History Main / WhatTheRomansHaveDoneForUs

* In a conversation between Lelouch and Kallen in ''Anime/CodeGeass'', Lelouch admits that Area 11's economy is much stronger than Japan's was before Britannia invaded (But on the other side of the equation, Britannia's oppression of the native population caused the crime rate to skyrocket).

* In the second ''VideoGame/InfinityBlade'' novel, after [[spoiler:the [[BigBad Worker of Secrets]] plants an imposter GodEmperor on the throne to eliminate the real one's ties to his allies and access to his resources while letting his empire fall to ruin through complete lack of leadership]], Siris and Isa bitterly admit that, while the GodKing was a cruel, megalomaniacal tyrant, his rule was still much better than the current anarchy. [[spoiler: It even turns out that the cruelty was just a ploy to [[BatmanGambit rile up the population enough to send the Sacrifice needed to power the titular Infinity Blade every generation]], and he decides that after [[EnemyMine Siris and Isa (begrudgingly) help him reclaim his throne]], his people are due for a few millennia's worth of GoldenAge.]]

-->''[[Film/MontyPythonsLifeOfBrian Brought]] [[BrickJoke peace.]]''

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* Adam Hart-Davis hosted a series of documentaries titled "What The [Civilisation]s Did For Us" which focused on how some generally unpopular periods in British history (Roman occupation, Victorian times) led to important parts of British society.
* Historians and writers of UsefulNotes/TheRomanRepublic and UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire would point out that Romans were quite open about "What have the Carthaginians/Greeks/Egyptians/Persians done for us".
** The Latin historian Sallust quotes UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar making an oration citing this in his book ''The War with Catiline'':
--> '''Caesar''': Our ancestors, Fathers of the Senate, were never lacking either in wisdom or courage, and [[ForeignCultureFetish yet pride did not keep them from adopting foreign institutions]], provided they were honourable. They took their offensive and defensive weapons from the Samnites, the badges of their magistrates for the most part from the Etruscans. In fine, whatever they found suitable among allies or foes, they put in practice at home with the greatest enthusiasm, [[SincerestFormOfFlattery preferring to imitate rather than envy the successful]].
** It is absolutely true that the Romans (like the Greeks before them) saw themselves as superior over barbarians (i.e. non-Romans: other Italian tribes, Greeks, Gauls, Germans, Britannics, Persians, Judeans et al.) but that superiority was civic and military. The cultural and intellectual nationalism of the Romantic era (which underpinned colonialist propaganda) was not really a thing for the ancient Romans. During the UsefulNotes/PunicWars, the Romans admitted to have reverse-engineered Carthaginian triremes to match their rivals on sea, and even during the third and final Carthaginian war, express orders were given to preserve Carthaginian texts and other knowledge about agriculture for their benefit. The Romans were also remorseful about killing Archimedes (who allied with the Carthaginians) during the siege of Syracuse, as well as accidentally burning the library of Alexandria during Caesar's invasion.
** Likewise, the Romans admitted that Greeks were superior to them in language and culture despite conquering and subjugating them. Caesar admitted that Egyptian astronomers were smarter than Romans and borrowed from them to devise the Julian calendar. Indeed, part of the reasons why Romans were so proud and smug was because they saw themselves as the underdog defeating and subjugating smarter, richer and more powerful civilizations. The Romans also were big on syncretism and always hungry for new religious fads and despite the fact that the Persian Empires of Parthia and Sassanid were historical holdouts against the Romans, they still borrowed stuff from Persian culture most notably the highly popular Mithras and Manichean beliefs which could have potentially displaced Christianity being that they were far more popular among the lower-classes than Christianity was for a while.
* An old joke about Fascism states that [[RepressiveButEfficient at least it makes the trains run on time]]. In actual fact, [[FascistButInefficient they never did]]. UsefulNotes/FascistItaly and UsefulNotes/NaziGermany were highly inefficient and incompetent on bureaucracy and only got on as well as they did for as long as they did (which was not very long after all) was because they came to power in advanced nations with developed bureaucracies, and the infrastructure was relatively sound before them.
** The things that ''might'' be considered products of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, collectively: development of Italy's film industry (the first film festival Venice and the studios Cinecitta was built and sponsored by Mussolini himself), the first affordable car (the Volkswagen[[note]]which despite a lot of empty promises never saw widespread peaceful use during the Nazi time. Almost all early [=VWs=] went directly to the Wehrmacht[[/note]]), development of rocket technology (Wernher von Braun), plus the first anti-smoking, animal protection and conservation laws (the latter two of which remain in Germany).
** The Autobahn, which is often cited as something the Nazis did has actually relatively little to do with them aside from propaganda. The first Autobahn was built in 1932 and inaugurated by one Konrad Adenauer, at that time mayor of Cologne and a staunch (conservative) anti-Nazi. While the Nazis did build a lot of Autobahns (mostly for their alleged military value, which in the end consisted in allowing Eisenhower to waltz in even easier than he otherwise would have), the plans they used had been drawn up in Weimar times and the Nazis used cheap labor in make work programs and later forced labor to get something done the Weimar Republic could not afford (partially due to austerity policies and partially because public housing was a much larger priority). The Autobahns people today use sometimes still use the original Nazi routes but have of course been rebuilt and replaced many times since then.
* Defenders of Communism and the Soviet Union often invoke this. They note that the Communists generally spread literacy and education to the lower strata of society, played a major role in spreading female employment and promoted social revolutions across the world, such as American Communists organizing black neighborhoods in the South during TheGreatDepression, and UsefulNotes/FidelCastro backing Nelson Mandela and sending doctors across Africa to poor neighborhoods.
** Creator/KarlMarx himself also noted that capitalism had been vital in destroying far worse institutions like slavery and feudalism. One of the more interesting lines in the manifesto reads "The Bourgeoisie [[note]]Marxist speak for those who own means of production[[/note]] [[PetTheDog has been a truly revolutionary class]] in the past"
** In former Eastern Bloc countries outside the USSR itself, defenders of the Soviet Union tend to dismiss the atrocities of Soviet occupation and the following repressions by puppet regimes with "they freed us from the nazis" and "you'd be speaking German if not for them" arguments.
* Related to MajoredInWesternHypocrisy, occasionally apologists of colonialism and imperialism both in ex-colonies and ex-empires will try and invoke this as a justification or post-facto rationalization as a "good thing". It's noted that the ideas that drove anti-colonial resistance movements, i.e., democracy/nationalism/self-determination came from contact with the West. Resistance leaders don't deny this, rather they point out that these ideas should be practiced and extended to all people and they could be spread without conquest and colonization. When asked about "Western Civilization", UsefulNotes/MahatmaGandhi famously stated, "[[DeadpanSnarker I think it would be a good idea]]."
* Many infrastructure projects in former colonies were built by the colonizers. Of course, mostly for entirely self-serving reasons (most railway lines will link a mine to a port rather than two major cities) but several countries in Africa have not notably extended their railway network since colonial times. With the rise of China as a global power, Chinese investment is building railway lines, highways, ports and other infrastructure - again mostly for entirely self-serving reasons, but the countries which receive this type of self-serving "aid" are not exactly in a position where numerous investors line up around the block to give credits at favorable rates.
* In the run-up to the British referendum on whether or not to stay within the EU, the ''Guardian'' newspaper's website carried a [[https://www.theguardian.com/culture/video/2016/apr/25/patrick-stewart-sketch-what-has-the-echr-ever-done-for-us-video sketch]] in which Creator/PatrickStewart played a bluff, no-nonsense prime minister opposed to the European Convention on Human Rights, who asks his cabinet what it's ever done for them. They all agree with him enthusiastically, but one by one they point out that it's provided the right to a fair trial, privacy laws, religious freedom, freedom from slavery, etc. Eventually he loses patience and says that they don't need European bureaucrats to enforce all those things:
-->'''Patrick Stewart''': This is Britain! The land of Magna Carta! We invented human rights, for God's sake! We should be writing our own bill of rights, and foisting it on the Europeans! [''chuckles''] Let's see how they'd like it then!\\
'''Adviser''': ...Ah. W-we've already done that, actually.\\
'''Patrick Stewart''': What?\\
'''Adviser''': Well, after we won the war, British legal experts did draft a bill of human rights to help Europe sort itself out, you know, protect people from abuses of state power, that kind of thing.\\
'''Patrick Stewart''': Eh?\\
'''Adviser''': Oh yes.\\
'''Patrick Stewart''': ...You sure?\\
'''Adviser''': Oh yes.\\
'''Patrick Stewart''': Well...well, eh...that's good. [''Pause''] What's it called?\\
'''Adviser''': ...The European Convention on Human Rights.\\
[''Pause. The rest of the cabinet stare at the table, embarrassed.'']\\
'''Patrick Stewart''': ...Oh, FUCK OFF! [''Gets up and storms out'']
* As today's closest analog to the Roman Empire is the US, people outside the US might ask themselves, "what have the Yankees ever done for us?".
** {{Eagleland}} types 1 go with [[AmericaWinsTheWar You'd be speaking German without them]][[note]]does not apply in Germany[[/note]] to they defended you against [[DirtyCommies Soviet Russia]] to, oh well they kinda went in and toppled a democratically elected popular leader, bummer that.
** As far as Western Europe is concerned, the US Government's Marshall Plan played a major part in its post-war development and rebuilding, sparking an economic boom across multiple nations. While there's some grubbing and sniping among some, notably about them doing this to keep the commies down and creating a new market for their surplus goods and so on, it's generally accepted to have been beneficial and many people argue in favor of Marshall Plan-like initiatives to relieve poverty.
** Of course there's the Internet, developed as a direct result of the US Government's DARPA program to fund bleeding-edge scientific initiatives, which ultimately revolutionized global communications and which everyone everywhere agrees is here to stay.
** NATO often complains about the heavy handedness of the United States, which is a good point. However, UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump pointed out to other NATO nations that the US pays 67% of the Defense Budget of NATO despite having only a 3rd of NATO's entire population. To be fair, out of ''total'' budget, the USA pays only 22%. The issue comes in that NATO nations sometimes complain about US troops being in their countries... when the USA is the one having to make the weapons ''to defend'' said countries. Said countries don't use US weapons and don't make or import enough of their own to protect themselves. The other problem is NATO countries complaining about the USA getting too quick to launch an attack... when the USA does the majority of the lifting in agreed-upon military actions.
** American culture has also played a role in the lives of foreigners with most of their global conglomerates, cinema, mass media, cuisine, and technology-- to the point that there's a [[EaglelandOsmosis trope]] for foreign countries mistakenly think aspects of their own nation work similarly in America.
* While Balkan countries mostly avert this trope regarding the Ottoman empire (blaming its centuries-long influence for issues like corruption and backwardness dating all the way back to the Enlightenment which had no equivalent to the Ottoman world), it is commonly admitted that the empire enabled some cultural contributions to the countries. For one, just like Muslims, Christians could also become "Hadji" (normally a title reserved for Muslims who had made a pilgrimage to Mecca) by making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem since it was now within Ottoman borders. Balkan cuisine is also the result of a strong Ottoman influence, evidenced by its reliance on tomatoes and potatoes, which were brought from America during Ottoman times.
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Compare NoDelaysForTheWicked, BenevolentAlienInvasion, and TheExtremistWasRight. Also see RepressiveButEfficient for claims about how a country's ''own'' tyrannical ruler improved society.

-->''[[Film/MontyPythonsLifeOfBrian Brought]] [[BrickJoke peace?]]''

----

** American culture has also played a role in the lives of foreigners with most of their global conglomerates, cinema, mass media, cuisine, technology-- to the point that there's a [[EaglelandOsmosis trope]] for foreign countries mistakenly think aspects of their own nation work similarly in America.

** American culture has also played role in the lives of foreigners with most of their global conglomerates, cinema, mass media,, cuisine, technology-- to the point there's also a [[EaglelandOsmosis trope]] for foreign countries mistakenly think aspects of their own nation work similarly in America.

->'''Reggie:''' All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, [[TropeNamer what have the Romans ever done for us?]]
->'''Xerxes:''' Brought peace?
->'''Reggie:''' Oh, peace? SHUT UP!
-->-- ''Film/MontyPythonsLifeOfBrian''

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' often invokes this via "What the Targaryens Have Done for Us". Even after the ousting of the Targaryen regime, it's generally admitted that the Valyrian monarchs centralized most of Westeros into a single realm which put an end to endemic local warfare, for the most part put an end to Ironborn reeving, kept the Faith of the Seven on a leash, and also developed trade via the creation of a new city like King's Landing, while earlier rulers also abolished horrible practices like DroitDuSeigneur and established a uniform code of law for the entire realm. But it's also a DownplayedTrope. While the Targaryens frame themselves as Valyrians, they were not able to offer Westeros anything in the way of Valyrian technology, like road-building or [[FantasyMetals magic steelworking]]. And while the Targaryens ''did'' put an end to the warfare between ''local Westerosi kingdoms'', they ushered in generations worth of civil wars amid ''House Targaryen''.

[[folder:Anime and Manga ]]

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' by Creator/GeorgeRRMartin often invokes this via "What The Targaryens Have Done For Us". It's generally admitted even after the ousting of the Targaryen regime that the Valyrian monarchs centralized most of Westeros into a single realm, which put an end to endemic warfare between the Seven Kingdoms, for the most part put an end to Ironborn reaving, kept the Faith of the Seven on a leash and also developed trade via the creation of a new city like King's Landing, while earlier rulers also abolished horrible practices like DroitDuSeigneur and established a uniform code of law for the entire realm.

--> '''Caesar''': "Our ancestors, Fathers of the Senate, were never lacking either in wisdom or courage, and [[ForeignCultureFetish yet pride did not keep them from adopting foreign institutions]], provided they were honourable. They took their offensive and defensive weapons from the Samnites, the badges of their magistrates for the most part from the Etruscans. In fine, whatever they found suitable among allies or foes, they put in practice at home with the greatest enthusiasm, [[SincerestFormOfFlattery preferring to imitate rather than envy the successful]]."

** "You forgot to mention the royal highway network, like the Kingsroad" - "Well, the roads go without saying!"

* In ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' Gil [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20090225#.Wz1xstJKjrc pokes holes]] in Zola's ideas about Baron Wulfenbach's "tyranny" by bringing up his infrastructure projects, and reminding her that every other government in Spark-ruled Europa is even worse. Granted, he might be a bit biased seeing how he's the Baron's son and heir.

->'''Reggie:''' All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' by Creator/GeorgeRRMartin often invokes this via "What The Targaryens Have Done For Us". It's generally admitted even after the ousting of the Targaryen regime that the Valyrian monarchs centralized most of Westeros into a single realm, which put an end to endemic warfare between the Seven Kingdoms, for the most part put an end to Ironborn reaving, kept the Faith of the Seven on a leash and also developed trade via the creation of a new city like King's Landing, while earlier rulers also abolished horrible practices like DroitDuSeigneur and made laws common across the realm.