Quote:I confess it is difficult to keep track of an argument that goes from saying the British empire "dissolved" 100 years before WWII
As well as forgetting what I said, you keep making it up. This is another of the dozen or so examples of you substituting your little fantasy for what I actually posted.
Quote:Why is it so difficult to comprehend the very simple concept that free trade and imperialism goes hand in hand?
Are they married or something? It happened at the same time. That does not one depends on the other.
Quote:What we saw in Europe at the time was a mutually beneficial arrangement whereby they colluded with each other in conquering and exploiting the vast territories in the new worlds
Crap. They competed against and undermined each other. This competition was one of the causes of WWI. There was not even any need for collusion. It's not like Africa asked France whether it was OK for Germany to set up a colony.
It was mutually beneficial in the sense that they traded with each other instead of invading. Yet again your own evidence backs up my argument, but you are simply too blind to see how.
Quote:Another point you stubbornly refuse to look at the actual historical evidence. When did Britain yield its territory?
Pretty much every single time. I am not saying they pushed them out the door. I am saying that compared to the model of traditional militant imperialism, it was far more peaceful, and the gradual shift in attitude to capitalism and free trade enabled that. I am looking at the same evidence as you. I can just see it for what it actually is.
Quote:Apart from the traditional colonies - which were incorporated into the European market anyway - I can think of not a single British holding that was relinquished until the free market/capitalist system that fostered its acquisition and maintenance, effectively collapsed as a result of the free trade nations turning on each other.
Like I keep pointing out, Britain started the process of handing local control to India well before WWII. Your next most significant example - South Africa - was already handed over. Britain only had genuine control over the smaller basket case nations.
Furthermore, WWII did not cause capitalism to collapse. It was a victory for the new model over the old model.
Quote:Or in other words, what territories of the British empire were yielded before WWI?
Changing your argument yet again eh? BTW, there were plenty.
Quote:What examples are there of Britain yielding territory of their empire primarily as a result of willingly transitioning to a free trade arrangement within a thriving capitalist system - as opposed to yielding them as a result of a near collapse of their prosperity in the capitalist system as a result of WWI and WWII? I can think of none.
In every example of Britain yielding territory there was conscious consideration of establishing a good trade relationship. Every single one. You cannot think of any because you are making it up as you go along.
Quote:Like I keep saying - saying that British imperialism was declining because it was quite successful at acquiring new territory with remarkably little military or economic cost to itself - is not an argument.
True, it is only part of an argument. The rest of the argument is also there, should you wish to read it.
Quote:Thats not to say the expansion wasn't violent.
Which is why no-one is claiming that.
Quote:Yet when you pit rifles against spears - as was the case in most of their conquest of Africa - the results are going to be somewhat lobsided.
Of course. And is conquering a bunch of spear waving tribesman the same as conquering France? Is it a massive expansion of imperialism, or the relegation of imperialism to the places that "don't matter"?
Quote:The British were incredibly violent in conquering independent economic movements in India, Africa and China - violence that was many times the scale of the American war of independence, as already pointed out.
Only if you completely fail to put it into perspective. I gave an explanation and an example of this already. You are welcome to respond to that, rather than parroting the same nonsense and ignoring my response.
Quote:In short, British imperialism was remarkably efficient - but it was still imperialism.
You are not actually contradicting anything I have said. Your entire argument seems to rest on pretending I am saying something that I am not. You asked me to explain the argument. I explained it. You went back to making it up as you go along - not just your own argument, but my argument as well.