Question

The Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton. What does this mean?

Answer 1

Hint: It’s frequently said that the Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton. This has a meaning that says Britain’s military success was based on the values taught to school boys in their public schools. Eton was the most popular of these schools. The English boarding school was referred to as the institution that trained English boys for careers in the military, the civil service and the church, the three great institutions of imperial England.

Complete answer: The battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton since-
(i) The British were given to believe the main reason that tipped the balance in their favour in wars was the superior character of its young men which was built in the boarding schools at the time of playing games such as cricket.
(ii) Eton was one of the very famous English boarding schools and trained English boys for careers in the military, civil service as well as the church.
(iii) All the famous public schools saw team sports such as cricket not just as outdoor play, but as an organised way of teaching English boys, the discipline, the importance of hierarchy, the remarkable skills, the codes of honour along with the qualities of leadership that also helped them build as well as run the British Empire.
(iv)Along with the help of the game, cricket-the ideal for which cricket was played was not for victory or profit but for its own sake, in the spirit of fair play, the British imperialists sought to justify their conquests plus glorify the self image of English elite as “unselfish acts”.
(v) Somehow it suited the English ruling class to believe that it was the superior character of its young men built on playing fields which tipped the balance, the Napoleanic wars were won because of the economic resources of England. It was the progress in trade as well as industry that made England, the world’s greatest power.

Note: The battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton" is knowingly ascribed to the Duke of Wellington, who was a graduate of Eton College as well as a commander in chief of the British and allied armies at Waterloo. The popular quotation is only a polished-up version of what the Iron Duke said. This statement has a meaning that Britain's military success was based on the value which was taught to the school boys in the public school of " Eton ". Eton was one of the most popular schools.