Hong Kong (2011)
“The sacrifices of 1914–18 had exhausted the British people, and the fire of the imperial idea was fading. Imperialism’s morality was widely questioned, self-determination was everywhere in the air, so that more and more the administrators of Empire approached their task in an apologetic, or at least conciliatory mood. Men of vaulting ambition or reckless disposition seldom looked for a career in the imperial service now; in India the Civil Service was steadily Indianized, in the Colonial Servic...e the recruits most required, it was said, were steady, decent, diligent men, preferably with second-class degrees.
British capitalism seemed to be blunted. As a manufacturing nation Britain had been overtaken, as a commercial nation its supremacy was waning. No longer did the British merchant fleet have a virtual monopoly of the eastern trade. At home the General Strike of 1926, together with the subsequent great depression, seemed to many to signal the end of British prosperity – perhaps of British stability too.MoreLess
British capitalism seemed to be blunted. As a manufacturing nation Britain had been overtaken, as a commercial nation its supremacy was waning. No longer did the British merchant fleet have a virtual monopoly of the eastern trade. At home the General Strike of 1926, together with the subsequent great depression, seemed to many to signal the end of British prosperity – perhaps of British stability too.MoreLess
Read book Hong Kong for free
Write Review:
User Reviews: