“Indeed,” the minister was droning on, “it is often to our benefit to maintain a sense of rivalry with another powerful nation, for a common enemy helps keeps the citizens of our empire united, reminding the people to be grateful for the safety promised not only by the crown, but by the military – to which their children will devote four years of their lives, and whose movements have been so well-calculated in this last century, under the guidance of our merciful king.
