[robertlagrant]

> The Industrial Revolution is why England could conquer half the planet, not the brutish nature of the English

I don't think that quote is about being brutish. The idea is that when times get easy, defence lowers (as why spend on defence?) and eventually someone else who is not living in luxury takes over, if they can reach you. I don't know if it's a valid theory, but I don't think it's about anyone's nature in particular.

[notahacker]

Relatively speaking, the times were a lot easier when the UK was conquering the world than when it wasn't, but times being easy didn't stop it from being effective at conquering the world when it had a tech advantage. Times were pretty easy when it sacrificed a lot of men in two world wars where it didn't have a tech advantage (and could probably have afforded to weasel out) too.