The evolution of the Royal Navy in Victoria's time:
The Admiralty couldn’t depend on past experience for guidance, as everything they’d done for hundreds of years was now undecided: what kind of ships do you need to build? How will they be armed? How will they be armoured? How will they be propelled? Bureaucracies are, by nature, not well equipped to face challenges like this. The Royal Navy, from the late 1860′s until the late 1880′s struggled with finding the correct answer, or combination of answers, to meet the needs of the day.
I admit that my interest in British Imperial history fades very quickly after 1815 and only starts to pick up again in the 1870′s, and what little I’d retained of the reading I’d done left me with much disdain for the obvious pattern of muddle and stop-gap planning that clearly defined the Royal Navy’s approach to maintaining the fleet during that time period. I was very wrong in my assumptions, but I was far from alone.
The article has broader lessons on the nature of technological change and how to cope with it.
A very timely post on this Glorious First of June!
ReplyDeleteThank you for all the wonderful posts to catch up on here, Sirs. May I also draw your attention to a TV series here in the UK: The Country House Reveleaded. This week it covered Wentworth Woodhouse and in doing so demonstrated quite aptly the ruination of socialism on community. It was horrifying to read what happened to the place out of spite and jealousy and how an entire community held together so well by the family that lived there, came to such a sad end. My soul sank realising how little I know about this country, it's history and the vital importance of such houses in communities. I also have to say it drew to mind W H Lecky, whom I first read here on this blog and his observations of the Reform Act.
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