- Dołączono
- 12 Sie 2024
Inexorable geopolitical decline how and from what? WWI gave Britian's economy a momentary shock and caused a demographic hiccup - certainly compared to that of the continent - but the undeniable reality is that following WWII, the British empire reached its geopolitical zenith. Perhaps you could argue that it would still be brought down by unquantifiable forces that were unleashed by WWII and would affect all of western civilization in the coming decades, and perhaps, but even that's questionable given Britain got off from the Depression lightly compared to other western countries historically, and those forces were only fully triumphant thanks to the destruction of WWII.
National sentiment in India was already predominant amongst Indian elites in the 1920s, and Britain not getting involved in WWI would not have averted the inevitable reckoning with the subcontinental frankenstein the Anglos had created. Whether or not India would have been peacefully allowed to leave, or whether Britain could maintain its rule over the subcontinent, however, is missing the point; even had India left, the Empire would have still persisted. 1940 was not the 18th century; India's utility to the empire had become increasingly marginal in the industrial age, and having to manage it was becoming an increasing liability. Canada, Australia and New Zealand were not sources of colonial unrest for Britain.
As for good will and pride, Britain historically sacrificed that anyways! They did nothing to save Austria and Czechoslovakia, the support Poland was relying on to sustain its own bellicose policies was hot air, this was repeated to disastrous effect with Yugoslavia, and the attack on Mers-el Kebir was a black stain on the Royal Navy.
all the time.