Abstract
When I first visited Western Europe, around 1910, I felt that I was in the middle of things. London, Paris, and Berlin were immense, solidly built capitals of thriving nations and planet-wide empires. The British Empire topped the show. Scattered over a quarter of the earth, with half a billion inhabitants, its 132 possessions spanned all five continents. British merchant fleets sailed the seas. The British Navy dominated the oceans. British businessmen were everywhere, the pound sterling was the medium of world exchange, and English was replacing French as the language of trade and diplomacy. The French Empire was almost equally widespread. Russia, Germany, and Austro-Hungary ranged only a little behind, with Holland, Italy, Belgium, and Spain in the background. Europe was the center of Western civilization. It felt strong and looked massive and permanent.This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.
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