.jpg) |
| 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.
