Last night of the proms

Anthony Eden, British PM during Suez Crisis

Swedish history professor Dick Harrison has been very productive lately, almost creating a cottage industry all his own of abridged versions (or are they just condensed) of his own voluminous tomes. Not a moment too soon – although I *have* read some of Harrison´s doorstoppers, there are only so many hours in a day, so the slim editions of his oeuvres on everything from Northern crusades to the Thirty-Year War are welcome to say the least. They are still grossly overpriced, though – that is, until a recent discount campaign strangely coinciding with Halloween.

“Brittiska Imperiet: Uppgång och Fall” is a 166-page work on the rise and fall of the British Empire. The author also tries to teach us a thing or two about the French revolution, the Napoleonic Wars, World War I and World War II, including why Hitler lost Operation Barbarossa and other topics not directly connected to British imperial history. It *is* somewhat bewildering, if you are entirely new to these topics, so in a worst case scenario, I suppose you have to read the main work, “Englands historia” in two volumes. Devouring books about French and German history presumably helps, too!

Harrison´s take on the British Empire is mostly a critical one. The British presumably like to remember Livingstone and his gentlemanly fight against slavery, but overall, there are very few Mr Livingstones in this story. The trans-Atlantic slave trade, destruction of the Indian textile industry, the opium war against China, the concentration camps during the Boer Wars, the extermination of the Tasmanians, incompatible promises to Jews and Arabs during World War I – overall, it´s not a pretty story.  Meanwhile, working class slums and sheer misery was the lot of many ordinary Brits back home in the imperial metropolis. Harrison points out that the empire, despite territorial gains, became weaker after World War I, and might very well have lost the war against Germany had it not been for the resolute intervention of the United States. It became even weaker after World War II, when the US definitely took over as the sole Western superpower. The effective end of the empire came in 1956 when the United States joined the Soviet Union and demanded a British withdrawal from the Suez Canal.

Yet, the empire still lives on, culturally speaking. Indeed, it seems to be stronger than ever, as can be seen in our constant fascination with Victorian culture, Charles Dickens, the detective characters of Arthur Conan Doyle or Agatha Christie, Robin Hood and king Arthur, and of course British pop music. And yes, I´m writing this in the English language – had William Jennings Bryan been US president in 1914, I assume I would have addressed you in German!

How does Harrison believe that England went from a backwater to an empire? He points to several factors. Ironically, the relative isolation of the English on an island is one reason. It made their territory difficult to invade from the mainland, while also giving the English and British rulers an opportunity to abstain from continental European affairs. Instead, they could concentrate their resources on overseas expansion, building up a strong navy and merchant fleet in the process. The American Revolution was, in Harrison´s view, almost an accident – for the first and only time, Britain´s enemies united (sort of) against Perfidious Albion, leading to the loss of 13 colonies in North America, the future United States. Otherwise, Britannia really did rule the waves, and Britain became even stronger due to the Industrial Revolution and its technological innovations. Still, Harrison constantly emphasizes the military side of the imperial equation. Without a strong fleet and superior weaponry, Britain would presumably not have been able to patrol the globe in defense of their dominions, no matter what economic strength they could project. Yes, Harrison is a left-liberal pacifist, and evidently no libertarian! At some point, the empire simply became unsustainable, Britain being forced to evacuate its position to the United States.

I suppose this has certain consequences for the future trajectory of the American Empire…

In contrast to good ol´ Britannia, the United States doesn´t have any friendly ally it can pass the cudgel to once American Empire goes the way of the British ditto. America has only enemies and geopolitical competitors, Russia and China being the strongest ones. This might lead a citizen of good will to draw the conclusion that perhaps the US should make more friends, but so far this eminently sensible strategy doesn´t have as many takers as it perhaps should. Which doesn´t bode well for the future. It´s also interesting to speculate if American culture will be as dominant as British ditto still is, despite its empire disappearing. I almost suspect the answer is “no”: American culture, really pop culture, is too closely associated with American economic ascendancy and abundance. I wouldn´t be surprised if it´s replaced on a broad front with *British* culture, say weird retro-nostalgia about the Victorians…

With that, I end these reflections.