonialists - 193 00:15:20,487 --> 00:15:24,162 offering gifts to the Native Americans. 194 00:15:24,207 --> 00:15:30,885 The Chief there and, sitting in a circle, the sort of elders of the tribe. 195 00:15:32,487 --> 00:15:35,604 This painting became an instant bestseller. 196 00:15:35,647 --> 00:15:37,478 That's to say it was reproduced 197 00:15:37,527 --> 00:15:40,280 and hung in hundreds of American homes. 198 00:15:40,327 --> 00:15:44,081 And the reason was that it gave a portrait of Empire 199 00:15:44,127 --> 00:15:47,517 which the settlers wanted to see. 200 00:15:47,567 --> 00:15:53,005 So the whole scene is one of perfect harmony. 201 00:15:54,327 --> 00:15:59,401 Not of an empire or a colony being established by force and violence, 202 00:15:59,447 --> 00:16:01,324 which, of course, happened, 203 00:16:01,367 --> 00:16:05,280 but of agreement between the people who lived here 204 00:16:05,327 --> 00:16:07,716 and the people who were coming in, 205 00:16:07,767 --> 00:16:11,362 and the assumption that each had something to offer the other. 206 00:16:11,407 --> 00:16:15,036 An ideal portrait, 207 00:16:15,087 --> 00:16:18,079 a perfect picture of what Empire could be. 208 00:16:33,607 --> 00:16:37,919 It wasn't long before the settlers were confident enough 209 00:16:37,967 --> 00:16:40,117 not to need the motherland. 210 00:16:40,167 --> 00:16:45,605 In 1 7 76, America declared its independence from Britain, 211 00:16:45,647 --> 00:16:48,161 and war broke out between them. 212 00:16:52,407 --> 00:16:55,365 For eight years, the country was drenched in blood... 213 00:16:58,327 --> 00:17:01,080 ...a defining moment in its history 214 00:17:01,127 --> 00:17:05,678 and an enduring inspiration for its art. 215 00:17:13,847 --> 00:17:16,520 Against all expectations, 216 00:17:16,567 --> 00:17:21,118 the British Crown was defeated by its own colony. 217 00:17:33,127 --> 00:17:36,676 One finely crafted object 218 00:17:36,727 --> 00:17:41,039 marks the transformation of America into a new nation. 219 00:17:45,447 --> 00:17:47,597 This is the Liberty Bell, 220 00:17:47,647 --> 00:17:50,115 a symbol as powerful for America 221 00:17:50,167 --> 00:17:52,840 as the White House or the Statue of Liberty. 222 00:17:52,887 --> 00:17:58,962 It was originally cast in memory of William Penn and his ideals 223 00:17:59,007 --> 00:18:00,759 by the state of Pennsylvania. 224 00:18:00,807 --> 00:18:04,641 It was actually made not here, but in London. 225 00:18:04,687 --> 00:18:08,077 It developed this famous crack, 226 00:18:08,127 --> 00:18:10,482 which means it can never now be rung. 227 00:18:12,167 --> 00:18:14,317 And it had this inscription put on it - 228 00:18:14,367 --> 00:18:16,403 ''Proclaim liberty... 229 00:18:17,767 --> 00:18:20,884 ''...throughout all the land 230 00:18:20,927 --> 00:18:23,395 ''unto all the inhabitants thereof.'' 231 00:18:23,447 --> 00:18:26,200 A quotation from the Bible. 232 00:18:26,247 --> 00:18:27,919 Tradition has it 233 00:18:27,967 --> 00:18:30,640 that when the American Declaration of Independence from Britain 234 00:18:30,687 --> 00:18:32,643 was signed here in Philadelphia, 235 00:18:32,687 --> 00:18:37,203 with its commitment to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, 236 00:18:37,247 --> 00:18:41,286 this bell rang out to mark the occasion. 237 00:18:53,007 --> 00:18:55,237 (BIG BEN CHIMES) 238 00:18:59,247 --> 00:19:00,680 Back in Britain, 239 00:19:00,727 --> 00:19:04,720 many felt the loss of America was a national humiliation. 240 00:19:07,607 --> 00:19:10,724 They were determined the same thing shouldn't happen again. 241 00:19:22,527 --> 00:19:25,405 Britain's focus now moved to the East... 242 00:19:27,287 --> 00:19:29,847 ...and to its interests in India. 243 00:19:34,007 --> 00:19:36,202 During two centuries of trade, 244 00:19:36,247 --> 00:19:39,922 Britain had grown rich on the spoils of India. 245 00:19:40,967 --> 00:19:47,042 Its art and treasure were prized for their rare, exotic beauty. 246 00:19:57,807 --> 00:20:04,724 But as Britain tried to extend its power - from trading partner to ruler - 247 00:20:04,767 --> 00:20:07,042 it met resistance. 248 00:20:16,607 --> 00:20:19,804 In a storeroom of the Victoria and Albert Museum 249 00:20:19,847 --> 00:20:24,841 is an object that instilled fear in British hearts. 250 00:20:30,727 --> 00:20:33,605 This is Tipu's Tiger. 251 00:20:33,647 --> 00:20:37,117 It was made for Tipu Sultan, 252 00:20:37,167 --> 00:20:39,522 the ruler of Mysore in southern India, 253 00:20:39,567 --> 00:20:42,127 who was the thorn in the flesh of the British. 254 00:20:42,167 --> 00:20:44,556 He hated them, fought them all the time, 255 00:20:44,607 --> 00:20:46,325 and they feared him. 256 00:20:46,367 --> 00:20:49,916 His emblem was the tiger. 257 00:20:49,967 --> 00:20:51,400 He once said, 258 00:20:51,447 --> 00:20:57,079 ''I'd rather live two days as a tiger than 2OO years as a sheep.'' 259 00:20:57,127 --> 00:21:00,483 And he had this extraordinary toy made. 260 00:21:00,527 --> 00:21:02,961 It's a kind of toy for adults. 261 00:21:03,007 --> 00:21:08,001 Now, what happens is, if I wind the handle, 262 00:21:08,047 --> 00:21:11,756 the tiger apparently lets out a fearsome growl. 263 00:21:11,807 --> 00:21:16,278 And the figure here, who is a European, 264 00:21:16,327 --> 00:21:20,240 screams in terror and agony. 265 00:21:20,287 --> 00:21:22,755 I'll just put my hand there to stop it from falling 266 00:21:22,807 --> 00:21:24,240 and start the winding. 267 00:21:24,287 --> 00:21:25,720 Here we go. 268 00:21:25,767 --> 00:21:27,485 (WEAK HOOTING) 269 00:21:27,527 --> 00:21:28,960 (LAUGHS) 270 00:21:29,007 --> 00:21:30,122 (WEAK HOOTING) 271 00:21:32,247 --> 00:21:33,839 I think that's the scream! 272 00:21:33,887 --> 00:21:36,037 - (WEAK HOOTING) - Where's the growl? 273 00:21:36,087 --> 00:21:37,520 - (STRONGER HOOT) - Ooh! 274 00:21:37,567 --> 00:21:39,637 That was the growl of the tiger. 275 00:21:39,687 --> 00:21:42,155 - (WEAK HOOTING) - It's brilliant! 276 00:21:42,207 --> 00:21:44,516 - (WEAK HOOTING) - (HE LAUGHS) 277 00:21:44,567 --> 00:21:46,046 (STRONGER HOOT) 278 00:21:51,727 --> 00:21:55,356 In 1 799, Tipu Sultan was finally defeated 279 00:21:55,407 --> 00:21:59,195 and met his death at the hands of the British. 280 00:21:59,247 --> 00:22:03,638 The tiger was taken from his palace and brought to London, 281 00:22:03,687 --> 00:22:05,723 where it was put on display. 282 00:22:05,767 --> 00:22:07,200 The message was clear. 283 00:22:07,247 --> 00:22:10,364 If we didn't want India to go the same way as America, 284 00:22:10,407 --> 00:22:11,999 we had to start 285 00:22:12,047 --> 00:22:15,960 taking our responsibilities in the Empire seriously. 286 00:22:16,007 --> 00:22:20,762 Like the tiger, India had to be tamed. 287 00:23:00,647 --> 00:23:04,925 Today, Calcutta is the poorest but also the most vibrant 288 00:23:04,967 --> 00:23:07,276 of all India's great cities. 289 00:23:08,687 --> 00:23:11,565 It's a place of nonstop energy and excitement, 290 00:23:11,607 --> 00:23:14,883 where life is lived on the streets. 291 00:23:22,447 --> 00:23:24,722 In the 1 8th century, 292 00:23:24,767 --> 00:23:29,443 Calcutta was a power base for British traders. 293 00:23:29,487 --> 00:23:33,275 From the first, they were astonished and bewitched 294 00:23:33,327 --> 00:23:38,606 by the sights, the sounds, the smells of India. 295 00:23:47,167 --> 00:23:50,159 They even started adopting Indian customs. 296 00:23:54,687 --> 00:23:57,155 Wearing Indian clothes. 297 00:23:57,207 --> 00:24:00,916 In fact, acting more Indian than British. 298 00:24:00,967 --> 00:24:02,525 (MUSIC DROWNS SPEECH) 299 00:24:10,727 --> 00:24:13,321 But as a new century dawned, 300 00:24:13,367 --> 00:24:18,077 this easy mingling between cultures came to an abrupt end. 301 00:24:37,607 --> 00:24:42,727 A new Governor-General was appointed to impose British control over India - 302 00:24:42,767 --> 00:24:44,200 Richard Wellesley. 303 00:24:44,247 --> 00:24:46,715 There was no danger of Wellesley going native. 304 00:24:46,767 --> 00:24:49,600 He despised the way the British and the Indians mixed. 305 00:24:49,647 --> 00:24:52,605 He actually thought of the Indian people as depraved. 306 00:24:52,647 --> 00:24:57,004 And he didn't want to be just the leader of a great trading company - 307 00:24:57,047 --> 00:24:59,163 he actually wanted to be a ruler. 308 00:24:59,207 --> 00:25:01,596 And in keeping with these imperial ambitions, 309 00:25:01,647 --> 00:25:04,764 he built himself a new residence - Government House. 310 00:25:38,367 --> 00:25:43,077 The grandeur of Government House was designed to intimidate India. 311 00:25:54,287 --> 00:25:59,122 At the end of this ceremonial route came the throne room. 312 00:25:59,167 --> 00:26:03,160 And here the Governor-General sat in state, like a king. 313 00:26:03,207 --> 00:26:05,846 Wellesley was the first Governor-General 314 00:26:05,887 --> 00:26:09,163 to have a throne made for himself - of solid silver, 315 00:26:09,207 --> 00:26:14,645 supported by lions, for Britain, on each end. 316 00:26:14,687 --> 00:26:18,236 And what an impression it must have made when visitors came here. 317 00:26:18,287 --> 00:26:20,721 They must have felt, as they approached the throne, 318 00:26:20,767 --> 00:26:23,486 the might of British power. 319 00:26:45,727 --> 00:26:47,319 At the back of this great house 320 00:26:47,367 --> 00:26:51,645 is an area given over to busts of Roman emperors. 321 00:26:51,687 --> 00:26:54,406 1 5O years' worth of Roman rule. 322 00:26:54,447 --> 00:26:56,005 Julius Caesar is here. 323 00:26:56,047 --> 00:26:57,605 Augustus. 324 00:26:57,647 --> 00:27:00,241 Even Nero, who fiddled while Rome burned. 325 00:27:00,287 --> 00:27:02,323 The implication is obvious - 326 00:27:02,367 --> 00:27:05,996 Wellesley saw himself as their successor, 327 00:27:06,047 --> 00:27:07,719 part of their tradition. 328 00:27:07,767 --> 00:27:14,206 And if Wellesley was a Caesar, Britain was Rome. 329 00:27:32,007 --> 00:27:34,965 Throughout the 1 9th century, 330 00:27:35,007 --> 00:27:38,682 Calcutta was transformed into an imperial city, 331 00:27:38,727 --> 00:27:41,195 where size mattered. 332 00:27:41,247 --> 00:27:44,125 There were to be great churches. 333 00:27:45,887 --> 00:27:48,321 A Gothic-style cathedral. 334 00:27:49,407 --> 00:27:51,443 An imposing law court. 335 00:27:54,087 --> 00:27:56,123 Grand mansions and villas. 336 00:27:58,727 --> 00:28:04,085 Even the post office exuded authority and power. 337 00:28:09,247 --> 00:28:10,965 And it wasn't just the buildings. 338 00:28:11,007 --> 00:28:14,158 The whole British way of life was imported. 339 00:28:14,207 --> 00:28:17,563 Even our national sport. 340 00:28:21,807 --> 00:28:23,206 It's a nice bat. 341 00:28:24,727 --> 00:28:28,163 Very slow, cos I shall miss it otherwise. 342 00:28:31,767 --> 00:28:34,839 - (ALL CHEER) - (LAUGHS) Try one more. 343 00:28:39,807 --> 00:28:42,765 I haven't played this for 5O years. One more? 344 00:28:45,447 --> 00:28:46,926 - (ALL CHEER) - I'm running. 345 00:28:52,247 --> 00:28:53,680 Thank you very much. 346 00:28:53,727 --> 00:28:55,604 Thank you so much. 347 00:28:55,647 --> 00:28:57,842 (DAVID LAUGHS) 348 00:29:09,287 --> 00:29:14,236 The new imperialists saw India through blinkers. 349 00:29:14,287 --> 00:29:16,403 A fascinating world, 350 00:29:16,447 --> 00:29:19,837 but one from which they would remain separate. 351 00:29:22,287 --> 00:29:26,997 This detachment was reflected in the art of the time. 352 00:29:28,047 --> 00:29:30,641 People in Britain 353 00:29:30,687 --> 00:29:33,281 were very curious about what India was like. 354 00:29:33,327 --> 00:29:35,283 What was it that drew people here? 355 00:29:35,327 --> 00:29:37,636 And it wasn't long 356 00:29:37,687 --> 00:29:41,396 before professional painters started coming out here to Calcutta 357 00:29:41,447 --> 00:29:43,517 and began painting scenes. 358 00:29:43,567 --> 00:29:46,639 And what they drew was interesting, 359 00:29:46,687 --> 00:29:51,124 because it wasn't quite the exotic, vibrant, colourful India 360 00:29:51,167 --> 00:29:53,476 that we know now. 361 00:29:53,527 --> 00:29:57,759 It was a rather quieter, paler version of India, 362 00:29:57,807 --> 00:30:00,446 as though they didn't want to upset people back home 363 00:30:00,487 --> 00:30:04,036 by suggesting it was too turbulent and a difficult life here. 364 00:30:04,087 --> 00:30:08,683 There was a lot of attention paid to the fine details of buildings... 365 00:30:10,847 --> 00:30:14,283 ...to pale horizons and trees. 366 00:30:14,327 --> 00:30:18,286 It was, in a way, India... but without the Indians. 367 00:30:46,327 --> 00:30:47,919 By the middle of the 1 9th century, 368 00:30:47,967 --> 00:30:50,606 the British were wondering how to develop their Empire. 369 00:30:50,647 --> 00:30:52,365 And they came up with an idea, 370 00:30:52,407 --> 00:30:54,602 which a civil servant at the time described as 371 00:30:54,647 --> 00:30:57,445 ''creating a monument that would exceed in grandeur 372 00:30:57,487 --> 00:31:00,843 ''the aqueducts of Rome, the pyramids of Egypt 373 00:31:00,887 --> 00:31:02,798 ''and the Great Wall of China''. 374 00:31:02,847 --> 00:31:05,441 He meant...the railway. 375 00:31:11,767 --> 00:31:14,725 Calcutta's Howrah Station. 376 00:31:14,767 --> 00:31:16,564 Built in 1 85 1, 377 00:31:16,607 --> 00:31:18,677 it's one of the busiest in India, 378 00:31:18,727 --> 00:31:22,356 used by three-quarters of a million passengers a day. 379 00:31:48,767 --> 00:31:50,200 Railway mania in India 380 00:31:50,247 --> 00:31:55,446 meant that 25,OOO miles of railway was laid in just 5O years. 381 00:31:55,487 --> 00:31:58,160 It meant that a journey from Calcutta to Delhi, 382 00:31:58,207 --> 00:32:02,120 which by road in 1 8OO would have taken six weeks, 383 00:32:02,167 --> 00:32:04,840 by 1 9OO took under a day. 384 00:32:04,887 --> 00:32:07,242 And, of course, it meant a huge improvement 385 00:32:07,287 --> 00:32:09,357 in efficiency, in trade 386 00:32:09,407 --> 00:32:12,001 and in control of the country. 387 00:32:13,367 --> 00:32:15,323 (WHISTLE BLOWS) 388 00:32:26,727 --> 00:32:32,165 The Empire was now able to reach even the most remote regions of India. 389 00:32:51,087 --> 00:32:55,239 The state of Rajasthan seems unchanged by time. 390 00:32:56,287 --> 00:33:02,556 It's a place rich in folklore, where life is still bound by tradition. 391 00:33:07,367 --> 00:33:08,800 - Ram! Ram! - Ram! Ram! 392 00:33:08,847 --> 00:33:10,326 Can I climb on? 393 00:33:11,327 --> 00:33:12,806 I'll go round. 394 00:33:14,207 --> 00:33:15,686 Oh! 395 00:33:16,767 --> 00:33:19,156 OK. 396 00:33:20,247 --> 00:33:21,999 Ooh! 397 00:33:27,207 --> 00:33:28,640 OK, let's... 398 00:33:28,687 --> 00:33:32,839 Ooh! Ah! Oh! 399 00:33:32,887 --> 00:33:34,479 Let's go. 400 00:33:42,407 --> 00:33:44,921 I'm on my rather ungainly way 401 00:33:44,967 --> 00:33:47,481 to a place where it's possible to discover 402 00:33:47,527 --> 00:33:52,282 how Indians in the 1 9th century viewed the British. 403 00:34:00,047 --> 00:34:03,881 This region was the home of rich Indian merchants 404 00:34:03,927 --> 00:34:06,236 who travelled throughout the country. 405 00:34:16,567 --> 00:34:18,717 On their return home, 406 00:34:18,767 --> 00:34:21,804 they paid for their houses to be transformed 407 00:34:21,847 --> 00:34:24,407 into spectacular works of art. 408 00:34:39,247 --> 00:34:45,356 Every big house in the town of Mandawa was decorated with frescoes. 409 00:34:45,407 --> 00:34:51,164 But look closely and you can see some very bizarre images. 410 00:34:54,007 --> 00:34:56,123 They were inspired 411 00:34:56,167 --> 00:34:58,806 by the Indian merchants'dealings with the British. 412 00:35:03,487 --> 00:35:06,797 With these frescoes, the people of Mandawa 413 00:35:06,847 --> 00:35:11,125 had come up with a way of depicting their rulers. 414 00:35:18,927 --> 00:35:20,360 These exuberant paintings 415 00:35:20,407 --> 00:35:23,444 weren't done by artists who were shipped in, professionals - 416 00:35:23,487 --> 00:35:25,239 they were done by the local builders. 417 00:35:25,287 --> 00:35:27,164 And you can see it in the way they did it, 418 00:35:27,207 --> 00:35:30,916 because they were asked to paint all the excitement of new technology - 419 00:35:30,967 --> 00:35:33,197 railway trains, motor cars, that kind of thing. 420 00:35:33,247 --> 00:35:36,319 And a lot of portraits of the British 421 00:35:36,367 --> 00:35:39,040 with whom these people, the merchants, were doing trade. 422 00:35:39,087 --> 00:35:40,566 So what did they do? 423 00:35:40,607 --> 00:35:43,565 Well, they used illustrations, perhaps from magazines, 424 00:35:43,607 --> 00:35:45,438 or somebody told them what things looked like, 425 00:35:45,487 --> 00:35:47,443 and they just let their invention rip. 426 00:35:47,487 --> 00:35:48,920 This painter, for instance, 427 00:35:48,967 --> 00:35:53,677 has been told that a train is like houses on wheels. 428 00:35:53,727 --> 00:35:57,276 Never seen a train, so what does he paint? 429 00:35:57,327 --> 00:36:01,206 Rows of little houses on wheels, with the passengers in, 430 00:36:01,247 --> 00:36:03,477 being pulled along by an engine. 431 00:36:03,527 --> 00:36:04,960 ''What's an engine like?'' 432 00:36:05,007 --> 00:36:07,362 ''It's like a kind of bottle with steam coming out at the end.'' 433 00:36:07,407 --> 00:36:08,999 So what does he paint? 434 00:36:09,047 --> 00:36:10,480 Literally, a bottle 435 00:36:10,527 --> 00:36:13,360 with a funnel at the top and steam coming out. 436 00:36:18,247 --> 00:36:21,876 The idea behind it, of course, is partly a sort of admiration 437 00:36:21,927 --> 00:36:25,124 for the British and their technological achievements, 438 00:36:25,167 --> 00:36:28,045 but there's also a sort of nice sense of mischief. 439 00:36:28,087 --> 00:36:30,282 You feel, with some of the figures, 440 00:36:30,327 --> 00:36:33,478 they're actually making fun of the rather upright and pompous 441 00:36:33,527 --> 00:36:35,119 British attitudes at the time. 442 00:36:58,527 --> 00:37:02,725 (MUSIC DROWNS SPEECH) 443 00:37:02,767 --> 00:37:07,795 Kishor Thalia lives in one of the finest of these Indian merchants'houses. 444 00:37:15,247 --> 00:37:16,396 DAVID: Look at this! 445 00:37:16,447 --> 00:37:21,999 The interior of his house is decorated in the traditional Indian style, 446 00:37:22,047 --> 00:37:24,481 as though the British had never arrived. 447 00:37:26,567 --> 00:37:28,558 KISHOR: This is ladies' courtyards. 448 00:37:28,607 --> 00:37:30,086 DAVID: So this would be only for women? 449 00:37:30,127 --> 00:37:31,526 KISHOR: Only for women. 450 00:37:31,567 --> 00:37:34,843 Before, ladies not allowed outside, so pray here. 451 00:37:34,887 --> 00:37:37,401 So they pray here and live here, really? 452 00:37:37,447 --> 00:37:38,721 - Yes. - Yes. 453 00:37:38,767 --> 00:37:40,962 What paintings do they have? What are these pictures? 454 00:37:41,007 --> 00:37:44,158 These are the Hindu god and goddess. 455 00:37:44,207 --> 00:37:46,163 DAVID: So it's all religious? 456 00:37:46,207 --> 00:37:49,563 - KISHOR: All religion paintings. - DAVID: Lovely. 457 00:37:52,447 --> 00:37:56,122 DAVID: And these were painted by just the local person? 458 00:37:56,167 --> 00:37:58,920 - Lower caste, lower caste. - DAVID: Lower caste? 459 00:37:58,967 --> 00:38:01,435 And upstairs, what was all this? Cos this is all painted too. 460 00:38:01,487 --> 00:38:04,718 DAVID: Look at the procession of elephants and horses 461 00:38:04,767 --> 00:38:06,485 and soldiers and... 462 00:38:06,527 --> 00:38:07,960 And that's a band, is it? 463 00:38:08,007 --> 00:38:10,362 - Is that musicians playing? - KISHOR: Yes, band, band. 464 00:38:10,407 --> 00:38:12,762 DAVID: They look like soldiers, but they're musicians. 465 00:38:12,807 --> 00:38:14,877 So it's a wedding procession, is it? 466 00:38:14,927 --> 00:38:17,760 - KISHOR: A wedding procession. - DAVID: Yes. 467 00:38:19,727 --> 00:38:22,036 - Are you married? - I am married. 468 00:38:22,087 --> 00:38:24,885 Did you have a big wedding with bands and music and...? 469 00:38:24,927 --> 00:38:26,599 - Yes. - Did you? Did you have an elephant? 470 00:38:26,647 --> 00:38:28,285 - No elephant. Horse. - A horse? 471 00:38:28,327 --> 00:38:29,760 - Horse. - Did you ride the horse? 472 00:38:29,807 --> 00:38:31,286 - Yes. - Oh! 473 00:38:31,327 --> 00:38:32,760 (DAVID CHUCKLES) 474 00:38:53,247 --> 00:38:57,399 The ancient traditions of India were to prove unyielding, 475 00:38:57,447 --> 00:39:02,726 despite British efforts to impose their own attitudes. 476 00:39:04,607 --> 00:39:08,520 It was a clash of cultures that couldn't be resolved. 477 00:39:16,767 --> 00:39:18,519 As the 1 9th century wore on, 478 00:39:18,567 --> 00:39:22,560 Indians began to become discontented with British rule. 479 00:39:22,607 --> 00:39:26,919 They felt that the British were out to change their whole way of life, 480 00:39:26,967 --> 00:39:29,481 abolish their religious ceremonies, 481 00:39:29,527 --> 00:39:32,485 even possibly try and convert the country to Christianity. 482 00:39:32,527 --> 00:39:34,597 It came to a head in 1 857, 483 00:39:34,647 --> 00:39:39,038 when soldiers in the Indian Army rose and killed their officers. 484 00:39:39,087 --> 00:39:42,602 And the mutiny quickly spread right across the country. 485 00:39:48,247 --> 00:39:52,206 The rebellion led to brutal atrocities on both sides. 486 00:39:57,007 --> 00:40:00,477 But the British emerged supreme. 487 00:40:07,367 --> 00:40:11,155 British artists were quick to show the revolt and its defeat 488 00:40:11,207 --> 00:40:16,520 as a triumph of imperial values over barbarism. 489 00:40:25,967 --> 00:40:29,277 The breaking of India set a pattern for the whole of the Empire, 490 00:40:29,327 --> 00:40:34,117 where disobedience was to be crushed without mercy. 491 00:40:40,087 --> 00:40:43,602 MALE VOICE ON TANNOY: The train now approaching Platform 2 is the... 492 00:40:43,647 --> 00:40:48,198 DAVID: Back home, people were adjusting to the demands of Empire. 493 00:40:48,247 --> 00:40:52,923 Popular support couldn't be taken for granted, 494 00:40:52,967 --> 00:40:57,324 and everything was done to encourage an imperial instinct. 495 00:41:02,007 --> 00:41:04,316 Every new generation now had to be taught 496 00:41:04,367 --> 00:41:06,722 the importance of Empire. 497 00:41:06,767 --> 00:41:11,238 This is a book - An ABC For Baby Patriots 498 00:41:11,287 --> 00:41:13,198 by Mrs Ernest Ames. 499 00:41:13,247 --> 00:41:16,603 It's a sort of humorous look at the Empire, 500 00:41:16,647 --> 00:41:19,320 but, of course, it had a serious message behind it. 501 00:41:19,367 --> 00:41:21,927 A was for the Army. 502 00:41:21,967 --> 00:41:23,685 ''B stands for Battles. 503 00:41:23,727 --> 00:41:28,642 ''C is for Colonies Rightly we boast 504 00:41:28,687 --> 00:41:32,236 ''That of all the great nations Great Britain has most.'' 505 00:41:32,287 --> 00:41:34,755 D. E. E! 506 00:41:34,807 --> 00:41:37,765 ''E is our Empire 507 00:41:37,807 --> 00:41:40,162 ''Where sun never sets 508 00:41:40,207 --> 00:41:43,995 ''The larger we make it The bigger it gets.'' 509 00:41:44,047 --> 00:41:46,117 And F. 510 00:41:46,167 --> 00:41:49,716 ''F is for flag Which wherever you see 511 00:41:49,767 --> 00:41:53,760 ''You know that beneath it You're happy and free.'' 512 00:41:55,127 --> 00:41:57,561 Goodness, how times have changed! 513 00:42:05,047 --> 00:42:07,686 The job of Britain's public schools 514 00:42:07,727 --> 00:42:11,959 was to provide soldiers and civil servants to run the Empire. 515 00:42:18,367 --> 00:42:21,040 The ethos of service to Queen and country 516 00:42:21,087 --> 00:42:25,399 was taught not just in the classroom but on the playing fields. 517 00:42:26,727 --> 00:42:29,366 (PLAYERS CHEER) 518 00:42:29,407 --> 00:42:32,763 There's a famous poem about the role of sport, 519 00:42:32,807 --> 00:42:35,844 not just in school but in life, by Henry Newbolt - 520 00:42:35,887 --> 00:42:38,447 a poem that every schoolboy would have learnt. 521 00:42:38,487 --> 00:42:41,877 It begins with the captain of the team, at a desperate moment, 522 00:42:41,927 --> 00:42:43,997 putting his hand on the shoulder of a team-mate 523 00:42:44,047 --> 00:42:47,517 and saying, ''Play up, play up and play the game.'' 524 00:42:47,567 --> 00:42:51,242 And then the scene moves to a battlefield in Africa, 525 00:42:51,287 --> 00:42:54,484 with the desert sand sodden with blood, 526 00:42:54,527 --> 00:42:58,281 with the machine gun jammed, the colonel dead, the line broken, 527 00:42:58,327 --> 00:43:00,761 and a voice is heard rallying the troops 528 00:43:00,807 --> 00:43:06,564 with that schoolboy cry, ''Play up, play up and play the game.'' 529 00:43:09,607 --> 00:43:12,041 SOLDIERS: One! 530 00:43:12,087 --> 00:43:14,078 - MAN: Squad, two! - SOLDIERS: Two! 531 00:43:14,127 --> 00:43:16,800 - Squad, three! - Three! 532 00:43:18,047 --> 00:43:20,481 The lessons learnt at school 533 00:43:20,527 --> 00:43:24,645 were designed to be applied on battlefields across the globe. 534 00:43:29,767 --> 00:43:32,804 In the 1 88os, as Britain expanded into Africa, 535 00:43:32,847 --> 00:43:39,400 a figure emerged who was seen to embody all the imperial virtues. 536 00:43:53,447 --> 00:43:56,723 This is General Charles Gordon, 537 00:43:56,767 --> 00:44:00,840 perhaps the greatest hero of the Empire. 538 00:44:00,887 --> 00:44:04,846 He sits, in this statue, on a camel, 539 00:44:04,887 --> 00:44:08,084 looking very glamorous with a fez, 540 00:44:08,127 --> 00:44:11,836 dressed in uniform with his medals. 541 00:44:13,047 --> 00:44:15,117 He was a professional soldier 542 00:44:15,167 --> 00:44:20,366 and he'd been on expeditions to Turkey, to India, to China, 543 00:44:20,407 --> 00:44:22,682 covering himself in great glory, 544 00:44:22,727 --> 00:44:25,844 famous among the British public for his deeds. 545 00:44:25,887 --> 00:44:28,037 But it was his final expedition 546 00:44:28,087 --> 00:44:30,965 which took him to the Sudan 547 00:44:31,007 --> 00:44:34,966 to relieve the beseiged capital of Khartoum. 548 00:44:35,007 --> 00:44:38,443 And what made him an immortal to the British public 549 00:44:38,487 --> 00:44:40,557 was not what he achieved there 550 00:44:40,607 --> 00:44:42,120 but the way that he died. 551 00:44:46,327 --> 00:44:50,081 Gordon chose to die rather than desert his post, 552 00:44:50,127 --> 00:44:54,120 inspiring the most famous portrait of Empire - 553 00:44:54,167 --> 00:44:57,876 GWJoy's Gordon's Last Stand. 554 00:45:00,807 --> 00:45:05,039 The image of the general nobly facing down the foreign hordes 555 00:45:05,087 --> 00:45:08,284 was irresistible to the British public. 556 00:45:16,487 --> 00:45:21,197 In death, Gordon was transformed from a soldier to a saint. 557 00:45:48,367 --> 00:45:50,483 Gordon's body was never found, 558 00:45:50,527 --> 00:45:53,678 so in the national hysteria that followed his death 559 00:45:53,727 --> 00:45:56,116 there was nothing for people to commemorate... 560 00:45:57,167 --> 00:46:00,364 ...until they turned, as with all the great martyrs, 561 00:46:00,407 --> 00:46:03,160 to souvenirs of his life. 562 00:46:03,207 --> 00:46:05,038 There's an extraordinary collection of them. 563 00:46:05,087 --> 00:46:08,796 This is just a few of the objects that were left behind. 564 00:46:10,007 --> 00:46:14,637 This, for instance, is General Gordon's cigarette case. 565 00:46:14,687 --> 00:46:17,997 It was his only known indulgence, that he smoked cigarettes. 566 00:46:18,047 --> 00:46:20,197 Otherwise he was a puritan in every way. 567 00:46:20,247 --> 00:46:23,319 And it actually has three cigarettes in it. 568 00:46:23,367 --> 00:46:27,406 Though whether they're from the time, I leave up to you to decide. 569 00:46:27,447 --> 00:46:30,837 Now, there's an interesting box here. 570 00:46:33,047 --> 00:46:36,642 This has got an extraordinary relic - 571 00:46:36,687 --> 00:46:38,882 a piece of paper, 572 00:46:38,927 --> 00:46:41,395 and on the paper it says, 573 00:46:41,447 --> 00:46:46,521 ''A fly that walked the Gordon nose.'' 574 00:46:46,567 --> 00:46:51,357 And there is the little crushed body of the fly. 575 00:46:52,447 --> 00:46:53,846 Poor thing. 576 00:46:53,887 --> 00:46:56,355 Made a terrible mistake of walking Gordon's nose. 577 00:46:56,407 --> 00:46:57,886 I wonder how they got that. 578 00:46:57,927 --> 00:47:02,284 Now, the most remarkable memory of Gordon... 579 00:47:03,327 --> 00:47:05,238 This piece of stone 580 00:47:05,287 --> 00:47:07,596 is said to be the stone on which Gordon was standing 581 00:47:07,647 --> 00:47:09,080 when he was killed. 582 00:47:09,127 --> 00:47:12,722 This belonged to Queen Victoria, who was a great admirer of his. 583 00:47:12,767 --> 00:47:16,555 It's got this wreath of leaves in silver. 584 00:47:16,607 --> 00:47:18,438 But really interestingly, 585 00:47:18,487 --> 00:47:22,924 here, the date of his death and a Christian cross, 586 00:47:22,967 --> 00:47:26,323 almost like a saint's relic. 587 00:47:26,367 --> 00:47:30,360 Of course, there's no way of authenticating any of these objects. 588 00:47:30,407 --> 00:47:34,320 But the almost-religious cult of Gordon 589 00:47:34,367 --> 00:47:37,040 marks the point when the pursuit of Empire 590 00:47:37,087 --> 00:47:40,762 becomes almost a medieval crusade. 591 00:47:44,167 --> 00:47:48,718 The public cried out for vengeance for Gordon's death. 592 00:47:48,767 --> 00:47:54,160 An army was sent to Africa under the slogan ''Remember Gordon''. 593 00:47:54,207 --> 00:47:57,438 And this time, they carried a new weapon - 594 00:47:57,487 --> 00:48:00,206 the world's first machine gun, 595 00:48:00,247 --> 00:48:04,399 invented in London by Hiram Maxim. 596 00:48:09,287 --> 00:48:12,916 As merchants of death go, it's very beautiful, isn't it? 597 00:48:12,967 --> 00:48:15,037 - It's a wonderful machine. - Beautiful. 598 00:48:15,087 --> 00:48:17,203 What was so special about it? 599 00:48:17,247 --> 00:48:19,397 What was it that Maxim achieved with this? 600 00:48:19,447 --> 00:48:22,007 Well, really he was the first person 601 00:48:22,047 --> 00:48:25,005 to ever really make a fully automatic gun. 602 00:48:25,047 --> 00:48:28,596 Up till this time, somebody had to have hand power - 603 00:48:28,647 --> 00:48:30,603 they cranked it by hand, 604 00:48:30,647 --> 00:48:34,196 and you could only fire as fast as the man could go. 605 00:48:34,247 --> 00:48:35,965 But what Maxim discovered was, 606 00:48:36,007 --> 00:48:40,285 with all that force that came back from when you fire a rifle, 607 00:48:40,327 --> 00:48:42,045 you could use that force, 608 00:48:42,087 --> 00:48:43,759 and he invented this wonderful system 609 00:48:43,807 --> 00:48:46,605 that just kept it cycling around, the force loading, firing, 610 00:48:46,647 --> 00:48:48,080 and carrying on from there. 611 00:48:48,127 --> 00:48:50,004 And what was the effect of it on warfare? 612 00:48:50,047 --> 00:48:53,801 Oh, it just absolutely revolutionised the whole aspect of warfare. 613 00:48:53,847 --> 00:48:58,398 It made us realise that cavalry was now no longer of any use, 614 00:48:58,447 --> 00:49:00,324 and you could take a whole... 615 00:49:00,367 --> 00:49:04,599 you could take six of these machines instead of six regiments 616 00:49:04,647 --> 00:49:06,080 and achieve exactly the same thing. 617 00:49:06,127 --> 00:49:10,484 - What date is this one? - This one was made in 1 896. 618 00:49:10,527 --> 00:49:12,199 DAVID: 1 896. 619 00:49:12,247 --> 00:49:14,363 - Does it still fire? - Absolutely. 620 00:49:14,407 --> 00:49:16,716 It's in perfect working order. 621 00:49:16,767 --> 00:49:18,644 - Can I fire it? - You can. 622 00:49:18,687 --> 00:49:20,837 - You can give it the whole nine yards. - OK. 623 00:49:20,887 --> 00:49:22,843 I'll give you... 624 00:49:22,887 --> 00:49:24,286 It's a bicycle saddle. 625 00:49:27,447 --> 00:49:30,086 DAVID: Safety catch off and fire. 626 00:49:30,127 --> 00:49:33,403 - Safety catch off and push forward. - OK, I'll give it a go. 627 00:49:36,967 --> 00:49:40,004 (RAPID GUNFIRE) 628 00:49:43,487 --> 00:49:45,682 (RAPID GUNFIRE) 629 00:49:56,367 --> 00:49:59,200 The British used the weapon without mercy 630 00:49:59,247 --> 00:50:02,159 in their campaigns in Africa. 631 00:50:06,567 --> 00:50:09,923 In 1 898, they returned to the Sudan 632 00:50:09,967 --> 00:50:13,926 to meet Gordon's killers at the Battle of Omdurman. 633 00:50:22,687 --> 00:50:24,678 In the Maxim gun, 634 00:50:24,727 --> 00:50:28,003 the British Army had a weapon that made them unbeatable. 635 00:50:28,047 --> 00:50:30,959 It was mechanised slaughter. 636 00:50:31,007 --> 00:50:32,645 At the Battle of Omdurman, 637 00:50:32,687 --> 00:50:36,362 1 1,OOO Sudanese were killed in one day, 638 00:50:36,407 --> 00:50:40,082 those that didn't die immediately left bleeding to death 639 00:50:40,127 --> 00:50:41,719 in the desert sand. 640 00:50:41,767 --> 00:50:44,440 The British commander, Lord Kitchener, said, 641 00:50:44,487 --> 00:50:48,685 ''I think the enemy have had a good dusting.'' 642 00:50:53,007 --> 00:50:58,206 Once again, art was to sanitise the reality of Empire. 643 00:50:59,887 --> 00:51:03,436 Paintings of the African wars were heroic... 644 00:51:04,927 --> 00:51:07,600 ...romantic... 645 00:51:08,727 --> 00:51:12,515 ...emphasising the bravery of the cavalry 646 00:51:12,567 --> 00:51:15,559 rather than the power of the Maxim gun. 647 00:51:18,767 --> 00:51:23,397 One of the most successful painters of the age, Richard Caton Woodville, 648 00:51:23,447 --> 00:51:27,759 became famous for his pictures of Britain's foreign battles. 649 00:51:34,887 --> 00:51:36,559 The story was always the same... 650 00:51:37,607 --> 00:51:42,761 ...the hardy British crushing the unruly natives. 651 00:51:47,087 --> 00:51:51,205 You can still see treasures plundered in these campaigns. 652 00:51:56,047 --> 00:51:59,881 Britain's rule and influence the world over 653 00:51:59,927 --> 00:52:04,364 meant many exceptional works of art found their way here. 654 00:52:15,367 --> 00:52:20,725 One notorious plunder occurred in 1 897. 655 00:52:23,487 --> 00:52:27,958 These are the magnificent Benin Bronzes. 656 00:52:28,007 --> 00:52:32,285 They were looted by the British Army from the capital of Benin, 657 00:52:32,327 --> 00:52:36,081 from the kingdom in West Africa whose king had defied British rule. 658 00:52:38,207 --> 00:52:41,563 They went in, destroyed the city... 659 00:52:43,087 --> 00:52:45,647 ...and brought back 4,OOO different objects, 660 00:52:45,687 --> 00:52:50,044 among them, these and many other beautiful brass plaques. 661 00:52:52,927 --> 00:52:56,203 Some of them were sold to pay for the expedition, 662 00:52:56,247 --> 00:52:57,726 others were put on display. 663 00:52:57,767 --> 00:52:59,280 And the extraordinary thing is 664 00:52:59,327 --> 00:53:01,522 that when they were displayed here in London, 665 00:53:01,567 --> 00:53:03,842 people simply refused to believe 666 00:53:03,887 --> 00:53:08,961 they could have been done by the Africans in Benin. 667 00:53:09,007 --> 00:53:12,238 They thought this work was too fine. 668 00:53:12,287 --> 00:53:14,960 And it is very fine. The detail is wonderful. 669 00:53:15,007 --> 00:53:18,124 The faces and the hands and the decoration 670 00:53:18,167 --> 00:53:20,840 all beautifully, beautifully done. 671 00:53:28,407 --> 00:53:32,525 The message the British were sending to their colonies in Africa 672 00:53:32,567 --> 00:53:36,606 was that, ''Seizing your treasure like this 673 00:53:36,647 --> 00:53:40,196 ''is the price you'll pay for defiance.'' 674 00:53:49,167 --> 00:53:53,285 African art was itself to change under British rule. 675 00:53:55,407 --> 00:53:58,524 Artists acknowledged the power of the Empire... 676 00:53:59,687 --> 00:54:03,646 ...as they created objects to please their new masters. 677 00:54:06,127 --> 00:54:08,083 Thank you very much. 678 00:54:09,727 --> 00:54:13,242 This is a little wooden carving of Queen Victoria, 679 00:54:13,287 --> 00:54:16,916 made by the Yoruba people of West Africa. 680 00:54:16,967 --> 00:54:19,401 Person who did this would never have seen her. 681 00:54:19,447 --> 00:54:22,086 She never went on a state visit to Africa. 682 00:54:22,127 --> 00:54:24,357 She hardly went anywhere in her colonies. 683 00:54:24,407 --> 00:54:26,875 But they've got a very good likeness. 684 00:54:26,927 --> 00:54:31,876 Rather solemn, po-faced. Quite recognisable as Queen Victoria. 685 00:54:31,927 --> 00:54:37,524 You've got her crown, big bosom with string of pearls. 686 00:54:37,567 --> 00:54:40,445 She's got a rather grand dress on. 687 00:54:40,487 --> 00:54:45,277 Here a...flyswat or a fan - not quite sure which. 688 00:54:45,327 --> 00:54:47,158 But anyway, it's clearly Queen Victoria, 689 00:54:47,207 --> 00:54:48,686 and the point about this is, 690 00:54:48,727 --> 00:54:53,198 this is just one example of hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of images 691 00:54:53,247 --> 00:54:57,763 of Queen Victoria which were used to represent the British Empire 692 00:54:57,807 --> 00:54:59,445 right round the globe. 693 00:54:59,487 --> 00:55:03,002 People who never saw her heard about her, 694 00:55:03,047 --> 00:55:07,325 knew that she was at the heart of it, the Great White Queen. 695 00:55:08,407 --> 00:55:10,045 She looks almost... 696 00:55:10,087 --> 00:55:13,079 not regal but divine here, like a god. 697 00:55:21,527 --> 00:55:25,884 The power of Victoria's image carried on beyond her death. 698 00:55:26,927 --> 00:55:32,126 In 1 91 1, the Victoria Memorial by Thomas Brock was unveiled, 699 00:55:32,167 --> 00:55:35,523 blocking the view of Buckingham Palace. 700 00:55:48,047 --> 00:55:50,561 This statue is so familiar you barely notice it. 701 00:55:50,607 --> 00:55:54,395 It's almost part of the scenery, and yet, if you examine it closely, 702 00:55:54,447 --> 00:55:56,438 it's the most extraordinary celebration - 703 00:55:56,487 --> 00:56:00,605 not just of the Queen but of her Empire when it was at its peak. 704 00:56:04,847 --> 00:56:07,361 The scale of the monument is truly impressive. 705 00:56:08,447 --> 00:56:15,046 There sits the Queen on her throne, looking rather boot-faced 706 00:56:15,087 --> 00:56:18,397 and staring up across Westminster. 707 00:56:18,447 --> 00:56:23,885 Underneath, the inscription... ''Victoria Regina Imperatrix'' - 708 00:56:23,927 --> 00:56:27,124 ''Victoria Queen Empress''. 709 00:56:27,167 --> 00:56:29,522 And then on three sides, 710 00:56:29,567 --> 00:56:32,320 what were thought of as the virtues 711 00:56:32,367 --> 00:56:35,962 that Empire provided for the colonies - 712 00:56:36,007 --> 00:56:38,601 justice, 713 00:56:38,647 --> 00:56:40,638 truth 714 00:56:40,687 --> 00:56:41,881 and charity, 715 00:56:41,927 --> 00:56:47,843 interestingly shown as motherhood, the mother protecting her children. 716 00:56:49,327 --> 00:56:52,637 And the whole glorious marble fantasy 717 00:56:52,687 --> 00:56:57,124 crowned by the golden image of winged victory. 718 00:56:57,167 --> 00:56:59,556 Britain's triumph. 719 00:57:12,007 --> 00:57:15,283 By the time this grandiose memorial was unveiled, 720 00:57:15,327 --> 00:57:19,081 the cracks in Empire were already starting to show. 721 00:57:19,127 --> 00:57:22,961 Independence movements were springing up, world war was looming, 722 00:57:23,007 --> 00:57:24,759 and within decades, those countries 723 00:57:24,807 --> 00:57:28,516 that Britain had thought of as her overseas possessions 724 00:57:28,567 --> 00:57:30,842 were starting to fall away, 725 00:57:30,887 --> 00:57:35,165 turning what had been planned as a celebration of Empire 726 00:57:35,207 --> 00:57:37,846 into its mausoleum.