End of days

It's all over!  Yes, I know you realise it is but it's still amazing how the memory lingers on and leads some poor fools to imagine that it can, in some way, be resurrected  What am I waffling on about today, well, this map should give you a clue:

 

Yes, by Jove, by Jingo, the British Empire in all its power and gory glory.  Here's another version of it:

 

You must admit that back in the day the chaps, and yes, quite a few 'chapettes', did awfully well.  These maps with their large splodges of red were part of my early education beginning around 1944.  So, in a single lifetime - poof! - it's gone, vanished, disappeared, and we can only smile at the unintended irony of Prospero's words: 

You do look, my son, in a moved sort,
As if you were dismay'd: be cheerful, sir.
Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea all which it inherit, shall dissolve
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.

Sorry, all of this geography, history and literature is by way of repeating that which I have droned on about before, that is, Britain is no longer a world power.  We are not even a leading European power.  Oddly enough, I am beginning to think that 'Dim Dave' has actually recognised this even if the bellicose 'Brass' at the MoD have not.  Also, and perhaps more important, I have the sense that the British people as a whole have realised it which is why the dead certainty of yet more defence cuts by whichever party forms the next government has barely raised a ripple on the calm - lethargic? - pool of public opinion.  In fact it seems to have raised more panic in Washington than here as various 'apparatchiks' and Generals complain bitterly that we - and the other Europeans - are not pulling our weight in NATO.  Sorry, Buddy, but can you spare a rocket?

The implications are indeed fairly serious and I will discuss them in more detail in my next post.

  

Comments

[Whitewall]

If the next PM will just nick name himself "Vlad", much of the Empire can be reestablished quickly. NATO is another matter.

[JK]

I David, simply can't bear to read your crying over your spil't beer as it were. So I hunted up a couple, well two links but the one concerning your "Jacky" Fisher available as it is on Wiki I'll just be stealing from in the form of an excerpt sure to cheer you up as much as it did me.

http://breakingdefense.com/2014/08/sunk-costs-new-carriers-commit-uk-to-buy-escorts-f-35bs-says-1st-sea-lord/

(And don't you worry your head David, about getting your 135 F-35Bs, the aircraft "we" are assured will deploy in 2010, 2011,2012, 2013, 2016, but certainly no later than 2020. And only a mere One Fucking Trillion US $mackaroos (so far) over budget (I haven't a clue how many One Fucking US Trillion $mackaroos equates to in, what izzit, £ackaroos but I'm pretty sure that'd be eye-watering.)

_______________

But I've promised David, something more cheery haven't I? Well, Dear Boy I've been reading up on another of your Sea Lords accomplishments ... Whitewall? you ever heard of Jacky Fisher?

"He was not keen on sport, but he was a highly proficient dancer. He became interested in dancing in 1877 and insisted that the officers of his ship learn to dance. Fisher cancelled the leave of midshipmen who would not take part. He introduced the practice of junior officers dancing on deck when the band was playing for senior officers' wardroom dinners. This practice spread through the fleet.

...

He suffered from seasickness throughout his life."

[JK]

Whitewall?

Ever hear of a British Sea Lord name of Jacky Fisher? Me either. I'll excerpt from his Wiki page as I'll be needing to leave David cheery since I'm reminding him of his, and SoD's (and BOE's and later Aussie D's and Andra's and descendants) buying F-35s to put aboard their carriers. Well, mabe just the one carrier.

Catchy title this doncha think David? Sounds like something you'd put up, "Sunk Costs."

http://breakingdefense.com/2014/08/sunk-costs-new-carriers-commit-uk-to-buy-escorts-f-35bs-says-1st-sea-lord/

____________

I did mention Dear Boy David, leaving you something to dry your eyes?

"He was not keen on sport, but he was a highly proficient dancer. Fisher became interested in dancing in 1877 and insisted that the officers of his ship learn to dance. Fisher cancelled the leave of midshipmen who would not take part. He introduced the practice of junior officers dancing on deck when the band was playing for senior officers' wardroom dinners. This practice spread through the fleet. He broke with the then ball tradition of dancing with a different partner for each dance, instead adopting the scandalous habit of choosing one good dancer as his partner for the evening."

[Andra]

I love the idea of the dancing sailors.
Just let me get this right.......were the sailors dancing with other sailors or did they find female dancing partners?

[missred]

like this? http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/44/Warspite_cadets_dancing_the_hornpipe_1928.jpg/300px-Warspite_cadets_dancing_the_hornpipe_1928.jpg

[missred]

and the americans:
http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/f5/28/90/f52890d369364f41b14522b5dc9cb48f.jpg

[jimmy glesga]

As Empires go the British one was probably as good as the Romans except for the wine, drainage and the aquaducts. The Yanks and Aussies would probably vote to join in again. I would leave out the Irish as all they want is our money.

[Backofanenvelope]

If the British Empire was re-established we would be overwhelmed with volunteers! Oh! We are being overwhelmed already!

[Andra]

Jimmy, we Aussies are still in it............at least until the queen goes to god.
After then, we're up for grabs.

[David Duff]

JK, have a care, sir, you are speaking of one of my (very few) heroes. Jacky Fisher was a truly great Englishman and sailor who did as much as anyone to ensure that Britain won WWI without, himself, firing a shot in anger. As I have said before, his statue should be placed on the empty plinth in Trafalgar Square instead of all that post-modernist crap!

[AussieD]

Jacky Fisher was one of those rare people who pop up from time to time. His insistence on the introduction of the Dreadnought class of capital ship changed the face of naval warfare until the aircraft carrier came along.

You lot don't deserve another Empire as you've cosied up to the EU and mobs you spent centuries fighting and beating.

[David Duff]

You're right, AussieD, Fisher was a one-off and although he never beat the Germans in a naval battle at least he beat the British Admiralty and the politicians of his day - a much tougher set of foes!

As for the empire, to be honest, I don't want another one - too expensive and far too much trouble!

[jimmy glesga]

You are probably right David. When the Empire was gone we let the Empire in. The ancestors of our present day suicide bombers.

[BennyB]

It's not all bad though...

The sun still hasn't set on the British empire (and probably won't for quite a while yet).

https://what-if.xkcd.com/48/

[David Duff]

Thanks, BennyB, a comforting link, er, well, sort of!

[john malpas]

Very soon the only remnant of thr british Empire will be the English language - and as spoken by Peter Sellars - and this only for a while.
Even in the USA English has given way to Spanish and such like in many places..

[Backofanenvelope]

Language informs the way you see life. What an inheritence from a small island off the coast of Europe!