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April 18, 2000
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THE TEMPTATIONS OF POWERHow did Britain allow herself to get into this mess, almost committing national suicide in the process? The answer is that she did not realise what she was doing. Where most Empires come from the ruthless application of military and economic might for a specific strategic purpose, some do not. The British are an example of this later group. The British simply took large areas of the world because they were unchallenged. This meant that small groups of people, often organised into private companies, took over huge areas of the globe. North America, Australasia, India and South Africa were all quickly taken up because the British had no significant maritime rivals from the eclipse of Louis XIV until the First World War. The empire was effortless and unconscious, except for a few lucid moments such as the infamous scramble for Africa. Britain had overextended herself because she met so little resistance. Does this sound familiar? THE GUILTY MENWhat is so frustrating about the whole process is that there was the opportunity afforded by the breathing space between the first and second world wars to rid Britain of her Empire. Although it could be argued that India’s Congress movement was not prepared for self-government by the early 1930s, the same could be said fifteen years later and this time there would have been no Muslim League or partition with Pakistan. The colonies could have been force fed independence with no adverse consequences to either Britain or the colonies. The Dominions were already independent, Britain could, if she had been more clearly sighted have severed the military guarantees with the Dominions, the Dominions under threat would have had to raise military spending to British levels. The fact was that this was not done. Instead, the British Empire actually increased. The collapse of the Ottoman Empire meant that Britain and France were suddenly thrown into the Arabian cauldron. The loss of German overseas possessions meant that Britain and her Dominions suddenly had a cluster of new protectorates on their hands. When the over extension was starting to show, Britain expanded her Empire that bit further. THE ONE THAT GOT AWAYMy pessimistic analysis of the effect of the British Empire has a certain exception. One former British colony in the end saved Britain. Well in fact it was thirteen former colonies and thirty-five other states. (Pedants here will point out that Maine, West Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky were also part of the former colonies so it is closer to thirty-one other states). It is undoubtedly the case that, as Bismarck predicted in 1898, the dominant factor of the twentieth century was that North America spoke English. American industrial might, scientific ability and military manpower dragged Britain out of the mire. Even if Britain could have survived without American military intervention, it is hard to see how she could have survived without the raw materials and industrial output made in the USA. The question must be asked, why was America different? The answer is obvious; America became independent sooner. The decisions on the economy, the land and immigration where made with America in mind rather than a remote mother country. Naturally America flourished and grew. The very fact that Britain lost in 1769 saved her in 1940. A WARNING FOR TODAYEmpires are dangerously seductive things. They make you feel big. In the case of England, and America, they seem effortless. However, they do have their dangers, and in more cases than we realise, they can cripple otherwise healthy patients. The problem is if they come about so naturally, can they be stopped? My answer is that they may be able to be. However, in Britain even Gladstone, a man opposed in his very core to the notion of empire, acquiesced with imperial expansion in Africa. Even if the flow towards empire can be diverted, it will need a great deal of willpower. Nevertheless, the example of Britain’s near death experience in 1940 should provide the impetus to try to summon as much willpower as possible. Please Support Antiwar.comA contribution of $25 or more gets you a copy of Justin Raimondo's Into the Bosnian Quagmire: The Case Against US Intervention in the Balkans, a 60-page booklet packed with the kind of intellectual ammunition you need to fight the lies being put out by this administration and its allies in Congress. Send contributions to Antiwar.com or
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