向东方的转变：英第一帝国后期秩序的重建

从光荣革命到北美独立战争是英国历史上的第一帝国时期,第一帝国的特点是重商主义。美国独立战争后,英国虽失去了北美殖民地,但通过工业革命走上了现代化发展的道路,也完成了由农业国向工业化国家的转变,英国成为当时世界上最先进和实力最强的国家,英国以强大的经济实力和海上霸权,完全能够控制全世界的贸易,自由竞争更能使英国获得最大的经济效益。英国适时地改变了传统的重商主义政策,更多地接受了亚当·斯密的自由主义思想,开始了帝国秩序的重建,帝国的重心由美洲转向东方。虽然旧帝国和新帝国追求的都是对外贸易和经济利益,但采取的帝国政策迥然不同,第二帝国逐渐形成。

Changing towards the Orient:Reconstruction of Order in the Late British First Empire

Characterized by mercantilism, the First Empire in British history started from the Glory Revolution to the North American War of Independence. After the War of Independence, Britain lost colonies in North America. But taking the road of modernization development through the Industrial Revolution, Britain changed its status from an agricultural nation to an industrialized one. Britain became the most advanced and powerful nation in the world at that time. The free competition had no rival to Britain. With its strong power both in economy and in the sea, Britain completely controlled the world trade and got the utmost benefit from the free competition. Britain tended to accept the thought of liberty proposed by Adam Smith, with a timely change of the traditional mercantilism policy and launched a reconstruction of the Empire order. The center of the Empire changed from the American Continent to the Orient. However, Britain took a different empire policy, thus the Second Empire came to its shape.