Elections Have Consequences - Sometimes Unintended
The (English) Royal Navy emerged as surprisingly powerful, when a fleet built for cannon engagement only defeated the Spanish Armada. The Spanish ships were so cramped that reloading cannon in battle was considered impractical, while the English ships were designed for continuous cannon fire, with guns reloading and repeating as rapidly as state-of
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Perhaps this looks like less of a disaster to someone who grew up in a nation that's been conquered by the Saxons in the 5th Century, was nearly conquered by the Danes in the 9th Century, actually was conquered by Cnut of Denmark (circa 1013-1017), and conquered again so William could change his byname from "the Bastard" to "the Conqueror" in 1066. As someone who grew up in a country that has never been conquered*, the first conquest looks like a great disaster.
And, when I take my "military analyst" hat off and put my "economic analyst" hat on, I see cowards frightened by a tiny fraction of the debt load that their ancestors shouldered as the cost of building an empire, circa 1725-1875. Hmm. Interesting phrasing, that. Perhaps my "economic analyst" persona has more machismo than I realized?
* I suppose the European conquest of Native Americans might count as the first conquest. Fine. So I'm in the position of an Anglo-Saxon some time before the Lothbroksons landed and assimilated everything except Wessex.
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