courage, its desire that each generation have a wider education and
a greater opportunity, its cool calmness in the face of danger, its
willingness to accept as a duty the responsibility for the lives of
untaught millions living in famine and poverty and to labor for their
welfare, its acceptance of the conviction of duty well done as the
suitable reward for a lifetime of work. To me these seem to outweigh
the pettiness, the snobbery, the overbearing self-confidence. No nation
can do without such positive characteristics, and it will be a sorry
day for Britain if the change in the middle class eliminates their
influence on the country.
We Americans are fond of thinking of Britain as a settled, caste-ridden
society. But at least two groups, the new middle class and the
resettled working class, are on the move or have just moved into a new
status, politically, economically, and socially. Moreover, one large
class, the middle class, is in the process of changing. British society
is much more mobile than it appears from the outside because of the
Britons' desire to retain traditional forms while the substance changes.
As these changes take place, the value of many old indications of class
change also. Accent remains one of the easiest methods for placing
a Briton, but it is no longer an infallible guide. The effect of the
BBC upon British speech has been considerable, and today the clerk in
an obscure provincial shop may talk, if not in the accents of Eton,
at least in a pleasant voice that reveals only a trace of provincial
accent. The disappearance of old robust provincial accents would be a
loss. And an acute ear in London can still, like Shaw's Professor Henry
Higgins, place a Londoner in Wimbledon or Barnes or Stepney. It is the
conviction of many Socialists that equality will never reign in Britain
until there is a universal accent.
Clothes, too, are a much more accurate indication of class in Britain
than in the United States. The derby or bowler is the almost universal
headgear of the upper-class male in the city, with the cap for the
country. The workingman affects a soft hat, sometimes a Homburg and
often a cloth cap. The mass production of clothing came later in
Britain than in the United States, but today the miner can be as warmly
clothed as the banker. The difference lies in the styling given the
banker's clothes by his London tailor. Then, too, the banker may be
far more negligent in his dress than the miner: it is a mistake, if
not a crime, in Britain for a member of the upper class to be too well
dressed.
Nancy Mitford and Professor Alan Ross have made Americans aware of the
infinite variations of U (upper-class) and Non-U (non-upper-class)
phraseology in Britain, but many of the distinctions so carefully
drawn are changing. A young lady of my acquaintance habitually uses
"serviette" instead of "napkin," a crime Miss Mitford ranks just
below arson and beating an old woman with a stick. As she goes to an
expensive and very U school, the young lady was queried about her
choice of words. No one, she reported, had ever heard of Miss Mitford
at her school, and what did it matter anyhow?
There has been no mention of the aristocracy in this long chapter,
which will probably offend readers whose views on Britain have been
formed by the Merrie England school of writing. The fact is that the
aristocracy does not rate a great deal of space in a book dealing with
modern Britain.
The real aristocracy of Britain was composed of the great landowning
families whose power began to decline with the rise, at the start
of the nineteenth century, of the great industrial and commercial
families. The remaining British servants of the old school--the best
judges extant of who is and who is not an aristocrat--are inclined
to look down their noses at the pretensions of Johnny-come-latelies
who earned their titles by services, usually financial, to political
parties, or by the proprietorship of chain stores. To them the people
who count are the old families and the old names--Derby, Norfolk,
Salisbury.
Inheritance taxes, the import of foreign foodstuffs, reckless spending
all contributed to the reduction of the aristocracy's position. One
reason why the institution of monarchy is supported by most and
tolerated by some Socialists is that the Crown does not command the
immediate allegiance of a large, influential, and moneyed aristocracy.
There is no court party between the Crown and the people. The rulers
of Britain have become progressively more popular with the common man
as the influence of the real aristocracy declined. Of course, that
influence has been exerted in a different way. Two recent Conservative
Prime Ministers have been of aristocratic birth. Sir Winston Churchill
was born the grandson of a duke; he was offered a dukedom on his
retirement in 1955 and characteristically refused it. Sir Anthony Eden
comes of an aristocratic North Country family one of whose members was
a colonial governor in Maryland. They headed a Conservative Party that
was middle class rather than aristocratic.
A few members of the old aristocracy strive to continue life as their
fathers and grandfathers knew it, but they fight a losing battle. The
opening of the great country houses to the public, the most desperate
expedients to cut down spending so that the heir can enter the Guards
and the daughter enjoy a proper introduction to London society cannot
compensate for the taxation and for the changes in the character of
British society and in the world.
The aristocracy, the real aristocracy, makes its presence felt in
modern Britain only when such men as Lord Salisbury or Lord Mountbatten
leave the peaceful countryside and contend with the active body of
Britons.
The moment of a significant decline in the aristocracy's position has
seen a gallant defense of it in literature. Both Miss Mitford and
Evelyn Waugh have expounded its virtues of courage and responsibility
in war. The "damn your eyes, follow me, I'm going to do what's right"
idea always appeals powerfully to those who reject thinking for
themselves. It is easy for an author to poke fun at the sober civil
servant or the earnest trade-unionist dropping his _h_'s, but in modern
Britain they are far more important than Lord Fortinbras.
For, as we have seen, this is a society in the throes of change. New
groups are rising to the top just as, and frequently because, Britain's
survival demands new habits, new enterprises. Individual members of
the declining classes who adapt themselves to the changing times will
survive. Lord Salisbury, bearer of an ancient name, presides over
Britain's entry into the age of nuclear fission. But those who cannot
adapt will slowly disappear.
In all this change there is strength. Britain's hope for the future
lies in her ability, proven in the past, to change to meet new
conditions. The nation that has emerged since 1945 is the product of
greater changes than Britain has ever known. There are weak spots--the
lack of individual enterprise on the part of the working class is
certainly one. But the changes so bitterly resented by many are the
best reason for optimism concerning Britain's destiny in this century's
struggle with totalitarian powers.
[Illustration]
VIII. _The British and the World_
_The tumult and the shouting dies;
The Captains and the Kings depart._
RUDYARD KIPLING
_We have no eternal allies and no perpetual enemies; our interests are
eternal, and those interests it is our duty to follow._
LORD PALMERSTON
[Illustration]
More than any other Western European nation, Britain has been
involved in mankind. Geography placed these islands on one of the
main routes between the Old World and the New. Ambition, avarice, and
absent-mindedness combined to create the greatest of modern empires.
Knaves and heroes, sinners and saints, fools and wise men took the
blunt Saxon tongue across the snarling seas and into silent jungles.
Now the Empire nears its end. But the drain of two world wars and the
changes in the world make it more vital than ever to Britain that she
remain a leader of international intercourse--a trader, a diplomat, a
financial clearing-house for much of the world.
In discussing Britain's relations and attitudes toward other peoples,
the whole field of international relations and diplomacy, we enter an
area in which the British feel they are experts. This is a view hotly
opposed by the piously patriotic operatives of the U.S. Department
of State, but perhaps there is something behind the complacent
British assumption. It is difficult otherwise to understand how this
comparatively small island people built a world empire and held it
despite the attempts of some of the greatest conquerors of modern times
to seize it.
One of the most interesting contrasts in British life is that between
the nation's world-wide interests and responsibilities and the strong
strain of xenophobia in the national character. "Niggers begin at
Calais" is only one expression of the Englishman's dislike for all
foreigners, Froggies, Eyeties, Boches, and Russkis. I remember a slight
shock at hearing one of the most eminent of British statesmen ask
what "the Froggies" were up to. Similarly, the British working class,
supposedly friendly to its comrades in other lands, has been remarkably
cool toward inclusion of Polish or Hungarian refugees in its ranks.
There is a strong strain of isolationism in Britain. Usually dormant,
it flowered late in 1956 after condemnation of the United Kingdom by
the United States and other members of the United Nations. In periods
of crisis the British have often been alone. In 1940 the surrender of
France left the British without a major European ally. Physically this
was a grievous blow. Psychologically it rallied the people. In the
past there has been considerable agitation in British politics against
imperialism. Overseas investment and new export markets in overseas
colonies made imperialism important. But the "Little Englanders"
persist. Their heir is the man who wants the British government to get
out of the United Nations, NATO, SEATO, and the rest, and concentrate
on Britain.
Britain's relations with the rest of the world are most important to
us in the United States in six major areas: the Soviet Union and the
Communist satellites in Eastern Europe; Communist China; Western
Europe; the Middle East; and, lastly and most important, the United
States.
Few aspects of Britain's position in the world are as little understood
in the United States as relations between the Commonwealth and the
mother country. This is a failing that irritates the British. "Do you
know what they asked me in Chicago?" a British author said. "They asked
me why we didn't stop taxing the Canadians to buy jewels for the Queen!"
Ignorance is not confined to the United States. One British diplomat
who had dealt with Russian diplomats and officials for years reported
that it was not until the summit conference at Geneva in the summer of
1955 that the Russians showed any glimmering of understanding of what
the Commonwealth was and how it worked.
The Commonwealth evolved from the Empire. Its original members were
the older colonies settled by Britons and Europeans: Australia, New
Zealand, Canada, and South Africa. Its newer members are Asian or
African peoples whose countries were parts of the Empire and are
now sovereign within the Commonwealth; these include India, Ceylon,
Pakistan, and Ghana. It is a matter of fact that in the years since
1945, while the supposedly anti-imperialist Russians have been
establishing the rule of the red star over 100,000,000 souls, the
British have created out of their Empire sovereign states with
populations of over 500,000,000.
The Commonwealth is not "run" by anyone. But Britain, as the mother
country, as the source of political forms and constitutional ideas,
financial support and industrial exports, can claim to be the first
among equals. The ties that bind the members of the Commonwealth to
Britain vary in strength. And the ties between such Commonwealth
members as South Africa and India are virtually nonexistent. The common
purpose of preserving peace and the necessity of discussing common
problems bring the leaders of the Commonwealth together in London
periodically for conferences.
Despite the absence of a central ruling power, the system works fairly
well. In Britain and among the older members of the Commonwealth there
is a strong loyalty, almost a reverence, for the idea. The political
orators who describe the Commonwealth as "a great force for peace and
civilization" are speaking to a responsive audience. Because there is
no central power, Americans are prone to doubt the strength of the ties
that connect the nations. But it may be that today the very absence of
such a power strengthens the Commonwealth.
Strong economic links exist between the United Kingdom and the members
of the Commonwealth. As a basis there is the sterling area, in which
all the Commonwealth countries except Canada are joined with Burma,
Iceland, Iraq, the British Protected States in the Persian Gulf, the
Irish Republic, Jordan, and Libya. These countries contain one quarter
of the world's population and do one quarter of its trade.
Membership in the sterling area or sterling bloc, as it is sometimes
called, means that the greater part of the overseas trade of member
countries is financed in sterling. The members maintain their foreign
reserves largely in the form of sterling and maintain a fixed
relationship between their own currencies and sterling. For the most
part, they sell their earnings in foreign currency to the United
Kingdom Exchange Equalization Account for sterling, and they can
purchase for sterling such foreign currency as they need. The members
also sell gold in the London market for sterling, and the United
Kingdom's purchases of gold are held in the Exchange Equalization
Account. The gold and dollars in this account constitute the central
gold and dollar reserves of the sterling area.
The sterling area thus is an important means of maintaining Britain's
position as the banker of the Commonwealth and as the center of
financial transactions. It is also one of the chief markets for
British exports, taking roughly half of Britain's export total. Of
the Commonwealth countries, Australia is by far the biggest buyer. In
1955 Australia bought from Britain goods valued at £286,400,000, or
about $801,920,000--just under 10 per cent of Britain's total export
trade. Four of the five next biggest buyers of British goods were
also Commonwealth nations: South Africa, third; Canada, fourth; New
Zealand, fifth; India, sixth. The United States was the second-largest
purchaser, taking 6.6 per cent of Britain's total exports.
Britain, of course, buys extensively within the Commonwealth. In
the same year she imported goods valued at £1,888,200,000, or about
$5,286,960,000, from the Commonwealth and the Irish Republic. This
amounted to over half of Britain's total imports.
There are numerous irritations and imperfections in the conduct of this
great world trading concern. The Australians and New Zealanders, for
instance, complain often that British capital shies from investment in
their countries.
The huge British investments for the development of countries overseas
were among the most damaging losses in two world wars. As the nation
slowly recovered its economic health in the post-war years, overseas
investment was encouraged by successive governments. Many Commonwealth
officials say that, although private borrowing for development has been
encouraged, much more could be done.
The Capital Issues Committee, an independent group of seven men
experienced in finance, commerce, and industry, approved in 1953 to
applications for the investment of £40,000,000, or about $112,000,000,
for Commonwealth development. The next year the figure rose to
£48,000,000, or about $134,000,000. Compare this with the annual
net investment overseas of about $504,000,000 in the years 1951-3.
Evidently the Australians and New Zealanders have cause for complaint.
In contrast to commercial ties that transform credit in London into new
factories in western Australia, there is the emotional tie mentioned
earlier. The Crown's mysterious power to draw peoples as dissimilar as
the Australian cattleman and the Brighton clerk into a community of
patriotic loyalty cannot be denied. Whether in the next decade or so
the same sort of connection can be established between the Crown and
such sensitive newer members of the Commonwealth as India and Ceylon is
one of the most delicate questions facing British statecraft.
A host of other institutions--some official, others the work of private
individuals captured by the Commonwealth conception--strive to keep
the relations between Britain and the Commonwealth countries happy and
firm. In such dissimilar fields as the theater, literature, and sport
there is much more contact among the countries of the Commonwealth and
Empire than Americans realize. A British rugby football team tours
Australia or South Africa, a West Indian cricket team visits Britain.
British theatrical companies still make the long but financially
rewarding trip to play in Australia and New Zealand. British authors
tirelessly roam the provinces of Canada or India, discoursing at length
upon the merits of the mother tongue and its literature.
Many young Conservative Members of Parliament are convinced that the
Commonwealth is the great twentieth-century instrument for maintaining
and extending British prestige. They see it expanded from its present
form to include the Scandinavian countries and others in a world
confederation that will be not _a_ third force in the world but _the_
third force. They do not, however, discount the problems that plague
the Commonwealth now.
An economic problem is the filtration of American capital into the
Commonwealth. The British recognize the enormous potential of American
overseas investment, and they wonder what would happen to their
position in a Commonwealth country where the United States invested
heavily and purchased products with a free hand. The knowledge that the
United States could, if it wished, literally buy out the Commonwealth
is a patriotic incentive for greater British investment.
Two political problems are South Africa and Ceylon.
The National Party in South Africa is moving toward the establishment
of a republic and the progressive weakening of political and economic
ties with Britain. Complete independence of the Crown and the
Commonwealth probably is the ultimate South African aim. This would be
a grievous blow to the strength, both economic and political, of the
Commonwealth.
Ceylon has shown signs of moving in the same direction. One of the
first actions of the government of S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, the leader of
the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, was to ask the British to leave the great
naval base at Trincomalee. This was a severe shock to the British and a
damaging blow to the position of the Western world in the Indian Ocean.
At the subsequent Commonwealth Conference an agreement that allowed the
British to remain temporarily was negotiated. But the restlessness of
Ceylon within the Commonwealth and the desire of many of its leading
politicians to divest themselves of all connections, cultural as well
as political, with the British are a bad omen for the future.
The British attitude toward the Commonwealth and Empire is a curious
mixture of indifference and interest, snobbery and friendship,
ignorance and knowledge. But the general approach has improved greatly
since before the war. The British know they need their friends and
markets overseas, and the old brusque approach to Commonwealth and
Empire problems has changed.
So has the social attitude. Not long before the war an elderly
and aristocratic lady told me she always "considered Americans as
colonials." She thought she had paid us a compliment. Today such a
remark would not be made.
The idea of a world-wide Commonwealth is imaginative and attractive.
But the efforts to sell it to the people of Britain, with the exception
of the almost daily exhortations of Lord Beaverbrook's newspapers, are
depressingly feeble. The English Speaking Union and other organizations
are devoted to the cause of strengthening Commonwealth relations, but
such organizations usually preach to the converted. The great mass of
public opinion has yet to be stirred. The British of all classes are
much more likely to be moved by events in France than by events in
Canada or Nigeria.
"They certainly have a different idea of dealing with the Russians
here," said the young wife of an American diplomat in 1954. "Why, they
have track meets with Russians running in them, and they talk about
how they're going to get the Russians to agree to this or that. Folks
at home think all the Russians have horns and tails."
She was describing the British ability to live with a problem while
thoroughly understanding its dimensions and dangers. Since 1945 the
leaders of Britain, Socialist and Tory alike, have been fully aware of
the dangers to Western freedom of Russian Communist imperialism. This
statement may evoke criticism from some stout Republicans who regard
the British Labor Party as an offspring of the Communist Party. But the
facts are that it was a Labor government that sent troops to Korea,
that carried on a long and successful campaign against the Communists
in Malaya, that joined the Royal Air Force with the United States Air
Force to build the air bridge that broke the Berlin blockade, and that
passed what was then the largest peacetime armaments bill in British
history. All these measures were part of the general effort to bolster
the defenses of Western Europe against Soviet aggression.
These exertions were a severe burden on a country whose economy was
already in difficulties and whose resources were strained. They were
undertaken because they matched the resolution of the leaders of the
Labor Party. They were heartily endorsed by the Conservative Party,
then in opposition, and were continued by that party when it came to
power in 1951.
The point of difference between the British and Americans was that at
the height of the cold war the British never moved toward abandonment
of normal diplomatic intercourse and welcomed any move by either side
which promised closer contact and friendlier relations with the Soviet
Union.
Socialist and Tory governments pursued this dichotomy in policy with
almost complete freedom from political interference. The British, an
island people dependent on international trade, strive in any crisis
to maintain communications with their enemies and thus retain a means
through which negotiations can be carried out. They will go to great,
often shaming lengths to avoid war. Once it comes, they wage it with
earnest intensity and fight it to the end.
In periods of danger such as followed the influx of Soviet power in
Europe, British politicians usually assume a bipartisan attitude. This
does not mean that the opposition of the time refrains from criticism
of the government policy. It does mean that opposition speakers
use restraint. During the period of maximum strain with Russia, no
politician shrilled a warning against talking with the Russians
about Berlin or Korea, or predicted that the admission of Russian
high-jumpers to a track meet would undermine the nation. The British
never gave up on the situation; they did not like it, but they thought
that any means of finding a way out should be used.
This was, as I have noted, a period of danger. The bipartisan approach
broke down completely over Suez. When Sir Anthony Eden ordered
intervention in Egypt the danger was real but indistinct. It was also
a long-term economic danger arising from threat to the country's oil
supplies rather than the immediate military danger represented by
the Soviet Union's military strength in East Germany and elsewhere
in Central Europe accompanied by Russian diplomacy and subversion.
Russian military power already had won its foothold in Egypt. But the
Labor Party refused to regard this power as an immediate threat and
consequently rejected it as a reason for the adoption of a bipartisan
approach.