The
vast plethora of PGDM colleges in Delhi NCR must have had the shock of their
lives! At Ishan Institute of Management & Technology, one of the top PGDM
colleges in Delhi NCR the academicians have in the lectures on economic
environment of business chanted hymns in praise of financial globalization and
the concept of economic integration but not so much as to overlook the stark
realities of an inherently and historically fragile Europe. Yesterday’s round
of epic voting has probably undone the ideas, hard work and peace collaborations
of the United States of Europe. While it does not sound good from an Indian
perspective and the ramifications of this watershed event shall be felt through
ages and spaces in the world, it is worthwhile to assess the history of Great
Britain and its ties with Europe through ages before coming to the final word
of the impact.
The Pre-Human and Ancient History
of Great Britain
Great
Britain as a land mass and as a geographical entity came into existence as a
result of the melting of glaciers during the times succeeding the Continental
Drift. Around 6000 BCE, the British Isles were formed on the edges of the
Atlantic Ocean. Human settlements followed. Yuval Noah Harari, the critically
acclaimed Israeli historian and anthropologist has given a detailed account of
the first species of human beings in Europe and particularly in Great Britain.
In his book titled “How Did Humans Get Smart?” he writes of the earliest
species of human beings and the ancestors of modern day people of European
nationalities. It makes sense here to drift to physical anthropology for a
while before reverting back to financial integration. Homo sapiens are just one
of the many human species that have survived. Europe for that matter and Great
Britain in particular was occupied by Homo
Neanderthalensis. They were better known as the Neanderthals. Modern day physical
anthropologists and scientists working on genome theory have substantiated the
fact that Neanderthals, the original inhabitants of Europe do not have much of
a linkage with the gene samples collected from modern day Europeans. It is also
interesting to note that Homo Sapiens the smartest and the only surviving human
species had originated in East Africa and then spread to different parts of the
world to edge out competing human species like Homo Erectus in Asia, Homo Soloensis in South East Asia and
the Neanderthals of Europe by means of a cognitive learning revolution and
community building. There are two lessons to be learnt here. Homo sapiens from
East Africa were smarter at organizing themselves as communities and better at
processing knowledge. Community building which is a precursor to any kind of
social institution formation like family, clan, caste, religion, nation or
economic integration was and never has been the forte of the original
inhabitants of Europe. In fact gene samples of modern day Europeans show that
they have traces of mixed genetic heritage which further proves that globalization
and integration in the purely biological and physical anthropological context
has been going on since ages when people probably never imagined European idiosyncrasies
like nationalism, globalization and economic integration. We had integrated as
people sans the formation of Europe and sans the formation of European Union!
The Transition from Pre Human to CE
Era of Great Britain
By
5000 BCE trade between Great Britain and Spain was well on its course and the
coast of the Atlantic which was widely believed to be the edge of the world had
become a channel for lateral communication in Europe but was the last strand
standing between Europe and the Americas. In 55 BCE, when Julius Caesar
attacked England, England was high linked to France in terms of politics,
governance, economy and ethnicity. The Atlantic Ocean was too big a monster to
be sized up for the creation of a flat world. By the last centuries of BC,
France was integrated with England culturally, ethnically and economically
although the identities of French and English nationalities were yet to be
shaped. In the first centuries of CE, Rome governed England and Wales and
linguistic evidences suggest the influence of Roman language on English. Also
there are evidences that assert that it was the Romans who introduced Roman Catholic
Christianity to Great Britain by replacing Paganism of the Iron Age era that
was common among the Celts, Nordics and Scots. The Germans invaded England in
400 CE and then both the French and the Norsemen plundered England. By the time
it was 1100 CE, English kings of mixed French Norse descent had relegated
militarily and politically and by 1475, the English King Edward IV had
renounced claims on France for cash for self-rule exchange.
The Medieval Era in Great Britain:
Weakness Became Strength
The
medieval era is hard to demarcate. History and time offer no boundaries. Time
as such is a continuous variable. What really sets the medieval era apart from
the ancient era perhaps is the invention of large cargo ships? Cargo ships that
could carry merchandise and people and hence offered the opening of Trans
Atlantic communication and exchanges of ideas, merchandise and people gave way
to the integration of Great Britain with the world through the English Channel.
Spain and Portugal dominated in the early centuries of naval warfare, piracy
and international trade. Yet Portuguese and Spanish rulers plundered their
traders for cash, gold and spices that were traded. Mercantilism was in favour
with the Spanish and Portuguese monarchs who went to great extents to extract
the extra mileage from their traders. Great Britain and its monarchs on the
other hand were weak. They were too weak to govern and rule with an iron fist
and this gave English traders the opportunity to build a stable and scalable
business empire based on political and economic liberalism. It makes sense here
to assert that economic liberalism actually allowed Great Britain to become a
melting pot and a confluence of business enterprises, communities and cultures.
In 1688 the Glorious Revolution occurred and it brought monarchs of Dutch
descent to power. By the time the eighteenth century started Great Britain was
well on its path to power, progress and growth by leveraging peace and buying
time to organize itself. By 1815 Great Britain had well shifted the balance of
power and London had become a strong financial hub. The dominance of Great
Britain was not premised on tax and plunder of gold from its citizens but
through dominance in trade and colonization of different continents.
In
the last 300 years Great Britain has kept Germany down, America alongside and Russia
out of Europe. In the 17th century Great Britain fought an all out
war against Holland. In the 18th century Great Britain fought the Hundred
Year War against France. In the 19th century Great Britain fought
numerous small wars to colonize non-European nations. In the 20th
century Great Britain twice warded off challenges from Germany during the two
World Wars. The First World War was won by paying a hefty price and the Second
World War saw the coming together United States of America and the erstwhile
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. In the 21st century Great
Britain has filed for a divorce suite against Europe and is sandwiched among
the BRICS nations. At Ishan Institute of Management & Technology, one of
the top PGDM colleges in Delhi NCR, we have said this before and say it now.
Globalization is a process and not an ideology to pursue. It will happen as it
should. But to say that the world is flat and that the European Union or any
other union can sustain itself while traversing against the currents of
globalization is incorrect. The BREXIT referendum is not a mandate against
globalization. It is a part of the process that is always altering itself. The separation
of Great Britain from the European Union is like Brownian movement of sub
atomic particles. The end is yet to be in sight but as of now one must confess
that European Union is a sinking ship and those who fear for their lives will
jump off it, whether the on-boarders like it or not. Not so annus mirabilis!