At the height of its imperial greatness, there is dis-
cernible in the Edwardian Britain of the early
twentieth century a new mood of uncertainty,
even of apprehension about the future. Why
should this be so?
British society had shown itself remarkably suc-
cessful in adapting to new conditions brought
about by the industrial revolution. The inevitable
social changes were taking place without violence.
Britain had passed peacefully through some two
decades of difficult economic conditions. The
apprehensive mood was related more to its future
role in the world. On the face of it the British
Empire was the most powerful in the world: the
navy ‘ruled the waves’; Britain’s wealth was
matched by no other European state; a war in
South Africa had been brought to a successful end
in 1902, though it had not enhanced Britain’s
military reputation. Superficially the Edwardian
age was elegant and opulent, the king giving a
lead to fashionable society and doing little else,
despite the myth about his influence on affairs of
state. But it was obvious that in the years to come
Britain would face great changes.
The effects of trade on British industry
were widely discussed. It was argued that British
industrial management was not good enough. If
British industrialists did not wake up, authors of
books like Made in Germany (1896) and the
American Invaders (1902) warned, Britain would
be overtaken and become a second-rate industrial
power.People feared another depression and rightly
sensed that British industry was lagging behind
that of the US and Germany. This can indeed be
seen in the comparative growth in value of man-
ufactured exports of the world’s three leading
industrial nations.
Britain’s economic performance during the
years from 1900 to 1914 showed several weak-
nesses. The ‘first’ industrial revolution was spread-
ing to the less developed world. A textile industry
was being built up in Japan and India. But Britain
continued to rely on a few traditional industries
such as cotton textiles, which for a time continued
to grow strongly because of worldwide demand.
The coal industry, employing more than a million
men in 1914, still dominated the world’s coal
export trade due to the fortunate fact that British
coal mines were close to the sea, making possible
cheap transportation to other parts of the world.
Together with iron and steel, coal and textiles
accounted for the greater part of Britain’s exports.
After 1900 British exporters found increasing dif-
ficulty in competing with Germany and the US in
the developing industrial countries. At home, for-
eign manufacturers invaded the British market.
The speed of the American and German growth of
production is very striking. This success was partly
due to the increasing disparity between Britain’s,
Germany’s and America’s populations.
The story these statistics told was one people
felt in their bones. Of course, it would be a
mistake to believe that Britain and its industry(^1) Chapter 2
THE BRITISH EMPIRE
PREMONITION OF DECLINE