<論説>植民運動前夜の英国経済 (上) : 十六世紀の経済不況とその対応

Abstract

国際経済の変化が、どう国内経済に影響し、どのような国家政策を馴致するか。現代という時点に立って、無関心を装おいえない問題のひとつにこうした問題がある。本稿は、近代初頭の英国における、両者の連関を追求しようとしたもの。そして、十六世中期こそは、近代英国史上にいくつか現われてくる国民経済と国家政策の、まずその第一の屈折点であったことを明らかにしようとした。研究史的には、この時代の国際経済に関するわが国の通説にも触れたが、この点については、さらに議論の発展と教示が待たれる。しかし、従来もっばら国内経済史的観点の優位性において行われた近代英国経済史研究を、国際的連関において位置づけるという操作は、研究の道程からいっても、その問題意識においても、十分に理解してもらえると思う。

For the generation breathing the air of the mid-twentieth century it is unavoidable, and even right, to think of national problems in accordance with the international circumstances. This is, however, a new experience for a nation which has been secluded intellectually and politically from the outer world for the greater part of her history. Self-sufficed in such a community, one tends to develop a peculiar way of thinking which colours in turn even the interpretation of foreign history. This may result, for instance, in a theory of self-development of national economy like that to which students stick so tenaciously in post-war Japan. In studies of English history, they have been mainly concerned with the conditions to England, not with her relations with the outer world. This is, I think, why the history of 'English trade has not been treated as it deserves. It has even been brushed aside under the name and on the pretext of circulationism. This will not hold good when we think of a country like England. This paper is an attempt to trace the economic trends of the sixteenth century as they were revealed in woollen export from London. The attempt was made, as is well known, in a pioneering work of Professor Fisher to which this paper owes much. The economic trends depended on the Antwerp mart in the sixteenth century and my concern in this paper was, first of all, to trace the trade from Antwerp onward into the Continent. This attempt will also be justified when we consider the theory in this country that the main part of the woollen export was directed to America in exchange for silver after the geographical discovery. In the sixteenth century the market for English woollens was not in America but in Middle Europe and the Levant. Secondly, my interest was to revalue the Elizabethan policies in the light of the changed mood after the depression of the 1550s. To a student of English history the making of the Empire will be a vital problem. This paper will be a contribution to the problem, explaining when and why the first step to wards calonization was taken in the history of England's trade.